I was 300% sure I failed REG (you can read my post about my REG nightmare) and passed. In my opinion REG is the hardest CPA exam section, as it has the worst kind of simulations, which makes up 40% of the score.
I thought I failed. I changed answers at the last minute and was certain I messed up. REG is hard. But I was shocked to see that I did ok. I bet you did too!
AUD - 91 - Jul 2011
BEC - 84 - Aug 2011
REG - 82 - Nov 2011
FAR - 86 - Feb 14, 2012
I was sitting for REG as my first test to get a feel for the test; I had never practiced simulations so i had no idea what the functionality was like, etc. I figured I wouldn't stress myself about it. I probably put in 20-30 hours over an 6 week period, took a week off until the night before, studied for 5 hours, and went to test on the Saturday. I got an 80, was thrilled. Granted, it wasn't my first exposure with a lot of the material and I am in tax. It wasn't my natural brilliance by any means, I maintain the test was highly curved.
@CPAMan I got no need to exaggerate about my REG experience (what would I gain?) You can look up my posts during feb-apr 2011 and you could see how badly I felt about REG. I even had constant nightmares about REG for 3 weeks after the exam. I also never took federal taxes in college (I'm from Puerto Rico and it was an elective). TO tell you even more, I considered leaving mid exam as I saw no chance of me passing after so many guesses and extreme questions.
I thought I was somewhere in the 70s, for me being my first section and reading some posts I didnt have a feel (and still dont) for how this is scored. I also couldnt tell if my testkets were getting that much harder and the sims were a mixed bag for me. I ended up doing very well so all's good.
Add me to this group. I had zero confidence I passed and was also bracing for a 65. I got a 78. Unbelievable. I think these exams destroy your confidence and give rise to your insecurities. I don't think I got lucky. I think that I didn't trust in the 75% of the exam that I knew the answers to. Instead I focused on teh 25% that I had to absolutely guess. Luck for me, I got 3% of those questions right 🙂
I was one of those unlucky few. Ended up getting a 70…sims killed me. Still have no idea how to do them – concepts are no where to be found in the beckerbook. I'll just hope to get more doable questions next time around.
I just passed Reg today. I failed twice once with a 72 (May 11) and once with a 70 (Nov 11). On my first try, I was woefully under prepared. I had just taken BEC and passed on the first try with minimal studying. I used some out of date material (2008) to study for Reg and looked at some of the updates and spent around 15 hours studying. I did not read the Sox or treasury circular 230 for the first time around. In the test, I did ok on the multiple choice and felt like I did horrible on the Sims (I only answered half of them). When I got my score report, I was comparable in the Sims and MC with weaknesses in Individual tax that got me to a final score of 72 (I was expecting muucchh worse). I got some updated material for the second time and around. I actually read the Sox info and the treasury circular 230 information. The MC's seemed more difficult this time around with Sim's being difficult as well. I did budget my time better so I was able to put an answer done for all of the Sim's. The score report said comparable in MC and weaker in the Sims with a score of 70. I found this odd because I know for a fact that I knew more the 2nd time around. This just goes to show it really depends on the test you get. The 3rd and final time, which I just took, was much better. I spent more time memorizing the facts instead of learning how to do the problems. When I took the test, I felt better than normal on the MC and I felt that the Sims were definitely more fair. I was thinking that I passed, but didn't want to jinx it. I ended up with an 83 so I had some cushion. I think the key for me was the extra practice on the Sims (the becker sims are cake) and spending time memorizing the facts from the becker notes. Let me know if anyone has questions for me. As you can see Reg was a bear for me so I am willing to help anyone conquer this stupid test.
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