[728daniel]

I have been studying AUD using Becker for about 2 weeks now and have been feeling like crap. I am now at A4 and it is seriously killing me. I understand the nature of AUD is 99% conceptual but still…the book and lectures are words after words and paragraphs after paragraphs to the point I kinda gave up on them and went with just hammering MCQs (not sure if it is a good move…any thoughts?)

Homework wise I think I am okay. First go around usually averaged a 65-70% and I learn as I do them. Second go around scores are mostly in the 80’s. Progress tests wise are in the high 80’s low 90’s. Is this a good sign?

OHHHH and the sims… How representative are Becker SIMs of the real exam? especially a4 lol. The ones in A4 are ridiculous

[Anonymous]

@daniel Same here I have some stuff left from a5-a6 and earlier chapters. I mainly jumped to questions instead of watching lectures and reading. So planning on finishing all of that this week and maybe hit flashcards this week as well if I get time. Then I'll have 2 weeks for review, thinking of taking 1st practice test by the 19th and next one about 5 days before the test. And non stop MCQ practice in between. Also are you using ninja notes for audit?

[728daniel]

@Annie I didn't get ninja notes. Only using Becker. Just did a couple of a1-a4 70 question progress tests and scored in the 90's. Hope this is a good sign.

[Anonymous]

@daniel That's a great score, definitely a good sign. Hmm I used ninja notes for BEC but not for FAR so probably just going to skim through them for Audit during review. About to do some sampling questions tonight.

[SkiBum1990]

@Annie .. Yup! FAR like sims for sure. — just got my performance report back today from my 2nd AUD retake in July (70, 1st 68).. And this time I got stronger on all MCQ and weaker in sims… cause of the DAMN FAR-LIKE SIMS…I figured that's what would keep me from passing and sure enough.. Such BS

"The mind can only absorb as much as the seat can take"

B - 79
A - 68, __ (got bumped from Aug 4 release to Aug 23-THANKS AICPA)
R - Oct
F - Nov (HA! 1 month to study working full-time; love NTS rules)

[Anonymous]

@skibum That's so crazy, I'm sorry to hear that.
I have heard similar things from a few people but sadly there is not really a way to study for these out of this world type sims. My FAR sims were pretty crazy, not sure if I'm ready to see another one of those in audit lol

[728daniel]

@skibum I have heard so many people saying AUD sims are like FAR sims but I don't understand. Without going into details what kind of FAR-like sims are there on AUD exam? I mean…as far as BECKER AUD is concerned…there are some FAR related stuff like adjusting entries and ratios and how they affect the year end balance/require adjustments. What else of FAR stuff could there be on AUD exam..? this worries me.

[Bsack]

I was watching the lectures then skimming the book before hitting mcq's like I did for BEC, but I was scoring like 55-65% on homework. I ditched the Becker lectures and am now focusing on reading the book/mcqs. I score between 70-80% and retain the information better. I just feel like the Becker lectures aren't as helpful for this exam.

BEC 76
FAR 08/22/16

[pharaoh]

I don't like Becker generally and specially for AUD. They start with the last step which is the audit report. If you don't have audit background, you will definitely be lost and will end up memorizing tons of info without really knowing where they fit in the whole process. And the lectures are the best thing to make me fall asleep :). I think they should have made the order like 6-3-4-5-1-2. I just started few days ago and i think I will go with Roger CPA, at least he is more active

FAR 8/2016
AUD 1/2017
REG TBD
BEC TBD

[pharaoh]

I would just add that Becker's MCQ explanation is better than the others (Wiley and Gleim), I didn't get Ninja yet to compare

FAR 8/2016
AUD 1/2017
REG TBD
BEC TBD

[aatoural]

I think Gearty goes way too fast in AUD. Considering is just pages and pages of plain paragraphs, c'mon slow down. Also, he reads straight from book most of the time. There are some instances where he does give good explanations. I preferred Mike on A4 and A5, even though he bored me to death on BEC.

BEC - PASSED
AUD - 8/29/16
FAR - TBS
REG - TBS

[728daniel]

@ThePharaoh I agree with you. They do arrange their chapters kind of out of order. My audit professor in school did the same tho, not sure if there is an explanation to that. Anyhow..keep at it and good luck!

@aatoural Tim does read straight from the book and seldom provides explanation which is annoying. Did you use only Becker to prepare for AUD? If so, how did you do and what was your strategy?

[aatoural]

Daniel – Yes I only used Becker, but I don't know how I passed to be honest. It is not so much the material but the fact that AUD has always been very tough for me to understand since college and never liked it either. What I did was I went chapter by chapter, watch lectures, made my own notes, and attacked MCQs and then SIMS. Once I had finished all 6 chapters, I started from the beggining those questions that I had marked the first time around. I also created a spreadsheet with all fundamental mnemonics and summary tables (mostly yhe table on SSARS from chapter 2 that summarizes sooooo well preparation, compilation and reviews) and always tried to do them from memory and make sure I udnerstood them. Also made a spreadsheet with samples of reports for the most important wording. All that plus at least included extra 30 MCQs every day as PE from all chapters so the content will stayed freshh in my head. I tried to do between 150-200 MCQs each day + plus read my onw notes during my train commute time to work + listened to troubled lectures on my drive commute to work (I drive and take train as well Miami traffic is too bad) + every night I took my time to do all the tables and mnemonics. I knew AUD was my Aquilles heel so I breathed and ate AUD. I only got 76, but hey that was a glorious number last Friday at 1:40 am!

BEC - PASSED
AUD - 8/29/16
FAR - TBS
REG - TBS

[Anonymous]

Studying for AUD was miserable and I thought I failed when I left the test center, but I passed with an 87. I think the important thing is to use the Becker course the way it was intended to be used. That means don't skip the lectures just because you feel like they're a waste of time, do the sims, do the flash cards, and work every single homework problem. No, the Becker sims are not helpful at all for the exam sims, but they do help reinforce the concepts which will help you on the multiple choice. I didn't do anything to prepare for the FAR sims and just hoped they were either pretest or that I did well enough on the rest of the exam to still pass, which ended up working out. I would say don't worry about those (there's really no way you can prepare for them) and focus on understanding the AUD material really well.

[Anonymous]

Also, 728daniel – I got a 77 on my last practice final before the exam, so you look like you're in really good shape with your scores

[728daniel]

@aatoural so long as it is a pass..who cares about the score. I would do anything for a 76 haha. That is bad…train AND drive. I guess I shouldn't be whining about my 1 hour commute then :P.

@allison I am at a5 now and IMO Mike Brown does a better job in explaining the material so I will get back to the lectures for now. I may go back to a1-a4 later in the week to see if Tim has become easier to understand now that I learned from doing MCQs. My 90's were progress tests…it wasn't a practice final. I hope I do decent on those when I finish a6.

[Author]

Replies