[ellyvanilley89]

First off, congrats to those who passed! You deserve it!! Now help me!

Let me just say, I am devastated. I started studying for CPA in June of 2016 and passed my first part-AUD in August. Took and passed FAR in Q3. Took and passed BEC in Q4. All on the fist try. Plan was to take REG before March 10th so I could finish before the changes, much like others. I am currently finishing up my MBA in May and starting full-time with Public Accounting firm in July/August.

Just revealed a nice 73 tonight; I definitely bombed the sims. Got angry. Cried. Calmed myself down. Got angry again. This cycle is just continuous for now. My question is, now what? Do I file an appeal? Definitely not. Gotta get back on the horse. Might do a retake in late April or early May.

I’ve been using Becker but I will definitely need supplemental questions. Any recommendations? Thinking NINJA maybe. I know my situation is not-at-all terrible. I know others are juggling even more than I am but damn that was a punch in the gut.

I think I just need some positive words. Those in the same boat, I feel for you. I really do. How do I stay motivated? How to I wait 3-4 months for my score to release?!

AUD: 7/8/2016 - 80!
FAR: 9/8/2016 - TBD
BEC: TBD
REG: TBD

[Goingallin]

Sorry to hear. I'm also waiting for reg score. Being reg is my last and I was able to pass the other three first attempt, I can totally understand your frustration. I would be devastated too if in the morning I see a failing score.

The bright side is you only have one battle left, one part to concentrate on.

May I asked how many hours you put in to study for reg? I used Becker too n felt it did a good job at prepping however I did make some very stupid mistake so on the sim.

[C / X]

Hey first of all congrats on the job and finishing your MBA (and studying for the CPA’s at the same time- surprised you didn’t mix up the material) that’s super impressive! And the fact that you’ve only taken the rest of them just once shows that you definitely can do it!

I think you might have underestimated REG a bit as you did DECENT (70’s) but not WELL (75+) but it’s not a failure yet, only a setback. REG was my demon and thankfully I took it first because after taking it, I know I can pass the rest of these. It’s just putting it the effort.

When I took REG I made sure I knew the material WELL enough (which is why I kept rescheduling)I don’t know if you have that luxury. I don’t know when your start date is but 2 months should be enough to go over it again (and worse comes to worse hopefully your start date is after July 1st as I guess you do also have to worry about the MBA

I suggest getting samples/trials of different materials and decide which one you like best. Sometimes it’s good to read the material in a different way.

Let me know if you need any study tips/motivation but I think you will be fine. Just take a week off at most to rest a bit, don’t pout too long. I did that (and took too many breaks in between studying) and you pay for it later. Time is precious and that is a waste of it.

If you put a little more effort into making sure you're say 80% ready instead of 70% ready (cuz you can never be a 100%….sigh) then I'm sure you will pass the next time. If they are evening out the SIMS my thought process is that maybe they won't be as DANG hard anymore though but don't count on that.

Good luck!

[ellyvanilley89]

@goingallin Thank you and good luck to you. Hope you receive better news than I did, I really do.

I go back and forth between staying positive and being frustrated. It's not the end of the world and I do have 3 parts done but then I think about how I could have dodged the changes and how I was so close.

I also felt prepared enough. Although, I do feel I could have spent more time practicing the Simulations. I had trouble on the exam with sims. I studied somewhere between 10-15 hours per chapter (there are 8 for non-becker users). I took less time on business law and ethics. Not sure where my studying went wrong.

AUD: 7/8/2016 - 80!
FAR: 9/8/2016 - TBD
BEC: TBD
REG: TBD

[C / X]

^ Well I do hope to get a passing score and think I did, but if I didn't, I wouldn't be surprised and that's on me.

Honestly AUD is the only one I liked studying for (no calculations, mainly logic) so I feel like if there is one I will underestimate it would be that, just because it's the only one I did well on MCQ's (first time around without having to go through them again to see what I missed)like I did for the others.

FOR REG: That being said this exam (to ME) had easy MCQ's and SIMS from outer space (but they like to change it up every window to keep it challenging so it's not a good benchmark).

TBH I thought I was ready for REG until I read this site and all the ppl crying and freaking out about REG made me rethink my strategy as I just couldn't stand to fail it when it was the 1st one. You at least gave yourself a window to where you might at least be able to have one free relaxing month (June) and not when you're in public accounting and they throw you into the trenches.

When you studied, did you ever zone out though? I totally zoned out a lot and had to restudy/rewatch a lot because REG isn't one you can zone out for, or go fast for.

I like Roger's book/video lectures for Reg and I liked Nina's book even better. I think the biggest problem I had was trying not to mix up a few little details for ptr and s-corps.

Do you know what subjects you were weak on?

[ellyvanilley89]

@Christina Thanks for the encouragement!

I definitely think I underestimated Reg simulations. But, I felt from the beginning that IF I were to fail a part, it would be regulation. Not a good way to think but I just had very little tax knowledge to build on. I have only taken 2 or 3 tax courses at my university and I have no industry experience since all of my internships have been in Auditing. I should have pushed harder knowing this but I guess I got too comfortable with passing. I put very little, and I mean little, effort into BEC and passed but passing rates are higher and whatnot.

You're absolutely right, I should not pout. Just push, push, push.

I felt comfortable with Individual, C-Corps and Ethics as well as Business Law. Partnerships and S-Corps were my weaker areas. 2 of my sims were on Partnerships and S-Corps so I think that was my downfall. I'm going to see what my score report says as well.

AUD: 7/8/2016 - 80!
FAR: 9/8/2016 - TBD
BEC: TBD
REG: TBD

[C / X]

^ Good luck! Honestly at least now you know the material, it get's easier to study the second time around. The hardest part is not getting bored and being like I already know that, cuz REG is also about the itty bitty little details and was so illogical after awhile I felt like it was mainly memorizing stupid rules (well at least some made sense- the ones where they want your money*- ha I couldn't have done it without Roger cracking me up, and Ninja slapping in the face with every damn little which way…now I just can't wait for it to be over.

The fact that you didn't procrastinate and take breaks and managed to pass 3 whole sections WHILE going to grad school is super impressive, I KNOW you will pass on the 2nd try (well as long as you keep trucking) so when it comes down to it, don't worry about the 3 months after, you got this!

*And lol I realized that one reply wasn't for me) sorry my brain is running on no sleep right now…and prob running on no sleep again tonight.

[ellyvanilley89]

@Christina Thank you so much! Every little bit of positivity helps.

Good luck to you as well!! I hope Audit rematch treats you well! You GOT this. We will all get there eventually.

AUD: 7/8/2016 - 80!
FAR: 9/8/2016 - TBD
BEC: TBD
REG: TBD

[Goingallin]

Elly: the reason why I asked is be I don't think you should give up on using Becker. It's really a great tool. I spent 5 weeks on reg and totally messed up 2 of the 6 sim cuz I was rushing and forgot to calculate the agi deduction I ended up with an 83 even with the two sim being wrong.

Not sure about your test, but mine was heavy on business law and ethics.

I'm confident you'll pass next round. Sometimes it could be due to a bad day and missing questions we should've had.

Good luck!

[Author]

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