[GottaGetThruThis]

Good news???

B- Passed (2nd Try)
A- Passed (2nd Try)
R- Passed (2nd Try)
F- Passed (3rd Try)

Never give up!

[Marivy22]

;( not nice at all!!!!!

i am going to follow your study plan to prepare for my 2nd try on REG.

Done 😉
Class of 2012!!!!
Lots of prayers and hard work....

[goodluck2everyone]

Roger supplemented by wiley is a great way to pass audit

My score jumped 23 points with this combination. Also, did you utilize the research tab for the sims? That is also an extremely important thing.

BEC- 80
REG- 68, 71, July
AUD- 61 , 84
FAR- -- 75 🙂

[Anonymous]

:'(….I do not know what to say..

[Anonymous]

Peanut, I forgot to mention that I did use Roger cram for audit in addition to the becker mcq's that I had printed and my yaeger/wiley, plus this time I actually sat down and rewrote my ninja notes a week or so before the exam, I had never done that before. I also purchased the ninja audio and burned them to cd's to listen to anytime I was in my car. Probably listened to the entire set of audio at least once a week for 6 weeks. I think this combination really helped me.

[Anonymous]

Oh no, Peanut! I'm am soooo sorry!

Have you tried using the Gleim test prep and practicing ALL the Sims in Wiley book and software? If not, then give that a shot. It worked for me.

Again, I'm so sorry to hear this. I can't imagine how upset you must feel now. But let me say this… when I took REG the second time, I was almost sure I passed. In fact, I didn't bother staying up all night during the score release day because I was pretty certain I nailed it. But the next morning when I check, lo and behold, I got the infamous 74. I was like, what??? Then when I took REG the third time, I walked out and didn't know what to expect. So, I had no idea how I did. I was shocked when I found out that I scored 10 points higher than the previous time.

I say all this because you said you felt good after taking this test. I've learned that when you walk out feeling good, the news is usually not good. I don't know why…. maybe overconfidence or maybe we thought we got questions right, but got tricked.

Let me say that AUD is extremely tricky. You said you walked out with 30 minutes to spare. My suggestion would be to use the full 4 hours next time. Even if you know a question well, just reread the question carefully and take your time. One word can change everything. I honestly believe you know the material well, but you just happened to get tricked by some wordings. So, you may want to work on that. I find that AUD is more of a play on words rather than a test on your actual knowledge. So, keep practicing and you will make it.

Take some time off and get back on the horse. Don't give up yet. You're too close. Best of luck!

BTW- How much time do you have before any credits expire?

[Anonymous]

@Peanut….how about CPAReviewForFree SIMS? I honestly thought they were great and helped me a lot with the actual SIMS..only $10. I would not waste my money on anymore reviews, but just focus with Becker even if you have memorized it by now. It also a good idea to read every single page of the review book+the Ninja Notes multiple times. I hope everything goes well for you in July.

Your bro,

Marco

[jokami]

I stand by everything CPATerminator said…

B - 62, 70, 72, 79!!!
A - 68, 81
R - 70, 82
F - 84

"The limit to your abilities is where you place them" - Fortune Cookies

[Peanut]

Thank you guys for all the tips/advice, and support. I have Becker review, Yaeger, and the Wiley online test bank. I don't think I will buy any more things. I'm going to approach this the same way I did for my 20 point increase in REG. My first section expires in January, so I have a couple more shots to get this. I was really sad all day, but now I'm starting to get my anger–I'm going to fight this one! It sucks because I always score stronger on MCQs, so I have to know my information well to be scoring above the average candidate on the MCQs, but apparently I can't apply this to the SIMs. I thought for sure 4 of my SIMs were correct, and that the other ones I would have gotten partial credit on. The reason I left with about 30 mins left to spare is because by that point, I kept switching all of my answers on a couple of the SIMs, and thought I was probably hurting myself. Although I keep saying I'm not going to buy anything, has anyone used the Gleim test bank? I get mixed reviews on here, that the questions from Gleim are too far out there, but some people like it.

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Peanut]

@CPATerminator, I think I'm going to try out those SIMS. Have you seen the Wiley SIMs? Thought those were pretty good too.

@Marivy22, I thought writing my own intense notes following the Becker lectures, then rewriting them towards the end of my review was the absolute key to me bumping my REG score. The reason I didn't do this with AUD is because, the very first time I took AUD I took notes and scored in the 50's!!!! I think I wrote down too much bs and didn't really know what's important or not. So my 2nd and 3rd attempt I said F it. But when it comes to re-studying for a section, you already know what's really important, and what details you need to remember or had a hard time with. Re-studying & taking intense notes I felt like were more effective for me. If you're working, pick your weekend to start, do two lectures a day with note taking, it'll take the whole day, but you will knock out 4 chapters over the weekend. I thought this way was really really effective, in just a few days you have amazing notes, and have gone through all the lectures, being able to focus the rest of your time on MCQs and re-reading sections you have trouble with. Why don't I ever take my own advice!!!!! Should have done this last time! lol.

