[Anonymous]

I am new to this forum but need some advice, encouragment, support, anything I can get.

I have been at this CPA exam since October 2012 and I have failed FAR twice and just failed BEC. I have passed REG and AUD but my first exam will expire come April 2014 🙁 I have been married to my wonderful wife since June of 2012 so pretty much all my marriage has been studying for this horrible exam and we are now expecting our first child (a baby girl!) come March 2014! I have been using the Becker self-study material. I really don’t know what I need to do to pass these tests! I work all day at a CPA firm from 8-5 and come home and eat dinner with my wife and then study the rest of the night. I am re-watching the lectures for FAR and reading the book and doing multiple choice questions but it just doesn’t seem to stick and doing 100 or more questions just gets overwhelming!!! I am not good at all with standardized tests. I went through high school and college not having to study and so I never really learned how to study effectively. I hate not spending time with my wife and yet I want to have these exams done before our little baby girl comes. I also work in public accounting and busy tax season will be coming up soon and so now I have to try and fit in studying in that time!

It is so frustrating seeing all my fellow co-workers my age at the firm studying, passing the exams right away and now have their CPA license while I am sitting back here studying, failing the exams and not getting my CPA license. This is way to expensive and heartbreaking for me. Please can someone who has been in my boat (never had to study before, doing what the review courses say, not knowing how to study for these tests to pass) help guide me and give me some much needed support through this disgust I am feeling right now?

[Anonymous]

@Cajun4God87 don't give up! You can do it. Studying for the CPA is very tasking. Juggling it with a public accounting job and being married can make the process even harder. What did your study technique for FAR the both time entail? I used Becker self-study for FAR as well, I can recommend what worked for me.

[Anonymous]

@Cajun4God87 don't give up! You can do it. Studying for the CPA is very tasking. Juggling it with a public accounting job and being married can make the process even harder. What did your study technique for FAR the both time entail? I used Becker self-study for FAR as well, I can recommend what worked for me.

[Anonymous]

Well, first off Congrats on the baby girl!! I have two little girls myself.

I can totally sympathize with you. I know too well how it is to feel like you study your butt off, to sacrifice all this time and energy, only to see that big bold FAILED. It is heartbreaking and discouraging. I failed BEC and REG and just retook BEC last week. I used the Wiley CPA Exam Review. What I did differently this time for BEC, that I think really helped me was studying the AICPA released exam questions, and not just memorizing answers, but studying the explanations so that it made sense. I could definitely feel a difference this time.

Good luck. Just don't give up!!

[Anonymous]

Well, first off Congrats on the baby girl!! I have two little girls myself.

I can totally sympathize with you. I know too well how it is to feel like you study your butt off, to sacrifice all this time and energy, only to see that big bold FAILED. It is heartbreaking and discouraging. I failed BEC and REG and just retook BEC last week. I used the Wiley CPA Exam Review. What I did differently this time for BEC, that I think really helped me was studying the AICPA released exam questions, and not just memorizing answers, but studying the explanations so that it made sense. I could definitely feel a difference this time.

Good luck. Just don't give up!!

[Meowmix77]

I'll try to offer some advice that worked for me as I used self study Becker as well. For each MC, try to rework each one and ask yourself if you can explain why the other 3 choices are wrong. FAR and BEC both have a bunch of material all over the place. I would strongly recommend doing 2 sets of progress tests each day (one in the morning and one at night) for all the chapters. Do 30 for FAR and 24 for BEC to mimick an actual testlet.

The first thing you want to figure out is what type of studying habit helps you most. Many people on this board love hand writing notes while watching lectures to help them memorize important issues. I don't function that way as I prefer to listen to the lecturer and absorb the material by following along in the book. I never wrote outside notes since I don't learn that way. Try to be as efficient as possible when you study since you have work + family things to deal with. Some people enjoy watching the lectures 2-3 times while others love doing MCQs and go back and re-watch the parts they struggled in. Make sure you study harder, not smarter.

