[bean counter]

I don’t know when it became a “thing” to reveal to everyone that you didn’t try on your SIMs or didn’t even complete them all and yet you passed, but it has to stop. I get it, you’re excited that you passed and you should be because there are so many people out there working extremely hard on every single SIM, who have budgeted the time that the review courses suggest, and still haven’t passed. Think about that for a minute. What good are you doing by telling everyone that you “half-tried” (referencing a direct quote) and still passed? I wish part of the qualifications to this exam would be acting like a professional. It sure would weed out some people.

BEC - 84 *
AUD - 73, 76 *
REG - 70, 72
FAR - 09/08/16

[Anonymous]

Frankly, I am very worried about the SIMs. I'm taking FAR soon, haven't taken any others yet. Some of the practice ones have a ton of material or details to sift through and you have to get through them in 15 minutes. If I had 30 minutes I might do better on some of them. I usually don't get them more than about half correct unless I happen to get an easy one, which is rare. It's surprising that a lot of people pass without finishing them! Perhaps some of them are not graded very harshly and they don't expect many people to finish them or get them completely correct. The ones with qualitative/quantitative parts are better because at least you can get the conceptual part correct even if the numbers might not be correct.

[Claudia408]

i think the bottom line is that those who PASS without completing SIM(s) or start typing jibberish are the EXCEPTION and not the rule. additionally, grading this test is a huge mystery and ones recount of their exam is highly subjective.

i don't even like to read those kinds of posts anymore bc i know that it's luck or some other factor at play that does not include me!

BEC - 75 (3x)
AUD - 78 (3x)
REG - 67, 66, Aug 1
FAR - 54, Sept 8

[Anonymous]

Don't always believe what others post on the Forum too. People will embellish or underplay the difficulty of their exams to make themselves feel better. I wouldn't doubt if some of the posted scores are bogus, whereas some are truthful. Anyhow, goodluck to you all and keep your head up. This Exam is a grind.

[ScarletKnightCPA]

I don't think mostly anyone is suggesting that they didn't put in any effort towards studying when they declare that they didn't finish the sims. The only instance where I see people stating that they barely studied for the CPA and passsed are those folks who are comparing it to the CFA.

What they are doing is releasing information regarding the test. You can go in not completely ready for the sim, or feel that you flunked the sim and still pass.

Regarding others stating that folks are underplaying the difficulty of the sim… I don't think that's the case here. We know that the sim is worth 25% of the grade, so you can theoretically get a 0 on it and still pass if you did very well in the MCQ portion.

Far: 76 (Wiley Test Bank)
Aud: 77 (Wiley Test Bank)
Reg: 61, 76 (Wiley book, Wiley Test Bank)
Bec: 86 (Wiley Test Bank)

MBA in progress

[Claudia408]

Scarlet – SIMs are worth 40%, so there's no way you can pass leaving all SIMs blank.

BEC - 75 (3x)
AUD - 78 (3x)
REG - 67, 66, Aug 1
FAR - 54, Sept 8

[Jakecpa]

I have passed 3 sections and never once did more than one SIM on the homework. I practiced the literature research questions and that was it. BUT, all 3 times I went in there knowing my concepts and JE's pretty good. If you know the material you are going to do well on the sims, they cover the same topics that the MCQ's cover. If you know the material you can do the sims no problem, or at least that has been my experience.

[.]

I'm a little bewildered by people who say they only did MCQs to pass. They didn't read the book, didn't watch any videos either but still passed. I would think you'd have to do one or the other. Can only see that possible if you just graduated from college and remember all your coursework.

I left one simulation completely blank on FAR because I ran out of time. Had plenty of time on REG. Somehow my scores for both exams are only 1 point apart.

FAR - June 2016 - 88
REG - July 2016 - 89
AUD - Aug 2016 - review phase currently
BEC - Sep 2016 -

Wiley CPA Excel & Ninja MCQ

[Jakecpa]

@circadian, I did all the sims on the test but I never did more than 1 sim on the homework. However, I knew the concepts pretty good so I was able to tell what they wanted, I ran out of time on one sim on Reg but still fill it out with zeros, but aside from that I thought they were okay. The only sims I thought were crazy were for FAR but that was because I went in there only having studied half the book. I'm using Becker, so I just couldn't cover everything.

