[jakemikey777]

if you plan on quitting anytime soon, because if I’m not you should not.

Before I dive into what i have to say, anyone getting destroyed on one exam specifically, doesn’t have to be REG.

I want to give people a little background so I passed 3 of the 4 sections on the first try, while only studying about 3 weeks each (about 70 hours per exam, which as you folks know is about the same that some put into a single exam) while working a full time 60-80 hours a week in public accounting. I scored in the high 80’s, and was cruising with the exception of REG. Back in January, I took REG for the 6th time, and received a low 70’s score. It was supposed to be my last exam (for the 3rd or 4th time, I forget) it caused my BEC to expire; I was able to take BEC in March before the test change and passed it again. I just took REG again in May, and received a 73. NASBA is cruel, but for you folks that are thinking of quitting, don’t ever give up, you will finish. I know some of you can’t pass one, you will, work hard, re-do the questions over and over again until you get it.

The best advice someone ever told me about studying is simple, if you read a chapter and can’t regurgitate to me what you learned a minute after to me then how could you possibly expect to do well on the day of the exam, which may be a week or two after you read that said chapter?

[oisbuddy]

Dang that is tough, sorry to hear. Here's some advice. So I took reg back in Jan and received a 74, I was so pissed especially because tax is what I do at work for 1/4th of the year. The exam back then was 60% MC and 40% SIMS. Then I took the exam in May and got a 81. Immediately after taking the exam, I walked out knowing I crushed the SIMS, but the MC I knew I had performed almost the same as the first time I took reg. My method was to finish MC in 70-90 min and then dedicate rest to SIMS. The reason I spent so little time on the MC is because 15 are pretest I believe so my logic was to not overthink MC as the probability of a pretest MC is high. Onto the SIMS and my advice….

The purpose of the new exam is to have candidates do on the test what they will do during tax time at work. This makes it tougher for people who have little tax experience.

My advice is to practice SIMS only since you have plenty experience with MC. Learn to do a 1040 using w-2s, passive and active K-1s, 1099s, deductions, etc. Most importantly, use a whitesheet to complete the 1040. Next, know you basis calculations inside and out for c-corp, s-corp and Pships. Also don't forget estate tax returns and schedule c and schedule e. The SIMS are strictly tax questions so hammer away at tax.

[CPA_help]

I received my second failing score on Reg and am taking FAR in a couple of days. My confidence is completely shot. I feel like I can’t focus at all on FAR because I keep thinking I am going to fail. When I received my score report for REG I was shocked bc I received a 65 with Comparable MC and weaker sims. I thought for sure I would have had a higher score being stronger in some of the MC and mostly comparable. I must have gotten a literal zero on the sims. The Sims are not 50% so I really am trying to focus on nailing them for FAR. I really don’t want to drop the ball for Far but I can’t seem to turn my discouragement around. Seeing that you passed them all on the first try and are just struggling with Reg helps. I wish I had done REG after FAR because now i feel hopeless.

[CPA788]

I'll tell you the only way I could pass REG was by getting a private tutor. After failing REG the 4th time, I was at a loss and panicked at losing BEC. Let me know if it interests you and I will share his link. The idea of a tutor was sorta weird to me. This guy is remote in FL and he's pricey AF, but he's worth it. I worked on taxation on entities with him because it was the one category I could never get out of the “weaker” section. I scored “stronger” when I got my passing score last week. REG is legit the devil in test form.

BEC - 74, 77
FAR - 72, 71 (retake 7/29)
REG - 69
AUD - Q4 '16

CA Candidate

[Author]

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