[NothingToThis]

Just got UWorld Roger CPA Review a few weeks ago and finished the videos, took notes, and did questions for BEC. I’m taking BEC in 3 weeks. Is continuing to go over the Roger questions enough or do I need to supplement with another test bank. I am thinking about Wiley. If Wiley is recommended is there a difference between the test bank vs the books. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

People pass on Roger alone, so Roger is fully sufficient without supplemental materials.

However, if you're doing lots of questions every day (which is good) and have already done a lot (which is good) and still have 3 weeks to pound MCQs prior to your exam (which is also good), then there's a good chance you'll start to subconsciously memorize the questions (which is bad). If you're just going off memory of the question (subsconsciously knowing that the question about Jones & Sons is answer “B”, rather than knowing how to figure the question), then you won't be learning anything or even refreshing your memory of the concepts when you get close to test day. So, you've got 2 options: Be very very intentional with the MCQs to make yourself, on every question, slow down and think through each one as to why the right answer is right and why the wrong answer is wrong especially as you get closer to test day and are more familiar with the questions, or supplement with another test bank so you'll be less likely to have the questions memorized. Or I guess the 3rd option would be too to do both.

I'm pretty cheap, so I wouldn't get a second test bank if it was me. I'd just make sure I was thinking through the MCQs and not simply trying to get through them as quickly as possible. However, I also never had 3 weeks for just MCQs left at the end of my studying. I think I had 2 weeks for one exam and that was the best I ever was. 😐 So, you're being a better student than I was, and kudos to you for that. 🙂

As for Wiley test bank vs. book, the book questions used to have a reputation for being harder, but not sure if that's still true about the Wiley and CPAExcel merger or not. Personally I have a hard time with book questions since I learn best with the instant feedback of having the answer immediately after working the question, but if I do that with the book, I have a hard time not accidentally seeing the answer to #10 while checking the answer for #9. (Truly accidental, too – I'll try everything I know to cover up the answers and still accidentally see one. Or I'll see #27 while checking #9 and somehow remember that #27 was D when I get to it 16 questions later. 😐 ) I'm sure other people are the opposite of me, though, and would learn better from questions in a book than on the computer test bank. So, my advice would be to pick book vs test bank based on what works best for you to learn from, as I think both are equally useful for different people.

[ruggercpa2b]

Roger's testbank is fairly new since he switched from using Wiley. I have seen people on the forum that say that his testbank is not enough and I have seen posts from people that have only used his questions and passed the first time.

Wiley is a little pricier these days. I would supplement with Ninja MCQs if you are looking for something else. Ninja interface is so much easier to use and also you have the adaptive learning. But its all up to you. Another thing I have also learned is that all review courses get their questions from the same source. So you will run in to similar questions in the different testbanks.

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[NothingToThis]

Thanks for the quick responses. Yeah I also peek at the answers in a book, so it is probably better to go with software. I didn't think about the Ninja MCQ. I saw it for less than $50 but only 3 months access. I have seen the Wiley for $130 for a year access. Anyone else with any comments on using Roger questions only or thoughts on Wiley vs Ninja or other test bank software. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

If you are buying one section at a time (which I think is what you're talking about with the price-points you're listing), then if you only take the exam 1 time, Ninja is cheaper (you're taking BEC in 3 weeks; you'll pay $50 total for BEC MCQs instead of $130 total to have them last till your exam date; the extra 49 weeks you get from Wiley and the extra 10 weeks you get from NINJA really don't matter). If you take it more than once, then which one is cheaper depends on how long it takes you to pass the exam from the date you subscribe till the date of the exam that you pass. If you pass BEC within the next 6 months, then Ninja will have been cheaper ($100 total for 6 months subscription), but if you require 9 or more months of subscription, then Wiley would have been cheaper ($150 for 9 months or $200 for 12 months).

Personally, from a pure price perspective, I'd take the bet on myself that I wouldn't be likely to take over 6 months to pass the exam, and say that Ninja was the cheaper option.

Now that being said…I think Wiley used to offer a 21-day trial. It was one time and was for all of their exams at once. If you could still find a link to a trial for 7, 14, or 21 days, it could allow you to use Roger for another week or two then finish out with Wiley for BEC, see what you think of Wiley, and then know how you like the Roger + Wiley combo when picking a combo to use for future exams. All I can find now is a 24-hour trial, but that could still give you a good taste of what their test bank is like. If you got it Friday evening, used it to study Friday evening and Saturday during the day, you'd get 2 solid study sessions out of it, and after that should be able to gauge if it's helping you learn things that weren't in Roger or if it's just being repetitious. (Maybe the 21-day trial was a dream I had when I was wishing that CPA study materials weren't nearly as expensive as the exam…yes I used cheap ones if they were cheaper than the exam. 😉 )

When I took the exams, the Ninja MCQs were in their very infancy (there was an MCQ product, but it wasn't anything like the current one). So, I can't really comment on the effectiveness of Ninja vs. Wiley, as I haven't used both to compare. I liked Wiley, but have heard a lot of good things about Ninja. So, I'd take a neutral stance and say both sound like solid software programs, pick the one that you're most comfortable with.

[Author]

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