[Anonymous]

Is it worth to study sims even though you have a good grasp of the concepts? I heard lots of people have passed without studying sims because they understood the concepts well. I also heard the sims on the exam is nothing like the wiley or becker sims. I’m doing my final review and i’m getting a good grasp of the concepts by reading my note cards and strictly reviewing mcqs. Can someone please shed some insight on this because my first ever exam is in two weeks.

[SeattleAccountant]

Whether to study sims or not, is your call.

Personally, I would feel foolish if I know that exam is going to have sims for sure and I did not even attempted those bare minimum ones mind you, provided in review course. Some people have high tolerance of risk and others try to minimize any risk.

Do you want to take a chance?

How long would it take to complete entire set of lets say Becker sims (10 chapters), maybe 2 days.

On the other hand, go ahead, don't review any sims and see what you get on the exam just for the heck of it!

Becker Class of Jan - Aug 2013: FARB DONE!!!!
CPA license pending 🙂

[MBA MST CPA]

So far I have passed two sections by concentrating mainly on answering MCQs and spending a minimal amount of time practicing the Sims. I have found that by concentrating on mastering the MCQs by answering them over and over and over and over again, I better understand the concepts that they are testing and the reasoning behind them. I haven't ignored the Sims competely but they have not been a large part of my studies. Hopefully this strategy will work for my remaining two sections.

REG - 11/5/2012 - 80
BEC - 1/17/2013 - 76
AUD - 2/22/2013 - 70 4/5/2013 - 75
FAR - 5/28/2013 - 75 - Done!!!

Question: What do you call someone who only gets 75's and 76's on the four parts of the CPA exam?

Answer: A CPA

[MintsRGood]

Not giving the sims due attention cost me a passing score on Audit!!! You should do a decent amount of practice so that you are comfortable with the timing on exam day.

Good Luck!!!!! 🙂

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[acamp]

I would always give them a couple go rounds in the Wiley Test bank, but I would say my time on Wiley was 90% MCQs 10% Sims, maybe less.

I found that getting comfortable with the guidance is one of the best bets for sims–get through 90 MCQs in a reasonable amount of time (20-30min per testlet), run through the sims hitting the stuff you know or can lookup easily, and then go back and spend the remaining time getting answers out of the guidance.

Self proclaimed: Highest ratio of Replies to Others v. Posts Created on A71

California CPA - Big4 Aud Manager Alum - Private Accounting at Startups

FAR, REG and BEC with Ninja Notes + WTB Only

Ninja + Wiley Test Bank: [FAR - 81] [REG - 76] [BEC - 88] [AUD - 73](doh!)

Becker Videos: [AUD - 82]

California CPA

[SammyJ]

Well I've only purchased the Wiley Test Bank for Auditing and I didn't bother doing the SIMs. I havent gotten my score for Auditing, but I think I did alright. The reason I skipped the Wiley SIMs was because they were so long and in depth, which is great and all, but I only gave myself 16 days to retake Auditing and I felt spending ample time on the MCs were much more crucial. I did however do all of the Becker SIMs. I felt the SIM practice help tie in many things together. LIke for one of the SIMs, there was a list of 15 yes/no questions and they asked you is this thing in a Review(yes or no) or a Compilation(yes or no) or Audit (yes or no). Its a nice check of knowledge SIMs. However, I feel that the SIMs on the exam are never as hard as the SIMs on Wiley or Becker. These prep courses are more focused on preparing you for the worst. So if you have Becker, I would defintiely look at the questions if you have time and I suggest doing this maybe a week before you take your exam, so you can actually do the SIMs. Theres no way you can do the SIMs, if all you've done so far is made flash cards. You've gotta do every multiple choice problem from Wiley and Becker first and then go for the challenging SIMs.

And keep in mind, the SIMs on the exam is just like MCs. The only difference is that they are structured together. In a way, each SIM is like 7-8 different multiple choice questions. Just gotta knock them out.

FAR-81!!
AUD-69, Retake: 84!!
REG-86!!
BEC-81!!
Education- Done
Ethics- August 2013
Experience- 7 Months of CPA Experience and counting!

[Anonymous]

I think MCQ's really solidify the concepts. Also I've been doing the wiley test bank sims and they're pretty good, however mcqs and my note cards(really big help for final review) are really helping me understand the concepts.

[Author]

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