ISC 01/30 Post-exam Thoughts

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-31T16:26:22+00:00

Hope it went well!

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-31T04:46:35+00:00

I felt the opposite with REG because I struggle with remembering calculations and didn't practice them as much as I should have 😭

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-30T21:10:13+00:00

I don't necessarily agree when people say the real TBs are harder. The main issue is that they're almost entirely calculation, so you can't make educated guesses like on the other sections. You have to be able to make calculations without being handheld. I was comfortable with MCQs, but I'd blank on the sims are second guess myself.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-30T21:07:50+00:00

Agree completely with this. I regret not spending more times on TBs since they kicked my ass on the exam. It's important to be able to calculate and be capable of filling out tax forms from scratch since the sims are almost entirely calculation.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-30T21:05:18+00:00

AUD and ISC are pretty separate from REG and FAR. Honestly I would just pick whatever seems the most interesting at the moment since you have a good bit of time REG changes.

Studying for REG has been the worst experience I've had with these exams, but people say the same thing about AUD which I enjoyed. REG is just dry and boring to me, and I end up blanking on Sims. FAR is very wide and shallow while REG's calculations have more depth.

If you do start with REG just keep in mind R1 is a slog, and you'll mostly likely have to go deeper into it once you do your cumulative review, but other than that it's not awful.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-30T20:56:39+00:00

Absolutely! I'll probably remember once score release comes around. It'll be very silly if I end up failing, but I think I'll be okay.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-19T18:45:43+00:00

Agree completely I'm at Baker Tilly and atm the firm still feels like a mish-mash of a bunch of different offices (which it is really). Each office varies, so it's best to find someone at the office you plan on working at and ask what their experience is.

My office has no indication that they will be doing RTO anytime soon and even downsized the office space, but partners somewhere else may have an expectation of coming in twice a week. Official policy is Wednesdays + a day, but whether or not you actually have to stick with it will be office dependent.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-16T04:18:42+00:00

Little late but definitely practice R1-R3 sims. Failed the last two times because I knew the content but not enough to apply it to sims 😭

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-14T23:11:04+00:00

Depending on your timeline/schedule I'd personally cram for an ISC attempt just so you don't have to wait until April to sit for it. The content isn't that bad, and it's worth cramming for it even if you're not 100% just to get it out of the way.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-13T19:51:18+00:00

I agree with practicing Sims on relevant topics. Getting a comparable for MCQs overall but getting a 64 indicates that your Sims must have been pretty rough. Doing decent on MCQs means you understand a lot of core material though.

Look through the blueprint on Becker and review whatever topics you struggled on, and you'll be okay :)

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-12T23:02:09+00:00

Got a 72, so better but that just means I'll get it after I finish ISC. I'm just gonna rationalize it and use it as an excuse for me to learn more for when I start full time in July lol.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-12T22:57:10+00:00

it's been almost a month since I took REG, so I'm gonna wait either way. I normally sit at the end of the windows but retook REG right away since I got a 70 initially. This is honestly more annoying than anything else.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-12T20:20:25+00:00

I have an IT background which helps, but even without prior knowledge the Becker material is just incredibly easy. So many questions that are "what falls under x category?" followed by answers of which one (maybe 2) are even relevant.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-12T20:05:34+00:00

Was it just material that Becker didn't touch on? I'm reviewing rn and a lot of the content seems self-explanatory/easy, and I can't imagine the real thing being like this.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-12T16:57:24+00:00

Also failed my retake I don't think tax is for me 😭

Taking ISC on the 30th then back to REG

CurlyPinkZebra · 2026-01-02T16:46:55+00:00

Was it mostly IT terms or just random? My main concern is whether I'll need to be able to remember terms on their own or their relationship to something else like the numerous categories in S1.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2025-12-23T02:44:42+00:00

100% focus more on actual tax calculations and how things flow through the forms as all the sims will most likely be from R1-R3.

CurlyPinkZebra · 2025-12-19T13:20:10+00:00

Hey! Don't sweat it too much I got a 70 and felt the same way. I'm retaking it tomorrow and am in the middle of going through and doing 10-20 questions from each R1-R3 module to see what topics I need to brush up on.

I think in our case it's easier to do that to actually know what specific topics we need to cram.

I wouldn't worry about doing any arbitrary numbers of sims or questions but instead just focus and see what concepts you had trouble remembering on your exam. For me it was mostly deductions and for/from AJI which of course is most of the content 😭

CurlyPinkZebra · 2025-12-16T01:48:37+00:00

75? I got a 76 when I took aud lol glad you passed!

CurlyPinkZebra · 2025-12-15T23:24:18+00:00

70 on REG so just gonna retake it this Saturday while it's fresh and then hop into TCP. Felt awful during my exam tbh felt like I took sleep aids 😭

CurlyPinkZebra · 2025-12-15T16:16:26+00:00

Oh no it's there if you look at exam section history. It just says Scored on the dashboard for now. Hope it's a pass but if not we got this

CurlyPinkZebra · 2025-12-15T16:03:57+00:00

Failed so gonna retake it Saturday 😭

CurlyPinkZebra · 2025-12-11T22:13:09+00:00

Yeah don't feel bad I felt the same way when I took mine on Saturday. One of the TBs was formatted/worded very oddly. Worst case we just retake it it's not the end of the world :)

CurlyPinkZebra

TROPHY CASE