[pwhite8388]

NINJA Question –

Hi everyone,

FAR will be my first exam. From mid-April until early July I went through all the Wiley video lectures, chapter quizzes, and TBSes. I took the first practice exam and only scored a 58. I was originally planning to schedule my exam for the first week of August.

I purchased Ninja and did 300 multiple choice questions over the weekend and plan on doing as many MCQs after work each day and on the weekends as possible. When I get a question wrong I am typing notes into a OneNote doc. I don’t know how much I will necessarily review the notes but typing them out definitely helps my retention.

I’m slightly freaking out about my scores so far. My question is, is it realistic to cram enough MCQs in 2 and a half weeks to raise my score to a 75+ or should I wait to schedule until sometime later in the exam period?

As this is my first exam, any other advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[DoubleBogey]

I took 3 practice exams with Wiley and failed the first 2. Use the Wiley testbank. In my experience they're harder than actual exam questions and the explanations are generally good.

[CPAin2018 -_-]

I would continue cramming the NINJA MCQs. I failed FAR 3 times with a 73, 67, and 70 before finally passing with a 79. I only used Becker (mcq's, practice tests, etc) on the first three and then added Ninja on the final attempt. Wish i would've done it sooner… lol

[Anonymous]

That sounds like plenty of time! I am following the exact same plan as you. I would recommend not doing the practice tests – now that you've done one you have a feel for how long the actual exam will take. Any more practice tests are just a waste of time since you don't see the correct answers until the end. Do Wiley MCQs from the Test Bank, in study mode so that you get the correct answer right away. I also take notes on the ones I get wrong, and then I will review those notes the night before my exam. During my final review phase I switch back and forth every day from Wiley MCQs to Ninja MCQs, but I do find that they have a lot of the same questions. Since you purchased Ninja, I also highly recommend listing to the Ninja audio on repeat whenever you can over the next two weeks. It's a good way to keep all of the concepts fresh in your head, and if you're able to repeat it a few times some of Jeff's tricks will start to stick and help you out. I listen to the audio during my 25-minute commute for the four weeks leading up to my exam, and then spend the last two weeks doing MCQs and going over all my notes. You should find that the more you do, the more you'll start to get correct and that will boost your confidence. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

First of all, I wouldn't reschedule unless it's for the same testing window (and even then). If you're not ready now, rescheduling will only delay the inevitable imo.

One of the reasons I swear by flash cards is that it lets you memorize only concepts, not MCQ's. And it's a great way to inventory what you do know. My “cram” strategy would be one week to make flash cards, and two weeks to practice them. That said, doing MCQ's is also important to familiarize yourself with the exam structure and types of questions. Good luck!

[pwhite8388]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Ninja Audio in particular was a great suggestion. I have a 1 hour commute each way to work so I will be listening to it on repeat while I prepare.

I haven't actually scheduled my exam yet so I think I will schedule it for the second half of August to give myself a little more time. I really want to pass the first time as I don't know if I can motivate myself to start again if I fail it.

[pwhite8388]

Bumping this thread because I could really use some advice. I took the second Wiley practice exam last night and actually did worst than the first! Got a 53.
I did poorly on the TBSes but part of this was due to how awful the Wiley TBS interface is. I scored in the upper 60s on the MCQs. The TBSes I did way more awful than usual partially due to some dumb mistakes and partially due to messing up how Wiley wanted the answers presented.

I've been crushing Ninja MCQs for 10 days now and have my trending up to a 65 and it's getting higher each day.

Due to my work/life schedule my options are:

1)Take off work 5 days and a row and take the exam August 3rd (downside here is if I fail I waste precious PTO). I am also studying 3 hours a day after work and would study 8 hours a day on my days off. All in all I could study another 45-50 hours via this method.

2) Wait until after monthly close at work and take the exam around August 23rd. This would mean I could squeeze in another 75ish hours of studying.

While the testing period doesn't end until mid-September, I cannot see my self stretching this out almost 2 more months as I started Wiley in mid-April and am around at least 150 hours in studying to date.

I've been doing Ninja and Wiley MCQs and listening to Ninja audio on my 2 hour roundtrip commute. I plan on practicing more TBSes in additional to MCQs prior to test day.

I'd really appreciate any suggestions. I'm not sure if Wiley's bad practice exam interface is freaking me out over nothing or if I simply won't be ready in time.

[DoubleBogey]

Take Wiley's TBS questions with a large grain of salt. IMO nothing like the actual exam and its super nit picky about rounding and stuff the actual exam has eliminated.

[pwhite8388]

How did you go about studying TSBes and how much? If I can get my Ninja MCQ trending up to around 70% before test day do you think that is sufficient?

[Anonymous]

I don't usually study TBS questions because of how frustrating they are in Wiley – be assured that the actual exam will be MUCH more clear about how they want answers to be formatted. If I were you, I would just continue to do MCQs and don't do any more TBS or practice exams. They are a waste of time. If you can grasp the concepts in the MCQ then you will also be able to apply those concepts to the TBS questions on the actual exam.

Are you still taking notes on what you get wrong? I find that it really helps me to physically write things down. Then I review just those notes the night before my exam. I don't do any MCQs the night before or the morning of my exam because any wrong answers just eat away at my confidence.

It really seems to me that you are putting in the time and effort required to pass. I don’t think you need to take five days of PTO – if you are really concerned, maybe just one or two days right before the exam. I also don’t think you need to reschedule. If you continue to hit those MCQs hard over the next week, I think you will be just fine!

[pwhite8388]

Thanks.

Yes, I am keeping a OneNote file where I write down all my notes. Typing helps my retention for sure.

I appreciate the input. I think part of the reason I am so nervous is if I fail (FAR is my first) I'm afraid I won't have the motivation to start all over again. I work in Finance so while a CPA certainly doesn't hurt it also doesn't really help me out and I have 0 interest in working in public accounting.

[Anonymous]

Another thing you might consider is taking a break after this exam while waiting for your score, since it's your first one (if you're not in a hurry to get them all done). FAR was my first, which I took back on Feb 10. Then I didn't do any studying until the score release at the end of March, mostly because I was busy moving into a new house. But also because I just had no idea if I passed or failed. That break for several weeks was just what I needed to get my motivation back.

[pwhite8388]

I took 3 sets of 30 practice questions last night and scored 76,80,70. I reviewed the spreadsheet of trending scores vs passing scores and it looks like my trending of 65 is getting into the territory where most people pass so I think I am going to suck it up, schedule for the 3rd, and just take the days off.

I will probably take a week or two off and then I will dive into AUD or REG. I will probably try to get everything done a little bit faster this time. There were so many days where I would come home, finish the 3 or 4 Wiley videos for the day and then stop even if it only took 45 minutes to go through them (I set Wiley 2 hours a day on weekdays).

[Author]

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