I sort of went over board on studying last time for my May test: 3k MCQ questions (From gleim mostly but I went through the becker book too); read Becker, Gleim, Wiley, and at least 50 simulations.I understood all of the auditing concepts and what hoops had to be gone through. I did fairly well on the MCQs 75 to 100% on sections for the week before my test. The simulations I was getting 70% to 85%. I did a mini review with my former instructor and he said I was good to go and I would be fine.
The MCQs were very straight forward and I got quite a few familiar ones from my study habits. I maybe got 4 questions where I had no idea what they were talking about but the questions never get harder when you know what they're talking about–they just get more specific and convoluted. However, when I go to the simulations, I realized I was in trouble. They were brutal and made no sense to me what so ever. My research question was entirely vague and had no clear question on what they wanted.I knew that my whole test rested on the research question because I could gauge how well I did on the rest of the Sims. (Each section is 6.66 points, only 6 are counted).
I got a 69, so I know I blew the research question.
This time I just went through Gleim, did probably 1600 MCQs, and about 15 sims to refresh myself of the nuances of the Standards and Codes. I did most of my understanding last time but you can't slack because there's just so much information to know so refresher definitely helped. I pushed my test back by week and it felt like it made all the difference in the world.
The thing I would recommend for anyone is mnemonics and flash cards that they write themselves. AUD is a lot of memorization and I'm piss poor with memorizing exact details but I know of people who have just memorized the things and gotten through it. The BEC, FAR, and REG have specific topicswith general overlays so they don't go nearly as deep as Audit. General ideas are fine except that everything in audit has quite a few exceptions. It took me half a year to “understand” why auditing is so specific and nuanced. I learn by doing–which those tests had plenty of practice (MBA student, BEC was a refresher course for me). The other tests also had the writing part going for it when I took them….
The best advice I can give anyone is to try to understand the question that is being asked. There are almost always two answers that can be thrown out completely because they're just something an Accountant or Auditor would never do. (I.E. Express an opinion on internal control in a review of the financial statements or express positive assurance Please correct if I'm wrong).
The last bit of advice, never push a test into different testing window when you already have it scheduled. The test is a lot of luck. You may never see your sampling questions that you studied so hard to understand and you may get the section you know best.. The worst that will happen is that you won't pass and you'll have to pay another $300 but you'll get actual test experience. The NTS comes fairly quickly over email these days (I think I've gotten it in as little as 2 days).
I sort of rambled there.. hope that helps. lol
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