[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).

[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

[Tailwinds Brewing]

Kricket speaks the truth.

My scores without Ninja notes.

BEC- 77

REG- 88

FAR 54, 51, 68

AUD 64, 55, 59

With Ninja Notes, Wiley textbook, and MCQs as a tune up:

FAR – 76

AUD – 76

REG – 84

BEC- 88

Everyone learns a bit differently but figure out what works for you and get the notes or audio. You will not find more bang for the buck out there IMO. Good luck, if I can do it you can too.

Finally done!
FAR: 54, 51, 68, 76!
AUD: 64, 55, 59, 76!
BEC: 77 (Expired), 86
REG: 88 (Expired), 84

[Tailwinds Brewing]

Kricket speaks the truth.

My scores without Ninja notes.

BEC- 77

REG- 88

FAR 54, 51, 68

AUD 64, 55, 59

With Ninja Notes, Wiley textbook, and MCQs as a tune up:

FAR – 76

AUD – 76

REG – 84

BEC- 88

Everyone learns a bit differently but figure out what works for you and get the notes or audio. You will not find more bang for the buck out there IMO. Good luck, if I can do it you can too.

Finally done!
FAR: 54, 51, 68, 76!
AUD: 64, 55, 59, 76!
BEC: 77 (Expired), 86
REG: 88 (Expired), 84

[Anonymous]

I have taken all 4 parts of the exam at least once and the only way I passed one part was because of Becker. I've used Gleim and it just didn't stick for me, so I switched it up, but I know several people who have used gleim and passed. It just wasn't the best for me. I'm curious, did you guys take the final exam through your study materials? Any mock exams before the real thing? If so, what were you scoring? I'm one month into studying and I'm almost halfway through the book and I plan on taking the practice test until I score at least a 80 (hopefully anyway). I hope that that will be the deciding factor if I feel comfortable before sitting. My big change this time around is that I'm waiting to schedule my exam until I get through at least 3/4ths of the study materials and far out enough to make sure I have plenty of review time. Before I was scheduling it and then having to sit before I felt completely ready. Hopefully this test isn't going to “sneak up” on me this time around.

[Anonymous]

I have taken all 4 parts of the exam at least once and the only way I passed one part was because of Becker. I've used Gleim and it just didn't stick for me, so I switched it up, but I know several people who have used gleim and passed. It just wasn't the best for me. I'm curious, did you guys take the final exam through your study materials? Any mock exams before the real thing? If so, what were you scoring? I'm one month into studying and I'm almost halfway through the book and I plan on taking the practice test until I score at least a 80 (hopefully anyway). I hope that that will be the deciding factor if I feel comfortable before sitting. My big change this time around is that I'm waiting to schedule my exam until I get through at least 3/4ths of the study materials and far out enough to make sure I have plenty of review time. Before I was scheduling it and then having to sit before I felt completely ready. Hopefully this test isn't going to “sneak up” on me this time around.

[MindTheGAAP]

I took a practice exam a week before my FAR exam (through Wiley), and got an 84. I did the equivalent multiple choice questions of probably 30 exams though, average in the 70-75 range.

I would argue that it was helpful for me to have the exam scheduled in advance, so then I was able to keep to my study schedule much better. Knowing that I had a drop dead deadline helped me to stay focused and cancel all of my plans with everyone.

Oregon CPA Candidate

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

[MindTheGAAP]

I took a practice exam a week before my FAR exam (through Wiley), and got an 84. I did the equivalent multiple choice questions of probably 30 exams though, average in the 70-75 range.

I would argue that it was helpful for me to have the exam scheduled in advance, so then I was able to keep to my study schedule much better. Knowing that I had a drop dead deadline helped me to stay focused and cancel all of my plans with everyone.

Oregon CPA Candidate

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

[Anonymous]

@dow307

I didn't take any of the mock exams. Instead, I just did a bunch of MCQs in study mode with Wiley Test Bank. The reason is because since no one knows how the AICPA grades exams, if I get a 80 on Wiley, it doesn't necessarily mean I will get an 80 on the real exam. But seeing as how crappy my scores are, I'm willing to try anything that might help at this point.

