[Kate]

Hey guys,
I took FAR CPA exam in November 2020 and did not pass. SIMS were awful! Nothing could prepare me for those questions! I studied almost 450 hours for FAR exam. Are SIMS the same for all candidates or are they randomly picked? My SIMS were harder than anything I studied in my CPA review course. I left the exam crying….. I was devastated.

[LD-407]

Hi,
I took FAR at the end of the second quarter last year and passed it with an 81. It was my third attempt! I ended up switching to UWorld Roger CPA review after I failed the second time because I had multiple people tell me it helped them pass. They definitely helped me.

The SIMS in FAR make you feel terrible, so you are not alone! The SIMS are different every time you sit. But I remember there were at least 2-3 that were similar to the exam I had taken previously.

Good luck to you!!

[Kate]

Thank you for your response! I purchased I-75 CPA Review in addition to Surgent CPA Review which I used for my first attempt. I-75 has more simulations than Surgent. Congratulations on passing this monster exam! I am scheduled to retake my exam in a month and I am so eager to have the FAR section out of the way 😀

[shaya.wikler]

SIMS can definitely be quite tough. I found that if you follow Roger's advice and do as many practice MCQs (NINJA and Roger have many) as possible, that will give you a great edge. I rarely did any practice SIMS because I felt that would drain precious study time…

[Kate]

Thank you Shaya! Yes, the practice SIMS are very time consuming. It is really hard to study when you work full time. I noticed that the pass rate in the 4th quarter 2020 for FAR was the lowest percentage-wise. I guess you need to have luck on your side what kind of MCQ and SIMS you get in a particular quarter. I know MCQs are based on your performance in the second testlet, but I am not sure if SIMS are the same for all test takers in a particular quarter.

[Author]

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