[sdollen64]

I saw another thread asking for people to give up their age if they are over 50….and *cough* I guess I will divulge that. Mid-50s and I’ve worked a variety of jobs in my lifetime. From banking/investments to a broker to investment education to external auditing to internal, sox, and accounting. Decided over 10 years ago to move into the audit world and went back to add an accounting degree to my finance/mba. Didn’t feel like I needed the CPA as an internal auditor and now other opportunities that require it have come open.

As a mid-50 year old, I don’t retain things as well as I did in my 30s and even 40s. Attention span is shorter. Physical stamina isn’t the same. You come home from work and just want to relax. For the last 10 years I’ve played around with the exam – had BEC and AUD passed at one time and decided I didn’t really need it. Preferred to spend time with my kids and other things. Now, my youngest will be a senior in high school and as I alluded to, other opportunities are presenting themselves.

So, back in the saddle again. I took FAR the first week of May, using Surgent. I put in quite a bit of time and felt pretty good going in and noticed the MCQs didn’t get harder. SIMS were a nightmare. Every single one other than the research was complete calculation and fill in the blank. Not even a document review which I could have at least guessed at.

So, I decided to switch over to Roger because I just don’t think Surgent was doing it for me. I get that everyone has a different learning style and a lot of people pass with every single review out there. I just couldn’t take watching videos of someone just reading notes.

With all of that said – sorry it was such a long rant – how do you all “study”? Knowing everyone is different. I started out watching videos and writing notes on everything…and found it took a long time to get through videos and I am basically writing the book over doing that. Then, I went to doing a lot of MCQs and trying to write notes on the ones I was missing consistently.

With Roger, I’m trying to just watch all of the videos and then go through the chapter skimming it…and then doing the MCQs and using his “smart path”. I was planning to do this through all sections and hope to use two weeks to review and just do MCQs in areas I know are weak for me – govt. NFP, leases.

Would love to hear what others found worked for them.

Thanks for your input and sorry again for the length. That’s another thing about getting old – you have a lot to say (good or bad).

 

 

[sdollen64]

Apparently I don't know html anymore either!

[taylor1]

For me, watching videos and doing MCQs were the best techniques. I would watch each video on 1.5x or 2x speed to familiarize myself with the material and then dive into MCQs. If something felt difficult or I was scoring poorly, I would go back and read the chapter to fill in the gaps. Also, I'm a big believer in continuous review throughout studying. I would do cumulative MCQ sets each day to help keep information fresh.

One other thing – how have you studied best in the past? Early on when I was studying for FAR (my first exam), I tried taking notes. I've never been a notetaker – even in school – and was struggling to retain anything because I was getting way too lost in the details. As soon as I switched back to how I had been successful in the past (watching videos on topics without taking notes), everything began to click.

Best of luck!

[Pork Flavored Bacon]

I attended Becker's live classes twice a week, used their software for MCQs and Sims, and then supplemented with a massive Wiley book full of MCQ's. Fun times.
.
I loved the live classes because it allowed me to ask all the questions I needed to during and after the sessions to really drive in the concepts. It felt like I was back in school. The instructors always took time after class to provide extra help and I appreciated the hell out of them for that. I firmly believe it was because of their help I passed those exams. I don't think I would have passed studying on my own. I'm just not that kind of learner.

FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

[Recked]

I used Roger when they first came out with the SmartPath. I did every MCQ once for all modules except AUD, because I ran out of time on AUD.
I was lacking in most areas according to the SmartPath system when it was introduced. They may have tweaked it, but it seemed to be overkill compared to my real world results.
For FAR I watched the videos, then worked the MCQs. I tried to read the book but that was just a waste of time for me. Instead I would skim through paying close attention to the bolded words, charts and mnemonics.
I firmly believe the key to FAR is massive amounts of MCQs. I did them all them switched over to another testbank to keep hammering the MCQs.
Stamina is an issue, be sure to progressively increase your focus/study time up to 4 hour clips by exam day.
–
After FAR my study method changed to cramming all the video as fast as possible, and then just hammering MCQs.
Good luck on your journey.

[Recked]

Also, morning study was my go to.
I couldn't focus after work so I had to get up early and get it out of the way before work while my mind was fresh.

