Carla is a NINJA CPA Blogger.
Hey fellow NINJAs. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday, received passing scores and was able to spend time with their family. I unfortunately did not receive that coveted 75 that I had asked Santa for on many occasions.
However, I was able to raise my score 12 points this time thanks to the Wiley test bank, the NINJA Notes and the FREE NINJA BLITZ weekend so graciously offered by Jeff and the Another71 team.
I scored a 73 on FAR this time and for the first time since starting this journey over two years ago, I feel like I too can pass the exam and become a CPA.
I have started the studying process over again and plan to retake FAR late January before tax season really gets going.
On a different note, let’s talk about score reporting for a few minutes. I live in KY, which is unfortunately not a NASBA state, so I don’t know how the other states send out the official score reports. In KY, they post the scores online usually the day after they are released and then within a couple days you will receive the official score report in the mail.
The front part shows the section you took, the score, and the words PASS/FAIL depending on the score you received. On the back of the page it shows the breakdown of the topics and how you rank among other candidates who took the same section during the same testing period.
The three headings are “weaker, comparable, and stronger”. To me, this is absolutely useless information! I would rather have numbers that actually mean something. For example, under the topic of Governmental accounting, tell me I scored a 65. Having a number gives me a better idea of what my weak topics are and what I need to look at more for the next time.
So I am posing this question to all NINJAs, “How does your state report your scores and how do you know what to work on to improve your score the next time (if need be)?”
I have started the three-stage process of setting up my next showdown with FAR in late January and hope that this time will be the one that gets me over the initial threshold and I can get my first PASS. I am hopeful that my next post will bring news of a passing score and success. Good luck to everyone studying and testing this window.
When I received my last fail from REG I got the report and talked with a co-worker about it (Who is a somewhat recent CPA) We both agreed that it is useless. For example, if in one section of the topics you scored weaker that could mean you had one or two questions from that topic and for some reason missed them. This might just mean one weak subtopic in that general area. So how do you know? I have come to the conclusion that you just need to start from the top and try to identify your own areas you hate. Do you ever get to a topic and think "I won't ever get this....so I hope I don't get it on my exam?" That is probably an area you could work on. For me I was able to look at my score report and do an honest evaluation. It helped me look in my book in those general areas and once I was willing to admit that I really didn't review certain topics as well as I should have I was able to work harder to improve those areas I kinda hated. I don't know if this rant has helped. My suggestion would be to start from scratch and be completely honest with yourself and do not skimp on any areas just because you think they are too hard.
You can do this!
Benjamin you are spot on.
Thanks for your suggestions Benjamin! I do feel like there were a couple areas that I was not as strong in and should have reviewed more. I am going back and re-reading my books, notes and working MCQs. I really just wish they would give more detail on the score report.