[Anonymous]

Hello all. From my last FAR experience, I had a hard time understanding a couple of the simulations. I don’t really know what they want from me. That being said, I failed by a few points short. Have you guys experience any situation where you think the sim is just too vague? Any suggestions on what I should do if it happens again? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Hey, yes, the simulations are MOST of the times very vague. They are new and the AICPA tries to create new world situations and try not to repeat SIM questions. I'd say just give it your best shot while you are taking the exam. I often underestimate myself when taking a SIM and feel nervous that I don't know what they are talking about. But, be rest assured that if you feel lost then everyone feels as lost if not more lost than you are! We know more than we think we know. So, don't lose sleep on finding the SIM vague. Everyone finds them vague or at least I do. But, just answer them like you would when taking a practice exam and you will be fine. Good luck.

[Jdn9201]

The biggest issue I had with FAR SIMS's is they include extra information that's not needed. The hardest part of the SIMS for me was sifting through the question to find the relevant information needed to answer it. I liked Roger's approach – for any question that's asking for a calculation or numerical answer – read the last sentence first. This applies to SIM's too. I think it's very helpful to go through the authoritative literature too. They have examples buried that you can apply to a SIM – you just have to know where to look. The AL bailed me out of 2 SIMS that I know I would have received little credit on had I not known how to research. Beyond that, I think the more you practice them, the more you feel comfortable with them.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[marqzho]

My 7 SIMS were all straightforward. Nothing vague. Nothing extra. I was lucky:)

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[jessica8926]

I had this exact problem on FAR. Luckily I had given myself ample time to do the SIMS so I took all of that time to figure them out the best I could. When it comes to FAR SIMS never leave any time on the clock is how I go. When I got to a vague one I skipped over it and started the ones I understood better and thought I could answer more quickly. This way you do not immediately freak yourself out. Once I had to go back to those vague ones I tried my best to stay calm and focused. I would start the SIM with the approach I thought made sense and a lot of the time as I got deeper into the SIM I realized that maybe what I thought they wanted was not correct so I would change my approach and see if that fit better. Sometimes the way I wanted to answer a question with my original approach did not make sense so I figured that my approach was not what they wanted. I hope that makes sense, I think as you go through there should be key moments where you start realizing that maybe you are not answering it how they wanted you too. Just stay calm 🙂 you can get through it!

AUD - 69, 77
REG - 74, 81
FAR - 75!
BEC - 71, 82

IL candidate!

Finally done (5/24/16)!! Yahooooooo!

[garciarb]

I haven't taken FAR but in my AUD exam (2/29), I actually laughed aloud at one of the simulations as it was so far out there. I passed so maybe it was one of the thrown out SIMS, but some of these come from so far out of left field, it's ridiculous. I highly recommend doing the SIMS in NINJA MCQ to at least get in to the right mindset when it comes to reading the SIMS and figuring out what information is relevant to the question and what is just there to try and make you slip up.

BEC - 81
AUD - 79
REG - June 2016 (Thanks Nasba!)
FAR - ugh

[Jdn9201]

I 2nd Jessica on timing – time is key. You have to keep an eye on the clock and make sure you pace yourself during the MCQ's to give enough time for the SIMS. I think the general rule of thumb is get through the MCQ's in 2 hrs and 15 min (45 min per testlet) which allows an hour and 45 for the SIMS. I paced for 2 hours, as I was afraid I wouldn't have enough time. I'm sure one of the reasons I felt ok about my SIMS is I wound up finishing the MCQ's in 90 minutes.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[garciarb]

@jdn9201 – I had the opposite feeling about finishing an hour early on AUD – I was convinced that I missed a section or forgot to review something.

BEC - 81
AUD - 79
REG - June 2016 (Thanks Nasba!)
FAR - ugh

[marqzho]

Target time is 45 mins for each MCQ testlet and the remaining 105mins are for the 7 Sims.

If time is running out and you have a choice between MCQ or SIMS, It is better to cut your MCQ time and rush into SIMS. Here is my theory:

If you don't know the answer for a MCQ, you probably don't know the answer no matter how much more time you spend on it.
If you don't know the answer for a SIMS but you have time, you may find the answer in AL somewhere.

And also you have a 1/4 chance to get a score on MCQ. Not to mention sometimes you can rule one or two choices out of the picture by just looking at the answer which make your chances 33% and 50% 🙂

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[Jdn9201]

Excuse me if this is off topic, but I think another reason that causes people to run out of time is flagging questions on MCQ. I discovered in my practice exams that when I flagged questions and waited until the end of a testlet to review them, I spent more time refreshing my memory on what the question was asking than actually picking an answer. I never flagged an MCQ on any of my real exams. I told myself to read each question twice, no matter the perceived difficulty, then pick an answer and move on. I agree with Marqzho – it's better to move on with the MCQ than spend more time, which takes away time from the SIM's. Not only do you have at least a 25% chance of getting it right due to guessing, but there's a 15% chance that question is going to be thrown out anyhow.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Excel14]

I just hope that on the regular test, I don't get hammered for putting “cents” in my answer (e.g. .00), like I did when I submitted my SIMs for a unit in Gleim. It was weird too, since one cell where it was a positive amount didn't “ding” me, but 5 other cells where it was a negative answer, it docked me. I called Gleim technical support and told them about the problem, and they have a link at the bottom of each SIM, to inquire about it. These things are hard enough, without getting hammered for things like that as well. I'll see what they say in a few days.

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[Spartans92]

Do they actually care what the order you plug the information in for the SIMS. I recently redid the SIMS for chapter 1 and one was an income statement I had all the numbers correct and account but wrong order. I put losses then gains and the solution went with gains then losses. If I did that on test day will I not get points?

BEC- PASS

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