[Anonymous]

The multiple choice questions were not bad at all. I feel pretty good on those. Im pretty sure I also got the research question correct. But the SIMS were so difficult I have no idea how anyone would be able to answer them correctly. Im not sure if I was just extremely unlucky and got all extremely difficult sims but I literally did not feel confident on one simulation. I even had a sim on material that was not even covered in Becker. Please tell me someone else was in the same situation and ended up passing.

[Nessie]

That seems to be the consensus. MCQs challenging, but not impossible, but impossible SIMS.

Was it a time issue? I’ve heard some take so long to read the question that you are left with little time to produce the answer.

REG Aug 20/15: 88
AUD: Feb 29/16: 80
FAR: Jun 10/16: 80
BEC?

Becker self-study, Becker Final Review & NINJA MCQS

[sar_rah]

Same FAR experience! I finished the MCQs thinking WOW! I over studied. AHH I'M TOTALLY GONNA PASS THIS THING! …And then the SIMS happened. I knew I didnt even get half right. And even if I maybe managed to get half right, its not like I got 100% on the MCQs so there was no way I'd clear a 75.

Ended up getting an 83. I have no idea how these things are scored. Every exam I walked out with a different rationale on how and why I failed…and then each exam I've done better than the last one.

Hang in there!

AUD: 98
REG: 91
BEC: 86
FAR: 83

DONE DONE DONE and DONE all on the first try! It IS possible, just keep on studying!

[Anonymous]

Cb that is exactly how I felt!! I was going through the multiple choice and I was like wow this is not bad at all and then I got to the SIMS and it almost felt like I was reading a foreign language. Im just hoping I passed. And nessie I actually had about just under 2 hours for the sims. So it was not a time issue, the sims were just so difficult. Even if I had 4 hours to do the sims it wouldnt of made a difference.

[cpa007]

@AnnuityDue
This is what i did for sims. I got 2 sim from Wiley book straight. So i would recommend you to do all sims in Wiley book though they are too lengthy but it will prepare you well on hard topics like Bonds,leases,consolidations,fixed assets,inventory,A/R, EPS, like topics. Ifrs is fair game on sims as well. So make sure you know the differences. There is a nice summary in Wiley book at the beginning. Also you can now expect sims on Goverment and not for profit. You really have to practice sims if you want to pass.
Good luck!

[Credit Revenue]

I felt like that too. Don't my score yet though

A - 79 expires 4/30/16 need a pass on REG
B - 78
F - 80
R - 83!!! Can live again!

[CPA2BEE]

Be thankful for the tough SIMS! People who know the material veryyyy well will dominate the easy SIMS, making it more crucial for any given exam taker to do very well on those SIMS as well. Whereas everyone struggles with the “impossible” SIMS, leaving more room for error in one's performance. If you are finding a SIM to be very difficult, it is likely that most exam takers find it difficult as well, and most people probably are not performing well on that question. Since the exam questions are graded based off of IRT (Item Response Theory), the amount of points we are awarded for answering any given question is based off of the difficulty of the question, taking into account the responses of prior candidates on that question. So if you're facing easy SIMS, it is critical that you do extremely well on them because there are people out there who nail them. On the other hand, people aren't performing as well on the hard SIMS, leaving you some room for error while still being able to accumulate the points you need to pass.

This came to life for me in my AUD exam experience. My first AUD exam, the SIMS were very straightforward and I breezed through them. Most of them were so close to the ones I had seen in my study materials and one of them was verbatim from Becker. I even went home and looked up some of my answers and they were all mostly right. I say “mostly” as in I would have missed one or two fill-in boxes out of ten. I turned out with a 71 “weaker” in SIMS, I've sat for five exams and I still argue that those were the easiest SIMS I've seen. So then the second AUD exam, my SIMS were nothing short of a complete nightmare. I completely, shot-in-the-dark, guessed on five of them. I again looked up some of my answers after the exam and everything I looked up I got wrong! This one turned out with a 82 and “stronger” in SIMS.

So when keeping IRT in mind, and reflecting on my exam experiences and results, the only logic I can come up with is that difficult SIMS are a blessing and you should be happy when you see them on an exam – as horrible and twisted as that sounds. On that note, hoping for some brain-busters on my upcoming REG exam!

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. I feel so much better now. This was my first cpa exam and I knew the sims would be tough but these were nearly impossible in my opinion.

[marqzho]

CPA2BEE

I like your theory :)difficult SIMS are a blessing

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[MaLoTu]

CPA2BEE- that is a very logical interpretation of the sims. I had a similar experience in my last attempt at FAR. The sims were pretty darn reasonable and I got a 70 with weaker in the sims. I was totally confident with the MCQ, but the sims got me.

[CPA2BEE]

@MaLoTu I think a lot of people have similar experiences as us. It is funny how the AICPA will even claim that the exam is not curved, but after digesting the information on how the exams are graded, you find that these exams are very much curved (literally by definition). The only point their big, elaborate definition of Item Response Theory gets across is simply that we are graded against each other. The amount of points you receive for answering a question correctly depends on how past candidates have answered that question. In addition, you even see on one of the flowcharts “Policy Weights Applied” as part of the grading process. So how is the CPA exam not curved again?

https://www.aicpa.org/becomeacpa/cpaexam/psychometricsandscoring/scoringinformation/downloadabledocuments/how_the_cpa_exam_is_scored.pdf

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[marqzho]

CPA2BEE

When referring to Curved system, your result will be affected by whoever takes the exam next to you. So let say there are suddenly a very huge group of super geniuses take the exam with you in the same quarter, there is a possibility that your result will be worse because of those geniuses in a curved world. Whereas in the CPA system, geniuses performance won't affect yours. Even though you are the only non-genius in that quarter, you can still get a pass. They are two difference scoring system which most likely will get a similar result in the real world. 🙂

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[CPA2BEE]

@marqzho I see what you are saying. “Those next to me” would be considered each and all of us testing throughout the US over any given testing period. The problem is we are not all getting the same test. But where is the line drawn? Sure, these super geniuses may not be taking my exact exam in the same quarter as me, but throughout the history of the exam these super geniuses have seen enough of the same questions that I'm seeing to the point where it is effecting mine (and all of ours) score. I don't know what I would call the AICPA scoring system, some pseudo-curve nightmare lol.

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[Bear-Bear]

That's how it was when I took FAR. MCQs were meh, but the Sims were Brutes McGoots.

[Author]

Replies