I like studying for a good ~45 mins or so (either lecture or MCQ) and take a quick 5 minute break. I don't enjoy long study sessions so I try to find a good stopping point every so often to get some water, play with my pet etc. You have to be disciplined though and not drag out your breaks though. My best advice is to mark the MCQs you get wrong (there's a tickbox which marks it for you). Go back and review those questions the following day. You'll probably remember the answers, but not a problem. Can you explain it to yourself (or pretend explaining to a 5 year old) why that answer is correct? It's important to know WHY the answer is correct and the steps leading up to it.

Depending on your pace, I would strongly recommend taking a break halfway through the test to get some water/use restroom/clear your head. It's nice to relax for a few mins before returning. Sorry for the long post. Best of luck!

Becker
AUD: 98 (4/13)
BEC: 84 (5/13)
FAR: 91 (7/13)
REG: 91 (8/13)

[Meowmix77]

I'll try to offer some advice that worked for me as I used self study Becker as well. For each MC, try to rework each one and ask yourself if you can explain why the other 3 choices are wrong. FAR and BEC both have a bunch of material all over the place. I would strongly recommend doing 2 sets of progress tests each day (one in the morning and one at night) for all the chapters. Do 30 for FAR and 24 for BEC to mimick an actual testlet.

The first thing you want to figure out is what type of studying habit helps you most. Many people on this board love hand writing notes while watching lectures to help them memorize important issues. I don't function that way as I prefer to listen to the lecturer and absorb the material by following along in the book. I never wrote outside notes since I don't learn that way. Try to be as efficient as possible when you study since you have work + family things to deal with. Some people enjoy watching the lectures 2-3 times while others love doing MCQs and go back and re-watch the parts they struggled in. Make sure you study harder, not smarter.

I like studying for a good ~45 mins or so (either lecture or MCQ) and take a quick 5 minute break. I don't enjoy long study sessions so I try to find a good stopping point every so often to get some water, play with my pet etc. You have to be disciplined though and not drag out your breaks though. My best advice is to mark the MCQs you get wrong (there's a tickbox which marks it for you). Go back and review those questions the following day. You'll probably remember the answers, but not a problem. Can you explain it to yourself (or pretend explaining to a 5 year old) why that answer is correct? It's important to know WHY the answer is correct and the steps leading up to it.

Depending on your pace, I would strongly recommend taking a break halfway through the test to get some water/use restroom/clear your head. It's nice to relax for a few mins before returning. Sorry for the long post. Best of luck!

Becker
AUD: 98 (4/13)
BEC: 84 (5/13)
FAR: 91 (7/13)
REG: 91 (8/13)

[Anonymous]

@21yrOldCPA I would watch the lectures (of course highlighting and underlining as they did), do multiple choice questions but get frustrated having to do 100 questions at one time and missing them all it seemed! Any guidance and help on what someone who has found success in studying for this CPA exam and using Becker would be very appreciated 🙂

[Anonymous]

@21yrOldCPA I would watch the lectures (of course highlighting and underlining as they did), do multiple choice questions but get frustrated having to do 100 questions at one time and missing them all it seemed! Any guidance and help on what someone who has found success in studying for this CPA exam and using Becker would be very appreciated 🙂

[Anonymous]

I don't have Becker, but is there a way that you can break the questions up into smaller groups, like say 20 questions at a time, instead of doing 100. Each time you get a question wrong or don't understand the correct answer, take notes on that question. You should have similar questions in that group of questions and you will be able to get more questions right if you taking notes and understanding your notes.

I was the same as you and never had to study in school, nor am I good standardized test taker (I basically failed the SAT, but had a 100 average in high school and my mom thought I wouldn't get into college b/c of my SAT scores!). But I found what works for me is doing more and more questions and SIMs and taking notes on every question I get wrong or don't understand. This helps me more than listening to the lectures and following along in the book. I am a visual learner so writing the notes helps and in writing it, it sticks in my brain better.

[Anonymous]

I don't have Becker, but is there a way that you can break the questions up into smaller groups, like say 20 questions at a time, instead of doing 100. Each time you get a question wrong or don't understand the correct answer, take notes on that question. You should have similar questions in that group of questions and you will be able to get more questions right if you taking notes and understanding your notes.

