My first try in CPA was back in 2004. After spending good amount of money for CPA review course, I studied for a few months, and I quit. (I did not even take any exam.) My second try was in 2006. I studied again for a few months, but I quit again. My 3rd try was in 2008. This time, I spent 8 months studying for 3 subjects (REG, BEC, AUD). I took 3 exams, and I passed none. I thought that it was the end. Mentally, I was done. Just tiring and overwhelming. I thought that CPA was not for me. I think that I was pretty much in the same situation as you are right now.
But, in 2010, I wanted to give another try again. Now, I am done. I just passed my last section in August. It feels so good to overcome something that I have been struggling for a long time.
Since you are getting around 70's, I think that you have a good understanding in general. I guess that you just need anther “push”. This “push” thing is very difficult to explain, but I know a few friends who passed CPA exam already told me that there is a wall on 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75. If you get a push, you should be able to jump over it.
In term of study method, this is what I did. Hopefully, this helps.
(1) Do MC questions as many time as you can. — For WILEY or BISK book, there are around 1000 MC questions for each subject. Just do them over and over. (For each subject, I did 4x, at least.) First, you will be overwhelmed with the number of the questions at the beginning, but you are solving the same questions. So, the 2nd time should be easier than the first time, and the 3rd one should be easier than 2nd one.
Also, when you solve the question, try to *** understand *** why the right answer is right answer, while why wrong answers are wrong answers. If you are doing the same question a few times, you may get it right, not because you understand the question/concept in the question, but because you remember the answer.
(2) Take a good notes from the lecture, scan into PDF, and review it every 3 hours at work on PC/IPAD. — I found this method very effective. While I was working on FAR, the first problem that I had was that I cannot remember what I studied on the first chapter when I finished my last chapter. So much material to be covered in FAR and REG. So, what I did was to scan off my notes from the video lecture into PDF files and review the PDF files a few times a day VERY QUICKLY. When you read the note, ***skim through** the notes. DON SPEND 10 mins on each page. Spend a few sec for each page. For my FAR notes, I ended up having 80 pages, and I spend only about 15 mins to go through them. So, I spent a few sec for each page. For the first few tries, you dont remember anything. But, after some time, you will be able to pick up more.
(3) Don't compare yourself with the others too much — On the Internet, there are so many smart people showing off their high scores. Dont worry too much about these stuffs. The rule of the game is how YOU will progress to pass YOUR CPA exams, but not any one else. I still believe that confidence/focus is a very important part of test taking/preparation technique.
Good luck! There are so many people who were/are struggling with CPA exams. But, they just dont post too often. : )
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