[Anonymous]

I felt like a lump of coal…..it was insult on top of mental injury better yet I felt like I was tossed into a den of starving lions covered in chicken blood

no breaks almost none what so ever even easy crap they made me doubt….this is got to be some cruel joke

[Shawna]

I feel good after reading all these posts! I took FAR for the second time yesterday and did not feel good. The first section was easy, the second section more difficult, the third….URGH! The first SIM I did fairly well on…the second SIM was a disaster. So bad that I actually complained in the survey at the end. I did the written section of both with no problem and the research of both. But the spreadsheets on the second SIM were ridiculous. I could not even toggle between the tabs to get the information and I did not know what they were asking. But my test definitely got increasingly more difficult. There were actually items I had never even heard of on the exam and I did Becker!

FAR 70; REG 91; FAR (second attempt waiting)

FAR- 70, 76 REG - 91 BEC - 80 AUD - 74, 85

GA - NASBA state

[Anonymous]

I felt like I was attacked by an inanimate object. I swear every time I clicked to the next question it was like a wave smashing you when you just got up from the last one and still haven't caught your breath. I didn't even feel like it was testing my knowlege of the material, I felt like it was testing how adept I am at avoiding trickery. On all the other 3 I actually felt challenged, but like I was being given the opportunity to apply the knowledge I had learned, on this one I just felt like everything was a set up. UGH!

[TimetoBeDoneWithThis]

I'll share my story about FAR, maybe make some people feel better. I studied as much as I possibly could for FAR, and this was my first test taken. The first MC testlet wasn't bad, then the second and third got progressively harder So I had a feeling that I had to be doing at least decent. Then came the simulations. I definitely rationed out enough time for them, but let me tell you, they were next to impossible. The amount of answers necessary per tab was ridiculous. It even covered material that I have never even see before. I lost focus because I could feel this test slipping away. At points I starting panicking. For days after, I was just constantly bothered by it. It turned out I got a 90 on the exam. Based on how difficult the questions are, there's gotta be more points allocated to right answers.

So to all who are worried, there is hope. Having very hard simulations can't mean an automatic fail. Good luck to all who have taken exams this month and still will be taking this next week.

[Anonymous]

thanks for all the stories folks; I hope I pass either way I won't give up I am in it for the long haul……..I just want a 75 pts if I pass I am going to never ask for anything else from the big Balance Sheet in the sky……..

man I bought a keg……….. the judge told me I couldn't have more then two beers unless I was at home

[Anonymous]

Okay, you guys are making me really nervous, because I didn't feel real bad after taking it. Yeah there were some questions I know I missed, but I didn't feel awful. and both my SIMS were fairly straight forward and simple. Now i'm worried that if the test wasn't hard enough I failed? Is this typical? Should each testlet get harder?

[stjohns796]

CPAinPA – i felt the same way. So did another friend who took it in early Oct who got an 88. I think it is a good sign if you get harder questions, but it doesn't mean everything. Plus, ppl are dramatic afterwards – PTSD

REG 78; BEC 84; FAR 94; AUDIT 93

[RyanK]

stjohns796:

Haha I agree with the PTSD comment! You harp on the ones you think you missed and forget all of the questions you flew through. And it may not seem like the content is more difficult although it actually is. My 2nd and 3rd seemed much easier but had more technically challenging questions, which leads me to beleive they were the higher difficulty testlets.

BEC - 85 1st attempt
REG - 86 1st attempt
AUD - 80 1st attempt

[Anonymous]

My time ran out just as I was finishing up the second simulation – I could have used just 30 more seconds. With that being said, the first testlet was fairly easy, but I had quite a few questions on Non Profit and government accounting. The simulations sucked – I used Becker but I had stuff on there that wasn't even covered in the review. I left the center feeling fairly well. I work in the industry so I am quite familiar with the concepts tested.

Good luck to everyone still waiting for thier FAR score.

[Anonymous]

Well I just finished FAR and I am not feeling great either. I couldn't tell that my testlets were getting any more difficult, so I am pretty sure I failed. Plus half my questions were on one topic that I was praying I wouldn't get a ton of questions on! Never fails! Maybe I will get lucky, but I am feeling nervous reading about how complicated the questions in the second and third testlet were for everyone, because I couldn't tell if they were much more complex than the first!

