[Anonymous]

Ok guys, I am new to this forum in terms of posting but have been coming here to look around for the better part of a few months. I graduated in May with 150 hours and began studying for the CPA exam this week (Tuesday). I am using BECKER self study for Audit, and my NTS is finished. I am taking AUD in July 27. The way I’ve been studying so far is watching and following along with Tim Gearty’s lectures including all the underlining and highlighting and then tackling the homework questions for each particular subtopic of chapter 1. Today I am redoing all of the homework for chapter 1 without lectures to see how much I know vs how much I memorized. It can be hard sometimes bc I feel I might be memorizing the answers or that I know them now but will forget them by tomorrow! Anyone else feel this way?

Also upon doing the MCQ for the first times overall, I’m getting around a 55-65%. is this normal or should I have cause for concern? I’m sorry if I sound paranoid, just want to finish this exam and get it out of the way for the rest of my life.

Anyone have any input? I’d really appreciate it!

[momto5]

Agree with ReneeNC. Although I do both, actually writing the notes makes you have to think about what you are writing. Highlighting can really be done with your mind somewhere else, although my highlighting guides me as to what may be important stuff to write down as I do my notes after I am completely done with the chapter (good review). Then again, it makes a difference as to what type of learner you are. I am very visual and somewhat kinesthetic, so writing it down really helps me internalize it. If you are typically an auditory learner, just listening and re-listening to the lectures or some other audio may be the best.

FAR - 92 (4/27/12)
AUD - 96 (7/17/12)
BEC - 92 (8/30/12)
REG - 91 (11/12/12)

[Anonymous]

Wow, thanks for all of the great feedback guys! I'm glad to be a part of this community! I have a lot of great advice and information to take in.

I purchased NINJA Notes for AUD and now have that along with Becker self study and Becker flashcards. I plan to start Chapter 2 Becker on Monday and do that for 3 days then go to chapter 4 for the final 3 days of next week. (2 chapters a week as recommended).

Wondering in terms of notes, should I write the NINJA notes down or the notes from my becker book?

This is going to be quite a path, but I hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel when it's all said and done.

[.Drex]

I bought a whiteboard when studying AUD. I used it as I watch the videos. I went back and pretended I was teaching it from the book. It's a little weird, but if you can teach it, it'll help out tremendously. This doesn't replace note taking. You'll still have to do that, so just rewrite the ninja notes by hand.

AUD - Passed
FAR - Passed
REG - Aug 20th
BEC - TBD

[Anonymous]

i learn best by rewriting notes. i write down the explanations to all of the MC questions that I get incorrect the first time around. It may be slow, but it works. I am also using Becker and I find Tim's highlighting to be useless because he basically makes us highlight the entire book. also dont worry about the % correct you get on the MC the first time around. It means nothing, as long as during your final review you are scoring in the 80%s.

[khum2011]

In my opinion, you've got to figure out how you study and learn best, I changed the way I studied for this exam a few times in the beginning but eventually you figure it out. I also study with Becker. I watch all the lectures and do the highlighting, and then do the multiple choice afterwards. And don't worry, I would say my homework scores the first time around were right around that range. I wouldn't worry about redoing them again until it gets closer to your exam, then redo them all. I also had SEVERAL questions on my audit exam that were the exact same as the becker questions, I could not believe it. Anyway, as long as you study hard, you'll be fine. Make sure you nail down the multiple choice, as long as you do okay there, you should be good to go! Good luck! 🙂

FAR - 82
BEC - 77
AUD - 79
REG - 81

Done 🙂

[makinthemagic]

I did the highlighting with some notes on the side. I got ~50% on mcq first pass. I worked and reworked the mcq's until I knew them inside and out.

Bec 4/11/11 91
Aud 7/11/11 75
Reg 8/31/11 80
Far 5/24/11 86
Ethics - 98
California Licensed CPA
Illinois Registered CPA

[Author]

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