Is preparing for the writing portion of BEC worth it? I have no idea how to prepare for these other than to write but I feel like that is time consuming and that my time could be better spent with the MCQ questions. Any thoughts?
I barely prepared for them. I think you should understand the format they are looking for and then practice knowing the material to the point you could write a memo on a majority of the topics
I haven’t received my score yet, but, I would say review your test provider’s video a month in advance of the test then and hour or two the weekend before the test. As long as you can write coherently, you will be fine.
REG Aug 20/15: 88
AUD: Feb 29/16: 80
FAR: Jun 10/16: 80
BEC?
Becker self-study, Becker Final Review & NINJA MCQS
You do not need to go as far as to dedicate a lot of time to prepare for it unless you are a slow typer or slow thinker, then I would recommend you to practice. But from what I experienced, you want to get stronger in WC and use that for cushion for tricky mcqs.
It is hard to know what they will be asking so I would say that your time will be better spent with reading samples in your textbook and focus more on the MCQs.
Samples are important to review because they show how a topic can be fluffed using business language. If you currently write formal/informal business memos or emails, what you do today should be sufficient.
The key with the writing section is your ability to recall information and type 4-5 short paragraphs about what they are asking for.
MCQs alone may not help with recalling 4 components of whatever so just ensure that you remember the high level important information in the book.
I didn't study for them and was in the “comparable” area when I got my score. I don't think I would have known them anymore if I would have studied. Seriously random topics. If you've never taken BEC, maybe you can do a couple practice ones to kill your nerves, but other than that, I'll focus on MCQ and really knowing the concepts. Hope this helps.
Essentially what @Needsa75 said. I looked over a few the night before the exam, and felt comfortable in my memo writing skills so I wasnt too concerned about spending hours upon hours on the WC part. Nail down the format you want to use for the memo and go from there
I think most people agree that you should not spend considerable time studying for the WC questions. I agree with these. You only need to understand the format, which shouldn't take long. I honestly probably looked at a couple of problems on my review course and that was pretty much it. I scored ‘stronger' than everyone else in the WC questions even though two of the questions I wasn't even sure what they were asking. Since it is computer graded, it really is about being able to write proper sentences.
I didn't think I had to, but because people on here were freaking me out saying I had to, I did. I just signed “Regards, xxxxxx” where xxxxxx is the person I was writing as (ex: Account manager, senior associate, etc). Oh, well. I doubt it'll hurt me too much if I wasn't supposed to. Put me in the camp of not having practiced a single WC before the exam.
F - 91 (6/5/2016)
A - 7/30/2016
R - 10/8/2016
B - 12/10/2016
All I put was something along the lines of “I hope you found this information helpful. Please let me know if you would like to discuss further or have any additional questions.”
I swear to God Becker made it sound like no official salutation was necessary at the end so I just left it off altogether. I'm gonna be real pissed if I get weaker in the WC and fail for something like that.
EDIT: Yep, just pulled up the Becker lecture and not one of the full credit examples has any kind of former salutation in it. I have a feeling that this doesn't give or take points away in the grading and the content is what actually matters..
I didn't put a salutation in mine. It's a business memo, not a Christmas card 🙂 I don't think whether you include one or not would affect your score.
I also didn't spend any time preparing for the WC questions other than deciding on a format I would use. The big things are to make sure you leave yourself enough time, and proofread for spelling and grammar. I don't think they grade the WC too strictly – just put together some clear, concise ideas without any typos and you'll be good.
Thanks @allison…I left myself about an hour and ten minutes to write all 3 which was less than ideal. I did get a quick skim over them before time ran out…wish I had more time to proof read a little more carefully but I didn't think I threw in any terrible grammar or misspelled words as I was double checking while I was typing. Time will tell..
All I did was copy + paste the question in my BEC intro then middle paragraph with a bunch of fluff and keywords and my ending paragraph with the same wording as my intro lol
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