[Anonymous]

@dow307

I didn't take any of the mock exams. Instead, I just did a bunch of MCQs in study mode with Wiley Test Bank. The reason is because since no one knows how the AICPA grades exams, if I get a 80 on Wiley, it doesn't necessarily mean I will get an 80 on the real exam. But seeing as how crappy my scores are, I'm willing to try anything that might help at this point.

[jkpoker1]

I just got a 37 on reg sigh. IDK I would just take a course like becker,gleim, yaegar, etc. A lot of material is covered on the cpa exam and sadly most of it will not even show up. I've used wiley for reg and bec and honestly I think its a waste of time using it because so much info is displayed.

I can't say for a fact but a program such as becker or gleim will help you study more efficiently. These programs have a really solid track record with people that actually follow what is laid out (obv people that don't follow full program will do poorly). Also if you don't become a cpa, its not a big deal. I feel like this forum is extremely skewed toward successful accountants. A lot of people I've talked to have said the cpa exam is extremely difficult (don't know if i buy this logic, bc I believe putting the time in will get you a passing score). Not everyone is cut out to be a cpa (going through that questioning now).

Quest to be a CPA

BEC-74 (7/13),
REG- ?? (8/13)
AUD-TBA
FAR-TBA

[jkpoker1]

I just got a 37 on reg sigh. IDK I would just take a course like becker,gleim, yaegar, etc. A lot of material is covered on the cpa exam and sadly most of it will not even show up. I've used wiley for reg and bec and honestly I think its a waste of time using it because so much info is displayed.

I can't say for a fact but a program such as becker or gleim will help you study more efficiently. These programs have a really solid track record with people that actually follow what is laid out (obv people that don't follow full program will do poorly). Also if you don't become a cpa, its not a big deal. I feel like this forum is extremely skewed toward successful accountants. A lot of people I've talked to have said the cpa exam is extremely difficult (don't know if i buy this logic, bc I believe putting the time in will get you a passing score). Not everyone is cut out to be a cpa (going through that questioning now).

Quest to be a CPA

BEC-74 (7/13),
REG- ?? (8/13)
AUD-TBA
FAR-TBA

[futureCPA12]

@determined to succeed Were you a good student in school? If yes, then you probably need to change up your strategy. If no, this process may just be harder for you.

How much studying do you put in?

[futureCPA12]

@determined to succeed Were you a good student in school? If yes, then you probably need to change up your strategy. If no, this process may just be harder for you.

How much studying do you put in?

[Anonymous]

@futureCPA12

Idk, “successful” is a subjective term. I would say I performed decent in college. My overall GPA was 3.07 but my major GPA was lower, around 2.5. Personally, I felt that most of the accounting and finance classes were ridiculously difficult.

Also, as for how much I studied, for FAR and REG I did not put enough time or effort and I understand how that got me failing scores, but I honestly thought I prepared well for AUD. I studied for 6 weeks and for every lesson I would watch the videos and then do the CPAexcel MCQ. I also read the NINJA notes twice and wrote the NINJA notes twice, and during the final 7 days leading up to the exam I did 90 Wiley MCQ per day.

Right now I'm thinking of incorporating reading the textbook (so for each lesson it would be read textbook, watch lecture, do MCQ). Idk, one way or another my studying has to change.

[Anonymous]

@futureCPA12

Idk, “successful” is a subjective term. I would say I performed decent in college. My overall GPA was 3.07 but my major GPA was lower, around 2.5. Personally, I felt that most of the accounting and finance classes were ridiculously difficult.

Also, as for how much I studied, for FAR and REG I did not put enough time or effort and I understand how that got me failing scores, but I honestly thought I prepared well for AUD. I studied for 6 weeks and for every lesson I would watch the videos and then do the CPAexcel MCQ. I also read the NINJA notes twice and wrote the NINJA notes twice, and during the final 7 days leading up to the exam I did 90 Wiley MCQ per day.

Right now I'm thinking of incorporating reading the textbook (so for each lesson it would be read textbook, watch lecture, do MCQ). Idk, one way or another my studying has to change.

[Author]

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