[debitcash]

I am lost at my attempt to restudy for this exam. I got a 69 my first time taking it. I am planning on sitting for it on Jan 6.

Using Becker + Ninja MCQ

Have already done all Becker MCQ and Watched all lecture videos/took decent notes

Felt that I knew a good percentage of the material

During the exam, MCQ went med/hard/hard

SIMS – used AL for everything I could (research found first then moved on to the others)

Dec 9 came and delivered the bitter news

NOW, I ask what do you recommend I do for the retake?

1. Stick to banging out MCQs (sets of 30s back to back to back)

2. re-watch all lectures, then bang out MCQs

3. read the book cover to cover, then bang out MCQs

4. Rewrite the ninja notes and simultaneously bang out MCQs? (I have the Ninja AUD notes but they are from 2014 – still usable?)

5. other ideas?

My plan originally was to sit through the lectures (refresh little points here and there) and then do all the MCQs I possibly can before the exam date but I keep going back and forth on that idea and feel that I am wasting time, hence why I decided to ask for your guys advice…

[SIDE NOTE: Purchased Ninja 10 point combo for FAR and passed with a 75 (thanks Jeff)]

FAR:75!
AUD:69, 63, 73, TBD
BEC:76!
REG:71, TBD

BECKER + NINJA PRODUCTS

keep your cool

[thederek]

#3 will give the highest likelihood of passing your next try.

With a 69, you are lacking an understanding of the concepts somewhere. To do all the MCQs and score <70 means you're probably just going through the motions and not “actively” studying. Understanding the concepts but missing the details should get you closer to the border 73-75 range. You should know why the answer is right and why the wrong answers are wrong. Are you checking the explanations even for questions you got right? You may be guessing right for the wrong reasons.

Did you review the AICPA released questions? My exam ended up being harder than the difficult questions that were on the released questions. You should have no trouble with most of those.

I would start out with a bank of questions from all the chapters. As you answer them, note why you picked your answer. When you calculate your score, mark guesses as wrong and any you got right for the wrong reason as wrong. Re-read the chapters that you score low in then go back to grinding through MCQs (the right way lol).

Another thing that helped me are online study groups. NINJA has a couple and CPA exam club has some that are in Facebook. Reading the thought process of people helping each other helped me big time.

BEC - 10/05/15 - 83
FAR - 11/09/15 - 79
AUD - 11/30/15 - 84
REG - 02/14/16 - 82

[jeff]

NINJAs get free updates until they pass – you're welcome to email for a fresh AUD Notes copy.

What was your Trending Score for the MCQ and how many questions did you do. You're welcome to send me a screenshot of your stats as well.

[psyche]

I would recommend your option 3.
Your exam experience sounds a lot like mine.

REG-89 (05/24/15)
FAR-92 (08/29/15)
AUD-99 (11/2015)
BEC-91 (02/2016)

[debitcash]

Jeff,

Thank you for taking the time to answer this post!

I did more than 1,000 questions and was “averaging” a 68%. That 68% contained numbers from sessions that I exited from prematurely (not knowing that they would be averaged as well). Unfortunately, I reset the stats yesterday in preparation for a restart to studying for this exam.

In regards to the notes, I was actually offered them from somebody who highly praised this forum (and the ninja way) as I was originally skeptical about spending even more money after throwing down about 4k for Becker (hope you can understand). As I mentioned before, I did go ahead and purchase the 10pt combo for FAR and am glad that I did and am planning on adding the ninja material for BEC and REG going forward.

FAR:75!
AUD:69, 63, 73, TBD
BEC:76!
REG:71, TBD

BECKER + NINJA PRODUCTS

keep your cool

[Anonymous]

@debitcash

I too failed my first attempt at audit with a 69. I went back and started over completely. Started over from the very first chapter and studied like I never looked at it before.

I would watch the lecture, re-read the section, write out any notes (basically what they highlighted in Becker), and then would answer the mc (while answering why the correct answer was right and why the other answers were wrong).

It's tedious, but it worked for me as I got a 79 on AUD while working full time.

Good luck!

[MOAC]

Use open three.
Reread the text and after reading every subtopic do the MCQs.

FAR May 2012 81 (lost credit, didn't sit for other sections.)
FAR 86 Aug 2015
AUD 85 Nov 2015
BEC 84 Dec 2015
REG 78 Mar 2016

Passed ALL sections in first attempt!!

[Anonymous]

Refresh your memory by viewing lectures supplemented by NINJA Notes then bang out thousands of NINJA MCQ until your eyes bleed and you trend 85%. I think the harder AUD MCQ are trickier than other sections because of the wording. Almost everyone I have seen trend 85% (no BS) has passed.

[Author]

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