[Anonymous]

For anyone that has used UWorld Roger CPA Review, I am looking to purchase it very shortly here. I need a CPA review program that explains things and doesn’t just read out of a book.How are his books ? Do they have mcqs in them? How is his teaching style?

 

 

[Anonymous]

@Audarah – then you might be better off going with Gleim or another one that really does break things down in an organized, systematic way so they're understandable. Becker might do that too but they are very expensive and I just don't hear great things about them anymore even though they've been around for many decades. Gleim's MCQ's are difficult but if you can do those, you can do the ones on the CPA exam. And, unlike all the other vendors, they offer free access until you pass! A lot of people say that Roger's MCQ are a joke (as in “way too easy”). I think that's partially why I did not pass FAR the last time I took it.

[mitchvols]

I'd disagree with the Gleim, the lectures are terrible and the MCQ are just overly complicated and you can bury yourself in the details and not get the big picture that is being asked for in the CPA exam.

Now I did double major in accounting and finance in 2009. Decent grades, nothing special, never came close to failing a class. But it was very late in my undergrad, after all of my intermediate, that I truly just grasped the difference of expense and capitalization. I learned more accounting from Roger in those few months than I did in those 4 years of undergrad. When watching his lectures, I would think that I wish I had this in undergrad, I would have been a much better student.

AUD - 90
BEC - 79
FAR - 86
REG - 81

Licensed CPA - Tennessee

Finished Exams in December 2016

REG - 81

AUD - 74, 72, 90

BEC - 79

FAR - 86

[Anonymous]

OP – different people on here are going to tell you different things. What one person says “works like a charm” will be the same thing that someone else says “absolutely did not work for me, don't do it.”

Bottom line….choose what you feel right with.

[californiaholic]

I used Roger CPA and have to say…his lectures are entertaining and he's super energetic. But they didn't work for me. They're lengthy and sometimes he starts talking so fast you get lost or just start zoning out. I don't do well when I'm not writing something down or solving problems. I can't just sit down to watch something like CPA Review and concentrate. So, I found myself wasting hours and hours watching lectures that didn't help me solve MCQ's or TBS.

If I had to do it over again, I would spare myself the $1,6000 I spent on Roger and just buy MCQ's. If you do MCQ's, YOU WILL PASS. And, if you're reviewing the answers to the MCQ's, you'll learn the material too. I swear by doing multiple choice over and over.

Once I edited the way I studied and switched to strict MCQ's, that's when I started scoring better and then got a 77 on REG after studying for a couple of weeks. I made a study plan ahead of time that charted my AM work and my PM work of what I had to accomplish. I never let myself get off track. I left a couple of days at the end of my studying to review and keep pounding away at MCQ's. I also tracked my MCQ's in Excel according to which section they pertained to and the weight of that section on the CPA exam. It allowed me to visually see which sections I had to improve on or risk not passing. For the REG exam in particular, it helped me to remember that Individual Tax (60% of the exam) was so much more important than Contract Law.

Honesty, I believe that doing MCQ's is the key to passing. The CPA exam is about being efficient. Never lose sight of the weights and allocate your time accordingly. That is the only way to pass.

FAR  - July '18

REG - 77

AUD -79

BEC - 77

[Anonymous]

With the new format of the exam and less MCQ, I don't even know if what I said earlier is really valid, about the MCQ test banks. I dunno. “Give it the old college try and hope for the best” is about all you can do anymore. These exams are just way weird. Try to find something that works for you, is all any of us can do. And if that doesn't work, try something else. Spend more money. Try something else. Spend more money. If you're lucky, you'll pass them in within a short time and won't have dropped too many thousands of dollars on the review course(s) and exams/retakes. Yawn.

