[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

I have been hammering out MCQs with Becker, (have gone through pretty much all of them 2 times or more) and re-writing notes to the sections that I score less than 85% on in my own words. I just took the final exam last night and scored 60,83,63 on the MCQs and 60-100 on the SIMS. I’ve already heard that most people average about 10 points higher on the actual exam than on the final, but these scores are freaking me out! I’m afraid that I really am just “memorizing” the becker answers instead of retaining the info. Also, what is this 10 point increase referring to? the average of all of your scores for MCQ and SIMs?

For all of you AUD alumni: I take the test on January 4th. I actually won a free CRAMcourse from Roger thanks to a twitter contest (perfect timing) so I’m going to start watching that today. What else can I do in the next 10 days to make SURE I never have to study AUD again? I plan on taking more progress tests with Becker, but again, feel like I am starting to internalize the answers…

thanks!

[M.O.D.]

@CR7

Thanks, but I'm not taking any chances. Even if I get 90% on the practice MCQs I don't feel I really know the stuff, as least not as well as Gleim does. I guess I tend to be an ambitious over-achiever.

Also, the CMA requires two essays per test (similar to BEC) and they are general in nature, like explain GAAP to a new manager. So I have to explain the whole book now, because they can ask for any section.

I am probably over-thinking it /over-preparing, but I don't want to fail, if I can help it. I've failed enough in life, and it's gotten boring.

So success means preparing until 100% certain of passing. That's my philosophy anyway.

Leave nothing to chance.

Preparation, preparation, preparation.

Be prepared – Boy Scout motto

BA Mathematics, UC Berkeley
Certificates in CPA and EA preparation, College of San Mateo
CMA I 420, II 470
FAR 91, AUD Feb 2015 (Gleim self-study)

[gt5717b]

@M.O.D. – First of all, anyone majoring in math has got to be somewhat crazy. and smart. probably crazy smart.

That being said, I was the same as you going into my first exam. I wanted to know the material inside and out before scheduling the exam. The problem was the lack of a deadline removed a huge motivational tool for me. I was trying to study when it was convenient so it didn't interfere with my schedule, rather than forcing myself to create time to study. Once I set a test date, my study habits quickly changed due to the urgency I now felt. Did I know the material inside and out? Not as well as I would've preferred to know the material, but I got passing scores, which is all that matters in this endeavor.

I have an engineering degree so I know how difficult the concept of “just good enough” is for those of us from the science and math fields. But it's better to pass the exams quickly with moderate scores than to take months longer shooting for perfection. My goal on each exam was to get an 85. I wanted to be proficient enough to have a suitable cushion for passing but not put in the extra hours required to go from 85 to 90 or 95 or 99. I'm sure I could've spent more time studying to gun for a higher score, but that's time I could use studying for the next exam.

REG - 89
FAR - 84
AUD - 73, 86
BEC - 89

GA Licensed CPA

[gt5717b]

@M.O.D. – First of all, anyone majoring in math has got to be somewhat crazy. and smart. probably crazy smart.

That being said, I was the same as you going into my first exam. I wanted to know the material inside and out before scheduling the exam. The problem was the lack of a deadline removed a huge motivational tool for me. I was trying to study when it was convenient so it didn't interfere with my schedule, rather than forcing myself to create time to study. Once I set a test date, my study habits quickly changed due to the urgency I now felt. Did I know the material inside and out? Not as well as I would've preferred to know the material, but I got passing scores, which is all that matters in this endeavor.

I have an engineering degree so I know how difficult the concept of “just good enough” is for those of us from the science and math fields. But it's better to pass the exams quickly with moderate scores than to take months longer shooting for perfection. My goal on each exam was to get an 85. I wanted to be proficient enough to have a suitable cushion for passing but not put in the extra hours required to go from 85 to 90 or 95 or 99. I'm sure I could've spent more time studying to gun for a higher score, but that's time I could use studying for the next exam.

REG - 89
FAR - 84
AUD - 73, 86
BEC - 89

GA Licensed CPA

[Anonymous]

@5280_CPA_Hopeful

Find an innocent victim! 🙂

Here’s what I did with audit when I got to the point of memorizing questions rather than the material – I asked my husband to be miserable with me together. Every time I came across a question where I remembered the correct answer, but my understanding of a concept wasn’t that strong or I didn’t remember it well, I would check the explanation and then explain it all to him. Dump all of that info. He knew the basic auditor's report composition and when paragraphs had to be modified pretty well 🙂 More importantly, I knew it 100%. One of my professors used to say, “Explain something to someone 10 times and you will understand it yourself”.

[Anonymous]

@5280_CPA_Hopeful

Find an innocent victim! 🙂

Here’s what I did with audit when I got to the point of memorizing questions rather than the material – I asked my husband to be miserable with me together. Every time I came across a question where I remembered the correct answer, but my understanding of a concept wasn’t that strong or I didn’t remember it well, I would check the explanation and then explain it all to him. Dump all of that info. He knew the basic auditor's report composition and when paragraphs had to be modified pretty well 🙂 More importantly, I knew it 100%. One of my professors used to say, “Explain something to someone 10 times and you will understand it yourself”.

[Author]

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