[shaina0707]

Wow…some of you are cracking me up on here. I took this exam yesterday and it was honestly the worst experience of my life. I passed the other 3 sections on the first try and used Becker AND Wiley to study for this one and felt like the examiners somehow knew my weakest areas and threw them at me on the exam to spite me. My simulations were the worst ever-I could not even tell you what I was supposed to do on them and did not even understand the wording of the questions. I just focused on answering the essays because they are worth the most points in the simulations. The calculation tabs were a joke and I frantically clicked on accounts (for all I know I clicked on accounts named ‘I obviously don't know this' or ‘I give up'-I didn't even look at what I picked just prayed for something to get me points). All I know is it is the first exam I have ever run out of time on and it makes me feel better knowing that people have passed without finishing simulations in the past. Also, my first questions were tricky, but my 2nd testlet was MURDER. Hopefully that's a good sign and my eenie-meenie-miney-mo game worked! I recommend a nice, strong martini afterwards…it's the only reason I made it to work today after the mental and emotional abuse I suffered during the exam yesterday.

[ILoveCPA]

I sat for FAR last night and still have a headache. 200 hours with Becker and Gleim Test Prep CD and I felt I was super

prepared and laughed during my first testlet. Then came the second testlet which nearly caused a brain hemorrhage.

First testlet = easy, 2nd teslet = suicidal complete utter worst of the worst questions. 3rd teslet = much harder than 1st but comparable if not slightly easier than the second. WHich scares me that I bombed the 2nd testlet. Of cours eno I go back and look at my notecards and see some questions that I got wrong but cant recall any of the ones I am not sure about and possibly got right. Dammit

My sims were ridiculous too. 6 tabs all having nothing to do with each other for both sims. Even my research tab, which i always felt was easy, instead took some time on this exam. With 16 min life I still had 4 long tabs in my 2nd sim to completed, panicked…manned up and finished them with 1 minute to spare. I walked out thinking what a failure I am because this is my first part. I am still yelling because I felt this didnt test concept but only trickery….dammit I cant stop being mad at myself and the test administrators.

So to conclude yea I feel like crap just like everyone else on the discussion

FAR(11/09) - 83; AUD(1/10) - 94; BEC(2/10) - 83; REG(2/10) - 88

[yanks0607]

I just took FAR today. I didn't feel that my testlets got progressively harder or that the simulations were brutal. I left the test center feeling the same way I felt when I left for the previous three exams – feeling that it could go either way. You just don't know which questions carry more weight, or which questions are “test questions”, or what the curve is going to be. In my opinion, too many factors to surmise a valid prediction,

AUD - P (4/09), REG - P (5/09), BEC - P (8/09), FAR - P (11/09)

[TheAngryAcct]

Took it today as well and I got rocked. To me there was just too little time. I agree with most, 1 was not bad, 2 was very hard, and 3 was not as hard as 2, but harder than 1.

The simulations were not too bad, except I did not have enough time to complete. Just going to have to caulk this up to a learning experience.

Some friendly advice.

Use 50 minutes per multiple choice section. That will leave you with 90 minutes to split between the simulations.

AUD - 89, BEC - 85, FAR - 81, REG - 91 - That's it for me, Thanks Jeff@another71 !

[Anonymous]

Let me ask this question a different way, are you all saying that if your testlets don't get progressively harder, then you failed the exam? I just don't understand why some are saying that based on having very hard questions, you would pass? Implying if the test didn't seem mind boggling hard, you must have failed. Someone please explain. I would love to understand the thought process here.

[TheAngryAcct]

CPAinPA

The theory is that the test is adaptive to your progress.

So if you are doing well, the questions should be getting harder, the better you do the harder it gets. So if you start to find it very easy as you go, then your not doing well.

I don't know how much I buy into anything related to the exam.

AUD - 89, BEC - 85, FAR - 81, REG - 91 - That's it for me, Thanks Jeff@another71 !

[Author]

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