Took CPA exam for the first time today...

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Took CPA exam for the first time today...

14 posts from 10 voices

Started 1 year ago by Auditor
Latest reply from italianCPA

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Auditor

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I started my journey towards becoming a CPA by sitting for FAR today. I couldn't even begin to guess how I did but I know I gave myself at least a chance to pass.

I will approach my studying much differently for my next section. Instead of trying to nail down a subject one by one, I would try and get as much material covered in a night as possible. I'm a public accountant with a 2-3 hour round trip commute to work every morning, plus I am in school. I was able to get in 15-20 hours a week of studying over the past 8 weeks.

When I took my Becker practice exams (M/C only), I scored a 45 on the first one and a 60 on the second. When I do the quizzes covering all 9 areas I would generally score around an 80. Usually I would bomb one area and I would go back to the book and try and brush up on that area.

The exam seemed easier than the Becker practice exams. I felt very confident on the first testlet, awful on the second and ok on the third. I rushed through the last 10 questions of the 3rd because I wanted to leave 90 minutes for the sims.

I think I should do very well on the written communication. Spent about 15 minutes on each, a couple of paragraphs for each directly answering the question. I'm 90% sure I got the research tabs correct.

The rest of the sims I struggled on. They were all journal entries. I thought I would see more than journal entries here but nope, 5-6 tabs of journal entries. The wording was extremely long for all of them and would take me about 5 minutes just to read. I think I got 1 tab completely right, the rest could have been all wrong and I wouldn't even know. They were areas I felt very comfortable with on the M/C but not areas where te Becker study material focused on the journal entries. They usually would just mention the journal entries briefly at the end of whatever they were teaching.

I would be lucky to get a 20 out of 30 on the sims. Maybe 60 out of 90 on the M/C. This would leave me just shy of where I need to be. Hopefully the grading magic helps be out and that 60 out of 90 will turn into a 60 out of 75 or a 65 out of 80? I will keep my fingers crossed!

B - BEC (10/12/10) - 80
A - AUD (11/16/10) - 84 (74 - 8/31/10)
R - REG (10/13/11) - 84 (67 - 8/22/11, 62 - 5/25/11, 72 - 11/30/10)
F - FAR (7/20/10) - 81
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Posted 1 year ago #
cpa journey

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Auditor

Your approach was sound and I bet it helped you score the max amount of points. Going back and reviewing the material is important otherwise you may forget key details. Peter Olinto suggested it - and several people have posted the same idea in various sections in this forum. Try daily progress tests - that is what I am trying to do.

Reviewing past material for the BEC exam will help! The topics are very diverse. AUD was not too bad in that resept but would probably be a good idea.

Hope the scoring majic workss in your favor.

Posted 1 year ago #
Auditor

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So I was thinking about the grade and became even more worried....

Simulation:
Communication 10/10 points
Research 2/2 points
6 more tabs at 3 points each
3/3, 2/3, 2/3, 1/3, 1/3, 1/3

This would give me 22/30. (73.33%)

Multiple Choice:
1st tab - confident and took my time - 25/30
2nd tab - felt like I struggled - 15/30
3rd tab - kind of in the middle, rushed - 20/30

This would be 60/90 (66.67%) or 50/75 towards final grade.

This would give me a 72/100 for the exam. If I got 4 more M/C correct then I would pass! 3 more right then I get a 74...

I feel like I am so close but won't hit the 75, trying to stay positive.

B - BEC (10/12/10) - 80
A - AUD (11/16/10) - 84 (74 - 8/31/10)
R - REG (10/13/11) - 84 (67 - 8/22/11, 62 - 5/25/11, 72 - 11/30/10)
F - FAR (7/20/10) - 81

Posted 1 year ago #
Auditor

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I lied! It would have been a 47/70, not a 50/75 on the M/C, I'm trying to sneak in a few extra points!

B - BEC (10/12/10) - 80
A - AUD (11/16/10) - 84 (74 - 8/31/10)
R - REG (10/13/11) - 84 (67 - 8/22/11, 62 - 5/25/11, 72 - 11/30/10)
F - FAR (7/20/10) - 81

Posted 1 year ago #
cashtm08

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There is really no way to calculate your score as the grading of this exam is so complex. I say, stop stressing about it so much!! At this point there is nothing you can do but wait for the score release. I am feeling the same way, I took REG - my first section last week. But it seems to me you are doing a lot of calculating on your possible score when you should either start studying for your next section or enjoy a little bit of down time. Good luck! I hope you passed FAR!

REG:7/13 BEC:8/12 FAR:XX AUD:XX

Posted 1 year ago #
connieCPAin2010

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Auditor - You will drive yourself crazy thinking about it like that! LOL

Remember that some of those questions are considered pretest questions and don't count toward your grade. Sounds like you put in the effort and it will pay off! The way you described your testlets increasing difficulty is what most think means you were doing well.

