[Devindra Mohanlall]

Hi Everyone,

I am a new member of NINJA and I just had some quick questions I was hoping anyone can help answer:
1. I understand the importance of always taking notes while reading the book, listening to the audio and notes. But how do you guys organize the notes you write down? The book, audio, and notes don’t follow the same structure. So, do you just begin a new page of notes for each material? or do you keep writing notes for audio and the notes on the same pages as the notes for the book?

2. I also use Becker but I’m trying to figure out how to incorporate Becker into the Ninja schedule. I would really appreciate some ways that other Becker users have found useful while using Ninja at the same time

Thank you!

[Mike J]

Everyone is different. Some don't like notes at all, and swear by osmosis–take 1000s of MCQ and hope you absorb by attrition.

Notes may not help you. But I felt better after rewording the solutions to the point where I could understand them. I also took it a step further. I wanted to find the connective tissue. For instance, how you calculate capitalized interest for construction follows similar math to how you calculate the weighted average for stock transactions for EPS. I also grouped together like ratios in my notes so I can sort of memorize multiple formulas at once.

More to your question, I grouped my notes as follows. I used shorthand in Excel for each exam bc I could make outlines. So for FAR, I dedicated one page to each major Balance Sheet Account, one page for Cash Flow/accrual to cash basis, one page for Govt, one for NFP. For the other 3 tests, I dedicated 4 pages to each section per NASBA.

So i had 20-25 pages of shorthand notes per exam. I amended it by whatever MCQ solution I felt helpful–even if I got it correct.

In practice, I read each set of notes before starting MCQ. When I was done I'd take on a block of 20 MCQ sorted by NASBA testing section. FAR had 6, the others had 5. So for each section, I would keep going until I got 80% correct. I would also modify my notes as I went. Then move on to another block of 20, sorted by the next NASBA group. When I finished that, I'd chose 2 or 3 groups to sort Qs that conceptually were the toughest for me and do 20 more MCQs.

Inherent in this method is to review Qs. I never focused on the grade so much as increasing my comfort level with the material. And if I could sum up the concepts (eg shorthand, across 2 or 3 Excel cells), that helped me

Like I said, everyone is different. That's what worked for me.

[Mike J]

Correction. I kept doing sections until I got 80% correct twice. Not necessarily twice in a row, but twice in that study session.

[Author]

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