[vlookup]

I have my REG exam scheduled for this week and as I close in on the day I am realizing I have no idea what to expect on the Sims. I am using Wiley to study and they’ve got a lot of Sims to use for practice and they seem to fall into 3 categories:

1- Research the IRS code and find the applicable chapter and section that applies to the topic asked about.
2- Extended multiple choice where you’re given a scenario and asked a series of questions about it, but you choose from a group of possible answers.
3- Free-form answers where you get a question and you type in the answer.

In addition 2 and 3 above can range from a simple one answer problem that takes 2 minutes, to problems that take that have 15 individual questions in them and could take far, far longer to answer.

My question is there any rhyme or reason of what to expect from Sims on the exam in terms of quantity and quality? Could I get all IRC research questions, or or all highly complex and time consuming problems requiring detailed calculations? Essentially I am trying to figure out how much time to allow and what to focus on reviewing before heading to the Prometric. I took BEC last quarter and knew exactly what to expect just from the Wiley material but would like to hear what others have to say in regards to REG.

[Anonymous]

Each exam includes at least one research question for AUD, FAR, and REG. If you get two, one of them is likely a pretest question. As for the other SIMS, it seems to be pretty random. I have notice that there are more “free form” SIMS in Becker so I think that should give you an indication for which type of SIMS are more likely to appear on the actual exam. As for the topics you might see, my experience with the REG SIMS was pretty random. It felt like the questions I was given were very fringe topics. The topics you get may be things that you don't even remember seeing while studying. The best advice I can give you is to use the authoritative literature to find some of the answers that you don’t know. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to do the SIMS. For me, I spent half of my time on MCQs and the other half on SIMS and I still only finished with a few minutes to spare.

[Trele6]

Expect Free form, I have had majority those type in all of my sections except AUD it was a mix for free form and extended multiple choice.

B – 80
A – Waiting
R – 87
F – 79

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

[jr1751]

@vlookup – I don't think you would get 6 IRC or TS research questions on the exam. I have heard of people getting two research questions, though. If I were you, I would focus on sets of 6 REG Sim questions. This way you get the timing down. You should be able to do each Reg question in about 15 minutes. The REG Sim can be any combination of what you mentioned above. With regard as what to expect on the Sims, it could be anything. I know some people say to only focus on multiple choice, but I recommend doing as many Sims as possible.

BEC - PASSED

REG - Praying I Passed

AUD - TBD

FAR - TBD

[Author]

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