BEC 79 (1/05/10)
REG 80 (3/05/10)
AUD 82 (5/28/10)
FAR 79 (8/27/10) I'm DONE!

Posted 1 year ago #
MPoni123

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Auditor - I believe that 15 questions total are pretest questions (5 per testlet), but unfortunately you never know which ones you won't be graded on. Also, each question is weighted differently. If you get a "harder" question correct, you get more points for it; less points for the easier ones. Cindy from Yaeger Review said that you are not penalized for an incorrect answer...they basically just add up all the points you got from the right answers + the sims. I am not sure how they grade the sims, but that is how the multiple choice questions are graded!

Like connie said, don't drive yourself crazy! :) It is out of your hands now! Focus on your next section...just keep looking forward!

AUD - 84; REG - 90; BEC - 79; FAR - 75; ALL DONE!!

Posted 1 year ago #
MPoni123

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P.S. - FAR, AUD, and REG are all adaptive. That means that if you do well on your first testlet, you tend to get a harder 2nd testlet...and if you do well on the 2nd testlet, your 3 testlet will be hard, too! I think it works the opposite way, too. If you didn't do well on your first testlet, you will get an easier 2nd testlet, etc. So....there is NO way to calculate your score!! lol :)

AUD - 84; REG - 90; BEC - 79; FAR - 75; ALL DONE!!

Posted 1 year ago #
CPAWannaBe

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Aren't the days after the exam the worst?

It stinks lying in bed at night, wondering if you looked at the dates in the questions correctly, or driving down the road and remembering what you did wrong in the inventory question. Sitting at work and thinking you have a shot to pass and then crying in the shower because you know you will have to re-study FAR.

The anxiety will fade when you accept you can't do anything about it. Then in about 4 weeks the agonizing score release will turn your mind upside down again.

At least we are not alone :)

REG - 75 (expired, retake July 2011)
FAR - 69, 64, 67 <-Becker, 80 <-Yaeger
AUD - 82 ETHICS - 100
BEC - 72 (retake May 2011)

Posted 1 year ago #
CAcpahopeful2010

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cpwannabe- i Know, i guess maybe its best not to look at your notes after the exam cause i know for a FACT i got at least 2 m/c wrong cuz they were the exact concept worded differently. (and its a easy concept that you dont really look to much into it) I took a look at my notes or rather becker book and it came down to One Word that made the difference. uggghh!! best to forget about it and focus on the next section.

Passed REG, FAR, BEC.AUD. Struggling ETHICS. CALIFORNIA

Posted 1 year ago #
CPAWannaBe

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That's how they get us!

REG - 75 (expired, retake July 2011)
FAR - 69, 64, 67 <-Becker, 80 <-Yaeger
AUD - 82 ETHICS - 100
BEC - 72 (retake May 2011)

Posted 1 year ago #
Lee_IN

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Auditor - Everyone is right. Once the exam is over, forget about it. I never opened my book after taking an exam because second guessing will drive you insane or was it because my brain was fried afterwords I couldn't remember the questions to check. Regardless, you have to tell yourself you did the best and need to move on to the next exam or you will waste valuable study time. I always look at it that since around 50% of the candidates pass the exam each window my goal was to do better than half the people taking the exam. Trying to figure out the scoring of this exam is worse than understanding the physics of a black hole, it is not even worth it. When you get your score it is not a percentage of what you got right just a score on some scale based on the number of answer you got correct and where the AICPA decides to draw the line on who passes and who fails since the number of passes is fairly constant between 45-52% over the course of the year. So if I have confused you more, I am sorry. The gauge I used for my performance was did I put in the study time and be honest with yourself and did the testlets get harder and how did I feel on the simulations.

My experience for FAR was, I put approx 175+ hours, my testlets were absolutely brutal for me, and I felt good about the simulations especially the written communications and finished with 20 seconds left. Fortunately I passed with an 80. So don't beat yourself up and move on, you can no longer control anything you did for that exam but you can control what you do for the next one. Good Luck on your Score, it is nearly impossible to tell how you did when walking out of the test center.

Becker - FAR 80, AUD 73, 81, BEC 76, REG 81 (2010) DONE!!!! IN LICENSED CPA

Posted 1 year ago #
whonis2002

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Have a question, am trying to schedule a date where I can sit my FAR exam using the prometric website. Am at a section on there website where it says I have to provide an "Exam Section ID ". Does anybody know where I can get that information? Am in California...maybe the folks who have used this service can point me in the right direction.

FAR 75 REG 79, AUD (Probably Jan 2011), BEC (TBA)

Posted 1 year ago #
italianCPA

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It's on your NTS

FAR - 7/26/10 - 95
AUD - 8/10/10 - 88
BEC - 8/31/10 - 88
REG - 10/15/10 - 95

Posted 1 year ago #