[Anonymous]

For anyone who uses Becker and took or is taking REG in 2011, please respond.

Is it me, or do the REG simulations on the exam seem rediculously difficult and hardly represent anything provided as study material in Becker? I took REG in 2010 and received a 71 as I had not mastered basis. I then took it in Jan 2011 and received a 70 as the simulations were absurd and now worth 40% with no writing. I just took it again today, and the multiple choice were increasingly difficult, which is good, and I felt good overall. Then the simulations came. I obviously won’t disclose any info, but I will say that of the tabs that were provided, 1 was utterly impossible, 1 was really difficult, and the other was based on a concept for which was covered in Becker by an entire sentence. The research was also rediculous and for the first time, I couldn’t find what they were asking for. I’m not saying Becker is bad; it helped me pass AUD, FAR, and BEC. Does anyone know if the simulations are graded in pure black and white, or is there partial credit (i.e. Giving a list of items to calculate, say 5, and you calculate everything but 1. Do you miss the whole answer or do you get partial credit?) This is kind of an open ended vent of frustration. I feel I studied my ass off and still feel like crap. I did feel very well on 3 of the tabs, so I guess that is good.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure you can get partial credit for the sims. I totally agree, the REG sims are so hard to study for because they are way harder than the ones in the study materials. Im not sure how to study for the sims the second time around when I take REG again in two weeks. All I think i can really do is try to get a better grasp of the material, and hope I can apply it to the sims.

[Phllop]

I just logged on to ask about this myself. I've been going through the Becker sims and I find I finish them (with pretty good success) in about 5 minutes each… I can't imagine the exam sims are this simple. They seem so short! I haven't taken the exam but I'm really nervous about the simulations.

REG: 85
AUD: 74, 85
FAR: 74 (sigh)
BEC: 80 (don't even ask me how)

When I say C-P you say 'Ayyyyy show me the money'
-PO

[Anonymous]

By partial credit, say the sim wants you to calculate total itemized deductions with a 2% AGI limit from a list of say 5 (if only they were this easy). The answer is to be entered in one cell. If you add up 7 of the correct 8 in the one cell (say the answer is $1000 and you calculate $700), do you miss the entire point/cell/whatever, or do they give you partial credit as you correctly calculated say 3 of the 5.

If I didn't pass REG this time, I am going to consider Wiley or Gleim to supplement Becker. Becker is GREAT for multiple choice, but it seems to me, at least what I have seen and studied, that the practice sims are really easy and don't really prepare you for the exam. I literally went over the sims in Becker three times each and only one of them represented a sim that was on the exam, which I nailed, along with another one. I will pray every day until 3rd week of June. I just want to be done!!!!!

P.S. If anyone has passed REG and did well on the sims, please let me know what you used to study and how you prepared for them.

[Herbieherb]

Sounds like u did ok.

Harder mcq + 1/2 the sims were strong and u didn't leave anything blank.

NEW YORK- DONE

[Anonymous]

I hope to God I did!

Anyone who passed REG and used something other than Becker to study have any recommendations for preparing for the sims?

I am going to be a nervous freaking wreck for the next month!!!! Is this not the worst most grueling test ever!!!!

[Herbieherb]

I think a large percentage of candidates don't even complete the exam. You got a one up on them already.

NEW YORK- DONE

[Zizoty]

EPRESOGNA, How much time did you allocate for SIM? From reading people that took REG this window, not one come out feeling good about the test. I think you should be ok if your MCQ keep getting harder. GL

AUD - 83 Feb11
REG - 75 May11
BEC - 73 July11 84 Oct11
FAR - 63 Aug11 76 Feb12 I'M DONE!!!!!

[aggies21]

This is my 3rd try at REG (71, 73) and have used Becker each time. I also used Wiley this time around for some fresh questions/simulations. I thought Becker was by far the best software to use for the SIMs. With that said, I feel like the SIMs on the exam are a complete crap shoot. It is nearly impossible to prepare for them and it all depends on what subject matter is covered. Honestly, I wouldn't waste much time using other software to practice the SIMs. It seemed like my 2nd testlet was extremely difficult and my 3rd was super easy, then who knows about the SIMs. Anyone have any idea what a 3rd easy MCQ testlet means?

