[Anonymous]

I gave REG last week.

I just want to emphasize on what Jeff always suggests

” Do not practice sims ” It is just a waste of time. Try to understand the MCQs. Just don’t solve it, try to understand the logic behind it, then what ever comes in the sim should be familiar to you. Practicing sim is simply a waste of time. Just my two cents…

[jomarie]

Thanks for the advice!!

Started sitting in May 2002, on and off. But since 2008 I've been nonstop and my scores are....
AUD - 39, 48, 56, 65, 68, 73, 76!!! (Finally passed in Oct 2011!!!) Becker, NINJA, & Wiley
REG - 75 (Lost Credit) 72, 68, 73, 75 (Passed again in Aug 2011) Becker, NINJA, & Wiley
FAR - 65, 68, 75 (Lost Credit) 68, 73, 73, 80 (Passed again in May 2012) Roger, NINJA, & Wiley
BEC - 65, 68, 71, 72, 72, 71, 76 (Lost Credit)- 70, 76!!!! I AM DONE!!! - Roger, NINJA, & Wiley
After 10 long years of studying, I AM DONE!!!! Finally a Licensed CPA in the State of New York!!

[yankeeaccountant]

@cpaguru,

It is so hard not to..especially with what everyone keeps saying about them. Don't you think that just practicing helps with the time factor? How long did you have for mcq's and the sims?

[killaking]

I say do sims doing MC will just make you strong on MC happened to me twice.

FAR: 7/17/10 missed exam FML reschedule 8/29/10-77 EPIC!
REG: 5/31/11-73 SMH, 8/31/11-85
BEC: 4/15/10-72 : retake 10/3/10-80
AUD: 11/28/10-74, 02/27/11-71 FML, 8/1/11-80
Ethics 10/22/22-80, retake 11/28/11 - 88

[shdy]

honestly, no sims practice will help you on the actual sims on the reg exam. just be prepared that you are gonna see full simulations that are gonan be very intimidating, just take a quick breather and say to yourself this is what is between you and passing the exam. concentrate on MC to get the explanations down and don't get sucked into too much detail of amounts, just the general idea of each topic

[Anonymous]

We all prepare differently; I took REG in May (and passed) and I don't regret practicing the SIMs. SIMs can come in a wide variety of formats (how they're structured, where the info is, what to fill in in what order) and by practicing, I felt it took less time for me to digest the format/approach in order to get working on the answers. That said, the sample SIMs weren't entirely on point; I imagine that will improve as the course providers get more familiar with the 2011 exam format. I thought it was also helpful to be familiar with the order/structure of the various tax forms, for both SIMs and MCQs.

[a09rt]

I hope this helps.. the sims for becker seem really confusing

BEC - 76 (4/22)
FAR - Aug

[samdiegoCPA]

I haven't practiced any SIMs. When I do the SIMs, however, I go through all of them and answer everything I know 100%, then I go back and do the ones that I could figure out the answer the easiest/fastest and do the hardest ones last and fill in 0's for number blanks. At least I will get some points :/ I will NEVER leave anything blank.

AUD: 84
REG: 84
BEC: 79
FAR: 83

[Anonymous]

I tend to disagree. I do think that doing sims helps you understand the material a bit more, I think anything helps. I mean Becker's sims are borderline dumb and read terrible, but there were several times I learned certain things (journal entries, etc.) that I just needed further view of.

However, I do think that the multiple choice do all of the legwork. When you repeatedly hammer them out by the thousands you start to see how the questions are asked, and you start to pick up on what they're asking for. You're even likely to see ~10 questions on the exam that you've been practicing on all along. You'll almost never see the same sims though.

[SeattleAccountant]

I also along with Abbzolute have to disagree. Do as many sims as you can. This way you know if you really know how to apply tax knowledge. There is a good reason of why your review materials contain sims. Don't be foolish, practice sims and verify that the knowledge is there!

@a09rt

If you think that Becker's REG sims are confusing, wait till you get your hands on actual exam ones!

Becker Class of Jan - Aug 2013: FARB DONE!!!!
CPA license pending 🙂

[Anonymous]

I think that they're both confusing in different ways. Becker Simulations just word things poorly. The exam ones tell you exactly what they want from you, they're just ridiculously hard. lol

As I said before, I don't think Becker's simulations are there to help you prepare for the simulations on the exam. I just think they're there to help you solidify knowledge that you learned from their multiple choice. The simulations I got on the REG exam were terribly brutal.

[mbbransc]

I completely disagree. SIMs are what got me through FAR and what are keeping me from passing REG. If I could just get all the tax ‘stuff' down pat for the SIMs, I'd make it through this once and for all.

------------
FAR - PASSED
BEC - PASSED
AUD - PASSED
REG - 74
<sigh>

[a09rt]

@SeattleAccountant they were horrific! i doubt i passed this exam lol

BEC - 76 (4/22)
FAR - Aug

[Anonymous]

Sims are 40% of exam points. Practice hard for them is my advice.

[Anonymous]

I felt like practicing the sims was actually beneficial for REG, whereas it was completely useless for FAR or AUD. There's one advantage with REG….you know all the sims will be tax-related. The questions often force you to draw on multiple different concepts which really help you determine whether you have a thorough understanding of the topics. As far as seeing a similar question on the exam? That will not happen, but I do think practicing helps.

With FAR and AUD there were so many different topics they could ask a sim on that it was a total crapshoot, I'd just stick with the MCQs for those 2.

[a09rt]

@co10101 thanks for giving me the heads up. I start studying for AUD tomorrow… any other pointers you may have to share?

BEC - 76 (4/22)
FAR - Aug

[Author]

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