REG- first test taker – experience – FINISHED EARLY

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    Topic
  • #202054
    aly.marie88
    Participant

    So my experience is quite interesting… and Im just trying to see if anyone else experienced the same… Today I took REG. First test taken of the 4 so no comparisons to others who say that it was random and harder or easier… Either way, I did the whole Becker thing. I read the book, did not watch the lectures since they were a bore and I couldnt focus long enough on them with out falling asleep. After each section, I would do the MCQs and repeat the ones I got wrong. Then after I was done with the entire book and the Becker MCQs, I did the NINJA MCQs. I got about mid way into the NINJA MCQs and was trending about 75 percent. Fed Tax of individuals was my lowest score with around 66 percent and alll others were about 72-89 ish give or take. I felt like I was starting to confuse even the simplest concepts… which was annoying… Either way, today was test day. I went in strong because the test I took with NINJA the day before was a 78%. I went in and did the MCQs. The first testlet I marked about 8 which was terrifying… But i gave my best educated guess. The next two testlets though I marked maybe 3-5 which was pretty good. Out of them I think only 1 or 2 would be actualy wrong. Some I just doubted but went with best option. Then I got to the SIMS. the research one a no brainer. The others Im still contemplating over. I know I got over 50 percent on all. So it comes down to my estimates of 2 of 6 100%, 2 of 6 80% and the other 2 maybe 50%. and I am low balling just in case to give myself some slack but still, I think I am cutting it close. I think that I did pretty good however, that doesnt mean I didnt come out with 74. Oh, forgot to mention, i finished an hour early. The MCQs that I knew, were basically an immediate answer. The ones I didnt, I went back and reviewed and ensured that the answer I gave was the best one to me. I finished all MCQs in about 45 minutes. Then I went to the SIMS and even those I finished quickly even after reviewing everything and researching the parts that I was able to research. Either way, I think I did well enough to pass and feel pretty confident. However, I dont want it to come back and bite me where it hurts and crush any confidence I have going forward. Crossing Fingers it all went well. If you need advice, since I know we cant share too much, simply ask. Ill try my best to answer. Goodluck everyone else who still needs to pass!

    May the odds be ever in your favor! hehe.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)
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  • #777039
    Trele6
    Participant

    I'm a quick test taker, I finished REG with 45 mins left I think, I spent maybe an hour on the sims, maybe. When I took FAR I left my self 2 hours for the SIMs and finished those in about an hour.

    Doing Becker I average about 30 seconds per question and I seem to keep that average on test day.

    I've always been a quick test taker, high school, college, always first to turn my paper in. You either know it or you dont.

    B - 80 Jun16
    A - 74 Aug16, 77 Oct16
    R - 87 Nov15
    F - 79 Apr16
    Ethics - 98 Nov16
    Licensed in New Mexico Dec16

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

    #777040
    Martin
    Participant

    Aly, do you think Becker was enough for reg? What were you averaging using Becker right before the exam? What are you thoughts regarding ninja, you think the questions were harder than Becker and similar to the real exam? Thanks for your help!

    Through God all things can happen!

    “You never fail until you stop trying.”
    ― Albert Einstein
    When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
    “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

    FAR= 72-84
    Audit= 73-82
    BEC= 74-75
    Reg=77

    #777041
    Trele6
    Participant

    To me Becker was harder than the REG test. I have only used Becker, nothing else. I took both Becker Final exams and scored in the 60's on both. Was a little nervous, but easily passed with an 87.

    B - 80 Jun16
    A - 74 Aug16, 77 Oct16
    R - 87 Nov15
    F - 79 Apr16
    Ethics - 98 Nov16
    Licensed in New Mexico Dec16

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

    #777042
    Martin
    Participant

    trele6, have you worked in taxes before you took Reg?

    Through God all things can happen!

    “You never fail until you stop trying.”
    ― Albert Einstein
    When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
    “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

    FAR= 72-84
    Audit= 73-82
    BEC= 74-75
    Reg=77

    #777043
    Trele6
    Participant

    No I hadn't, my last experience in taxes was 2003 for my undergrad.

