[RE2PECT]

Just received a 73 after getting a 71 in June. Both exams I had were heavy on IT/COSO topics that seemed foreign to me so I’m not sure where to turn. Waiting for my score breakdown to see where I was weaker, but I have a feeling IT was definitely on there.

I used Roger and pretty much the 10 pt combo, minus the Ninja Book, for both exams and I feel like I have a good amount of the Ninja questions memorized after around 5000 attempts. I’m considering purchasing a different test bank, but not sure which one. I’m leaning towards Wiley since it’s cheaper than Gleim, but Wiley only has about 700 questions and I heard Gleim is better.

I’m also considering adding either the Ninja Book or the new videos. I used the book for my AUD retake and went from a 73 to an 81. Not sure if the BEC book follows along with the mcq’s like AUD, but I felt like it helped keep everything in order.

After BEC I only have REG left, which is scheduled for 11/21. I’m starting to regret paying for it in advance because it expires on 11/26 and I’d rather give myself a little more time to study for it since I have no tax experience and only took one class in school.

Any advice would be appreciated. I knew BEC was going to give me trouble from the beginning, but didn’t think I’d be taking it this many times.

FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
AUD: 73, 81
BEC: 71, retake 8/29
REG:

[60sixx]

@mtaylo24 – Hi, yes they are newer. I used FFA to pass the EA exam and it was GREAT, so I took a chance with them for the CPA. Their CPA materials are MUCH more affordable than most, also it doesn't expire until you pass. There are a ton of MCQs and they are the same that everyone else has. They're also intuitive, allowing you to zero in on your weak areas. Also have unlimited practice exams that are helpful. I also like that I actually got physical BOOKS – I can't stand the “digital” format – to me, that's no good. I need something I can makes notes in, highlight, flip back and forth in. I used FFA exclusively for AUD and REG. I supplemented Roger for BEC, because the material itself wasn't sinking in for me, I needed lecture. For FAR, I got NINJA since everyone speaks so highly of it, but to be honest, I wish I hadn't – the MCQs are the same, I hate the digital textbooks, and the audio lectures are AWFUL. To be fair, the Bisk videos came in at the right time and I do have to say they were very helpful. That's the one area that FFA lacks – video lectures.

AUD - 76
REG - 86
BEC - 76
FAR - 9/3/16

[ChicagoPizza]

@re2pect I just got a 74 on my 1st BEC attempt after using Ninja and Wiley test banks, probably did over 5000 MCQ,s. My exam was similar since there were IT questions that were not in either set or in the becker books. Im rescheduling for October 2nd once I get my new NTS. Let me know your thoughts if you decide to use Gleim test bank BEC

[C / X]

Are you just doing MCQs or are you also trying to comprehend the material? REG frustrated me with the fact that MCQ's were wrong almost all the time (well 50% right) so I rethought my strategy and waited to do any MCQ until I thought I understood the material and wouldn't look at the book at all (still got only 70% right). I don't know how I did on that test but I

I'm actually getting ready to start studying BEC and am taking it in 3 weeks too (Oct 3). You should be able to reschedule REG though and not pay a fee, if it's more than 30 days away, 6-30 days you pay $35. And I would def reschedule REG, that's not really enough time for that beast. It's too much crap to remember.

I'm going to assume IT is extremely important, just for the fact that everything is computerized nowadays and the biggest way for any company to crumble in one second is to have their data unsecured. I was a dual Acct Information Systems major and that stuff was hard for me so idk, that one's hard because tech stuff changes so fast..

I would review the material you feel good about, and just keep reading/listening to lectures and write down the reason you got the answers wrong (or type…I did that sometimes). And probably instead of doing so many MCQ, maybe give yourself a break once in a while because if you memorized the question and answer, you didn't really learn anything.

[RE2PECT]

@walt60067- I'd like to give Gleim a try, but I'm not going to drop another $250 on a test bank. I signed up for a free trial of Wiley's test bank yesterday and did about 150 IT/COSO questions and I had a bunch of repeats of ones I already seen in Ninja and Roger. I feel like Gleim would be the same and I'd be pissed if I spent that much money to see a bunch of the same questions.

@Christina Baughman- I'm going to focus on mainly mcq's for the cost accounting and financial management sections and plan to reread the IT, COSO, and skim through the Economics chapter again while doing mcq's as well. I'll probably use a different source like Becker or Wiley instead of Roger for the reading part. I was considering purchasing the Ninja Book, but really don't want to spend more money on review materials.

After rescheduling BEC I could only push REG back to 11/26, which is the last day of my NTS. I wish I didn't pay for it in advance, but I was trying to save an extra $75 application fee. Failing this exam again has put me in a tough position since I'll only have a little over 7 weeks for REG. I know it's doable, but not the ideal situation I had hoped for.

FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
AUD: 73, 81
BEC: 71, retake 8/29
REG:

[thelatebloomer]

So you are saying that your weak areas are IT, COSO, and Economics?

The interesting thing about those sections is that there is a lot of memorization or abstract conceptual knowledge in them. I have an IT background, but I don't always do as well as I'd like on the IT sections because some of the questions seem arbitrary. The COSO material seems very arbitrary as well, and likely requires a lot of memorization to have down. The economics section has a lot of conceptual knowledge that can be very difficult to grasp because there are a lot of assumptions that you are told to just accept.

A lot of the computational questions are easy to figure out even when I am not strong on my knowledge in those areas because there's a certain amount of deductive reasoning that can be applied to narrow down to the likely answer. It sounds like doing more questions in your weak areas is not going to help, and would likely require that you read and truly understand those sections, including memorizing a lot of the main points. You might try writing out as much information as you can about those sections, kind of like the written communication section, because it will tell you how much you truly know. I find that I can act like I know something, but when I try to write about it from scratch I draw blanks. As you say, with MCQs, you can get relatively lucky if you have a weak area and they ask a question that is very similar to something you've seen before. However, if you don't truly know the material conceptually, you can get one you haven't quite seen before you're just going to have to guess.

I am taking BEC for the first time in a few weeks and I feel I am weak in a lot of the same areas. Let us know what strategy you decide to go with.

[RE2PECT]

@thelatebloomer- When it comes to my stats on Ninja and Roger, I'm weakest in Econ and pretty strong in COSO and IT. Econ wasn't heavily tested on either exam so I'm not going to put extra effort into understanding it better. The going trend the last couple quarters has been heavy on IT/COSO so I'd prefer to get those down since they will probably be showing up again.

One tip I would give you is that anything truly is fair game on this exam. I remember getting a couple questions on things that were mentioned in a seemingly insignificant section of the book on a topic that wasn't even mentioned in a lecture or mcq.

FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
AUD: 73, 81
BEC: 71, retake 8/29
REG:

[Author]

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