[jimboace88]

I am so frustrated…I’m in F7 of Becker and every concept I thought I understood has only ended thus far in abysmal multiple choice.

I have to wonder if I would feel this frustrated and entirely unprepared if I had chosen a different CPA review course. I’m not sure I like the style of teaching at all, and I am DEFINITELY not a fan of the ancillary material–I’m not taking a review course just to be told “here, instruct yourself for the next 20 pages. You will have quite a few multiple choice on these topics in the homework, but we’re not going to talk about the topics.” Furthermore, it seems like the depth of the lectures and the depth of the homework questions do not correlate in any fashion.

Perhaps I’m just in an exceedingly bad mood because this is my last day of studying before my one day off that I get a week.

If I don’t pass this exam the first time around, I’m going to be unspeakably angry at the entire summer I have poured into Becker CPA review as it will have essentially been wasted.

This ends my rant.

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[hilaryh_88]

I think it all depends on your learning style. Do you think you are annoyed because you are not getting it or because you are just annoyed at the whole thought of having to put so much time into studying in the first place? I passed 3 parts with Becker and then tried it for FAR. After failing FAR twice, I realized I didn't grasp the material well enough and am now using Yaeger. They take a little more time and although the format is not quite as “sleek,” they go so far as using a white board and working things out for you. It has helped me quite a bit.

AUD - 82 Becker
BEC - 75 Becker
REG - 71, 82 Becker
FAR - 66,61,71,74,70 and #6 80!!!! FINALLY DONE!!! 9/20/12
Yaeger and Yaeger CRAM for the final battle!

[jimboace88]

I don't mind spending the time if I know it's going to pay off. My problem with Becker is I can't tell if I am being adequately prepared or if I'm just digging myself deeper into a hole. I was one of the strongest performers in my college when it came to the material that's covered on FAR. Now I'm watching Becker and they are making things I once understood seem like foreign concepts! Compound it with the fact that the lectures are relatively much shallower than the multiple choice, and it's just not feeling right.

I got Becker on a scholarship, but I am still wondering if I will make it through any of the parts of this exam, let alone FAR, with this as my review course.

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[Anonymous]

There is definetely a disconnect between the Becker lectures and the homework questions. So don't worry if you get a lot of MCQ questions wrong after watching the lecture, because there are definately some topics in the MCQ that arent covered in the lecture. If you think about it, they can really only lecture on the most important things, but want to expose you to EVERYTHING in the homework questions just in case you see it on the exam. I like to think of this as Becker (and other courses do this to) as covering their butts. Using the Becker review course is not like taking an accounting course in school where the teacher will lecture for a while, then give you homework specfically on what he/she just talked about.

Personally, I'm using Wiley and Gleim with no lectures because I learn better by reading the text and taking my own notes at my own pace. But Becker is a pretty good review course, but its just that, a REVIEW course! The lectures are not meant to teach you everything you will need to know for the exam. You'll have to fill in the blanks on your own using supplemental materials and doing LOTS of MCQ's.

[hilaryh_88]

Yaeger teaches you as they go, so it might be something to consider. Maybe you could supplement your Becker with Yaeger CRAM which is cheaper.

AUD - 82 Becker
BEC - 75 Becker
REG - 71, 82 Becker
FAR - 66,61,71,74,70 and #6 80!!!! FINALLY DONE!!! 9/20/12
Yaeger and Yaeger CRAM for the final battle!

[jimboace88]

Yeah, I think I might have to invest in the Yaeger CRAM. Thanks for the tips!

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[Anonymous]

You sound like me last year as I was studying for FAR. I was BOMBING the HW questions on a nightly basis and even pushed my exam back another month because of it. I want to say with FAR, I never really scored higher than 80% on any of the multiple choice, for the exact reasons that you mentioned, they are more in depth than the lectures/notes. I'd even yell out sometimes in frustration “where is that in the book!?”

