[jaycpa]

Guys I need a piece of advice..
What do you guys do when you get stuck studying FAR with becker?
For some chapters, I can’t understand the material even after reading more than 2 times..

[Anonymous]

maybe try listening to the lectures-sometimes it's helpful when they go through examples and it clicks…

[Becca]

I learn from the MCQs, not so much the lectures nor reading – my mind wanders. I go through the MCQs the first time and make anywhere from 30 – 60%. I read the explanations as to why I got answers wrong, and it just clicks for me better that way. If I still don’t understand a concept, I Google it. Typically, Investopedia explanations are pretty good.

[MIsconnie]

Do not get hung up. Make your best effort to answer the MCQ's and move on. However, make it a point to return to that in your final review.

[Anonymous]

I have never been so frustrated with a textbook in my life. I have no confidence in these materials and every time I open my book I get so angry I almost can't concentrate on the work. I feel you, @jaycpa, I really do. The most devastating part is I know they're the “Cadillac” of review courses, so I feel like there must be something wrong with me rather than the materials.

I really like Edspira on Youtube so far. He often has a video for what I need, although it can be challenging to track it down in the massive bunch of tax videos he has.

Usually I just have to spend an hour googling different versions of my question until I find something. :/

[J]

I make my way over to YouTube! The way Becker taught the Statement of Cash flows did not make any sense to me. Roger had maybe 4 videos teaching a completely different way to approach exactly what I was struggling with. It's luck of the draw, but sometimes other study courses have videos on some of the more difficult topics.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

For the majority of individuals, reading the textbook is not going to teach you how or what you need to know to pass this exam. The text is good for referencing and for preliminary review. Yes, there are some gifted folk who can pretty much only read the textbook and somehow pass the exam, but these people are few and far between. You need to actively learn, which means doing practice problems. It's difficult and discouraging at first when you score a 30% on a practice session, but you will improve and start to understand the material. Use the text for reference when working problems. A major improvement I made was from doing MCQ's grouped by topic. This really helps cement the knowledge into your brain. Furthermore, if you're really struggling in an area, watch a lecture and make notes/flashcards on what the important facts are for the topic

[Anonymous]

This would be a really useful strategy if the textbook had anything in common with the chapter-grouped MCQs in Becker, but they often don't. Frequently, you'll run into a section where 10-20% of the MCQs are actually more related to chapters that you have not covered yet, so the textbook section you're on is no help.

The general idea in the Becker software seems to be to grind chapter-by-chapter until you pass it, then continue. But nothing sticks and it feels like digging through a brick wall with a spoon. Plus, a lot of the material is related and once you read later chapters, the earlier ones make more sense.

I'm wondering if the correct way to approach Becker is to “speed run” it from start to finish, taking Cornell style notes and just doing the MCQs you can, then coming back later to get the questions you couldn't do and tidy up? This sort of ties to the spaced repetition strategy for learning concepts.

[krstnam]

Google it…if I'm stumped, I do a search and see what I can find. It's been really helpful. I've tried lots of different study materials and sometimes the instructor or book does not explain things in a way that I can undersatnd

If you write a list of what you still need help with, you can see what other companies are offering free sessions. I think Gliem and Wiley do free material previews – you'll only get it for a certain amount of time, but maybe you need it explained to you in a different way.

Also – go on the forums on here – if you ask questions, people will probably help you out – you'll prob be helping them out too because some people really remember information when they explain it to other people.

Good luck!

[Author]

Replies