[jombe]

1) Lectures & reading – build the foundation. Jot down anything the lecturer tells you to highlight, etc. This will be the starting point of creating set of notes to review everyday a week or two before the exam.
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2) Do MCQs & simulations at the end of each chapter – solidify the foundation by applying what you learned. Build your notes w/ any questions you missed. This helps w/ retaining what you just sat through.
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3) Get a test bank. Solve any MCQs/simulations you can get your hands on. Make sure you actually understand the WHY behind any questions you missed. If you don't get the explanation, mark it, and move on. Come back later.
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4) Review notes & keep doing more MCQs/simulations. If there are any formulas/rules you have hard time remembering, plan on jotting those down on that piece of paper you get as soon as you walk into the testing room. You should also try condensing your notes during this phase. Your notes would be bulky in the beginning as you are unlikely to have a good understanding of the study materials. Toward the end of your studying, however, your notes shouldn't be more than a couple pages long at most. If you feel the need to have 2+ pages worth of notes, it means you don't really have a solid understanding of the materials you are about to get tested for.
5) Take the day off before the exam. Don't party. Relax. Maybe try to visualize your notes in your head.
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I averaged about 3 hrs a day of studying on weekdays, taking most of weekends off, for 3 months per section. That meant watching the lectures once, reading the book on any areas where I felt like I didn't get after the lectures, 2,000+ MCQs, 100+ SIMs.
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If this method doesn't work, you are 1) not putting in quality hrs of studying, 2) Breezing through MCQs/SIMs without real understanding, or 3) sucks to suck! 🙂

FAR - 94 (10/4/15), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
AUD - 99 (1/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
REG - 96 (4/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
BEC - 91 (7/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ

581 days of listening to lectures, reading texts & 10,000+ MCQs...

[sdollen64]

Appreciate the feedback! Some great points each of you made. I also believe in continuous review – if you don't, by the time you get to Chapter 31, with my memory, I'll have forgotten the minute details. Understanding the concepts doesn't seem to be an issue, it's remembering all of the exceptions to a concept that always seem to be a hangup for me. As far as how I studied in college? Honestly, it's been so long that I don't even remember. I think it was mainly listen to the lecture and then work the class problems. I also think morning and lunch tend to work better for me as by the time I get home in the evening, I'm mentally drained. It's a stage of getting and being old 🙂

The plan/goal is to get through each chapter's videos with Roger and then do the homework and just continue to do cumulative MCQs every day – continually adding the next chapter to the mix. Definitely need to put some focus on some SIMS so I don't have “WTH” shock when I retake the exam. If I get through all of the MCQs that Roger has, I was thinking of picking up the Wiley test bank for extra questions.

Enjoyed reading your responses/thoughts and really appreciate the feedback!

[Jimmy Dugan]

2nd on Jombe's routine.

The very most important thing I did was use the reporting tools in Ninja to show me where my weak areas were. I crushed those the last week or so before the exam. It doesn't make any sense studying things you already know well.

Also make sure to take quizzes from the entire body of knowledge, because that's what you are going to see on exam day. Doing MCQ's after you finish each section is fine to reinforce concepts. But after you have gone through all the lectures and/or entire book, it's a better test of where you are in your studies if you take quizzes on the whole thing rather than individual topics.

[A_Rish]

3rd on Jombe's routine.

I watch each lecture within the subsections (chapters) of the course and note anything emphasized by the instructor. After I've watched all lectures for that section, I run all MCQs for that section. While doing the MCQs I'll write down notes for anything i got wrong or didn't fully understand. I do this for all topics in the course until I've completed all MCQs. Once the MCQs are down, i move on to the SIMs and complete each one. Again, noting anything in the solution explanation that I didn't know. I also use Surgent's adaptive learning, so once I've completed everything, I just drill any topics that I didn't perform well on until I'm trending upwards. Finally, I'll take a practice exam in my review course and the AICPA short-form exam. If you're running out of time, definitely make sure you prioritize at least looking at the SIMs that the AICPA provides. To me, they provide the best example of what you'll encounter on the exam.

Good luck in your studies!

[Author]

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