[Omar]

I toke FAR exam today and it wasn’t my first time to take FAR but today I can’t believe how hard is exam was. Starting from the first let most of MCQs was 5 or more lines and the short ones from subjects buried in the books. No one direct question it’s all had with tricks. The SIMs was too long but consider much easier than MCQs, I got 3 questions with 20 to 30 cells to fill then I found out it gave me few information for only few cells but after I felt like I’m falling for sure.

I think I did not bad but I can’t be sure. If I pass (cross fingers) or fall I had a terrible experience.

FAR: 73, 85
BEC: 79
REG: TBA
AUD: TBA

[missjenn]

I took FAR this weekend too and had the exact same experience. My first time around taking FAR a few months ago was not nearly as bad as this time around (and I felt more prepared this time around). Like you mentioned, I had a lot of wordy multiple choice questions and the shorter ones were conceptual that asked about extremely specific things. The SIMS were not completely terrible. I made the mistake of going back to the book and looking at all questions I got wrong and that was a mistake. I know I definitely got 4 MC choice wrong and a part of a SIM incorrect. Hoping I pass, but I'm not going to be surprised if I don't based on how hard my exam was. My only shot is that some exams get curved more than others.

[maki]

I sat for FAR yesterday. My experience wasn't as bad as yours but the Sims were weird. I only studied for less than 20 days and focused on what I thought they would ask (Gov't and IFRS) as opposed to focusing on pensions and the likes (I did have 2-3 pension questions on pensions took my best guess). Best of luck to you guys sometimes it seems really bad until you get some distance and realize… hmmm maybe I did better than I think.

Roger CPA

AUD 02/01/16 91
REG 02/27/16 79
BEC 04/16 84
FAR 06/04

[maki]

I sat for FAR yesterday. My experience wasn't as bad as yours but the Sims were weird. I only studied for less than 20 days and focused on what I thought they would ask (Gov't and IFRS) as opposed to focusing on pensions and the likes (I did have 2-3 pension questions on pensions took my best guess). Best of luck to you guys sometimes it seems really bad until you get some distance and realize… hmmm maybe I did better than I think.

Roger CPA

AUD 02/01/16 91
REG 02/27/16 79
BEC 04/16 84
FAR 06/04

[Excel14]

@maki,

So did your strategy pay off? I'm in final review mode, and of course there is so much to know. I keep reading IFRS and Govt, even though most say know some of everything.

What do they call an accounting person, who only managed a 75 on all four parts of the CPA exam....you got it, CPA!!!

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[MaLoTu]

Excel, I am reviewing also, my exam is on Wednesday. I think it is a good strategy to focus on your strengths in final review. The other stuff, go over it, but what sticks sticks sort of mentality. I would hate to get to the exam and realize that I didn't bother refining an area I had a handle on and then struggle with what should have been easy questions.

OP- I am sorry you had a bad experience, this sounds like my first FAR attempt. I am now on my third attempt and I don't know what to expect.

Almost always from my phone... please excuse my typos!

All 4 passed - 2016

CA CPA

[maki]

I can't say for sure as I don't know if I passed or not but there was nothing on the exam that I hadn't prepared for. There were questions asking for details I wasn't familiar with 100% but I could narrow down the choices on those questions. So yes, given my time constraint my strategy did pay off. I wouldn't do anything differently if I could go back after having taken the exam. Just for the record, I obviously knew bonds, leases etc. but I didn't focus too much on those topics as I figured they won't ask anything beyond the current portion of the lease liability in year X4 or the carrying value of the bond after the 5th interest payment and so on. These exam's test your critical thinking and exam strategies as much as they do the material itself and I have no real world accounting experience.

Roger CPA

AUD 02/01/16 91
REG 02/27/16 79
BEC 04/16 84
FAR 06/04

[Texan_176]

My most recent FAR experience was similar to the OP.

