[alinute]

Anybody else feeling helpless? I feel like every exam I take, I fail. I work full time and study 20-25 hours a week, I go through lectures, take notes, do a ton of MCQ. I spend hours, weeks and months studying and I still fail (I’ve been studying like a crazy person since September 2013). How do other people pass tests so easily??? I only passed BEC after taking it 3 times. I took AUD end of May and just found out I failed with a 61!!! I felt like I did pretty good on the MCQs and ok on SIMS, so I thought I passed. I took FAR and I got a 57 (for that though, I did feel a little underprepared, my NTS was about to expire, so I didn’t expect too much). I am just really down on myself, I have never faced so much failure and disappointments in my life. Can someone help me get me motivated again? and maybe give me some tips on what to do??

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[Anonymous]

@alinute my opinion is to go with Becker but I'm sure both are good. One thing that helped me while doing the MCQs is whenever I'd get a question wrong or if I didn't understand one I got right, I'd copy the explanation and paste it onto the notes in the program. During my final review, I read all the notes over a few times. Besides that, I never wrote my own notes or re-wrote any notes for that matter, I find that to be a waste of time in my opinion but everyone has a different learning style. I never skipped any lectures and read the chapter in its entirety before working on the homework.

As for working out, I work full-time, I'm married and have three kids so my time is extremely limited. Unfortunately I don't have the time and if I do, I'm just too exhausted! lol But if you have the time, I'd try to get a few runs or workouts during the week, that should help.

[Mayo]

Why do you struggle? Cuz it's boring boring boring…..makes my eyes bleed. Doesn't matter the context.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Not a Quitter]

As you can gather from everyone else's responses this is pretty normal! I must ask though- are you not picking a section and sticking with it? It looks like you've jumped around a bit. I haven't read all of the replies but I would suggest sticking with one section until you pass it then move on.

FAR- 85 I'm DONE!
BEC- 75
REG- 60,60,75
AUD- 74,74,83

CPAExcel used for BEC, AUD, REG
Exam Matrix used for FAR plus NINJA Blitz, cpareviewforfree and a little CPAExcel

[Kimboroni]

I do work full time and have to prioritize working out, for my health, and because I think it makes you a more effective studier also due to better blood circulation, alertness, etc.

Scenario A: work 8 hours, then go home and rest– have trouble getting going again and end up watching TV the rest of the evening in sloth mode

Scenario B: work for 8 hours, then go to gym and do combo of strength/cardio/stretching, then come home energized and get in 1-2 hours of studying and a little TV watching

At least that's how it works for me! If I keep going, I get more done.

Saturday mornings I get in 2 hours of workout and do a lot of studying all weekend.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[alinute]

Maybe I'll put an excel schedule together and build in my studying and working out schedule (couple days a week). You guys total got me in a much better mood. I am ready to attack these exams again and pass them! I will start off with Audit again and take about a month to study (since I already kind of know what that section is about) 🙂

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[alinute]

@bronxbombers: good point. I just need to put the books down once in a while and get a short work in to get the blood flowing and relieve some stress.

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[alinute]

I will probably watch Becker lectures, although I hate them so much, but I will see if I pick up anything else from those lectures that Roger didn't cover (although I failed pretty bad, I love Roger, I feel like his lectures stick much better than Becker). I will also do the MCQs in Becker, because Roger lacks a good MCQ bank.

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[alinute]

Thanks you DWlefty13, I can definitely say that just studying for these exams and passing one section is so far probably one of the hardest things I've done. I felt so accomplished when I passed BEC, I was probably happier passing one section of the CPA exam than graduating college.

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[alinute]

@CPAngel- good idea. I never used that note feature. I would hand write out all MCQs that I got wrong or the ones that I thought were challenging. I should probably start reading the book also, I read a few chapters here and there but not very consistent.

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[alinute]

@Not a Quitter: Well I started off with one section (BEC). I took it in October 2013, found out I got a 74 so I retook it in January 2013, found out I got a 71 and at that point I decided to just start trying to knock out other sections, because I felt like the whole process was just dragging too much. So I scheduled FAR for April 1st, BEC for April 19th and AUD for May 31st. Unfortunately I only passed BEC and failed the other 2 sections. So now my plan is to take AUD middle of July and try and see if I can take FAR in August.

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[Kimboroni]

The tricky thing with AUD is that you can understand the material but get the question wrong if you miss one word, so a good test bank is really important– you can get lots of MCQ practice in and learn where your pitfalls are. One of mine was rushing– I practiced doing the MCQs more slowly and carefully, while still leaving enough time for SIMs (which can rely a lot on FAR material, so review JEs and ratios especially).

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[alinute]

@Kimboroni: I like your Scenario B! I'm at work for 9 hours Monday-Friday, I usually come home around 5 and I start studying around 6 or 6:15 til about 9 or so. and then I do 6-8 on Saturday and 3-5 on Sunday. Am I studying too much and wearing myself out??

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[alinute]

What questions do you think are best for AUD? Becker? NINJA MCQs or Wiley? I had Wiley for BEC and loved it. I don't have Wiley for AUD though, I am willing to buy it though, at this point I will do anything to pass these exams.

BEC:74,71,80
FAR:57
AUD:61
REG:

Switched from Becker to Roger in April.

[lude4life13]

The amount of hours that you study doesn't correlate with your success as much as people think. It is so much more about the quality of the time you study. You can do thousands of MCQ's, but if you never took the time to understand why answers were right/wrong, you won't learn a thing from doing it. Take your time to understand the material, explain it to yourself in your head a few times, and move on.

One thing I think people don't get is that it is not just about the materials you use, the time you study, the time you don't have to study, etc etc. It is so much more about how you use those tools and the quality of your study like I discussed above. Change your way of thinking about studying, and you might see more success.

I personally have never gone through each MCQ (becker), or spent months doing MCQs over and over again. I work at a big 4 so my time to study is very limited. I usually score low on HW and Becker finals, but by doing so, I have learned why my answers are wrong, and how to approach the next problem. A lot of people say they score high on them and fail, so you have to ask why that is. Maybe it's because they sat at their computer memorizing questions and hoping they would get something very similar in the real thing.

Just my 2 cents… YOU CAN DO IT!

[Kimboroni]

Great point, lude. I may study less than others (and I study more than some others also), but I feel like the method I'm using is effective. So it's all about figuring out what that is.

alinute, I have only used WTB, and it has worked fine for me so far. I can't speak to the others. But Ninja MCQ sounds great.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Author]

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