[Anonymous]

Okay I am not studying right. I got a 60 on FAR, 47 on REG, and 59 on AUD. For FAR and REG, I could see how things kinda played in how I failed (studied too long for FAR and worked a lot of overtime during the period I studied for REG). But for AUD, there were absolutely no reason whatsoever for my lackluster score.

Here’s how I studied for each of those exams:

FAR: studied for 3 months (way too long). Watched CPAexcel the lectures and did the MCQ for each lesson. Did 90 Wiley Test Bank MCQ per day for the final week before the exam.

REG: studied for 7 weeks. Watched CPAexcel the lectures and did the MCQ for each lesson. Did 90 Wiley Test Bank MCQ per day for the final week before the exam.

AUD: studied for studied for 6 weeks. Watched CPAexcel lectures and did the MCQ for each lesson. Wrote NINJA notes 2x during the 2 weeks before the exam. Did 90 Wiley Test Bank MCQ per day for the final week of the exam.

---

So given my scores, I must be doing something wrong. Any advice or suggestions? (both for retaking these sections as well as for BEC coming up on October 5, 2013).

[Anonymous]

Im with you my friend. just found out I failed FAR. I guess the only way to look at it is I just have to work harder and smarter. Cleaning my study cave tonight and tomorrow we start again. I guess we all hit bumps in the road that get thrown at us to see if we can take it. Keep your head up and keep moving forward. Ill be doing the same.

[Anonymous]

Im with you my friend. just found out I failed FAR. I guess the only way to look at it is I just have to work harder and smarter. Cleaning my study cave tonight and tomorrow we start again. I guess we all hit bumps in the road that get thrown at us to see if we can take it. Keep your head up and keep moving forward. Ill be doing the same.

[Anonymous]

i hear ya……i bombed audit 46 and got a awful score of 58 on REg……i need help too…..but have no idea where to turn……theres no worse feeling

[Anonymous]

i hear ya……i bombed audit 46 and got a awful score of 58 on REg……i need help too…..but have no idea where to turn……theres no worse feeling

[Anonymous]

Y'all are in the ONLY place in the world that can help! So don't get discouraged yet. My advice, take it to heart or take it with a grain of salt, is to find out HOW you learn. Some learn from listening, others from writing, others from reading. We are all different and we learn differently. I took REG 7 times and never got above a 71. I bought the NINJA audio and BAM!! 84! I had to hear it over and over to know it.

The only way to fail is to quit, so as long as you are in the game, you are going to finish strong!

[Anonymous]

Y'all are in the ONLY place in the world that can help! So don't get discouraged yet. My advice, take it to heart or take it with a grain of salt, is to find out HOW you learn. Some learn from listening, others from writing, others from reading. We are all different and we learn differently. I took REG 7 times and never got above a 71. I bought the NINJA audio and BAM!! 84! I had to hear it over and over to know it.

The only way to fail is to quit, so as long as you are in the game, you are going to finish strong!

[supercpa11]

I feel your pain bro having failed Aud and Reg..my suggestion is to do more wiley mcq the wk of the exam.

[supercpa11]

I feel your pain bro having failed Aud and Reg..my suggestion is to do more wiley mcq the wk of the exam.

[Anonymous]

Like Kricket said, figure out *how* you learn. For me, it is reading the material – not a summary (like the NINJA notes), but the actual material. My poison of choice is Wiley…but from any provider, for me, the key is to read something that covers everything. Determined, it seems like your method has been primarily lecture-focused, so I wonder if something like reading might be a good next-try for you?

To figure out how you learn best, I try to think of classes that you felt like you understood particularly well, and figure out why you did. Or if you wanted to learn some new skill today, where would you look to learn? Like I said, I'm someone who has to read it…so, I did great in my online classes with no lectures and just books, and if I wanted ot learn something new, I'd probably go to Amazon and look up a book! Finding your best learning method makes a HUGE difference in how well you can do with these. That method varies person to person, but once you find it, you're golden. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Like Kricket said, figure out *how* you learn. For me, it is reading the material – not a summary (like the NINJA notes), but the actual material. My poison of choice is Wiley…but from any provider, for me, the key is to read something that covers everything. Determined, it seems like your method has been primarily lecture-focused, so I wonder if something like reading might be a good next-try for you?

