[Anonymous]

Hi! Newbie here!

I’m using Yaeger, which of course uses the Wiley textbooks and online testbank. I finished the video series this past weekend so now I’m working back through all of the suggested MCQs and Sims (in the textbook). I find that I’m struggling to break 60% correct on any given section… is this abnormal? Some of these practice questions depend on rules that are SO specific there’s no way you could reasonably be expected to have them memorized.

I’m taking note of the ones I’m unsure of or get wrong, then I go back and try to make sure I learn why it’s wrong, so I’m not just zipping through the questions and not gaining anything from it. This is my first time working back through these questions (I already worked the ones covered in the videos, but these comprehensive lists cover more than was covered in the videos), so I’m trying not to get discouraged over it, but it’s pretty depressing to repeatedly look at a question and think “I seriously just don’t know this.”

Any other Yaeger students have a similar experience? I study about 20hrs/week and my exam is scheduled for Feb 27th, so the clock is ticking!

 

 

[katfid54]

I have studied for the CPA using only the Wiley MCQ books. And I find that my scores on the Wiley practice tests are pretty similar to my score on the actual exam. The SIM scoring is a little more difficult than the exam's scoring, but it's still pretty comparable. While Wiley does throw out a lot of really specific questions, those are pretty appropriate “substitutes” for the more difficult questions that are on the 2nd and 3rd testlets of exams (assuming testlet difficulty increases).

IL Candidate
FAR - 75
BEC - 84
REG - 59, 83
AUD - 50, 74, 69, 89!

[jeff]

The MCQz are an integral part of the “learning” process. 60% is normal when you first start out.

Created with Compare Ninja

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[Anonymous]

Thanks both for the fast responses!

I should emphasize that these aren't actual practice exams, these are the questions from the back of each section that the Yaeger handout lists as ones to practice. Cindy said in the videos that she picks out the harder questions for us to practice so the actual exam doesn't seem so bad, but it's still discouraging getting bad scores on section after section… feels like I didn't learn a whole lot from the videos!

I suppose a better metric will come when I start taking practice exams, but in the mean time I'm struggling to ward off my frustrations with this material.

[jeff]

Use those book questions as an extention of the videos…read the question…spend less a minute on it ..read each explanation and take notes – very important

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[Anonymous]

Check out the 2011 AICPA released questions. You can google it and download them. I would say that the difficulty of the 2011 released questions are on par with the difficulty of the actual exam. If you can do well on those, you should be good to go.

If you are doing poorly on the Wiley questions that Yaeger assigns, I'm sorry to say that you still haven't fully grasped the concept. The good news is… that's normal and most of us start out that way. With time and practice, this will improve….

[HumanPiranha]

i would describe the wiley questions as quirkier, not harder.

[Anonymous]

As I'm moving forward, the Wiley questions (or at least the ones Yaeger assigns) are clearly more rule based than the CPAReviewForFree ones. CPAReview seems to be more computational based, which explains why I'm routinely scoring in the 70-80 range on those sections compared to Wiley where I'm still struggling to break 60.

It seems like Wiley is covering a lot of the specific and obscure rules, and CPAReview is covering the general, broad concepts. Everything that I've heard is that FAR covers a lot of areas with very minimal depth, so which of these two sources is more reliable? Based on that explanation, I would assume that CPAReview seems more indicative of the kind of questions on the exam, but I (unfortunately) am somewhat inclined to believe that Wiley is a more reputable and reliable source.

So there you go, I'm the 1%. I find CPAReviewForFree questions to be easier than Wiley lol

[RedStorm45]

What section are you studying for? I never hit over 60% on BEC and still passed. I did spend a lot of time on the lectures and notes compared to some who go through all of the questions multiple times.

Starting all over.

FAR - 11/27/13
AUD - 1/4/14

[Anonymous]

I'm working on FAR. It's my first section, so I'm totally blind as to how the actual exam will compare to the review. As far as FAR goes, I'm definitely gaining more from working the questions than I did from watching the lectures, which is consistent to my learning style in college.

[Anonymous]

@ Dave – do EXACTLY what Cindy tells you to do and you'll be fine. I think it's hard to say whether Wiley questions are harder than the exam. Some of the questions I had were so easy I thought they were trying to trick me. And then some questions I encountered were not even covered in the Wiley book. Just do Cindy's suggested MCQ's, work a good number of MCQ's in the Wiley test bank, and know formulas and journal entries.

[Mikey89]

I'm actually worried about this too. I can't seem to get over a 65 over the FAR Wiley Test Bank.

Reg 4/18/12 78
Far 7/30/12 74, 74, 75
Bec 11/11/12 74, 78
Aud TBD 51, 71, XX

[Anonymous]

@Mikey – Comparing your Wiley Test Bank scores to your score on the exam is like trying to compare apples and oranges. The exam is going to have a big curve thrown in there while the Test Bank grades your actual percentage. I only kept track of my percentages by module in the Test Bank (not an overall score), and mine ranged from 40%-80% on sets of 20 MCQ's going into the exam.

[Anonymous]

A lot of people say “Just do exactly what Cindy at Yaeger says!”

Well I feel like that's a bit optimistic lol… she often will say memorize this, read that, review this, work that… how are you seriously supposed to memorize page after page of handouts? I understand you need to know a lot of information for the exam, but I can't help but feel like a lot of these minor details are rarely tested, especially considering that people say the exam is a mile wide and an inch deep.

I just get frustrated with it… I feel like you might as well say “just memorize the Wiley book and you'll probably pass!” At this point I think I would be surprised if I fail, but I would be even more surprised if I did really well.

I'm watching the FAR cram now, and there are a lot of topics they mention that I'm just not crystal clear on, and with only a week and a half left there is no way I would have time to become clear on them. They recommend 200 hours of study for FAR; that's nowhere near enough to really understand all of this. There are a lot of topics I feel really good about, but it seems like for every 1 item that I know, there are 3 others that I'm foggy with. I'm a recent grad, so I'm really beginning to empathize with those who have been out of school a number of years!

Does anyone honestly feel like they understand all of this going into the exam?

[Anonymous]

@Dave…..I guess I'm the kind of person who likes to memorize everything…..But memorizing 1200 pages is just not possible….If it weren't for Hedging, I would say I can get a very high grade…I'm aiming for a 95 btw…lol

[hopeful_cpa]

@dave

I'm studying for FAR right now as well… taking it on the 29th… I don't think you really need to “understand” all the material to pass the exams… problem solving skills, gut instinct, and a lot of luck is what gets you through it. Like Jeff has said before, a lot of people don't realize how much passing the CPA exam is attributed to short term memory. CRAM CRAM CRAM is my philosophy for these things.

BEC: Done
REG: Done
AUD: Done
FAR: Done

I'M DONE!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Author]

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