[Anonymous]

I like to do tons of multiple choice questions instead of reading and taking notes and kind of learning as I go…as in when I get something wrong i read why it is wrong etc. So far, when I get repeat/similar questions I usually get them right but I am not sure if this is because I am learning or just remembering similar question answers and using those to help me figure out the answer. Is this bad? Is there anyone who has done this type of studying and passed the exams?

[Anonymous]

I would spend at least 30 minutes outlining each section so you know how each subtopic ties together.

Handwritten flash cards are your new best friend.

[randerso]

It's definitely good to get as many MC under your belt as possible before exam day.

However, could this strategy be reinforcing bad answers? I've heard that it's takes twice as long to ‘unlearn' something as it takes to learn it. If you devise a strategy in your head for a MCQ and it's wrong, it might put you a step back as to learning the right way, even if you don't recognize it.

Personally, I like to do at least a bit of light review before diving into the MC. Otherwise, I could be spinning my wheels and wasting time trying to blindly answer questions on a topic I'm totally unfamiliar with. Wiley Focus Notes allows you to flip through a high-level summary of the material in bite size chunks. It may be more efficient to do just a cursory review of the material before doing the MC.

REG: (May 2014) - 80 ✔
AUD: (Nov 2014) - 93 ✔
FAR: (Oct 2014) - 71, (Jan 2015) - 88 ✔
BEC: (Feb 2015) - 89 ✔

CA PETH: 94 percent

[UM1868]

Did this strategy for Audit, combined with Ninja Notes as an outline. 3 weeks. WTB.

40 hours or so of study time at most.

Worked for bec too

__________

Now for far, I do the same thing, but now, when I miss a question that just doesn't make sense, I read parts of the book. You will never see me read a book. I may have read Jeff's when they come out, but I will not read those two large FAR books. I will end up doing probably all of WTB questions and a good amount of Beckers.

Bec-76 (7/14)
Aud-81 (8/14)
Reg-82 (7/15)
Far- 82 (10/15)

Moral of the story, don't do your CPA while working in Big 4 Public Accounting.

[2B.CPA]

I guess it depends from a person to another, but for me, it worked on REG. I think the reason it was especially good for REG is because a lot of practice is always good for any calculation problems. I did take notes in the beginning, but I use Becker and I felt like I was pretty much making my outline off of what was being highlighted/underlined, so I thought I would just not waste time on making notes but rather just read through highlighted parts in the e-book when I review, which I did. Really important ones, like formulas and mnemonics, I would write down as flash cards or something and memorize, so I will be ready for the SIMs. Even though I didn't feel too comfortable with the SIMs, I cruised through MCQs so fast that I had two hours left just to spend on SIMs and had time to look up most of the topics in IRCs. Hope this helps.

[TiffaNiffaNi]

I wouldn't recommend this strategy normally, but having taken audit, I think it could work. A lot of the questions on the exam, I could have sworn I saw them before 🙂

BUT don't forget to practice SIMS and using the authoritative literature tab.

Likewise, on MCQs make sure you know why an answer IS correct AND why the others are NOT correct.

FAR: 7/17/14- 79
AUD: 8/20/14- 91
REG: 10/1/14- 88
BEC: 11/10/14- 85

Becker Self-Study

[Jsmith87]

How can you learn everything by doing multiple choice without reading the book? That's not how anyone learns in college. Plus, not all topics will be covered in multiple choice questions.

[UM1868]

@justin

You're not supposed to learn everything. Just enough to pass.

Reading the book is inefficient in my opinion and I have a good enough grasp on accounting to pass parts without reading a book

Bec-76 (7/14)
Aud-81 (8/14)
Reg-82 (7/15)
Far- 82 (10/15)

Moral of the story, don't do your CPA while working in Big 4 Public Accounting.

[UM1868]

Oh, and I also never read a textbook in college.

Bec-76 (7/14)
Aud-81 (8/14)
Reg-82 (7/15)
Far- 82 (10/15)

Moral of the story, don't do your CPA while working in Big 4 Public Accounting.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely at least go through the book. I don't think you need to listen to the lectures, but I would go through the book and make sure you know the concepts. That being said, the lectures are helpful in pointing out what the CPA exam usually tests on so even though its time consuming, I think the lectures were helpful.

[Jsmith87]

You never read a text book in college. Hahaha. Whatever.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Depends on what section you are studying for. I found that for FAR and BEC, the lectures were imperative. For AUD, I probably could've done only NINJA MCQs (trending 80, pass 88, thanks JEFF!). I would have failed FAR and BEC if I hadn't gone through the lectures; and I also would've failed FAR if I hadn't done a Roger Cram course, and I would've failed BEC if I hadn't done NINJA MCQs. To answer your question, your study method may or may not work for you – it just depends on the section.

[Anonymous]

I ran out of time on my NTS for both FAR and AUD. For FAR, I bought the Ten Point Combo, watched the Blitz videos a week before my exam to get a good overview, then obsessively did MCQs for a week. For the sections that I was weak on, I rewatched the Blitz videos. I was sure I would fail miserably, but I actually only failed by one point. I got a 74. I will retake FAR in October, and I pretty much plan on doing the same thing except I will spend 3 weeks instead of just one lol. For AUD, I watched the Blitz videos two weeks out, cranked out a bunch of MCQs, figured out which topics I was weak on, went back and rewatched the Blitz and CPAexcel videos for those, then took the exam after two weeks of studying and got an 81. This is while working full time and not taking any time off. I just don't learn from from watching lectures. I'm a more hands on learner. So I guess it really just depends on what kind of learner you are.

[Author]

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