[kobebryant168]

Greeting guys!

I m taking BEC for the 3rd time at the end of this month aug and would like to get some advice or strategies on how to tackle this section of the exam

Basically which BEC review courses you guys take? and any supplement notes or mcq that helped you passed at the end?

I m currently using BECKER but failed 2 times previously @@, now using Wiley test bank as supplement and also the ninja notes.

Please advise!

Thanks

[Herbieherb]

I think you need a teaching course like yaeger or roger. All of the materials you are using are simply reviews, which don't mean anything if you haven't learned the concepts. Pure memoriaztion will only get you so far. Time for a new strategy.

NEW YORK- DONE

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to say, Good Luck! I test tomorrow… Ack!

[Anonymous]

I didnt pass BEC 3 times using Becker and 1 time using Yaeger 🙁

Im currently using Becker, Yaeger, CRAM, Jeff notes and cpareviewforfree… Hope I can pass this 5th time!!!

Need an advice too!!!!! 🙂

[Anonymous]

The first time I took BEC, I didn't study at all. Result: 42.

The next time, I used a combination of Becker and Yaeger. I felt like I was seeing most of this stuff for the first time. Result: 72.

Finally passed by restudying everything. Personally for me, Becker was good for Econ and IT and Yaeger for everything else. I really think Yaeger is much better for BEC than Becker overall. Cindy Simpson is a teacher, not just a narrator. I really could have done Yaeger alone but I thought mixing it up would help.

BEC is highly underestimated. Just because the text is smaller doesn't mean it's easier. I also think it is “less curved” than any of the other sections of the CPA. I thought I nailed it last time – thought I scored in the 90's, but a 78 is passing and that is fine by me.

[IwannaBaCPA]

I took BEC on April 16, 2011 (my very first exam) and passed. I got a 79 and although that is not a stellar score, I am thrilled I passed.

I used Becker (which I was not impressed with for BEC), cpareviewforfree (good for IT) Jeff's NINJA notes (my saving grace really). I put in 111 total hours of study time.

I wish you the very best, BEC was a huge headache for me…

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[kb24]

I used the Wiley text and test bank, Becker text but no lectures, Passmaster questions, and the Ninja notes. Although it had been a few years, I'd had classes covering all the material except COSO and some of the IT so a review was adequate for me. Becker and Wiley were mediocre for the most part. If you use Becker, treat the ancillary material like all the rest. Doing lots and lots of MCQ is essential. The Ninja notes helped bring a lot of things together especially IT.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[yankeeaccountant]

I would add that I took the exam 3x. The third time I added Wiley test bank and written my own notes this time. I also took notes on the mcq's that I got wrong. That seemed to be a process that really helped me iron out things in my head. I also used Becker notecards, and studied every free moment I had. If I was stuck at the doctors, out came by notecards or notebook! I think this exam is misleading, there are alot of concepts that need to be understood, which I don't think pure memorization works on.

Once I started scoring well on the Becker progress tests, I used cpareviewforfree and Gleim. Gleim has a free trial. I chose Gleim because I had (at the time) read a thread that Gleim did a good job on corporate governance. I agree, it was better than what I had seen in Becker.

Best of luck to all you BEC'ers!!

[kobebryant168]

Wow, thanks guys for your valuable advice

I will try Gleim free trial for sure

I have no idea with why I could fail BEC 2 times despite I was very confident walking out…well, i failed with 73 two times…

I found Becker has too much ancillary material which i can fall sleep, but since u guys keep saying it's mandatory, i will just stick with it…

By the way, what does “what sticks it sticks mean?”

If i fail this again, I'm thinking switching to Rogers or yaegar

[yankeeaccountant]

@kobe,

I have used Yaeger and have really liked it. I had purchased Becker thru my job..ended up adding Yaeger along the way. I think it was Jeff who recommended it to me, when I was endlessly complaining on how I failed BEC the second time and FAR the second time. I was the queen of “almost” ” 74, 72, 70….

Cindy (Yaeger) is great at explaining things and she writes the best notes for studying. I realized I needed more of a teaching style, than just the review I got with Becker. I still like Becker, but overall, I just like combining things. It makes the studying go by faster and less monotonous. I am not a fan of Yaeger for Audit, since Gary Bomash has no inflection in his voice and loses me in about 10 seconds. I did use Yaeger Cram for REG, which was good, Phil is ok, I prefer Cindy though.

Beware on the Gleim, the questions are hard (imo), so don't get discouraged.

good luck!!

[kb24]

@kobe

I didn't use the Becker lectures, but I assumed that the ancillary designation by Becker meant that this material wasn't as heavily tested. I'm pretty anal, though, so I went thru it thoroughly for each of the exams. It wasn't that heavily tested for FAR or AUD, but it was for REG and BEC. The best thing to do for BEC is to completely ignore that ancillary designation and treat it like the regular material.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Megan]

^^ what kb said. I used Becker all 4 times, although the 1st and 2nd times I didn't try very hard. On each test though, I had several questions over what was “ancillary material.” I had the more difficult concepts down by that fourth time, but certain “ancillary” items were what brought my score down. Just easy memorization I should have gone over a couple of times, but skipped over. I will take my 77 though, and hopefully not have to think about BEC ever again!

BEC 52, 61, 74, 77
AUD 80
REG 75
FAR 50, 60, 70, 74, 83...DONE!!
..Texas.. Baby #2 born 4/11/11

[Author]

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