[calicpa]

I didn’t write notes for any of my other sections. For my final review I just reread the whole book, but for FAR i feel like that will take too long, so I am writing my own notes and plan on reviewing them throughout my studies every so often. So far it is VERY time consuming. I am using CPAexcel and it has many lessons and writing notes for every lesson takes a lot of time. Has anyone written notes and NOT think it helped them or thought the time spent outweighs the benefits?

BEC - 84, 4/6/13
AUD - 77, 5/28/13
REG - 83, 4/12/14
FAR - 83, 10/3/13

Ethics - 90% 4/24/13

150 unit education requirement met!
Work experience met!

[jckund]

Man, to each his own I think. Personally, I rewrote the ninja notes to FAR and didn't find it very helpful. My attention span just wasn't there after a while and it all became numbing and monotonous. And I know you're supposed to space it out over a few days but still. I even tried making my own notes off the becker book- I just think I retain information better by reading and rereading stuff than copying things from a book. That's not to say the ninja notes didn't help– reading them through is incredibly useful instead of attempting to digest the entire book for review, but everyone has their own way of studying.

[10keyLeah]

Like jckund said, it depends on the person. Some people find re-writing notes really helpful, and others not so much.

I wondered about re-writing notes too when I was preparing for my first exam.

I've never been a note taker, but I experimented with re-writing the entire Ninja Notes. What I found was that writing down my own notes on important points or areas where I have trouble helps me more than re-writing the whole set of notes. I read through Ninja Notes several times, and I only re-write nuggets that stand out or things I have trouble remembering, and I do the same going through textbook material and MCQ's.

It looks like you passed BEC and AUD, so your study methods for those seemed to work. You have to find what works for you.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[wizards8507]

I don't think I even touched a pen/pencil during my entire time studying. To echo previous posters, it all depends on your learning style. For me, I could bang out five or six multiple choice questions in the time it would take to write a couple of lines of notes, and drilling MCQ was my personal ticket to success. Other people really benefit from note-taking. You've passed two (maybe three) sections with a certain method. I wouldn't change that method now. FAR isn't so much different from the rest where it requires a radically modified approach to your proven successful strategy.

NY CPA

[yomomma]

Writing your own genuine notes helps a lot in my opinion.

Instead of rewriting what someone else wrote,

trying to organize your own thoughts on paper

shows how much you really know about the subject.

FAR - 79
AUD - 82
REG - 83
BEC - 77 Booya

[so1913]

I”m trying to figure this out myself.

I'm using Becker. When I took AUD, I only did lectures and made the instructed notes in the text book as instructed. I did the MCQ, becker flashcards, but did not take any other notes. I scored a 90. When I attempted REG, I took the same approach and scored a 70, however I did not study as hard as I did with AUD at least not until the final 7-10 days. I think if I had put the same effort I could have made up those extra 5 pts. For BEC, I took tons and tons of handwritten notes, didn't not have time to re-write them, but used them to review as worked through the MCQ…I passed with a 79.

So now I'm at a cross road in my FAR study. I've gotten through all 10 lectures only taking the notes in the text as instructed in the lectures. My plan was to go back through the chapters and take my own handwritten notes before attempting MCQ which I have not done yet. My exam is in 4 weeks though, so time is running out and I'm trying to figure out what action to take when I get home this evening.

AUD - 90 Pass
REG - 70,61,81 Pass DONE DONE DOOOOONNEEE!!!!!!!!
BEC - 79 - Pass
FAR - 70,82 - Pass

[Kenada]

I do find taking notes help but i do index cards. I think everyone has their own method of having information retained in their heads.

Some can read – reread and it works

Some need to read then write their own notes

Some need to read then make index cards with bullet points or just highlight the important things you must remember.

FAR 05/27/14; 786/110 - Done !

[Author]

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