[ags29]

I just received my grade for REG and I still didn’t pass. This was my 3rd time taking the exam and I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I felt great walking out of the exam and just knew that I had at least passed it. Can anyone offer advice for preparing for the sims…I think thats whats killing me everytime bc Im comparable and stronger on all of the mcs.

[gottagetmycpa]

I feel your pain I scored a 71 the first time I took it and was weak in the sims! This time when I studied I purchased CPAexcel and although I did not get any of the same sims I felt the format was more closely related to the type of sims that I actually had on my exam. I think the biggest difference for me was the research tab. During my study time as I did the sims I used the research tab so that I could get use to using it to research answers. When I took the exam if felt like I was at home doing my sims from CPAexcel. I received comparable and a 76! Not a great score but good enough! Good luck!

P.s Sorry if I misspelled or confused you with my typing as I am sending this message from my iPhone 🙂

FAR 76
REG 76(2x)
BEC FAILED (2x)
AUD FAILED (2x)

"When you don't give up, YOU CANNOT FAIL"

[ags29]

Thank you so much for your advice! I'm definitely going to try that!

[timcpa]

ags29,

how much time are you devoting to the sims? if you haven't been doing so you should be devoting 40 percent of your time on it. As far as the research tab, i've been told it was worth the least so you should save it for last, or look at it once you have filled in most of everything else.

The sims can be a bit tricky when its not exactly like the material covered in review materials; when i was stuck on one, i tried to come up with the most logical assumption, based on everything i knew, and tried to apply my assumption consistently throughout the problem.

Also how are you tackling MC concept vs MC word problems during study? Perhaps spend time understanding the more difficult multiple choice word problems? and compare and contrast the different transactions i.e. partnership transactions of formations, distributions, terminations vs corporate vs S – corporate; and gain/loss , basis of exchanges etc..

i made a 66, 72, and 82 ; i did much better when i went back and tried to understand these problems instead of memorising as much MC as possible. also it doesn't hurt to try a different study program. you'll see the types problems they focus on and whats important.

BEC - 80
AUD - 81
REG - 85
FAR - Feb 27

[Anonymous]

@ags

I feel the same way! I failed REG with a terrible score but felt I did well on the MCQ and bad on the SIm. It was the exact opposite!! I actually did terrible on the MCQ and good on the Sims.

[ags29]

timcpa,

I can honestly say that I probably haven't devoted as much time as I should to the sims. What's the best way to prepare for the sims? I thought that I would be okay this time around since I felt like I really understood the information but obviously that's not enough. I've been using Becker study materials and I realy don't feel like their sims are comparable to those that I've been getting on the actual exam.

[Anonymous]

SIMS can be passed if you know the actual material. No sense to do SIMS. Learn the topics in the book. I used Becker. SIMS were a breeze..Nothing off the left field. The multiple choice questions actually can help you for the SIMS because doing them you actually test yourself on whether you know the concepts. The SIMS just present concepts with variations.

[timcpa]

hi ags29,

what i meant was you should devote 40% of the test time to the simulation. That leaves you enough time to research a little for each word problem sim if you have to, as had been mentioned earlier. The research sim itself should be left for last.

And if you work MC and have a good understanding of the multiple choice word problems, that should provide enough knowledge base to work the SIMS even if the questions are variations and seemingly different. For the Sims that i thought were not something i specifically studied for, I applied what i thought were the closest concepts i knew, trying to do so logically and consistently.

If you have the time and can travel for a weekend review course, I'd recommend AIS-CPA. I attended their lecture, and worked their problems; I also worked extra transactional problems from Becker since that was a weakness.

BEC - 80
AUD - 81
REG - 85
FAR - Feb 27

[MChro12]

I agree with darkone. If you know the concepts, you'll be fine on the sims.

Reg 77 (Aug 11)
Aud 80 (Nov 11)
BEC 79 (Jan 12)
FAR 80 (April 12)

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I believe there is a large amount of luck regarding SIMS. I just took REG using Becker. I had a firm understanding of all the material, crushed the MC, but was completely lost on the SIMS. Three out of the six questions were loosely based on the concepts covered in Becker, but I had almost no idea where to go with them. I think I just got screwed being asked questions that weren't really discussed in Becker. I'm going to try to absolutely nail the MC this time around, and hope for SIMS that I am familiar with. For the SIM questions that were asked that I didn't understand, I was actually very familiar with the related studied materials, and was able to picture the exact page it was referencing to. If I had the Becker book in front of me, I don't think I would have done any better. REG questions are not difficult, there is just a right and a complete wrong way to do them. Without the specific rules/instructions or an example, its almost impossible to ‘guess' the correct answer. Sometimes Becker gives too much of a big picture overview, where the little details are key. I really don't have time to study from two material sources though.

[Author]

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