Virginia is a weekly Club 75 Blogger as she documents her journey through the CPA Exam. She has been a member of Another71.com's Club 75 since December 2010.

 

I took FAR this past week, which was the third time I have sat for FAR (61, 73). I actually thought things were going well through the test, until I received a computer error message. I have sat for the various sections of the CPA exam 13 times (ouch) and this was the first time I have ever encountered any computer problems at Prometric.

I was flying through the multiple choice testlets and was in the TBS. I was actually on tab 6 of 7, almost done, when an error message popped up.

As much as I wanted to click “close” or whatever the little button in bottom right corner of the message said and move along with my exam I knew that wasn’t the right move. Based on everything I had previously read about the CPA Exam, I knew I had to leave the message up and go tell the Prometric staff right away. That’s what I did.

The message said I would lose any work not saved. What? Any work not saved? I’m sorry, was there a “save” button on the exam, because I missed it. While I waited for the Prometric staff to come back out from checking my computer, I was silently panicking that I lost the first 5 tabs I had done in the TBS.

Another worker at Prometric told me I should have not lost any work except anything done in the last 60 seconds. Awesome, because 60 seconds prior I was just blankly starring at the screen, wondering why my testing neighbor decided to wear an insane amount of perfume that day. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for people smelling nice, but when everyone around you is choking on the air they’re breathing, then it’s too much.

The original Prometric worker that I informed of my problem came back out to tell me he thought my Ethernet cable must have been loose and I must have kicked it out, so he switched me to a different computer. Whether or not I completely believed that’s what happened, I took the rest of the test with my legs wrapped around the back of the chair. I was extremely relieved to find out that I had not lost any work, but the whole thing really threw off my concentration.

I find it easier to answer the TBS questions on my scratch paper first, and then enter it into the test. This way I don’t fall for any additional answer choices. I was so relieved I had done this because when I sat back down to finish my test I double-checked tabs one through five to my scratch paper and made sure all my answers were there.

I tend to be a really fast test taker and always have been. I have never been able to dwell on questions I don’t know, because that only stresses me out. Despite my computer troubles I finished FAR with just over an hour to spare. I don’t like to speculate on how I did on tests I took. The fact is, the test is over and there’s nothing I can do about it now. I stick with my motto, “no score is better than a failing score.”

I walked out to my car expecting to feel free, but I didn’t. I thought of how much I had to do like laundry, cleaning, and heck, the potential of having to hit the books in a few weeks. I am waiting on my REG score from January, and of course FAR that I just took. I could potentially be done, or have to retake both of these.

While this cloud is still hanging over my head, I must say, it is nice to not have to study for anything at the moment.

I mean, get me some sunglasses, because the light at the end of this tunnel is pretty bright.

Virginia