[.]

@Jakecpa I wasn't talking about not doing simulations to review. I can see that as possible although not advisable.

I was talking about not reading, nor watching videos. Just going straight to the questions with no prep.

FAR - June 2016 - 88
REG - July 2016 - 89
AUD - Aug 2016 - review phase currently
BEC - Sep 2016 -

Wiley CPA Excel & Ninja MCQ

[ScarletKnightCPA]

Yes, I went and did all the sections of the CPA exam without any prep class, videos, etc. Just MCQ + undergraduate accounting degree + google searches for things I didn't understand… and my undergraduate was a no-ranked college that wasn't recruited out of by any accounting firm… I'm not sure why you are bewildered by that, do you not believe it?

If so, that is quite insulting.

I personally feel that the videos and classes particularly is not that beneficial… I learn more from completing and practicing the problems myself rather than watching others complete it. Actually, it was when I deviated from that study plan and decided to read the Wiley text book from cover to cover that I received my only failing grade because it left only a couple days for final MCQ review.

Regarding impossible to pass without completing the Sim portion of the exam…

1. I didn't complete entire sections, I put in ‘0's for what I didn't know.
2. Yes you're right, it's 40% simulations, just looked it up… you still can bomb simulation portion and ace MCQ. get a 50% on simulaition and 10%0 MCQ should give you a passing grade
3. If you know enough of the content to pass the MCQ portion you will probably not receive a 0 on the simulation portion of the exam. In fact, I imagine most folks who knew nothing of accounting could get close to 50% on the simulation portion of the exam.

Far: 76 (Wiley Test Bank)
Aud: 77 (Wiley Test Bank)
Reg: 61, 76 (Wiley book, Wiley Test Bank)
Bec: 86 (Wiley Test Bank)

MBA in progress

[waffle_house]

People need to understand the CPA is graded on a point scale and there are enough points to get to a 75 (not 75%) by doing really well on the mcq and half ass on the SIMS (nothing to brag about).

[Jakecpa]

@Circadian, I agree , It takes A LOT of time and effort to pass no matter how you prepare for it. I don't believe the people who say they did like a week of review and so forth. And I think that its better to do all the sims on the homework it can only help , No matter what method you use, you will still have to bust your chops and put in the time.I believe that over preparing is better than under preparing. There's probably a handful of geniuses out there but its rare.

[ScarletKnightCPA]

I don't think (almost) anyone that says that they only studied through practice Multiple Choice Questions are making any sort of implication that they barely studied. I think that some folks here are somehow interpreting this and drawing a false equivalence for this as ‘barely studying'.

For example, for 3 out of my 4 exams, I only studied through multiple choice questions. For each test I completed between 2,000 to 4,000 multiple choice practice questions. I would on certain days without work churn through hundreds of multiple choice questions by studying the entire day.

Far: 76 (Wiley Test Bank)
Aud: 77 (Wiley Test Bank)
Reg: 61, 76 (Wiley book, Wiley Test Bank)
Bec: 86 (Wiley Test Bank)

MBA in progress

[RockChalkCPA]

I am going to give it to you straight, and maybe I'll take some heat for it, but that's fine. First off, some candidates may find it helpful to know that you can not finish the SIMs and still have a shot at a passing score. It's completely relevant and information that I would have like to have known before taking my exams. Life isn't fair. I went to school with kids that would study a few hours before the night of the exam, while I had been killing myself for weeks studying. They would get a 96, and I'd be pumped just to get an 80. There's no room for hyper-sensatives in taking this exam and your original post had so much whining I could hardly read the whole thing. Posting anonymously on a public forum that you didn't finish the SIMs and still passed isn't unprofessional–it's providing useful information to other candidates. It appears that you realized your original post may have been in haste and ill-timed after receiving your score, so that is understandable. I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your exams, keep after it, you'll get there!

BEC- 83 (April 2015)
REG- 77 (May 2015)
FAR- 82 (July 2015)
AUD- 94 (August 2015)

First try with Becker

[Author]

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