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Anonymous]

@Peanut- If you're stronger or comparable on MCQs for the second time, then I don't think buying the Gleim test bank will do much good. I only suggested that if you were weaker in that area. But from what you're saying, it seems as though the Sims are the problem. I tried the Gleim Sim Wizard and it's terrible, so I would not recommend it. I think Wiley has the best Sims.

Honestly, I think you're right; use an approach that you feel will help you. Find your own technique that works for you. That's what helped me with FAR and AUD. Every time you study in a certain way, you need to ask yourself if it's helping you grasp the concept well. A great way to test that is to ask yourself if you'll be able to explain this to a group of students who are learning this for the first time. Practice a lot of Sims and don't worry about getting them right or wrong, but rather, ask yourself if you'll be able to explain the reasons behind the correct answers. You really need to dig deep and see if you're truly understanding the material. Pretend you're teaching someone and that person keeps asking you why that is so.

[Anonymous]

@Peanut

Don't buy Gleim. I used it for an auditing class in my grad program because it was required, and the questions are way out there. Considering the materials you already have, I would stick with them.

[Anonymous]

@Peanut….Nop, I did not use Wiley for AUD, just CPAExcel+the Ninja Notes+CPAReviewForFree.

The SIMS took me 2.5 hrs. Unless it something like ratios, I think everything else can be found in the literature. I literally found them all, but I strongly believe CPAReviewForFree SIMS helped me a ton, especially the last week. Life is a bitch sometimes, don't get discouraged. I'm sure better times will come.. 🙂

[tbstew]

As for Gleim, you're bound to get mixed reviews on it. Heck, I'll give you a mixed review.

I love having the additional questions. Like you, I eventually start unintentionally memorizing the Wiley questions. This can lead to whipping through them without really focusing. Having new questions assures that you're applying your knowledge, not just acting on pure memory. I got to the point on REG where I knew the what the answer was after reading like the first 4 words of the question… once you get to that point, you need something else.

Gleim offers AICPA released questions (some are duplicates with Wiley, being from the AICPA, of course). They also have questions that they've made up. As you're heard, many of those questions are way out on the “branches of the tree.” It would be one thing if they helped reinforce the core knowledge that you need for the exam, but honestly, lots of those questions never have been and probably never will be applicable to the exam itself. So I got to the point where I started skipping them. Don't get me wrong, though, they're not ALL bad questions. Just a lot of them.

That said, Gleim + Wiley MCQs got me an 87 on REG (no tax experience, slept through tax classes in college, heavily distracted by little children at home, etc…). So I can't NOT recommend it. It worked for me, but I can see it may not be for everyone.

Good luck, Peanut. You really have a LOT of people rooting for you, mourning with you, and ready to congratulate you after your next round with AUD. Go get em!

AUD - 79
BEC - 88
REG - 87
FAR - 86 - Woot, all done!
Ethics - 100

[whatkey]

🙁

Purchasing more review materials won't help you. You need to objectively look at yourself and your study techniques. Understand that you failed because of your own weaknesses and not necessarily because your review course failed you. Adapt Becker to better work specifically for you if that's what it takes. There are a lot of people that exclusively use Becker and score 90+ on the exam. The material is there; it's just how you actually take it in that matters.

You CAN do it; you already have all of the tools you need. They key is knowing yourself.

Using Becker, Ninja Notes, and CpaReviewForFree

FAR - 87 (2/17)
REG - 89 (4/21)
AUD - 89 (5/31)
BEC - 89 (7/11)

[yankeeaccountant]

Peanut,

Dang it! Seriously, I still stand by a comment I said often about Audit: it is the work of the devil !!!!!! I agree with all the great advice you have already gotten: I wouldn't buy more software. I agree with CPAMan that if you scored well on the mcq's, new software isn't really necessary. Those sims really are a pisser. I would say that the one thing I was going to do on my last shot, but decided against it was buying the sims testbank from cpareviewforfree. It was only $20 or so, but having a different source for sims might be helpful. I worked the sims in Becker and Wiley as I had done before and the AICPA recently released sims but then added some from Bisk, which was a new source for me.

In your post to Marivy, you outlined a great study process–go for it! Looking forward to hearing about your pass in the next window!!!

How is the job going? For now, let the wine flow, get pissed, get drunk, and then get back on the horse. Goooo Peanut!!!!

[Author]

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