[hnaeem]

Took my 1st section ever yesterday, May 1. Wow. What an exam and challenge Reg was. I was originally supposed to take it a week ago, but rescheduled 48 hours prior because I did not do well on the Becker practice test.

For the past three-four weeks, I have been going at Becker for 8-12 hours a day. It has been truly a grind. I am sure that in total, with the corporate tax and ind tax classes I have taken, I have put 150+ hours into this thing. I should have walked out feeling like money – but I didn’t.

Study materials: Becker and Ninja Audio.

Multiple choice – I thought they were very fair. I went through the first testlet and flagged about 6. For the 2nd testlet, I don’t know if it was harder. I flagged about 10. So in all, I think there were 16 questions I could have been 50/50 on. The math was really simple for the most part. I could not tell which was a question that was a “research” and which wasn’t. Overall: think I crushed the multiple choice. Got done with it in about 1 hour and 45 mins.

Sims – Awful. I hadn’t practiced these once before. So the first testlet of 2 – I spent about 15-20 minutes on the RESEARCH question. I could not be sure about it, and I also thought it was weighted as heavily as the other ones (i.e., 1/8 of the SIMS). I hate that. Then, I got all excited about the dimensions the Authoritative Literature could explain – so I literally OCD’d it for the next question. I WASTED valuable time.

I got to the last 3 SIMS with about 30 minutes left – I prayed that it would be easier and there would be no more researching information tabs and comparing client based hyperlinks and such. It wasn’t easier. The same. Towards the end, I found myself looking at answers and just barely glancing at the provided information and making a best guess situation. It was truly stressful.

I have no idea if I failed or passed. And that is tragic because I really studied for this. I have a good GPA in college and do well on standardized tests, but I wish I had known how much time I would have needed to allocate to the SIMS. Unbelievable how unprepared I was for that and how under stressed the timing factor is for Becker.

Positive note: I listened to Ninja Audio Reg plenty of times while studying, and also ran through it about an hour before the exam in the test center parking lot. I SWEAR ON MY LIFE that Jeff said concepts of 2-3 WORD FOR WORD questions that were on my exam. Unbelievable. I was literally giggling as I answered those questions. I heard his voice saying it and I was like boom that’s the answer.

Already started studying for BEC. No point in getting caught up in it. I’m just upset that I was unaware of the time factor. If you read this I hope this helps you. The SIMS are based on applying what you know and you will be confused. Learn to allocate a lot of time to it and in my opinion, DO NOT use the Authoritative Literature for things you don’t know. It’s wasting valuable time that YOU WILL NEED for the sims, no doubt. I was showing my parents the sims to see if they were comparable in Becker after the exam, and they just aren’t. Becker sims are like multiple choice problems extended. AICPA Reg sims are like hyperlinks to tax forms, and you just have to be ready for a mind challenge. Definitely do-able though.

About to buy Ninja Audio for all of my freaking tests. It’s a great thing.

Keep grinding baby. Multiple choice questions all day, everyday - I used Becker. Ninja audio for a different kind of reinforcement that consolidates the material very well.

Reg - 5/1/2017: 73

Bec - 5/28/2017: 81 (DONE)

Aud: 8/3/2017: 70

Far: 8/31/2017: 78 (DONE)

[acardone51]

I wouldn't sell yourself short on how well you did – I have yet to come out of one of those tests thinking I did well…if you think you crushed the MC that's a great start. Most of everyone has trouble on the Sims – they're brutal. Just remember the scoring is based exactly on how many questions you got right, it's weighted. I'm sure you did fine. I'm about to take this monster later this month. Hope you passed!

AUD - 93
BEC - 85
FAR - 90
REG - 91

Done!!!!!

[maceofspades]

I took REG on April 21st, a retake since I got a 74 on March 10th. MCQs were comparable, flagged a few probably 6-7 on both booklets. The first two TBSs were interesting, but I felt somewhat ok about them. Took 15 minute break. Came back and the remaining TBS's were very tough. They incorporated ALOT of extra documents. Fill in the blank kind of answers. I have absolutely no idea how they are gonna grade this. How do they even know if you were thinking in the right direction with fill in the blank questions? I know i aced the research question. I feel like I failed based on the other TBS's. I did ‘stronger' on the TBS on my March 10th exam.

Best of luck to you though. I hope we pass.

[EZ_Sims_4_me_Pls]

sounds like you may have done alright..

my first ever exam was FAR in February of 2016.. MCQ were ok, sims were very easy.. they were so easy, that I thought the exam was trying to trick me, so I changed my answers accordingly

..and failed as a result (72). it was my first exam ever, didn't know what to expect.

took far again a couple months later… MCQ was harder, sims were INSANELY HARD..literally felt like I was running through a field full of rakes. passed with 77.

AUD - 80
BEC - 84
FAR - 77
REG - 79

one step closer

[Author]

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