[shizz8790]

Hello Everyone,

Can someone please help me. I studied for Audit for the three months from March to May took it May 30th and failed badly with a 58. Then decided to re take it again and studied for another 6 weeks and got a 57 this window of July.

With the same report of weakness in all chapters and Comparable in Evidence and Accounting and Review Services. What am i doing wrong?????

I have no distractions, i study full time and I’m using Yaeger and Wiley. I haven’t taken Financial yet- Could that be a reason?

I took Reg as my first exam after studying for about the same amount of time and made a 73. Was exhausted studying for it again so i decided to take Audit. Do i need to change my review course for Audit?

Can someone please please help me and give me a step by step guidance on how to study? I did all the MCQs and Sims many times, i read all the chapters made some flash cards..Thank you so much

[littlenumberrobot]

Has to be the sims for you. If you have the Wiley book. Read it. Read it again and take notes. Rewrite the notes. Don't do any mcq or sims until after you have at least read the book and made your first round of notes. You are probably memorizing the mcq answers.

Good luck!!!!

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[nbad311]

Do you have other things going on (work, family, school?) , or were you able to study 20+ hours a week for 3 months straight? I'm guessing no distractions since you mentioned studying full-time. But sometimes drawing out your studying for too long can hurt you; the stuff you looked at in month 1 might not be so fresh in your mind come exam time and you may have missed a lot of those points. Make sure you go back to earlier chapters ALL throughout your study time period to stay “current” on that older stuff you looked at. Maybe this means picking a random 10-MCQ block from chapter 1-4 even if you're on chapter 10.

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[wizards8507]

This might not be your thing. It might be more valuable to identify your true strengths rather that trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.

NY CPA

[GO Hawks]

with those types of score, both SIMS and MCQ must be an issue. I think you have to re-construct your entire method. If you don't change your method, how can you expect your results to change?

Although FAR can be helpful to take first, I'm not sure it will be the ultimate key for you.

Perhaps you have not committed enough energy to truly understand the material. You need to be able to solve a straight forward questions or back-into the more complex answers.

When you do MCQ, read the question, STOP, before looking at the answers, ask yourself, “what is this questions really asking”, then, answer the question in your own mind without looking at the answers. THEN, look at the answers. A few things can happen: the answer might be on the list–excellent you are a rockstar, the question may not be on the list, but you were on the right track so its easier to do process of elimination, OR, you are totally off and were completely off topic– this means you don't know the material enough.

AUD is the most straight forward test if you train yourself right. for the MCQ, once you see the answer, dont move on yet, ask yourself, what are the others elements at play here? if the question was about an audit procedure, do you know the other alternative procedures off the top on your head? flip to that spot in the book re-read that part, THEN more to the next section.

hopefully that will get you in the right direction. I would also recommend Becker but plenty of people pass with your current materials so I cant say for sure it will be a game-changer.

also, 8-14 hour study days are more effective then many short study days. time to get serious

BEC 88 5/25/2013
FAR 96 7/01/2013
AUD 99 7/08/2013
REG 93 8/01/2013

Straight Becker'in it

[Anonymous]

I failed AUD my first time with a 70. I know there are a few things I didn't do right the first time that caused this failure. My biggest piece of advice is to read, read, read and read some more. Reading for this section is imperative. You may be struggling with the multiple choice because you are not understanding the concepts that underlie it. Also, when you do a multiple choice question, read why you got the answer wrong. If you can figure out what topic it is related to, go to the glossary and look it up to read more in depth about it in the text. That was another reason I failed, I didn't take the time to understand why I was answering questions wrong.

The SIMS are a whole different story. I know that these are mostly conceptual based as well so reading will help you score more points with these. There really isn't a way to prepare for them unfortunately. The FAR aspect of this exam is small so I wouldn't worry about not seeing that material.

[shizz8790]

Thank you all so much for your advise. I will just have to try my very best and read and understand the material again. Go Hawks did you seriously get a 99 in Audit?? That is awesome!! Congratulations! How did u get a 99??

I will also use Becker questions and material. I felt very good the second time around after my exam and to be very honest i was shocked to see such a low score. I am 20 points away from passing. Thank you all

[rjcpa]

FYI – like Jeff says, your not 20 points from passing, your 75. Study like you've never seen it before.

FAR - 10/3/12 - 86
BEC - 11/27/12 - 70 1/14/13 - 81
AUD - 4/4/13 - 87
REG - 7/8/13 - 80

[smp73]

Start from the beginning when you restudy. Study everything again….and I mean everything. Read the questions, maybe read them twice before even looking at the answers. Make sure you are able to identify any qualifiers like not, if, and in a question. It can change an entire answer. Also, take notes on the MC questions. Write fact nuggets. Rewrite your notes, rewrite ninja notes if you have them. Go all in!

Start from scratch…like @rjcpa mentioned you need 75 points not just 20. Study like you need 75…if you study like you only need 20 you may end up selling yourself short.

You will pass this thing though. The exams are a beast but you will pass!

NYS CPA License # 113563
CIA: Done as of 2/15/14

Training for a half marathon post studying!

[Anonymous]

Hi , I think I took audit 5 or 6 times. You just have to keep reading, and start noticing the differences between each reporting. The more you read, the better you are. Understand the process. After i read it so many times, I realize audit is just a cycle. From pre audit- audit plan- risk assement- audit- and reporting. Keep going man. You will be there!

[Anonymous]

@shizz Audit was the first part of the exam that I passed. The first time I made a 62 and the second time 78. One thing that I implemented the second time around was the use of a voice recorder. I recorded ALL opinions, standards mnemonics, anything that Becker said to memorize. I had all of Becker note cards recorded as well. This tool is an extremely valuable in that it lets you maximize your study time. Anywhere. When I would have to be away from watching the lectures or doing MC, I would have my recorder going. I have “studied” while laying in the sunbed, shopping at the mall, Walmart, driving down the road and even at a NASCAR race.

I used my voice recorder for all four parts of the exam. I bought it at Walmart for around $30. But if you have a recorder on your phone you could try that. The key to passing the CPA exam is repetition of the information until you are sick of it. And any method that can help you do that is a good thing.

AND you can never go wrong by purchasing the NINJA audio for AUD.

The other folks are correct. you don't need 20 points you need 75. Study like you have never seen the material before.

Best wishes!

The key to passing the CPA exam is repetition of the information until you are sick of it.

[Author]

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