So many questions had very strange things they were asking about and the choices given did not make sense. The review course and questions (including NINJA) looked nothing like these questions. So many people on this forum say they passed FAR when they were sure they failed. I hope to be one of those people this week. My second FAR attempt was a moderately hard test. You could not have winged it but there were no trick questions, most were one line questions, and even the SIMS were reasonable. I can't say I knew I passed but I felt pretty good leaving the test center and later that night I went home and put together all of my receipts to turn in to my boss. They offered to pay half of my total prep and exam fees as I spent the money but I told them I would turn everything in when I passed it all. Missing by one point was crushing. I will be very surprised if I passed this time. Going home I felt really bad about how it went.

One SIM in my most recent test had an AI tab plus 3 other tabs with multiple worksheets of data under each of the 3 tabs. You had to pull data from a total of 12-15 sheets to fill in the things asked. I doubt even a seasoned accountant with 30+ years of experience could have done that in 15 minutes.

AUD - 83
BEC - 77
FAR - 83
REG - 78

Licensed TX CPA

BEC 11/29/14 77 (Roger)
AUD 2/23/15 60 (Roger) 4/13/2015 83 (Roger & Ninja MCQ)
REG 5/30/2015 66 (Roger & Ninja MCQ(7 hours only)) 8/23/2015 78 (Roger & Ninja MCQ)
FAR 11/23/2015 60 (Roger & NINJA MCQ) 2/24/2016 74 (Roger & NINJA MCQ) 5/25/2016 83 (Roger+Roger CRAM & NINJA MCQ/NOTES)
Texas Ethics Exam 92%

Licensed TX CPA Aug 2016

[Omar]

Anybody had the same experience and pass?

FAR: 73, 85
BEC: 79
REG: TBA
AUD: TBA

[KJ]

@ medo_omar, will find out today 🙂

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler" - Albert Einstein

FAR - August 2016
AUD - September 2016
REG - October 2016
BEC - November 2016

Remember: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein

[Anonymous]

well thats strange- all the posters in this thread seem to think that MCQ's are way harder than SIM's.

there has been at least 5-10 posters on A71 recently who said that MCQ's were a piece of cake and the SIM's were brutal; and they still passed.

OP & others in this thread, i hope you guys pass as well. but basically what this tells me is that FAR reactions are extremely subjective! to each his own. our perceptions are changed by our preparation and/or simply the luck of the draw!

[pickanicken]

I am one of the ones who felt the MCQ were okay but the SIMs were brutal. I took the exam a few weeks back and wasn't even able to finish my SIMs because they were so involved. My biggest fear is that I wasted a bunch of my time on a pretest SIM rather than focusing on a question I knew for sure wasn't a pretest.

REG - 81
BEC - 83
AUD - 86
FAR - 78 (Done!)

[Stilgoin]

I have taken FAR twice. My MCQs were definitely harder than the sims on May 25th. When I took FAR in October, I had 3 sims that I had no clue what they were asking or where to begin.

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[KJ]

Mine was same as you @ stilgoin. MCQ and SIMS were utterly butterly brutal. I got a SIM on IFRS and I was like WTF. Well just few more hours and know fail def. :-)-(

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler" - Albert Einstein

FAR - August 2016
AUD - September 2016
REG - October 2016
BEC - November 2016

Remember: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein

[Christopher Gutierrez]

I took the exam yesterday and almost went into a laugh attack at how ridiculous some Sims were. Overall, I would say my chances of winning the lottery and getting struck by lightning on the same day are significantly better than me passing.

[Cold Water]

I feel the May testlets are hard in MCQ, and reasonable in SIMs.
I had similar experience, my MCQ questions are very weird, I had very little Government and NFP questions, probably 4-5 in total 3 testlets, I put my best guesses in many of the questions. The SIMs are long, but I think it's reasonable.

We will find out tonight…

BEC - 86 (12/12/15)
AUD -81 (01/08/16)
Busy Season Everybody!
FAR - 79 (05/21/16)
REG - 77 (06/08/16)
Going to fill in the bonus paperwork now.

[Author]

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