This is what I've basically done. I get my feet wet by reading the entire Ninja Notes to get a feel for the material and then I get through the material on CPAexcel. I read the text, watch the video, and then take crazy notes on the slides so that I get the whole visual, auditory, and mechanical experience.
I don't bother with the PQ's and EQ's during the lessons. In my humble opinion, Ninja MCQ's are way better and more like the actual exam. There's always an explanation whether you answer right or wrong and you always go back into your review sessions to see the question again if you want to.
I've found that although this way takes me a bit longer than the “benchmark” times, but a crazy amount of MCQ's after going through all the material and re-reading my Ninja notes and handwritten notes teaches me the material in a different way and/or reinforces what I've already learned. And I've had questions in Ninja on material that wasn't even in CPAexcel, so that was a plus.
I think I could have scored better in FAR if I had started with this method first (I used to do PQ's and EQ's and all that jazz) as I would have had more time with the Ninja MCQ's. The amount of material in FAR can be so overwhelming. Frequent reviewing is the name of the game for this one. I chalk up the inefficiency of my 78 to first-exam inexperience/jitters and figuring out what worked best for me.
My 85 in AUD was solid. My 70 in BEC, not so much. I had a health issues that I was recuperating from and should have rescheduled it, but went for it anyway. I'm hoping that I rebound in the next score release with my retake. I'm ready to take REG and be done with this.
FAR - 78
AUD - 85
BEC - 70, 83! Ninja note bump of 13 points!
REG - 65, 70, 2016 Q1 retake before FAR expires 02/29/16
CPAexcel + Ninja Notes + Ninja MCQ = Success
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. And boy, I am HANGRY!
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