[Ralphie Dos Nachos]

will there be more people failing every quarter now that sims are weighted 50%?

I’m taking my first exam in july (FAR) and always hear how everyone does awful on the sims yet still manage to pass the exams.

[loveandbeloved]

I've been wondering the same thing. I wonder if… ahem “statistically validating candidate performance and setting a passing score” includes evaluating the decision to have us do 8 SIMS that are ridiculously filled with unnecessary information to waste our time reading and scrolling through documents. Not sure why the AICPA doesn't understand the concept quality over quantity. They want us to know what sufficient appropriate evidence is but then come exam time they wanna give us irrelevant information on exams. HA! Hypocrites. Practice what you preach!

[BamaGuyinNC]

My thinking is that there should be more passes now that the simulations have increased. I never study for simulations and rely solely on studying for MCQs as this ensures I learn the concepts of each section. These same concepts are a part of simulations. Simulations should be even easier as the answers to all the questions are available within the authoritative literature if you know how to research. When I studied for AUD and FAR, I did not use books but rather used the available study material available to CPA exam candidates–the AICPA Online Professional Library. For Audit, I studied AU-C, and AR-C as an example and for FAR I studied the ASCs and made my own notes from this material. I scored 84 on Audit without studying any simulations during 1st Quarter 2017 and am waiting results for FAR in August.

[Cruzer]

agree with @BamaGuyinNC. I think there will be more passes because SIMS are weighted heavier than the older exam. I was able to find many of the SIMS through AL and candidates with more real life experience will benefit from the new exam changes as they examiners have come up with a more high order skills test. We will see in August though when results are out!

[Anonymous]

I think they will be less failures. When I barely failed FAR with a 72 I noticed my sims were “comparable” but my MCQs were weaker. I know I share this experience with others based on what I have read on here.

If sims were 50% rather than 40% I would've passed. Also DRSs are easy imo. Almost as easy as the research questions.

Also there are people who can find exact word for word answers in the Authoritative language. Not me, but apparently a lot of people can.

[Anonymous]

Also when I was college, a teacher told me that BEC actually had the lowest pass rate until they added the writing portion, which accounts for 15% of your test.

[Anonymous]

Do candidates really use the AL to find solutions for Sims? I have never tried using that method bc it seems inefficient due to the time limit we have.

[loveandbeloved]

@cpa4928 – Right?! lol. Who has time to use the AL to look up answers? The whole point is to know the material well enough to not use the AL, which eats up your time. I just took AUD and only used it for the research question, since I had to. The other SIMS had absolutely nothing to do with looking stuff up in the AL – I had to reference the documents supplied for Document Reviews, which is a huge time waster as well.

[Trele6]

I used the AL in AUD and REG and found multiple answers to SIM questions word for word in the AL. I didn't get much use out of it for FAR.

I always had extra time on my tests, I never had anything less than 45 minutes remaining when I finished my exams and that is after searching AL for answers. For MCQ on all four tests I think I averaged about 30-40 seconds per question on average.

First go at the CPA! Only using Becker
Reg / Nov 2015 - 87
Far / Apr 2016 - 79
Bec / May 2016 - 80
Aud / Aug 2016

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, there will be more failure due to increased weight on the sims. I personally failed my 2nd audit retake after scoring stronger in mcq. While it is true that you can master concepts by working countless mcqs, simulations require so much more than simplying knowing the concept and picking a right answer. Anything that requires multi step to solve a problem will likely hinder and fear test will takers.

[Superdude3000]

I doubt it, I expect there to be about the same amount of failures as before. I think that's the whole point in the two months of ‘reevaluating' questions and answers, so pass rates don't fall off a cliff.

[Anonymous]

The whole point is not to know the exam material well enough not to know AL. I've ran into questions on REG that had such obscure fact patterns that you could not possibly have gotten the answer entirely right without searching.

[Author]

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