[tbstew]

Well, tomorrow I’m taking REG finally. So at last I’ll find out if 4500 MCQs and about 100 practice SIMs are enough to make up for totally slacking off in tax classes in college, and letting several years go by since graduating college before taking the exam.

I always talk about studying like a maniac, and thereby leaving no possible way to fail… we’ll see if I measure up, lol.

AUD - 79
BEC - 88
REG - 87
FAR - 86 - Woot, all done!
Ethics - 100

[yankeeaccountant]

@tbstew

sounds like you were methodical in your approach. Best of luck to you!!

[Anonymous]

I'm terrified of REG just because I did the same thing in college—I HATED taxation and always felt like when I did try to understand it, I just couldn't make sense of it all! Best of luck to you–keep us updated and give us feedback on how you think you did 🙂

[pacific1]

Good luck to you!! I think you will do great, you have really worked hard and it will show!

[tbstew]

All right… just got out. Like usual, I have NO idea how to feel. Typical experience for REG takers, I'm sure – Quite a few tricky MCQs, several surprises, and difficult SIMs that no amount of practice could have 100% prepared me for. If you asked me how I think I did, I'd say I think I scored somewhere between 60 and 90…. lol.

I have no feeling or indication whatsoever on whether I passed or not. So I guess there's only one thing to do: put my head down and start drilling into FAR.

Can someone fast-forward to May 5 for me? Thanks.

AUD - 79
BEC - 88
REG - 87
FAR - 86 - Woot, all done!
Ethics - 100

[rezaking]

tbstew.. when you said you did 100 sims for practice what did you use? wiley? i have REG soon and i feel like i need to practice some sims for this one. I have becker right now. please let me know.

BEC - Passed
REG - 7/21/2012
AUD - 8/18/2012
FAR - 11/10/2012

[Anonymous]

Good luck! I'm sure you'll do fine. You sound prepared!

[SusanStudies]

I'm also curious what you used for the 100 practice sims. I take REG on the 30th and am diligently working on the review and sims. I'm using Wiley.

How much time did you leave for the sims on the exam and was it sufficient to complete all of them?

Thank you,

AUD: 07/11/11 - Passed
BEC: 08/27/11 - Passed
FAR: 01/17/12 - Passed
REG: 04/30/12; Re-take 7/16/12 - Passed

FINISHED!!!!!!!!

[whatkey]

I'm curious too..I'm using Becker and there aren't any SIMS on AMT. I REALLY want to practice a SIM on AMT…

Using Becker, Ninja Notes, and CpaReviewForFree

FAR - 87 (2/17)
REG - 89 (4/21)
AUD - 89 (5/31)
BEC - 89 (7/11)

[tbstew]

The SIMs I used were with Gleim and Wiley. Most of you are familiar with the Wiley ones. They're pretty good. I gotta say that the Gleim ones were probably closer to the actual exam experience (very long, involved, delving deep into topics, and plenty of curveballs). If you buy their “Review System,” you get 20 sub-topics, all each with 6 SIMs (well, 5 + 1 research), plus you get their Simulation Wizard, which gives you another 6 SIMs per sub-topic. So you get 10 good SIMs per topic.

As for time, I whipped through the MCQs as fast as I could without sacrificing concentration and accuracy. I actually finished the MCQs after 62 minutes, leaving me almost 2 hours for the SIMs. Then I took my sweet time with them because they were so difficult. I took almost the entire 2 hours on them. But I was really probably “done” with them after about 80 minutes. The rest was review and polishing.

Hope that helps! Now if I fail, feel free to disclaim any and all advice I've given, hahah.

AUD - 79
BEC - 88
REG - 87
FAR - 86 - Woot, all done!
Ethics - 100

[okccpawannabe]

Just took the REG test today…NOTHING can prepare you for the sims. I have studied since december because I thought i would be able to take it before busy season…wrong!! So i reviewed again and finished my missing chapters, reviewed them all again, listened to the lectures and did over 20 progress tests along with the two final test. I KNOW for a fact I got at least a 85-90% on my multiple choice. Becker did a GREAT job preparing me for those. But the sims?!?!?! What the bleep??? Don't worry so much about the MCQs, I suggest you start studying how to interpret the most obscure and oddly worded sim questions ever. I finished the 3 tablets thinking I was on top of the world. Not to brag, but seriously, I KNOW I got at least an 85% of those right. But the sims…only god knows. Do they per chance give out half credit for effort and ‘close-ness' to the correct answer??

[tbstew]

@okc – I feel the same way. I spent every free moment of the last 3 months preparing for this section. The MCQs went along just fine (a few tricky ones, but not too many). But you get to the SIMs, and the questions totally departed from the “trunk” of the tree, and got way out onto some of the longest branches that most review systems barely touch. I can only hope that the knowledge I gained from studying the fundamentals and SOME of the “branches” was enough to help me get some partial credit on the SIMs I got.

What more can I say about the AICPA… Expect the unexpected!

Good luck to you!

AUD - 79
BEC - 88
REG - 87
FAR - 86 - Woot, all done!
Ethics - 100

[Anonymous]

The Sims on REG are a luck of the draw. On my first REG exam, the Sims were so-so. The second time, they were ridiculous. The third time, I got some pretty easy ones.

[Author]

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