I was the same as you and never had to study in school, nor am I good standardized test taker (I basically failed the SAT, but had a 100 average in high school and my mom thought I wouldn't get into college b/c of my SAT scores!). But I found what works for me is doing more and more questions and SIMs and taking notes on every question I get wrong or don't understand. This helps me more than listening to the lectures and following along in the book. I am a visual learner so writing the notes helps and in writing it, it sticks in my brain better.

[Anonymous]

I'm a lot like you man. Wife and 2 kids (1 and 3) and didn't have to study much. So I've found I have to be very disciplined and just grind it out bit by bit. My study materials are different, but I thought it might help.

I have 8? alarms set on my phone to block out times of the day to study. Here is a rough sketch of my daily routine (I often come up short, but I'd rather set it high than low):

4:55 AM – Wake up/Coffee/Devotions

5:45 AM – Read Wiley book

6:30 AM – Breakfast

6:50 AM – Get dressed

7:07 AM – Leave for work

7:20 AM – Write out notes from Wiley book or rewriting NINJA notes

7:50 AM – 10 MCQs

8:00 AM – Work

12 – 10 MCQs before lunch then lunch

5:15 PM – 10 MCQs before going home

Dinner/kids/bed time

7:30 PM – Watch NINJA videos

8:00 PM – Prepare to go to bed/talk to wife

9:00 PM – Sleep

I try to get a few hours in on Saturday morning as well for roughly 12 hours/week. I probably should aim higher but that's what I got right now.

[Anonymous]

I'm a lot like you man. Wife and 2 kids (1 and 3) and didn't have to study much. So I've found I have to be very disciplined and just grind it out bit by bit. My study materials are different, but I thought it might help.

I have 8? alarms set on my phone to block out times of the day to study. Here is a rough sketch of my daily routine (I often come up short, but I'd rather set it high than low):

4:55 AM – Wake up/Coffee/Devotions

5:45 AM – Read Wiley book

6:30 AM – Breakfast

6:50 AM – Get dressed

7:07 AM – Leave for work

7:20 AM – Write out notes from Wiley book or rewriting NINJA notes

7:50 AM – 10 MCQs

8:00 AM – Work

12 – 10 MCQs before lunch then lunch

5:15 PM – 10 MCQs before going home

Dinner/kids/bed time

7:30 PM – Watch NINJA videos

8:00 PM – Prepare to go to bed/talk to wife

9:00 PM – Sleep

I try to get a few hours in on Saturday morning as well for roughly 12 hours/week. I probably should aim higher but that's what I got right now.

[Anonymous]

@Cajun4God87 Now I am going to warn you, my study process might have been a little intense but my motive and sole aim was to give the CPA my all, take them all once and never have to re-take. Also, I didn't have as much responsibility as you currently do. So, my study process even though somewhat intense was still do-able.

Here is a breakdown:

I used Becker self-study for FAR. My study process involved:

At 8am:

1. Watching the lecture and highlighting (about 4 hours). This process helped with just laying a foundation of what to focus, how to remember things and those mnemonics.

After the lecture, I'll take an hour to have lunch

2. I'll open up the book and I'll read the chapter, focusing mostly on the highlighted parts. If just reading the highlighted part did not make any sense to me, then I'll read the whole paragraph or page. EVERYTHING had to make sense. I was seeking to understand.

3. During my reading, I actively took notes. My notes consisted of things that I didn't already know, things that weren't obvious and I things I thought I'll easily forget. I tried not to copy word for word out of the book. I explained it to myself how I understood it and then I wrote down my explanation. (3-4 hours)

This was a long and physically painful process, my fingers were hurting after each day of studying but I still did it anyway.

4. I attempted the Becker homework for about 2 hours. My aim was to start and get an idea of how the questions seemed not to finish them all.

The reason I didn't rush off after the lecture to do the homework was because I wanted to sleep through the night and see if I could still remember what I learned. If I couldn't apply what I just learned a day before to MC questions then the material most likely wasn't in long term memory well enough for the CPA exam.

5. The next day was dedicated solely to doing the MC homework. Those homeworks were long and hard. I started out miserably sIow and each question took me a long time yet I still failed most of them. It was very frustrating! But I consoled myself with the fact that, I'll learn more from my failed questions than from the questions I got correctly. I convinced myself that I'll rather fail as many questions as possible AND learn from them before my exam, than get them all correct and fail them on the exam. It took a while but I accepted failing some Becker homework questions gracefully.