AUD - 80
FAR - 78
BEC - 78
REG - 72 (11/30)

[Anonymous]

Zizoty – I had 1.5 hours for the sims and needed every bit!

aggies21 – Thanks for the input. I'm glad that I at least know buying Wiley would probably not improve my sims. You're right, there a crap shoot. Even if I knew what 2 of the tougher sims were before hand, I would not have been able to prepare based on the Becker book; I would have had to research online. 3rd easy testlet means you didn't do as well on the tough testlet, though if you did well on the 3rd, you should make up for the 2nd one.

My Dad is a CPA/CVA, has a securities license, insurance license, and real estate license. I have a wife and a baby girl which I don;t spend enough time with because of this damn test, and everyone in my family keeps asking me how I am doing on the test and if I passed yet…for the past 2 years! I have alot riding on this and hope to God this is the last one!!!

[Taxi Cow Tent]

@ EPRESOGNA – I used Roger for review and Wiley questions and I feel like I did very well on the Sims. I am a tax accountant, so that helped a little, but I do state and local work mostly and as you know, there isn't much SALT material on the exam. I felt good on every one of my SIMS. HOWEVER, I did a LOT of practice. Probably well over a hundred sim questions alone.

FAR - 11/10 - 84
REG - 2/11 - 89
BEC - 5/11 - 80
AUD - 5/11 - 83

[lv333]

omg. i am glad i am not the only one who is frustrated w/ Becker 2011 materials. I have not taken REG but I did take AUD exam using Becker.

I feel like Becker does not prepare you well enough for the simulations. I felt pretty confident on the multiple choice questions. However–when I got to the simulation part of the AUD exam, I was totally lost!! I literally guess on all of the simulations. Not to add, there were so many of them too. =(

I don't even remember Becker covering any of the simulation problems!!! In my opinion, Becker's 2011 simulations are way too easy and poorly formulated compared to the actual exam. (sigh, I don't know if I should give up or switch materials)…

2011 & beyond results:
BEC: 68
FAR: 31--> didn't give myself enough study time!!--But decided to go sit in and guess on the exam since I paid for it.
AUD: waiting for results

[Vern]

I have this test Saturday, and these forums are very disappointing. Has anybody used CPA review for free? Does the Wiley test bank have sims on it?

When I took Auditing last year, I thought the Sims destroyed me and would cause me to fail. I'm not sure about the new 40% weight, but I would think you still have a good chance of passing.

The ironic part is everybody said REG was going to be easier in 2011 bc there was less law. wtf

Audit Passed
FAR Passed
REG Passed
BEC ??

[Anonymous]

RE: Taxi Cow Tent – Did Wiley or Roger have 100 simulations to practice? Becker only had about 15 to 20, of which most of them were fairly easy (prep 1040s, Sch A, M-1 Rec, and law sims which are pretty much worthless).

[Anonymous]

@ Taxi Cow Tent – Can you also give a breakup of how many sims were on each Roger and Wiley (like 40 on Roger and 60 on Wiley). I am using Gleim and am thinking of buying one more software. Which one is better for sim practice – Roger or Wiley?

Thanks!

[kb24]

I used the Wiley test bank for REG. There are two difficulties I had with the exam. One was that some of the test topics were obscure. The other one was that the wording on some of the questions was unclear, and the answer depended upon which interpretation of what they were asking was correct. I knew the answer either way; I just wasn't sure which way to go. This was true for both the SIMs and the MCQ.

There was only one SIM where the difficulty for me arose from the content, and it was a situation that I figure a full time tax accountant might see once every few years. I ended up with 45 minutes for that problem and spent almost the entire time. I used the research tab which helped, but the question had many parts and again the question wording was confusing.

I don't know what it is about REG. I took all 4 exams this test window, and the question wording was only a factor on this one. I've read comments from several other people who had similar experiences.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Author]

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