[Ralphie Dos Nachos]

Using Becker. I don’t know what to do at this point. I knew the material in the becker textbook but both the MCQ and the Sims were tough for me on the test. My MCQ were familiar topics just questions never asked in Becker. 2 of my sims had 6 exhibits, the other 2 were drop downs with 5or6 options to choose from and I don’t know, it was just a lot to handle. Any advice would appreciate it.

[ixlr82day]

Try ninja? For the sections I had a hard time passing using Becker I would use Ninja. For ninja I listened to the audio and rewrote the notes. For Becker how are you studying? When I failed a section I started over and rewatched videos and rehighlighted the books etc.

btw…did you want to consider doing Reg in the first quarter as well?

[Ralphie Dos Nachos]

@IXLR82DAY For my re-take i tried ninja method but with just Becker material. I took crazy notes on textbook. after going through entire book, I did all the Becker mcq, then the last 12 days of review I took notes again on the textbook. I want to take BEC january 2nd, so it'll be about 5 weeks of studying and I think I will go through the book again for 2-3 weeks, then finish with nothing but review questions. It's frustrating because I know the concepts in Becker but I just had some tough questions on this retake. My first exam was a lot easier than this one. But yes I would hope to take REG March 10th right at end of quarter.

[jfh9857]

Hey man – for me – I suck at taking notes…Been that way before college. What really helped me is I would switch back and forth between Becker and Ninja. I just finally passed with a 81 and it was my 4th time. I constantly scored in the low 70s and I felt like I was a total idiot. But…you're not! I swear these tests are spawns from hell lol. So I would do like 15-20 questions in Becker…made either legit notes or mental notes of why I got questions correct (and why the other answers were wrong) or wrong. Then I would switch to Ninja and do 10 questions there and then continue to go back and forth. Honestly i was pushing out like 100 MCQ's a day and it was very tiring and mentally exhausting. On weekends I'd do even more. Once you see a lot of the questions…you'll eventually nail the concepts and it'll be a breeze. What helped me this time was listening to Ninja Audio was I was working (sitting at my desk). For the Audio – I pretty much focused on the IT section because that really tripped me up each time (limit checks, check digits, etc.).

[sandysprotege]

My BEC scores were 66, 72, then 74. I wanted to give up seriously. I finally passed in August with a score of 80. Similar to what @jfh9857 said, you have to get a mix of questions from different sources to make sure you are getting the best coverage of topics. I feel like BEC is a serious wildcard and most of the questions are not predictable. For me, the most difficult topic was cost accounting. So I spent literally a week doing non-stop MCQs on that. Outside of cost, I feel like BEC is about making educated guesses. I had to step outside of the box when taking the test and try to understand what they really were asking. Most of the questions seemed foreign but I leaned on all of the stuff I had seen. Ninja notes really helped and also practicing my time. My first 2 failures resulted because I spent more time on MCQs and didn't finish the writing sample. Then when I got the 74 I rushed through the MCQs, aced the TBS'. FINALLY, I learned the balance: spend enough time on MCQs but don't overthink them. 90% of the time it's really not that hard. The thing with BEC is that if you manage the time right you get easy points on the writing samples (which I never practiced). Hope this is helpful!

[f]

Hi Tiramisu, what I did when I failed BEC was based off my score report to see what sections I was weak on. I redid those chapters for Becker- lecture, skills practice, mcq and really focused on why my answer was right/wrong. After I got trough those I redid all of the chapter simulations. I had made 4 pages of key formulas inlcuding the coso/erm mnemonics and rewrote those a couple times. I'm in CA still waiting for BEC score. I don't want to know the results since I'm taking FAR in January!

[ixlr82day]

Also I forgot to mention how are you on sims? I would also go through becker's final review on sims and structure how I should answer the sims based off of the format that becker used. Hope you pass. Good luck!

[1skibum]

I don’t mean to sound harsh, but based on your scores I would re-evaluate your study habits and really assess how badly you want to become a CPA because something obviously isn’t working. At the end of the day if your head isn’t in it, no matter how much studying you do, it’s going to be hard to pass. Now if you indeed are trying as hard as you can, maybe you’re a person that needs more detail so something such as Wiley would be helpful. Study to understand the concepts, not to just get the questions correct. And lastly, a lot of this is a mind game. It’s not hard stuff, just don’t let the AICPA mess with your head. Good luck!

[Ralphie Dos Nachos]

uhh yes I am taking this seriously and I want to become a CPA or else I wouldn't have paid for Becker out of my own pocket, pay for ninja monthly, and pay $280 every time I have apply for this damn exam.

[Lindsey_p87]

@Tiramisu, don't get discouraged, you are already halfway there! I honestly think if you just concentrate on MCQ, particularly in your weak areas, you will pass next time. There must be some areas that you are deficient in your knowledge – identify those areas and hit them hard. Look for explanations on Youtube for concepts that you don't 100% grasp. Hit the areas that are known to be highly tested REALLY hard (COSO, IT, cost). Also, don't panic if you see a SIM with a bunch of exhibits. At this point, I go into each exam expecting that to be the case and am sometimes pleasantly surprised. Do the AICPA practice exam so you can practice sifting through the information.

FAR - PASSED 11/14
AUD - TBD
BEC - TBD
REG - First take 2/16

[Author]

Replies