[CPA_VT]

Today I took REG exam. This would be my 4th exam section and hopefully I am done.

Preparation:
I stuck with GLEIM Review. I started earnest preparations in second week of August right after taking AUD. By now, I was familiar with the GLEIM methodology. I struggled a bit with specific topics such as Property Transactions and had to repeat that study unit 2-3 times before GLEIM would let me proceed. I found REG hard to study for, mainly because of so many exceptions and $$ limits one needed to remember

I plodded through the material, took the full length model exam 12 days out from the exam and then spent the remaining time reviewing. In the last 1 week I did about 1000 MCQs . I had made about 70 pages of short personal notes in a word document that I skimmed through the morning of the exam. My time slot was at Noon. This prometric center gave us a basic calculator, pen and 4 page scratch sheet, I did use it. Even after taking 4 exams, I find using the Excel hard . I prefer to write on the scratch sheet if it is not an involved calculation.

Exam:

The first two MCQs were kind of okay. I flagged 3-4 questions in each MCQ testlet, took a guess at the end of each testlet and moved on. I was very conscious of time and finished both MCQs in exactly 94 minutes.
The first TBS was a disaster. I am sure I bombed that one. The phrasing of the question intended to be ambiguous or may be I just did not study well enough to grasp the nuances. I just got through that TBS , mentally writing it off. I took the break and I had exactly 1 hr 54 minutes for two remaining TBS sections with 3 testlets each. Those two felt okay and I was fairly sure of a majority of the individual questions.

Learnings:
I perhaps focused too much on specific $$ limits and exceptions and perhaps that was not required. That time I could have spent gaining conceptual clarity on especially in tricky areas where there are exceptions and variations to a general theme. I felt this way more prevalent in REG than in other 3 sections.
Hopefully I did just enough to get past the hurdle and the disastrous 1st TBS will not cause much damage.

I will come back and post in a few weeks when results are announced. I so hope I will be able to say I am done in a couple of weeks. Good luck with all those gearing up for the exam.

[Road2CPA]

@CPA_VT I just took REG last month and seem to have had the same experience that you had in regards to studying and the exam (but I probably flagged 6-7 in each MCQ testlet). The only difference is that I used Wiley. I honestly had prepared for retaking the exam. I didn't move forward with studying for FAR since I tested for REG on the last day of the scoring period, so I only had to wait a week for my score. I didn't want to get a week into studying for FAR, only to have to re-shift my focus back to REG. Through some type of grace and mercy, I ended up with a 75, haha! I literally laughed out loud when I saw the score of 75, but almost cried tears of joy at the same time. I also think that the week-long break was much needed since my nerves were all over the place after taking REG.

I say all of that to say, it sounds like you probably passed and have nothing to worry about.

[CPA_VT]

@Road2CPA – Thank you. I hope I squeak through.

[LD-407]

Congratulations to you on finishing your CPA exams!! I'm using UWorld Roger CPA review and I just sat for REG yesterday. I felt like none of the questions were surprising or anything that Roger's didn't cover, there were definitely some tough ones in there! The TBS simulations were pretty quick, I submitted the exam with about 30 minutes to spare. I'm hoping I can celebrate with a pass when I get my results at the end of the month : ).

Congrats again on all your hard work!

[Author]

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