When it was all said and done those multiple choice prepared me pretty well for the real exam—good thing too cause I bombed the SIMs. My advice, especially since this is your first section, is to have faith in your review program(especially since you have a pretty darn good one) and see how you do on this first exam before you go trying to supplement in other things.

[hilaryh_88]

I would agree with BakedCPA. Unless you really feel like you are not grasping actual concepts, don't spend any additional money.

AUD - 82 Becker
BEC - 75 Becker
REG - 71, 82 Becker
FAR - 66,61,71,74,70 and #6 80!!!! FINALLY DONE!!! 9/20/12
Yaeger and Yaeger CRAM for the final battle!

[mnCPAwannabe]

Honestly just hang in there with Becker. It's a painful ordeal but their review materials flat-out get you ready for the exam. I've gone through the same frustrating MC experience with each of their exams but each one has turned out fine.

Just stick with it.

FAR: 84
AUD: 95
REG: 78
BEC: 88
ETHICS: 100

[jimboace88]

Thanks again for all the tips.

BakedCPA, I'm doing exactly as you described–yelling at the screen when the multiple choice are out of nowhere. I've taken to talking back to the instructors too during the video lectures when they say “hope you did well on those multiple choice!”

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[katyuser]

I felt like that during studying for FAR with Becker but in the end, it does work. I used nothing but Becker, hardly touched the supplemental questions, did not do the final exams or the sims. Thought I was going to fail for sure. Passed with an 86. Focus on the concepts, and I know it's irritating, but do read through the ancilliary material. One more thing – I've been out of school over 15 years. Spending more money on multiple programs is not going to help you – studying with focus will.

[RedRage00]

I'm using Yaeger for FAR. I liked the lecture videos because they actually taught the material on a white board. I don't take my exam until the 24th so I'm not sure if it was worth it, but I'm studying my behind off! I hope it pays off!

Texas CPA
Licensed, March 2012

[Anonymous]

I use Yaeger and while I do have complaints about it every now and then, I have no regrets whatsoever. I think they are the most organized and informative review course out there. And they are always very fast in informing you of any updates.

[kb24]

@jimbo

I started out studying for FAR with just the Wiley text. I felt the same way as you when I did the MCQ after reading the text. They'd ask questions that weren't covered in the text anywhere. Part of the issue with Wiley is that they instruct you to read the ASC for each topic. That would be fine if it were one or two per topic, but sometimes there would be 3 or 4 essential ones and more than 10 useful ones. I read a few of them, but I didn't have time to read them all, and I wasn't retaining all the detail from the ones that I did read. I'd been out of school 5 years, but FAR topics had always come very easily to me in school so I found it frustrating. I then got a copy of the Becker text and that helped fill in some of the gaps. What I finally did with the MCQ was take the attitude that this was additional material I was learning from. I tried to do them without referring to the text but used it if it covered a topic I'd never seen or if I had totally forgotten the concept. I figured this was an easier way to learn the more obscure points (e.g. value of inventory for precious metals) than doing a lot of extra reading, plus I seemed to retain these little nuggets of extra info better by attempting a problem than by just reading about it. If you do feel like you need extra help, you can invest in a test bank which isn't that expensive. I used Wiley which I thought was great for FAR, but a lot of people also like Gleim.

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

[acct_is_accrual_profession]

As suggested above, the lectures cover the most important/most difficult topics only… Think about it from an auditing approach-are you going to test every transaction? No. That's not cost or time effective. You would be spending days watching lectures if they covered everything.

What I did was read each explanation carefully for each question I didn't fully understand and write down the important tidbits of info to help commit it to memory. I typically find something to write down for almost every question and have filled notebooks, but now I can tell you all about REG topics that before were stumping me, like various like-kind exchange scenarios and corporate tax! It will take a little longer to go through the MCQ but you won't miss as many questions later in final review or exam!

FAR - April 2011 - Passed
AUD - May 2011 - Passed
REG - July 2011 - Passed
BEC - August 2011 - Passed

[Author]

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