[Anonymous]

@Californiaholic – I've never watched the Roger videos more than one time. Don't get me wrong, I love Roger, he's amazing and energetic and knows this stuff all so well. I hope I can even meet him someday, I'd definitely buy him a beer. But his handwriting sucks and he talks really fast and that's kind of a problem when you're talking about really complex accounting topics.
By the time he gets done with a lecture, the board is usually a mess! LOL And I love when he says “here, let me clean this up a bit” and erases some of the mess off the board!! I'm like, “Yeah dude, good idea!” The videos don't get me that far though. Like you, I get more out of a hands-on approach and writing stuff down, which has been proven to help most people learn stuff in a way that it stays in their brain. Passively watching a video or listening to a lecture is by and large not as effective, especially difficult things.

[Anonymous]

I think I need to incorporate how I've always studied. Read the chapter while taking notes. Then retype those notes making questions to myself out of the notes. Such as name the general funds, etc. I was always HIGHLY dependent on mnemonics all through school. Then listen to him or listen to him first them read the chapter as he will point out the mnemonics for me. I still have Yeager and access to their test bank which majority went overkill for what I seen on the test. There is still a sim I am scratching my head on that I know I bombed that I never came across the topic at all in Yeager.

[Anonymous]

Mnemonics are great…but I've found that you really have to understand what's behind them or else you end up getting the question wrong.
I think the CPA exam is getting away from basic-level MCQs sadly, with the new format. We'll see. Hopefully they'll retain some of the easier ones
and not just have a whole bunch of analytical questions.

[Anonymous]

That's my fear because like I said, I super bombed. Funny I scored stronger in gov and nfp and it was half my test including on various Sims and I bombed like that. How long have you been out of college crazyleon?

[Anonymous]

I finished my courses in accounting almost 3 years ago. For more than a year after that, I studied on my own using old textbooks and test bank questions and stuff. It wasn't working though, and I knew I needed to buy a review course. I got onto Roger last summer. My accounting degree was my second degree. My first one, I got in 1999.

I got a 63 on FAR in January. I did study diligently for 2 months before getting a job, which cut my study time in half. I was about 75% of the way done with Roger's course in 2 months and it took another month to finish the remainder. Like you, I did well in govt/npo. Sounds like you got a boatload of questions on those topics and I really don't know why they don't test more heavily on other areas – some areas I thought would be heavily tested like leases, I got no questions on at all. 4 of the 7 SIMs went badly for me – I know I completely missed two of them. I got no SIM on Govt/NPO but I almost wish I had!! I might've passed! I did spend a lot of time on those sections though because I really knew nothing about them. By the time I was done with all of Roger's practice questions and videos, I was exhausted and govt/npo were the only things I studied for like a month before my scheduled exam.

[Anonymous]

@californiaholic Curious to know what your am and pm schedule consisted of? I am strugglng with getting started in the am. Also, for your first round of REG, did you watch every video? Also, did you supplement Roger MCQs to get the 77? Interested to know if you went back and worked every question to get the 77.

[Tncincy]

So the point is what? Just know the stuff? If the mcq's will be cut, then why do non-stop mcq's? So how do we study without spending a million dollars. I am set for power weekend to do 100 mcq's this weekend. So how do we study? What do we study?
btw: I have ninja products ( the main ones).

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader.....time to pass

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Anonymous]

I think many people in the past just hammered the MCQs and the AICPA knew they did that, and wanted people to start focusing on bigger-picture things and that's why they remodeled the exam.

I have no idea how to study effectively at this point. After not doing well on FAR, I pretty much knew what I had to do in order to pass the next time. But…that was on the old format of the exam! With the new format, I really don't know until I take AUD, BEC, and REG as to exactly what I'll need to improve upon if I do end up having to take one or more of those again too.
The AICPA/NASBA of course is just saying what they always have – study the new content-specific outlines and take the practice exams – I've never done either of those things myself but some people do them. It's too soon to tell about how to approach the new exams, although it might not be all that different. After we start taking the new version of the exam I'm sure it will be clearer as to how to study/re-study.

[Tncincy]

where is the content specific outlines and practice exams….( I probably should know).

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader.....time to pass

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Tncincy]

I'm not trying to be annoying or belabor the point, but I am honestly trying to figure how what in the world I am doing.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader.....time to pass

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Author]

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