[Wannafree]

Hi all those who took AFR in Oct,
Can you please share your exam experiences ,kinda curfew on forum .Curious how the things are in general ?

[AROBanks]

Took it yesterday. Beyond confusing. Did not feel confident. Finished mcq's with 2:15 left. 1 sim was overly difficult. I just don't understand how you are expected to go through 15 pages of info and that many transactions with ONE SCREEN…and you can't split screen the backup info. It made me really mad. The other sims had maybe 5 -7 pieces of backup each but what they asked me to do was not even comparable to anything in my Becker book or in the Ninja MCQ or Ninja Sims. Also, I work in Gov and that work knowledge did not help me yesterday.

Passed Audit 4/17 and BEC 11/16.

[Wannafree]

Thanks AROBank , Could you finish all SIMs ? Someone mentioned in other thread Ninja MCQ prepared him/her very well.As admin will delete slightest of hints so don't mention that as not interested in knowing the specifics.So can I say baring that long questions you were able to solve all SIMs in 2.25 hours ? Did you face that problem which many people face ,zero or blank ?

[jenpen]

I took FAR on 9/7. I felt like I could have used a few extra days of studying, but when I got in the exam it wasn't so bad. I finished the MCQs with around 2.5 hours left, and then I finished the SIMs with an extra 40 minutes to spare. I used Ninja primarily, with some Wiley videos on topics I needed extra help in. The only time I practiced SIMs was when I utilized the practice AICPA exam.

For the document SIMs, I tend to write what the problem is asking, and then I'll look through the documents to find the answer/number that I need. If it's a DRS, I will use split screen to compare what is in the problem vs. what's in the documentation.

I had previously taken this section twice last fall (end of Q3, and beginning of Q4 2016) and got 69 both times. I managed to pass this time with an 82.

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[Wannafree]

@Jennifer ,impressive to have 40 minutes left in FAR.So it's possible to finish the SIMs in 1.50 Hours.You are rays of good hope for all those who are struggling in SIMs due to time management.Could you finish all SIMs ? I am guessing you didn't get the any long sims like I did.There were 2 very long SIMs I had got which were on my last SIMs and it was impossible for me to solve those two SIMs in 25 minutes even though I knew the answers.I will try screen split this time .

[heidigail30]

@WannaFree I had the same expreience as AROBanks. The multiple choice questions were not as hard as the becker MCQ's but the SIMS were just confusing. Becker SIMS i felt were easier to understand. When the material say heavily tested make sure you know it. I also finished the MCQ with about 2.25 for the sims. The support they want you to go through to complete the SIMS is ridiculous. I work in public and it takes me a while to review support and they want you to accurately review it in 2hrs… for me thats the craziest part of the exam. My advice to you is to be prepared for the hard parts i.e. last couple chapters of becker book.

[Wannafree]

@heidigail30 thank you .Each and every suggestion on SIMs is appreciated.I am on same situation as you and believe that it's time consuming to go though 40 emails and solve the problems.
Right now I am making my own home made SIM.Converting MCQ or skill practice questions into SIM format as I have appeared 3 times I know the format very well.Only thing I have added to my home made SIM is JE for my own satisfaction.I believe if I know JE for a transaction it would be difficult to get confused with emails.
I would appreciate any other suggestion you can have.

[jenpen]

@WannaFree yes, I believe if you understand the material then the SIMs are doable. I had 3 SIMs with documents, and one that I had to completely research (that was what the instructions told me to do as it was an uncommon topic. I believe it was a protest, but obviously don’t know for sure.). I completed the SIMs I was confident on first and then worked the rest. I hate the way the SIMs are split up because it makes it difficult to properly allocate the time necessary for longer SIMs, but I just tried to work through them as quickly as I comfortably could and for me, it worked out. Good luck!

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[JRM]

I wish I could tell which one of my sims was pretest 🙁 .. The only one I can think of being pre test was probably the easiest one.

[Wannafree]

@Thanks a lot Jennifer .

[fxbinbin]

Is it normal to have 3 DRS simulations? I sat on 10/7 and got 3 DRS.
My research question took me surprisingly long time to locate the topic.

[Wannafree]

@lillyjam , I had 4 DRS in Q3.How difficult were the SIMs and MCQ ? You may contribute your experience without being specific e.g took 40 minutes for testlet 3 etc.

[Dro]

Just completed FAR for 3rd time. My goodness, those SIMs!! 1 research and every single SIM had multiple resources to sift through. It was tough, not feeling confident.

I used Gleim, completed over 4k MCQs for my prep, trend 70%. On to AUD. If I fail any of these, I lose REG. FAR is impossible, how do people pass? 😢

REG: 69, 73, 80!
FAR: 62
BEC: TBD
AUD: TBD

[Ana]

I had 3 DRS. FAR is so freakin hard to pass.

[Jj]

I just took far yesterday. Feel really good about it which leads me to believe I did not pass.

[Tim]

I took it today. It was the first section I've taken so I really didn't know what to expect. Based on reading about people struggling on the sims I didn't spend a lot of time double-checking my MCQ's so I would have more time for the sims. But then I ended up finishing the test with 75 minutes left on the clock and the last testlet I was confident in my answers in so it was pointless to keep going over them. I wish I had spent a little more time double-checking the MCQ's, especially in the 2nd testlet as the first one seemed pretty easy. That said one of the things on the sims I researched after the test was over and found out I changed it from the correct answer to the incorrect one, so maybe it's good that I didn't go back to double-check many MCQ's. As they say generally your first instinct is correct.

I had 1 research question which only took about 3 minutes to find the answer. 2 of my sims didn't have any additional documents to review, but the remaining 5 did.

I'm decently confident I passed but anything can happen. Waiting 2 months for the score is painful.

[Author]

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