[thebigguy1992]

so i just got my first failing score for audit of a 70, and i want to go back to the drawing board. i saw on this site that jeff recommends starting off new completely as if you are starting from a score of 0, not a score of 75, so i want to do that. but how? what do you guys recommend?

This is my plan as of now:
1.) re-read through the ninja book two times.
2.) reach the review stage of ninja multiple choice
3.) re-write ninja notes
4.) watch through all of the ninja plus videos
5.) supplement with ninja flash cards and ninja audios while commuting or working out

**the only worry i have with this method is that i did exactly this method, but it seems like there is just some basic material that i haven’t completely understood yet, i just dont know what. i am going to take a look at my score report and definitely focus in more on those weak areas that they identify. the ninja method has worked for me for FAR and BEC, but it clearly didnt work for audit this time. I’m not sure if it was because my studying was spread out between two months and didnt really pick up heavily until the end when i wasnt busy with work?

[Reverie]

Re-read the book/notes and grill more MCQs.

[mitchvols]

Audit was awful for me. On my third try I took notes on what I missed, and wrote them in “Mitch” terms. My score jumped up greatly from just that.

[Yolonge]

I did it the dumb way. Redo the ninja MCQ and hit review phase. Raised score by 20 points by doing that, don't ask me why it wentup. I am not sure. But redoing everything helps.

Materials: Wiley book + Ninja MCQ

FAR - 83 (Jan 2016)
Study time: 6 weeks
BEC - 87 (April 2016)
Study time: 2 weeks
AUD - 92 (July 2016), (74 Feb 2016), (72 May 2016)
Study time: 4 (Feb) + 2 (May) + 3 (July) = 9 weeks total
REG - (70 April 2016)
Study time: 3 weeks

[DZagt]

Luckily I didn't experience a fail, butI thought I would have to be honest for BEC. What I was planning on doing was just throwing all of my old stuff out and starting new. Read the book once (no MCQs) take vigorous notes, do massive amounts of MCQs and then really hone in on my problem topics. Since you've already gone through it once, you'll get through the overall material quicker than the first time. This will give you more time to brush up on your weaker topics.

DONT ignore your strength topics as you never know what the exam will be heavy on. A 70 means you've got a good base so you'll definitely be able to pass AUD.

[thebigguy1992]

thanks i just feel like I'm just worried that my plan, which has gotten me a pass on FAR and BEC, didnt work for audit for some reason. but i think it was because my studying was spaced out over a 2 month period. i feel like if i use the 10 pt combo again for Audit this time in a condensed period from now until january 8th (3 weeks or so), i can get a much better result. my goal is to put in around an extra ~100 hours for audit the second time around, so hopefully that does the trick.

my only concern is “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting the same results”. but my hope is more condensed studying will help out now and aiming for a higher ninja MCQ average too

[Anonymous]

I agree with Mitch that you should take notes in your own way. For all 4 exams, I made my own note cards, which really helped me understand the concepts rather than rewriting someone else's notes. It's time consuming (and AUD for me I got lazy and wrote the least amount of note cards) but was worth it for me. For me AUD was difficult because it's more subjective, so it was important to understand why something is one way and not the other.

[Amortized and Energized]

You should get a score report showing what areas you were strong and weak in. When you get that report, use it to focus your studying for the next test. If you did very well on the transaction cycles, but didn't do so hot on audit evidence, tailor your study time to spend more and less time accordingly.Keep testing the other areas to maintain your basis in them and focus more on the weak areas after.

That's what I did and just got my passing score this morning, so it can be done! Good luck!!

FAR - Aug 2015 (58), Feb 2016 (81)
u
BEC - May 2016 (79)
AUD - Jul 2016
REG - Aug 2016

[tg7174]

Sometimes it's also letting the information sink in and getting proper rest. This process will burn you out and you'll start making mistakes if you don't take at least a day of rest.

[Mike J]

I posted the following advice in another thread:

To thine own self be true. In terms of understanding the material–not the score–how close are you to passing?

If you are really uncomfortable with the material, take yourself back to school. DO NOT TOUCH CPA review materials. You can find YouTube series. For instance: https://mbabullshit.com/blog/ AND https://youtu.be/b_Nl7QHalSg

[Not included: For REG, try this site for pass-thru entities: https://tax.cchgroup.com/downloads/files/contemporary-tax-practice/Module4/Topic3/B-Corporate-Alternative-Minimum-Tax-Computations.asp ]

If you feel that, conceptually, you’re close to studying, skip that step and go straight to the CPA review materials.

Take a block of 20 MCQ, for each of the 6 main topic groups. When you get >= 80% correct, move on to the next. When you get through all 6, do random block of 20 MCQs. Keep going until you’re sick of them. Review which questions gave you extra trouble or showed you a better way of seeing the material. Put the explanations into your own words & incorporate that with the notes you’ve presumably been taking with whatever book or video series you were using.

Within one week of the exam, assuming you have NINJA MCQ, go through all of the AICPA recently released MCQs.

…

That’s how I got through REG & BEC. AUD wasn’t an issue for me. FAR, I used NINJA Plus & NINJA MCQ

…

I Hope that helps.

[neaux]

First off, you are not starting from scratch, so I wouldn’t treat it that way if I were you. However, your study plan seems incredibly inefficient. Spend some time trying to figure your weakest areas. People who don’t know what they don’t know are in the worse positions. Answer 2-400 questions with Ninja. And, where you need to focus studying will be very apparent.

[Author]

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