[Anonymous]

I feel the need to share my success story. I’m a few days late but I just found out I passed my last exam! It is unbelievable to me that less than a year ago I wasn’t sure I was ever even going to try this exam because I wasn’t sure I could do it. I graduated 3 years ago now from a pretty average state school with a 2.9 GPA. So I was never at the top of my accounting classes. I found a job at a small industry company after a long search.

I finally decided this thing was going to hang over my head until I at least tried it. But that was what also scared me, I felt like I could do it if I really gave it my all but I didn’t want to or think I could put up with multiple retakes. I also didn’t want to spend the 3k on becker. I decided to start looking more into the test and do some research the summer before I planned on starting to study. I had seen this forum before so I started reading about how it really is just about putting the effort into studying and that anyone smart enough to get their accounting degree was capable of passing the CPA.

I was close to buying cpa excel because of the bite sized lectures that appealed to me with my train commutes. Then I realized I didn’t want to read the huge books for FAR and that it was trying to teach you everything rather than what you need to know to pass. I remembered seeing people using the NINJA notes to supplement their other courses, then realized all of the new products Jeff had came out with. I knew that pounding out MCQ was the main key to passing these exams and kept seeing a lot of great things about the Ninja MCQ. Once I found out Jeff had recently released books for all sections I was sold on buying the Ten-Point Combo. At the time it was much cheaper than other courses and still is quite a bit cheaper I believe.

I was a little worried about my choice thinking it was just the positives people were saying on the forum because that forum was tied to the Ninja Products. When I started studying for FAR I was very impressed with the FAR book. I really enjoyed the audio for FAR also. Then the MCQ really are just fantastic with their explanations and everything. I could not believe I slayed the beast on my first exam attempt.

Anyways, I will try to keep this from getting too long but I cannot say enough about the quality of NINJA products. It’s a great feeling to be studying and feel like everything you are studying is something you need to know for the exam and not every possible thing you could know about accounting. This exam really went as well as I ever could have possibly hoped. Aside from choosing the right program for me, I attribute my success to researching and planning before I started. I never can understand people that have no idea you can’t take the same exam twice in the same window or just not giving themselves the best chance to succeed by planning their test dates in the best possible way.

I kept seeing how the somewhat generally preferred order of testing is FAR, AUD, REG, BEC and so this is what I did and I cannot agree more that this is a great order. I was very fortunate to take FAR at the beginning of my first window and AUD at the end of the window to get halfway done so quickly. This just kind of made for smooth sailing the rest of the way even though I had been most worried about REG, I did best on it. I can’t believe I passed these exams on the first try, I kept thinking the next one was going to trip me up.

I could go on and on about what I have learned about the process but I just want to say I am a big believer in using reviews and forums for any somewhat major decision. It’s great to hear from actual people and their experiences. So thank you another71 members for all of your advice and shared experiences. And thank you Jeff for your great products and customer service. My only advice to you would be to think about changing the name from the 10-point combo to something like “The Ninja Complete CPA Course” because it truly is a complete course.

[Sang]

Congratulations on pass the CPA exams!!!

Do you have any advice for current and future test takers?

FAR: (05/24/16) | (07/15/16) | (10/22/16)
AUD: (09/07/16) | (11/29/16) |
BEC: TBD
REG: TBD
Using Roger CPA Review + Ninja (MCQs, Notes, Audio)

[Biff-1955-Tannen]

“Then I realized I didn't want to read the huge books for FAR and that it was trying to teach you everything rather than what you need to know to pass”

That right there is why I'm really against people reading the books thinking it's going to prepare them for the exam. The majority of what you're reading is useless for the exam.

AUD 93 Jan 16
BEC 83 Feb 16
FAR 83 Apr 16
REG 84 May 16

99% Ninja MCQ only

[jeff]

Post of the month! 🙂

Thank you for the great feedback and congrats to you!!

[Spartans92]

Wow that is great! Congratulations.

BEC- PASS

[Anonymous]

Thank you guys!!

@biff I think the main thing with that is your knowledge base. I never took a course in governmental or non profit so I was really starting out with nothing there so I really think I needed to read the book, look over notes, listen to the audio, as well as pound out MCQ. But I generally agree with you that practicing questions similar to the test is by far the most valuable studying.

@Sang I don't know what course you are using but I somewhat followed the Ninja format. First I read the book all the way thru and took some light notes, more on some sections than others. The whole time I was listening to the audio on my commutes. Once I was done with the book I started doing the MCQ going thru all the new questions. Then review started, I got about an extra 400-700 MCQ done of review. I made sure to read thru the Ninja notes at least once and also my notes. I enjoyed the flashcards for quick studying once in a while.

My biggest advice is to find what works for you and stick to it. I don't like to read books but I found the Ninja books as good as possible so after my success with FAR I forced myself to do the same thing for the following sections.

[happygal]

Congrats Cubfan23!!! 🙂
Can you share how you studied for the sims, especially for FAR and AUD? Or did you just study with mcq's?

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I mostly just did sims when I had extra time at night once in a while. I started to mix more sims in towards the end of my studying when I was doing review and it wasn't taking me as long to get thru my 2 sets of questions in a night.

[Author]

Replies