[AJE]

I’m studying REG (with Becker) and the # of MC questions for the homeworks for each section is so so so many it seems (compared to BEC).

My normal method is to do 3 go arounds:

1. Skim lecture, do homework questions

2. Do Final Review + do Final Review MC homework

3. Do a bunch of progress tests + do sims (i wait till the end to do sims).

At the rate I’m going I don’t think I’ll be able to get through the material quick enough. Should I skip some homework MC’s (e.g. do 45 of the 90 questions) or spend less time on reviewing material?

I guess there is no right answer, but just wondering what worked for others.

FAR 91 - 04/16
BEC 87 - 05/15
REG 77 - 07/27
AUD 92 - 08/31

[law0915]

All I did was watch lectures and do all the assigned MCQ-all 100 for ind'l and corp tax, no SIMS..for review re-did the tax HW. Final review package doesn't seem to be worth it. I went through one practice exam just to see the “straight to the point” questions which was beneficial. Oh I didn't do progress tests either. For REG I actually ended up doing the optional HW questions, but didn't for any other section.

REG 77 Feb14
BEC 13*, 79 Aug14
FAR 64**, 76 Nov14
AUD 89 Feb15

*Exited exam after first testlet
**Only studied F1-F6 out of 10 Becker chapters

Licensed Arizona CPA

[Anonymous]

I had to make this decision when studying for BEC and I chose to spend less time sleeping and less time reviewing… I always like to make sure I see ALL of the material. However, with REG, when I get close to the end if there are definite “weak areas” that I know need reviewed I'm not sure if I'd make the same decision.

Go with your gut, you know how comfortable you are with the material. If you are going to skip the homework to spend more time reviewing make sure you know what areas you need the most review and don't waste time.

Good luck!

[ibCPAsoon]

I would make sure to do enough MC questions as you go. This will help turn the information info more long term knowledge and let you know if you really understand it. Some of the topics were easy to read but once you put it in question format – it may be confusing.

It looks like you scored just fine in FAR/ BEC – I would just continue what you did there to keep it safe.

BEC - PASS JULY 2014
FAR - PASS DEC 2014
AUD - PASS FEB 2015
REG - PASS MAY 2015

[Anonymous]

REG is the one exam that I don't think you can take shortcuts on. If you don't understand Tax Law, you will not pass. And a big part of understanding it is to review the material and then work problems until it all comes together.

What worked for me was the following:

– Watch all Becker Lectures and then work the MCQ and Sims once

– Pound NINJA MCQ and Sims to identify weak ares

– Rework all Becker MCQ.

– More NINJA MCQ

– Focus on weak areas that I self identified or were highlighted by NINJA

Working full time I would spend about 3 hours a day during the week and 4 – 8 hours each day on the weekend. I got through the lecture material in just over a month and spent another month reviewing.

I'm not sure what your schedule or timeline looks like but REG is the one exam I wouldn't try and take shortcuts with. The concepts are pretty complicated and it's a lot more detailed than FAR. FAR might cover a ton of material but it really doesn't go in depth on those concepts. REG goes deeper into those concepts so you need to know them.

Based on your scores, you seem to know what you're doing so I'd keep doing that. But let me ask, if you can't finish your review by 07/20/15, would you lose anything by pushing REG back a couple of weeks and taking AUD in October? Yes it will delay the whole CPA license process by a couple of months but so would failing one of these sections now due to not being ready. Just something to think about since, ultimately, only you know where you are at with the material and what you can accomplish in the time you have.

Good luck,

[Ag12thman]

@Angelwatch – I've seen you and several others say you just watched the lectures for Becker. I assume this was enough to help you learn and/or review the concepts so you could do at least decently well on the MCQs? In other words, you did not read the textbook at all? I'm just asking because I was trying to read (at least skim each page) each page after watching the lectures, but it seems to be taking way too long. Is it better to stop doing this, just watch the lectures as you said you did, and then get to going on some serious MCQs??? Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

FAR: July 2016

[Skynet]

My professor one said that one of the ways to learn is to DRILL, DRILL, AND DRILL.

With that in mind, sometimes you just have to beat those mcq's into your head until you finally know the materials. It may be a long and arduous process, but it is one of the ways to learn and THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS WITH THE CPA EXAMS!

[ocarina]

I do all the MCQ, including supplemental. At least once.

FAR - 78
AUD - 82
REG - 79
BEC - 78

Study Materials: Becker Self Study, NINJA Notes, NINJA MCQ for review
Started March 2015 and finished December 2015 all on first attempt. Licensed CPA Jan 2016.

IT Auditor/CyberSec Consultant in Public Accounting
Future goals: Learn IT Network infrastructure, obtain CISA & CISSP

[iloveaccounting220]

I stopped watching lectures, I dont think it helps me much and it takes way too long. I just open up the Ebook and read along with my book and then highlight and write everything that they have in the Ebook. Everything that is highlighted is pretty much everything they tell you to write down or highlight in the lecture. Doing it this way allows me to read the material as well. Before, i used to watch the lectures but they skimmed through everything so quickly, i would have to go back and re-read. Now – I just skip the lectures and read the book once and highlight and then go back to it when i have issues with a topic.

BEC - 76 (1/24/15)
REG - 82 (4/13/15)
AUD - 89 (5/31/15)
FAR - 78 (8/16/15)

Starting right now I'll be strong
I'll play my fight song
And I don't really care if nobody else believes
'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me

[NoobAccountant]

why not review by doing more multiple choice problems? Take notes on them, and then read the notes. Rinse, and repeat!

REG- July 10
BEC - End July
AUD - End Aug
FAR - End October

[Ag12thman]

@NoobAccountant – are you basically saying to just skip the reading and/or lecture-watching altogether and just jump straight into the multiple choice problems? And then use the results of multiple choice performance to determine what to look over and/or review in the book and/or e-book?

FAR: July 2016

[Last Chance CPA]

@Ag12thman – That's risky. I would at least get Ninja Audio/Notes. Or a cram course like Roger Cram. I would not recommend skipping lectures/reading if you don't have the fundamentals down…I don't think NoobAcct meant that at all…

FAR - 76
AUD - 75
BEC - 75
REG - 76

Now I need some experience!!! And some networking...

[Anonymous]

People complain that they watch lectures and then the MCQ look nothing like what the lectures were teaching. In some cases this might be true but for the most part the lectures are valuable. They lay the foundation of the material helping you to understand it better. I can't speak for other review courses but Becker also did a very good job of spelling out what is and is not heavily tested.

[AJE]

Thanks for all the advice.

I am turrible with all this tax stuff and am scared to even look at the SIMS lol. It sounds like, from what people said, to just keep plugging away though with MC for now at least to see where I'm at.

I've been skimming the book and then doing MC on the homeworks and scoring 70%+ usually but can't tell sometimes if it is because of reading comprehension skills or accounting skills (sometimes it just easy for me to know what a MC answer is). However, from my experience on actual tests this is never the case. The problems are just worded very differently.

Good luck to everyone. I'm just going to keep plugging away and see where I'm at by the 5th. If I'm not at least done with my first go around with all the material by then I'll likely push back the test date to give myself an extra week or so.

FAR 91 - 04/16
BEC 87 - 05/15
REG 77 - 07/27
AUD 92 - 08/31

[Author]

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