    I will say, having studied for FAR, REG and BEC now, REG was the most engaging and easy to study for me. I took it as a chance to actually look at my own taxes and wanted to learn to see if my taxes had been done wrong in the past. I think doing that made me engage the material more and I understood it better because I tried to relate all of the material to real life situations I have had.

    I am a little older so I might have more real life scenarios that fit for me like buying and selling a house. Buying and selling vehicles, inheritances, gifts, etc.

    Just consider yourself a company or partnership in those examples and apply the items or numbers to something real life for you. That made it easier to click in my head, and then I could reference it on the test easier.

    B - 80 Jun16
    A - 74 Aug16, 77 Oct16
    R - 87 Nov15
    F - 79 Apr16
    Ethics - 98 Nov16
    Licensed in New Mexico Dec16

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

    #777044
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I'm sorry I just find this whole scenario unlikely, if not completely implausible.

    #777045
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hey Aly,

    I am studying Becker REG right now and was wondering if you were studying out of the v1.2 book or the v1.3 book?

    #777046
    Martin
    Participant

    trele6, thanks for the tips.

    Through God all things can happen!

    “You never fail until you stop trying.”
    ― Albert Einstein
    When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
    “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

    FAR= 72-84
    Audit= 73-82
    BEC= 74-75
    Reg=77

    #777047
    Jdn9201
    Participant

    Eh, it's hard to say but I wouldn't sweat finishing early – especially if you have always been a quick test taker or felt confident while studying. I finished every exam at least an hour early. I think people can rush too much and miss important details (particularly in AUD) but you either know it or you don't. I know with myself, I had to be careful and not spend too much time because I have a bad habit of second guessing myself out of right answers (back from my college days). I think you did fine – good luck!

    BEC - 88 8/29/15
    REG - 82 11/14/15
    AUD - 83 1/8/16
    FAR - 80 2/29/16

    #777048
    patelhj1
    Participant

    Agreed, I finished REG both attempts with more than 40 mins to spare… I Went back and reviewed all my answer never left the test center until my last 5 mins though.

    BEC was different cause my writing skills are horrible so I took my time with grammar and making my paragraphs seem more professional

    PASSED ALL CPA EXAM AUG 2016

    BECKER / NINJA MCQ

    BEC 78 08/2015
    REG 71 11/2015, RETAKE 83 01/2016
    FAR 75! 5/2016
    AUD ? 8/2016

    Becker with Nonstop NINJA MCQ
    Google most difficult professional exam

    #777049
    aly.marie88
    Participant

    Ill try to answer everyone in one post:

    Trele6: In my experience, I have always been a quick test taker as well. I feel the same way that you either know the material or you dont. I dont think rereading the questions for an additional 5 minutes plus would have helped trigger some unresponsive portion of my brain and hinted at the answer. I know what I know, I answer the question in the most educated manner possible and move on. I did flag them and return but I think I only changed one out of any that I flagged and thats because the question was just so outta left field, it did not really matter what I put.

