[Journey to Fate]

Well, I am not sure who has or hasn’t been following my story, but at this point, I’m at a loss for words.

I started my CPA journey in 2008, failed AUD and BEC but honestly did not prepare for them as I was in public accounting and super busy.

Fast forward to Februrary of this year, I took AUD and failed, yes i improved drastically from when I took it in 2008, so I took that as a sign that I could beat this thing. I stopped my BEC efforts, retook AUD in April and I went down 10 points. I walked out of the test feeling it was much harder, but makes no sense as i really prepared a lot for this exam and now I just dont know what to do. I’m preparing to take BEC in a few weeks, but also don’t feel ultra comfortable. I just feel like studied so hard for four months, took a small step forward then took two giants steps back.

Clearly, i’m an awful test taker, but the drastic drop in improvement has me even more worried.

What should I do? I want to beat this thing, I want to get that CPA, I just have totally been demoralized after seeing how I lost points, not gained from a retake. Clearly, I’m not close to passing this thing 🙁

JTF

BEC- 67, 69

[Anonymous]

I don't use Becker cuz I'm poor but if you can afford it definitely go with that..I think CPAExcel is sick……

[Keely]

You definitely need to watch the lectures, in my opinion. It brings everything in the book together. I cannot imagine getting anything out of the material until I watch the lecture, then go back and read the book. I took BEC last month, and here's what I did. Watched the lecture, immediately did the MCQs. Repeat until done with entire lecture/MCQs. That's my Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, I read and take extensive notes on half the chapter and redo the MCQs. Thursday, I do the other half. Also, they must be hand-written notes, and typing notes does absolutely nothing for retention. Friday, I reread AGAIN and make flashcards or take very short notes, just hitting the most important topics. Since there were no SIMs for BEC, I didn't fool with the WCs, instead I devoted my weekend to redoing the MCQs (I supplemented with Wiley) and memorizing things of note.

The key with BEC (I think, I haven't gotten my score yet. Waiting impatiently!) is do the MCQs, do them again, do something else, come back to them. Do your progress tests ALWAYS. I did all the Becker MCQ questions at least 5 times, sometimes more than that for areas I thought would be highly tested. As I said, I don't know how I did yet, but I felt extremely prepared.

Definitely change your study habits. Definitely watch the lectures. If you are anything like me, get yourself a good day planner and plan your study time minute by minute, practically. Cross it off as you finish something. Never deviate or procrastinate! I know it sounds harsh, but no one is breathing down your neck to make you do this, only YOU can push yourself and reap the benefits. Stay on task, and you will get there. We all will.

BEC: (4/2012) 88
AUD: (5/2012) 91
REG: (8/2012) 82
FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

VA CPA #42010

[pacific1]

dont give up!!!

[Journey to Fate]

…and thoughts about changing my next exam date to refocus my habits? change yaeger to becker?

BEC- 67, 69

[nolifecpa]

go right back into AUD, forget about BEC for now unless the nts is expiring. i wouldn't change materials just yet since you haven't fully utilized it. give it 1 more full go with yaeger and if you still come up short then switch

i switched from becker to yaeger after failing 12 exams and passed AUD. here is what i did

i watched the lectures and took notes, read the module and took notes, even read the sections in the back and took notes, did recommended book mcq and took notes, did testbank mcq and took notes, did sims and took notes. typed up my notes and rewrote them by hand. towards the end i would read my notes daily and do mcq. printed out the different audit reports and read those often

ultimately you have to do what works best for you and if you don't know what works best for you then it will take trial and error to figure it out, which has been very time consuming for me (been at this since 2006)

you can do it!!!!

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[Journey to Fate]

My NTS expires for BEC in the beg of July….so what do you think?

My thought process is, refocus my study habits, and take my BEC before it expires, do all the lectures, start fresh.

Then do the retake for audit for the August using the same method. If i fail both times again then its time to switch materials.

Thoughts?

BEC- 67, 69

[pacific1]

if your NTS is going to expire the first of July I say you focus on that one as you don't want to lose the money

[nolifecpa]

schedule AUD beginning of june, BEC beginning of july

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[nolifecpa]

ooops! forgot june is blkout. do BEC beg july

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[Journey to Fate]

I am so confused! I took AUD on 4/7 just failed. Spent the last month studying for BEC. I dont feel ready for it on the 19th. It expires after the first week of July.

Do you agree I should refcous efforts, do the lectures and study for BEC for an early July exam and then use the same methods and re-take Audit near the end of august?

BEC- 67, 69

[nolifecpa]

if you're not ready for BEC on the 19th then push it back to july.

AND watch the lectures!!! cindy is awesome at explaining variances, made it look like it was a joke

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[Journey to Fate]

thanks nolifecpa…i will keep you posted…. as for this weekend, its back to the basics start with the lectures and get this done the right way.

BEC- 67, 69

[mena je twa]

Journey to fate –

I agree with Jeff, either you are not putting in enough hours or you and your review course are not on the same page…

Looking at your scores in the 50's and 60's is not good enough to combat this beast of a exam. You need to understand audit well enough before you attempt your next try, dont think about which month should i schedule my exam, think on the lines of how much time will it take me to master the audit material , so i can score a 75…..

Change review course if you have to, or put in hours if you have too, but dont give up…. I barely studied 15-20 hrs a week, kept on failing and finally saw some passing scores and that also barely. hang in there.

Licensed CPA, Texas - 2012

[nolifecpa]

I have 2011 yaeger and cindy reads alot from the book on some sections but just stick with it

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[Anonymous]

First of all, DON'T GIVE UP. I received three failing scores, before I received my first passing score. I cried after each of those failing score and it was miserable. After few days, when I really thought about it…I failed because I hadn't studied the way I should've. Some people can study for an exam for 3weeks and get 80+ while I have to study 3x that to get that score.

Point is, everyone is different and everyone studies differently. See what works for you. You know your method hasn't been working and you need to change that. The way I changed my method was to read the text 2-3 times, and do all the MCQs at least 3-4times. I also supplemented Wiley Testbank with Becker and it helped a lot. I also bought Ninja notes and went over few topics that didn't make sense to me in Becker.

I would recommend: Read a chapter/section (I go by each section), watch the lecture, read the section again, and do all the MCQs from that section. Then move on to the next section and so forth…

I'm no expert as I have failed three times, and still have two more to go, but had to give my $0.02. Don't give up and you can do it!!!

[Author]

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