[Ndom1]

Hi guys,

Took BEC yesterday. First testlet was a breeze. Only flagged 3 questions and guessed on 2.

Second testlet was noticeably harder. Flagged 7 or 8 questions and completely guessed on 3 or 4 of those. The questions on the 2nd testlet were very wordy and it took me longer to finish this section. Also a decent amount of calculations. There was a good mix of every section in both testlets, with no section being tested more than any other. I know in the past people were saying how much IT there is, there was a solid amount, but I felt prepared for them.

I studied using Wiley/CPAexcel and supplemented with CPAreviewforfree. CPAreviewforfree helped me the most I think because the questions were quite similar to the exam. I actually got 2 identical questions on the exam from CPAreviewforfree.

The TBS wasn’t bad. The first one seemed too easy so I was worried that I messed something up. The next 3 were all very calculation heavy with many resources to look through. I know I made a bone headed mistake on one of the TBS questions but I can’t beat myself up over that. Overall I think I did decent on TBS.

The written portion was a cruel joke. I gave myself 50 minutes for this section and it wasn’t enough. I knew one of the questions and wrote well about it, but the other 2 came totally out of left field. I did my best to stick to the topic and use buzz words and proper grammar. But it was hard submitting that testlet.

[reallytired]

Thank you for sharing! I take BEC 8/28. How many weeks did you study? How did you prepare for IT?

B 10/29/16
A 10/1/16
R 9/2/16
F 7/26/16

[brokeonbecker4]

I know you didn't give anything away disclosure wise, but I feel like we had the same exam. You described how I felt exactly, especially on the sims and written communication (I took BEC 7/6).

[Ndom1]

I studied for an extended time because I work full time, plus I am getting married in a few weeks so I have been pre-occupied doing other things.

I studied from May 12th-July 30. So a solid 2.5 months. I averaged more hours per week the last month. The first month and a half was really on and off.

I prepared for IT using the Wiley test bank and CPAreviewforfree as a supplement. Seriously I can't say enough about that site. For this section at least it really helped me. They only have 155 IT questions but I learned a solid amount from them. And I got a word for word IT question on the exam from the website so that was really cool.

[Williams]

I've heard break even, CVP and variance analysis aren't tested heavily this quarter. What are your thoughts on this without breaking disclosure of course? I skipped those sections in my gleim review and sit 8/5/2017. I know the other material extremely well though, in you opinion ngal1 do you think I have a chance of passing. I'm contemplating rescheduling to sit in October, took and passed my first section 2/28/2017 (AUD:77).

Any advice will be appreciated.

[alloverit]

jnwilliams328,

If you already know those cost topics that's fine, but if not…oops. I took the exam yesterday 8/1/17 and without disclosing anything, those type questions were all there and tested as heavily as anything but IT. One extended SIM was similar to what is on the AICPA site so you might look at their site.

I used Gleim too and was well prepared for breakeven, and all variance and costing questions.

I would also consider reviewing some of the more difficult MC questions in your Gleim package as a way to prepare for the SIMS. The SIMS provided by Gleim are largely MUCH MUCH MUCH (!!!!!) more difficult than what you'll see on the exam. By and large, the MC questions for Gleim are too. But I would contend that a thorough review of the Gleim MCQ that include lots of calculations, etc. would be a good way to prepare for the actual SIMS.

BTW, if you're reading this and using another review program I think the above strategy is valid for Becker, Wiley, etc….Gleim though has a lot of MCQ that take up an entire page!

[Ndom1]

jnwilliams328,

Yeah I have to agree with alloverit.

Break even and variance analysis was definitely a good portion of it. I also got an extended SIM that is very similar to one on the practice exams on the AICPA website.

So If I was you, I would go over those two concepts and do a lot of MCQ's on them. I received just a many cost questions as I did IT. And not trying to disclose more than I should, but I can say the amount of Economics questions I answered was very minimal. Maybe 2 or 3 multiple choice on Eco and that's it.

[Williams]

Yeah i'm not gonna lie Gleim really bummed me out for this one. I spent so much time mastering the material (sims and MCQ), that by the time I got to the final three chapters i was completely burnt out and incapable of learning any new material that was formula heavy like the last three sections in Gleim, which are on break- even, CVP and variance.

I'm just going to sit on the 8/5 and hope for the best, at the very least i'll be able to get a sneak peek at some of the content their testing for. Also, I still have the option to sit on 10/14 if i don't pass. Wish me luck everyone, I thought i was making good time but now with this new BEC i'm going to be cutting it very close. Hopefully i'll retain the info from FAR and REG better.

[suzieemac]

Thanks so much for sharing, I never heard of CPAreviewforfree website until I read this, and I am so glad that I did! I love the Ninja MCQ because they really challenge your knowledge of the concepts, but I feel like the questions on CPAreviewforfree are worded more similarly to the exam.

The Sims on the AICPA website make me feel confident for test day, I really hope they are similar.

BEC tomorrow. Third attempt. Waiting for FAR score, and hopefully this will be the LAST test I have to take!

AUD - 8/12/16
REG - 10/7/16
BEC - 11/18/16
FAR - TBD

#300before30 - Pass the CPA exam before my 30th Birthday.

[shivp45]

Hey guys,

Just took bec on 8/11. Way more IT than I imagined. First testlet was a breeze. Second testlet had IT. Sims were pretty easy. I had absolutely no idea about one WC. Studied with Becker and CPAreview for free. So many varities of IT questions that it's hard to study it “correctly.” Overall easier than I imagined it to be after everyone's comments on it but starting to think I got some easy ones wrong

[Anonymous]

I took it yesterday, on 8/12/17. Almost no IT questions, quite a few COSO. But, as I posted on another thread that I started, the SIMs were a cruel ****ing joke. Four DRS's, two of which were on the same difficult topic that I had not studied nearly enough on. The WC's were on the last testlet and I wish they'd been on the 3rd or even 4th testlet so I could've spent more time on the SIMs. Why they break up the SIMs into multiple testlets now, I don't understand. But the WC's were all easy and I knocked them all out in 30-35 minutes, with 2 minutes left on clock. If I passed, it will be nothing short of a miracle but I don't think I did. Vivite et noscite (live and learn.)

[Ndom1]

Update. Passed with a 79.

[Author]

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