Sat for REG this quarter. Thanks for all the posts.
My 2 cents on the exam:
-If you understand the broad tax concepts you should be fine. I didn't see any crazy computations. That said, I did see a handful of tricky questions that had to do with the details of phaseout, limitations, exemption amounts. But there's no way to prepare for that there are way too many of them. I recommend knowing the ballpark figures and then just making an educated guess about what sounds right.
-I did see a problem on a topic I didn't think I was going to be tested on. But with a broad knowledge base, I was able to figure it out. I think it's better to focus on the bigger picture with these tax concepts than getting too caught up in the little details. You will be able to answer more problems that way.
-Give yourself as much time as possible for the SIMs. (I aimed for averaging 1 minute per MCQ.) Half the battle is understanding what they're asking. It's easier to have a clear mind to read through the problem when you don't have time pressure stressing you out.
-The exam is a performance. On test day my mindset is what happened before doesn't matter. All that matters is what I do in the next 3 hours. Think Eminem “Lose Yourself”
-You want to be in your best mental shape when you sit for it. I recommend making sure you get plenty of rest the night before the night before the test. That's when you can get some good sleep. I wasn't able to sleep much the night before, too much nerves.
-I do believe that there is an element of luck to these exams. Unfortunately you can't depend on luck but you can depend on preparation.
AUD- 99 (6/8/16)
REG- TBD
FAR- TBD
BEC- TBD
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