    Martin: I like Becker and I like NINJA. They both have their annoyances I guess. I did not do the Becker lectures. They bored me tremendously and I could not focus long enough without falling asleep. My friend on the other hand, followed the Becker way religiously and passed REG with a 78. She took the exam in April 2016. I get my score on June 9th (Ill comment later in this post if I passed). I did read the entire Becker book however and whatever mnemonics stuck, well I didnt force them otherwise. Im not really one to memorize things unless I absolutely have to. I think REG really leads itself to knowing facts and being able to reason our way to the answers without memorizing such annoying and sometimes dumb mnemonics that make no sense whatever. I read each section in Becker and then did the MCQs until I got them all right. And then I would move on to the next section. I did not go through it all in the end and review since I knew I had NINJA MCQs. With Becker, I memorized so many of the questions and formats that it didnt really benefit me going through the same ones over and over again. Its hard for me not to memorize answers and questions. The Becker test is the exact same as the CPA exam so I enjoyed being familiar with the format. NINJA is not an exact copy of the format. I liked how Becker would tell you why each question is right or wrong. NINJA doesnt exactly do this but I enjoyed both formats. It allowed me not to get complacent and learn only one way. The Becker exams my scores varied. They didnt give an overall percentage so my scores were between likke 20 and 65.. Some areas I still needed to work on and others I was doing ok in. But that depended on how many questions in a particular topic were asked. I knew I still needed to study at that point. I took both and moved on to NINJA. I did as many MCQs as I possibly could have done in about 2 weeks with NINJA. I still didnt do the entire thing and I made it about 3/4 way in the adaptive learning portion. However, NINJA gives you the different trending percentages based on the AICPA guidelines so I was able to just narrow down where I needed to practice. I was trending about 60% in the taxation areas so I would just do 100 MCQs selecting only those sections so I can read the explanations and move on and try to get my trending score as high as I could. My lowest trending score ended up being a 64. All others were between 70 and 84. When I took the exam, i got a 78% in NINJA. On test day, well I will discuss my score in a future post. Crossing my fingers for the best.

    Another1: I used v1.2

    Overall, I do think on both NINJA and Becker, that the exams were harder then the real one. I got to say, that there really is no way to study for the SIMS. I only practiced about 2 SIMS and then the ones that I got on the 3 practice exams I took. The test had some that I really couldnt have practiced for I dont think but I think my knowledge helped me to answer them and I felt pretty good leaving. We will see in about 2 weeks.

    Thanks for everyones comments. These exams are so unpredictable but dedication is the key. Also, I had rescheduled 2x by the way. To give my self an extra 3 week of studying. I had gotten the FLU or something of that sort and lost 2 weeks mid studying and had to get my self on track. I rescheduled ($35 btw) and I guess I thought I could just cram and catch up but I realized that it caused me too much anxiety so I rescheduled again for another week and then felt so much better. I realized that Im already trying to have all these tests taken in a matter of 6 months.Why rush things anymore… I paid for all 4 exams at once as encouragement to not lose money and to hunker down and just do the damn thing. I have 2 kids (boys 8 and 5) and they understand that mommy wants to be smart and study. They play and do their homework and are very independent by the way.. They know that I need to study and encourage me to be smart (cause I tell them it will help me make more money to buy them more things). lol. But I understand that theres no easy route to taking this exam. People do make their comments and while I disagree, I still listen. Cause at the end of the day, I am going to do what I want. And I want to pass this exam! Good luck to everyone.

    #777050
    aly.marie88
    Participant

    Update: I passed reg with an 84.

    #777051
    Ib
    Participant

    @aly.marie88
    Congrats. That was good score for REG. So, you did not practiced much for SIMS. What will you suggest for SIMS? Is Becker+Ninja OK for REG?

    AUD - 87
    BEC - 78
    FAR - 79
    REG - 81
    Licensed CPA in MA, OCT 2016

    FAR 79
    AUD 87
    BEC 78
    REG 08/31/2016

    #777052
    aly.marie88
    Participant

    @IB553 I think Becker and ninja is enough. Becker was easier to me than ninja but I think it gave me a good starting point and then ninja really helped me nail the concepts more. I think I did like 5 Sims only if I had time
    .. I mostly focused on mcqs. On the real exam the Sims were just an application if knowledge. Pretty easy to talk myself through them. The Sims I had worked on only helped familiarize me with the process which I think is good but I wouldn't kill myself working them all. I would only do a couple if u have time and focus on mcqs and concepts.

    #777053
    Ib
    Participant

    @aly.marie. Thanks for your comments.

    AUD - 87
    BEC - 78
    FAR - 79
    REG - 81
    Licensed CPA in MA, OCT 2016

    FAR 79
    AUD 87
    BEC 78
    REG 08/31/2016

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