I've passed FAR, AUD, and REG but BEC keeps slipping through my fingers. I've failed twice now - first time with a 72, second time with a 73. The passing score is 75 and I feel like I'm so close but can't quite break through. Most of my weakness seems to be in the written communication tasks and the IT governance questions.
On Becker practice exams I'm consistently hitting 75-78% on the MCQs and TBSs but I'm losing points on written communication. I'm not sure how those are graded - I know they look at structure, relevance, and memo/letter format, but the partial credit system is opaque. For my third attempt I'm spending about 3 hours per day and dedicating one full hour specifically to writing practice.
I'm taking the exam in 5 weeks. The economic concepts section I actually find pretty manageable. It's the intersection of IT controls and business cycles that trips me up on the TBSs.
Third attempt I got a 78. Keep at it - you're clearly close and just need to find the 2-3 points you're leaving on the table.
I was at 73 twice. What finally pushed me over was drilling IT internal controls hard - that area showed up more than I expected and it's very learnable material.
The written communication tasks are worth about 15% of your score and they're almost entirely about format and clarity. Use the proper memo header, stay on topic, write clean sentences. They're not evaluating accounting accuracy.
Quick update since this thread helped me a ton. I sat down last weekend and grinded through a full set of practice WCTs plus a bunch of the free bec corporate governance questions, and I finally cracked an 81 on a timed practice exam. First time I've broken 75 on anything BEC related. The writing part still isn't my strong suit but I've stopped trying to sound smart and just answer the prompt directly, and that alone bumped me up.
I'm sitting the real thing in three weeks. Honestly I think the difference was volume. I wasn't doing enough reps before, just reading and convincing myself I understood it. Don't make my mistake and wait too long to retest, you're clearly close already with a 72 and 73. You'll get there.
Quick update since I've been lurking this thread for motivation. I sat down with a full practice set this weekend and finally cracked an 81 overall, and my written communication section was the strongest it's been. What changed for me was treating the WCs like a business memo and not an essay. I stopped trying to sound smart and just answered the prompt in plain language with a clear intro, a few body points, and a short wrap up. The graders aren't looking for poetry. They want to see that you can organize a thought and stay on topic.
I'm scheduled to sit the real exam in three weeks. I'm nervous given my two near misses but the practice scores are trending up so I'm trying to trust the process. One thing that helped, I started writing my WC responses under a strict timer because last time I ran low on time and rushed the last one. If you're stuck at 72 and 73 like I was, I really think it's a small fix and not a knowledge gap. You're closer than it feels.