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Don’t ask me how, but I got a 91 on my FAR examination re-take. I am still stunned, jaw to the floor. Although I am happy, I am for sure confused as heck. I felt far worse about this examination than I did for the one that I did not pass with a 74. And I am not the one who is to think I got things wrong when I felt I got them right. Here is my experience from both attempts:
1) First FAR attempt (74): MC testlets did not get any harder as the test progressed. I had high confidence that I did well on them. SIMS were okay, was confident on 3-4 of the tabs including the research question, and not very confident (but filled out and gave my best) to the other 3-4 SIMS tabs. When I got my score sheet back from the state, it said that I had exceeded performance on all sections of the MC, except one, where I was comparable. On the SIMS, it said I was ‘weaker’. And the score was 74. I didn’t know what ‘weaker’ meant, but clearly from the score report, it was the SIMS were I lost my passing ability. I couldn’t believe it.
2) Second FAR attempt (91): MC testlets varied; first one was medium, second one was difficult (but not daunting), and the third one was so easy a kindergartner could have done it. No joke. My MC, therefore, did not get “harder and harder” as the testlets progressed. I felt I did really well on the MC regardless, maybe marked about 4-5 questions on the second testlet for review. The SIMS were an abomination from hell. I maybe had confidence on the research tab and one other tab, and that’s about it. I had a complete mindlapse and confusion on all the other stuff that was being asked. I barely understood what was being asked. So I did what any logical person would do and gave it my best shot. And then I proceeded to understand again that I had no idea what I was doing, except filling in boxes, clicking on menus, filling up spaces with numbers that I thought made sense. Not much seemed to be balancing, I was running out of time, and I was even more frustrated. I walked out of there like Drew Barrymore at the end of the movie “Firestarter”, flames shooting out of my hands, volcanic rocks hurtling out from behind me.
Although I am a bit relieved that I passed, I am still so befuddled at what happened. Perhaps this all depends on weightings, scoring scales, experimental questions, board judgment, relative performance or other subjectivity, but I can honestly state that the correlation between my personal performance and my result was not a strong one. Maybe the test I got the second time was considered a more “difficult” one, compared to peers? Anyway, I am done with the CPA and look forward to adding it to my credentials. Congrats to everyone who takes the exam, and I wish you all well. Good luck to those who are continuing to finish.
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