To figure out how you learn best, I try to think of classes that you felt like you understood particularly well, and figure out why you did. Or if you wanted to learn some new skill today, where would you look to learn? Like I said, I'm someone who has to read it…so, I did great in my online classes with no lectures and just books, and if I wanted ot learn something new, I'd probably go to Amazon and look up a book! Finding your best learning method makes a HUGE difference in how well you can do with these. That method varies person to person, but once you find it, you're golden. 🙂

[Anonymous]

You can do a google search for learning style inventory and take the test for free. It will tell you the best way for you to study.

[Anonymous]

You can do a google search for learning style inventory and take the test for free. It will tell you the best way for you to study.

[UCMCPA]

Did the MC for only a week prior?

Kick it up a notch if you feel you learn better by DOING. I've found that I learn and retain information best with a combo of doing + reviewing.

I did 180 questions + 2 chapters of reading/review A DAY for Aud for 3 weeks leading up to the exam. – Scored a 94.

I did 100 questions a day + 1 chapter of reading/review A DAY for FAR for 2.5 weeks leading up to exam – Scored a 82.

You seem to be on the right track, just push harder. If I missed a question while studying, I would figure out why, then reread that paragraph in the book.

FAR - 84
AUD - 94
REG - 86
BEC - 86

[UCMCPA]

Did the MC for only a week prior?

Kick it up a notch if you feel you learn better by DOING. I've found that I learn and retain information best with a combo of doing + reviewing.

I did 180 questions + 2 chapters of reading/review A DAY for Aud for 3 weeks leading up to the exam. – Scored a 94.

I did 100 questions a day + 1 chapter of reading/review A DAY for FAR for 2.5 weeks leading up to exam – Scored a 82.

You seem to be on the right track, just push harder. If I missed a question while studying, I would figure out why, then reread that paragraph in the book.

FAR - 84
AUD - 94
REG - 86
BEC - 86

[MindTheGAAP]

What has helped me the most has been writing my own notes. I summarize each chapter in the book with notes, and the important concepts. I think that these exams all have a certain degree of memorization to them, so repetition is crucial for committing the material to memory. I passed FAR last month, and by the time I took the exam, I was only thinking about FAR topics. They took over my every thought and I dreamed about it every night. I believe that is the point where you are understanding concepts and thinking through them enough that your brain will be able to recall this information on the exam.

I got an 81 on FAR, and this is what I did:

-Roger CPA review: watched all of the lectures before taking any notes.

-Wiley CPA Review MCQ until my eyes were bleeding

-Wrote up an outline for each chapter in my review book. Only important items, formulas, mnemonics, etc.

-If there were topics I was fuzzy on (like foreign currency stuff, consolidated f/s, government stuff, etc.), I re-watched the lectures AFTER I struggled through the MCQs. Then I understood much more from the lecture, and made additional notes.

-More and more Wiley test bank MCQ… literally hundreds

-I feel like I should have done more practice simulations, but who cares now!?

-re-writing notes from the chapters, rewriting formulas 10 times each to memorize them, saying the concepts out loud to myself

-In general, annoying everyone around me by incessantly discussing consolidated financial statements and governmental accounting until I had no more friends

-Spending all of my free time making flashcards since I no longer had any friends

THEN:

-Taking the exam, and then crying that I failed

-THEN: PASSING THE EXAM AFTER CALLING THE OREGON BOARD A MILLION TIMES.

You can do it!! It just takes some serious devotion to the material. But hey, we're accountants, this is what we love, right?

Oregon CPA Candidate

FAR: 81
BEC: 83
AUD: 89
REG: January 2014

[Author]

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