6. The types of questions I had failed numerous times, I'll write down their solution/explanation as part of my notes.

I studied in the summer so the evenings were nice to take walks, I took walks in the evenings and read my notes during my walks. The notes for each chapter, I must have read a minimum of at least 5 times before I took the CPA exam. I probably over prepared because I had so much time but that's the only way I knew I would feel comfortable, so that is what I did.

Sorry this was kinda long but key take-away:

– Don't be frustrated when you fail the questions, use them as an opportunity to learn.

– Incorporate note-taking in your studying process, it really does help reinforce the material.

– Read the notes as many times as possible. Repetition helps!

Are there any key areas (topics) in FAR you struggled with? I can look to see if I can organize my notes for those sections in a way that will be helpful to you. And I could send them to you.

I'll be praying for you. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

@Cajun4God87 Now I am going to warn you, my study process might have been a little intense but my motive and sole aim was to give the CPA my all, take them all once and never have to re-take. Also, I didn't have as much responsibility as you currently do. So, my study process even though somewhat intense was still do-able.

Here is a breakdown:

I used Becker self-study for FAR. My study process involved:

At 8am:

1. Watching the lecture and highlighting (about 4 hours). This process helped with just laying a foundation of what to focus, how to remember things and those mnemonics.

After the lecture, I'll take an hour to have lunch

2. I'll open up the book and I'll read the chapter, focusing mostly on the highlighted parts. If just reading the highlighted part did not make any sense to me, then I'll read the whole paragraph or page. EVERYTHING had to make sense. I was seeking to understand.

3. During my reading, I actively took notes. My notes consisted of things that I didn't already know, things that weren't obvious and I things I thought I'll easily forget. I tried not to copy word for word out of the book. I explained it to myself how I understood it and then I wrote down my explanation. (3-4 hours)

This was a long and physically painful process, my fingers were hurting after each day of studying but I still did it anyway.

4. I attempted the Becker homework for about 2 hours. My aim was to start and get an idea of how the questions seemed not to finish them all.

The reason I didn't rush off after the lecture to do the homework was because I wanted to sleep through the night and see if I could still remember what I learned. If I couldn't apply what I just learned a day before to MC questions then the material most likely wasn't in long term memory well enough for the CPA exam.

5. The next day was dedicated solely to doing the MC homework. Those homeworks were long and hard. I started out miserably sIow and each question took me a long time yet I still failed most of them. It was very frustrating! But I consoled myself with the fact that, I'll learn more from my failed questions than from the questions I got correctly. I convinced myself that I'll rather fail as many questions as possible AND learn from them before my exam, than get them all correct and fail them on the exam. It took a while but I accepted failing some Becker homework questions gracefully.

6. The types of questions I had failed numerous times, I'll write down their solution/explanation as part of my notes.

I studied in the summer so the evenings were nice to take walks, I took walks in the evenings and read my notes during my walks. The notes for each chapter, I must have read a minimum of at least 5 times before I took the CPA exam. I probably over prepared because I had so much time but that's the only way I knew I would feel comfortable, so that is what I did.

Sorry this was kinda long but key take-away:

– Don't be frustrated when you fail the questions, use them as an opportunity to learn.

– Incorporate note-taking in your studying process, it really does help reinforce the material.

– Read the notes as many times as possible. Repetition helps!

Are there any key areas (topics) in FAR you struggled with? I can look to see if I can organize my notes for those sections in a way that will be helpful to you. And I could send them to you.

I'll be praying for you. Good luck!

[impska]

Sometimes the best way to learn something is to teach it. Unfortunately, your wife probably isn't interested!

Do you have a pet? Do they like it when you talk to them? Well… then they'll love hearing about FAR!

If you don't have a pet, I once had a communications consultant suggest doing it with a white board and an empty room.

The important aspects are that you're saying it out loud, as though you had to teach someone else.

It sounds weird, but it works.

REG - 94
BEC - 92
FAR - 92
AUD - 99

[Author]

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