[Anonymous]

I would love to see how everyone else uses the Becker materials, so I hope you will share your techniques.

For learning each chapter, do you read, watch, MCQ, SIM, and in what order? Do you do all the MCQ including the optional questions? Do you do all the Sim’s? Do you do the progress test at the end of the chapter?

For review, do you re-do all the MCQ’s and Sim’s? Take the final or the progress tests? In what order?

 

 

[Ag12thman]

Good question and one that has been discussed a lot on this site. You're going to get a pretty wide variety of responses. Here are some to start you off:

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/becker-study-tips This is “study tips” thread but it has some Becker usage info in it, too.

FAR: July 2016

[So FAR So Good]

Whatever you do, don't make the mistake I made. There is a LOT of information to process, so make sure you are taking progress tests REGULARLY. If not, you WILL forget a ton of information by the end of the program and find yourself learning it all over again.

F - 91 (6/5/2016)
A - 7/30/2016
R - 10/8/2016
B - 12/10/2016

[Kelleyzt32]

This is what seems to work best for me….
– Listen to the lecture and highlight the section
– Read the section myself and handwrite notes
– Take all the MC questions for that section
– Read over notes again and finish any remaining MC that missed

Once I finished all sections I start my final review
– Start by reading the notes for each section
– Take 30-50 MC quizzes for each section. Usually do around 150-200 per section
– To end I take the two practice exams and review any areas I feel I am no sufficient in

REG - 91
FAR - 86
BEC - 84
AUD - July 2016

[Kelleyzt32]

This is what seems to work best for me….
– Listen to the lecture and highlight the section
– Read the section myself and handwrite notes
– Take all the MC questions for that section
– Read over notes again and finish any remaining MC that missed

Once I finished all sections I start my final review
– Start by reading the notes for each section
– Take 30-50 MC quizzes for each section. Usually do around 150-200 per section
– To end I take the two practice exams and review any areas I feel I am no sufficient in

REG - 91
FAR - 86
BEC - 84
AUD - July 2016

[SaveBandit]

Do each section in five days and review the previous material on the sixth day

Day 1: listen to lectures
Day 2: outline the highlighted parts of the lecture in excel. Print out the outline in small enough font so I can write notes I the margins.
Day 3: work the mcq. For questions I get wrong, write the explanation down next to the applicable section of the outline.
Day 4: same as day 3.
Day 5: tackle sims. Do them without looking at the answers, then see which ones I bombed. Read/write down the explanations and then review that part of the book as well.

I go through all the questions once. Anything I missed I will come back through during my review on day 6.

Repeat for proceeding chapters. Leave 2/3 weeks for a global review at which point I practice ninja mcq for fresh questions, zoning in on topics I struggle with. I also go back and review some of the more challenging SIMS. I didn't practice ninja sims except for REG since those are notoriously hard.

Make flash cards for formulas / mnemonics / things you keep missing. Read notes for 30 minutes before bed.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[se98]

What I did for FAR and am doing for REG is, I'm listening to all the lectures, doing the highlighting/underlining, doing the in chapter MCQs as they come up. Then when I have done all the lectures, I do progress tests including material from all lectures in chunks matching one testlet length. I always look into WHY I got the question wrong, and often, even if I got it right but I flagged it, I make sure I know WHY I got it right. If I am killing it in one section, I will exclude that from several of my future little progress tests to focus on the topics I struggle with. After 5-7 like this, I'll go back to all topics, and repeat, doing this ad nauseum. For me breaking it down into little manageable chunks makes me less likely to stab my eyes out. I just can't mentally handle 100 MCQs at once, even if by the end of the night I end up doing that many in my little chunks. I did a couple of simulations from each topic, maybe an extra one from my weak topic areas, but I honestly didn't spend a ton of time on this with FAR. My last week I did a lot of handwriting important notes into my own notebook to cement it in my head and especially get the benefit of the mnemonics.

FAR 84
REG 7/2016
BEC 8/2016
AUD 10/2016

[Anonymous]

Kelleyzt32

what notes do you take? the highlight or something you further summarize?

thanks

[Rosco920]

I listen to the lecture. I do not read the material because I feel it wastes my time. All that I don't hear/see in the lecture will be learned doing the MCQs. I do not study the sims because they are always different and obviously they are extensions of the MCQs. I focus most of the time on MCQS and read them slowly to make sure I read EVERY word of the question. Missing one word changes your comprehension of the question.

But this whats comfy for me though and it works. I've passed all 3 tests I've taken and will sit for last one in July. Good luck with your studying

BEC 80
AUD 75
FAR 78
REG 87

[Kelleyzt32]

BWTS :

I mainly focus on the highlighted material and formulas. I believe that if you write it down you can remember it better. I also add little notes from MC questions that I missed to help me as well.

REG - 91
FAR - 86
BEC - 84
AUD - July 2016

[Anonymous]

Kelleyzt32,

when you take notes, do you also write down the outlines related to those highlights?

do you read the book ( ie, audit)

[Kelleyzt32]

BWTS –

I haven't started studying for AUD, I'm waiting on by BEC score next week. No, I don't do anything related to the outlines provided by Becker. I try to make my notes for each section 6-7 pages. (Concise but still full of information). For the previous 3 exams I have read the book each time, granted I skim read the stuff I feel is irrelevant.

REG - 91
FAR - 86
BEC - 84
AUD - July 2016

[MFL]

I start every chapter off by watching the lecture videos. Then I will read each section in the chapter one at a time and once I'm finished with that section I will do the MCQs for that section. I don't do the SIMs. I usually leave two weeks to review before the exam. The first week I will go back and read each chapter and do 50 MCQs over that chapter. At the end of the first week I will take my first practice exam. The second week I will focus on the areas I feel I'm the weakest and 2 or 3 days before the exam I will take my second practice exam. Two days before I take the exam I will go over areas I'm struggling and skim through some SIMs. The day before the exam I will skim through the Becker book to refresh myself on everything. The morning of I don't do much studying besides maybe looking at the chapter outlines Becker gives you.

BEC - 84
FAR - 82
AUD - 72, 84
REG - 7/31/16

[Anonymous]

Kelleyzt32,

that is really condensed 6-7, any tips on how to do it?

[Kelleyzt32]

BWTS,

Just take notes on the areas that are hard to remember and also keep definitions short to only include key words and not all the filler that is in the book. I don't usually write down information that I know such as: (LIFO,FIFO, Supply/Demand factors)

REG - 91
FAR - 86
BEC - 84
AUD - July 2016

[bhunt815]

I actually watch all of the lectures first and then just do MCQ's until I take the test. I do very few MCQ's until I've finished the book. I made an 84 on FAR (8 weeks of study) and a 79 on Audit (4 weeks of study). I admit that I don't put nearly as much time in studying as some on here claim. I find that there are areas I need to spend lots of time on and other areas that I already know. It would be a waste of time to do all of the SIM's and MCQ's for the areas I'm already comfortable with. Becker's materials are great, but their study plan just doesn't work for those of us who work 50-60 hours per week.

I also write down every MCQ I miss. All of them. Then I read those notes daily. I usually have 40-50 pages of notes by the time I take the tests.

FAR 04/11/2016 - 84
AUD 05/12/2016 - 79
BEC 07/06/2016 - 81
REG 08/29/2016

[Author]

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