2 Weeks Out, what's your routine?

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  • January 21, 2018 at 10:39 am #1695474
    suzieemac
    Participant

    This is my third attempt at FAR. It is my last test and I’m two weeks out. If I pass, I’m done. If not, I lose AUD. I feel like studying is the same as a physical work out, I procrastinate until I have no choice but then once I’m warmed up, I can’t stop. Just wondering what your final review routine consists of. Basically, I’ve been starting with 10-30 MCQ based on adaptation, then I will pick topics I am weak in, rewatch videos, take notes/make index cards and do specific mcq for that topic. I throw in some SIMS and try to end with another 30 MCQ. Throughout the day if my husband is home watching TV I’ll sit with him and do MCQ with headphones on but I don’t count that as actual studying. Just curious to know what your routine is, especially when you’ve already read/watched all the content more than twice. Right now I’m trending 75-76% but I was trending higher before I failed the first two attempts.

    PS during this 1.5 year long journey, I definitely experienced burnout, dehydration, stress, trips to the doctor, and for this test I told myself to only study during a 2-3 hour window during the day, and to LET IT GO after that.

    Thanks in advance, happy weekend!

    AUD - 8/12/16
    REG - 10/7/16
    BEC - 11/18/16
    FAR - TBD

    #300before30 - Pass the CPA exam before my 30th Birthday.

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  • January 21, 2018 at 3:01 pm #1695553
    Mike J
    Participant

    Obviously, you must chose what works for you. We are all different.

    So, I will tell you what I did to finally get over.

    I didn't stress too much time on the SIMs, but I didn't ignore them. I used NINJA exclusively.

    Prior to 2 weeks out, your question, I performed blocks of 20 MCQ for each subsection at a time until I got 80% correct twice. Then I went through once, each SIM that Jeff identified as related to the AICPA critical sections. Also, make sure you review each MCQ you got wrong and which ones you didn't quite know why you got wrong. Incorporate into your notes. See also the SIMs.

    Within 2 weeks out, yes I concentrate on maybe the bottom 2 out of,the 5 or 6 categories of MCQ I understood the least. So even if I did well overall, I did another block of 20 on that section if I didn't understand it well enough.

    That week, I'd also do a randomized group of 20 MCQ including all the categories.

    Further, lets assume a Thursday afternoon exam. Monday, I went through all of the recently-released MCQ Jeff posted. I didn't care about the percent correct, but just wanted to familiarize myself with the new questions. It may be a better use to do that before you start the randomized MCQ two weeks from the exam to better ID weaknesses. But, thats how I used them.

    On Monday, I'd go to AICPA's exam simulator to get practice with the exam software. It was decent practice.

    On Tuesday of the week of the exam, I would go to Starbucks or someplace loud and take my notes. I wouldn't go over anything new, but read through my notes and any tough MCQ or SIM, that corresponds to each topic. I say go to someplace loud because you may want to practice trying to concentrate when you might be nervous on exam day.

    On Wednesday, I went back and reviewed again, but studied in reverse order.

    On exam day, I'd go to a nearby Panera in the morning. Had myself a leisurely breakfast and lunch there. My notebook was basically like me reading the Sunday NY Times.

    For the record, the “realism” of Jeff's SIMs weren't great. BUT, I think they're a great supplement to his MCQ because they help present the material in a different way to help you understand things better. For sheer realism, I would go to the AICPA website itself.

    Anyway, this plan is what helped me. By all means, take what you need to suit your preferences and schedule.

    Good luck!

    January 21, 2018 at 3:14 pm #1695555
    suzieemac
    Participant

    This is AWESOME. Thank you so much, I will definitely be incorporating this into my routine.

    AUD - 8/12/16
    REG - 10/7/16
    BEC - 11/18/16
    FAR - TBD

    #300before30 - Pass the CPA exam before my 30th Birthday.

    January 21, 2018 at 5:53 pm #1695586
    Mike J
    Participant

    Welcome. I'm glad to pass along what worked for me.

    Also, I like your avatar. There HAD BEEN crying in my studies.

    January 22, 2018 at 7:04 am #1695697
    PianoCPA
    Participant

    OMG. Mike. You wrote this for me. My exam is Thursday (morning), I've got the week off from work, I've been slogging for quite a while now. I love this routine (I'm actually at a Starbucks right now).

    Unlike the first two tries at FAR, where I was frantically trying to finish the routine set up for me with Becker, I'm now pushing through Ninja MCQ constantly. I'm getting nervous about my trending (generally in low 70s), but continue to focus on the weak areas. My score is low, in part, due to stupid mistakes (not reading carefully), so while that gives me a bit of comfort, it also makes me nervous that I won't read carefully on the exam.

    I'm hoping to re-write my notes this afternoon, I love the ideas of going through the recently released questions (already downloaded them–will probably print them later), and will jump back to the SIMS as well. Also, I like the idea of going someplace loud to re-write the notes…I wasn't sure if I'd re-write this week or not, but it's helping.

    Suzieemac, I feel your pressure. If I don't pass this one, I'm losing REG and BEC (from before the changes–aack!)

    January 22, 2018 at 8:34 am #1695724
    CPAfit
    Participant

    Mostly MCQs and Ninja notes while at work and home. Ninja audio during the commute to and from work. Start blitz at the beginning of last week and watch it until the last minute before you enter the exam room.

    January 22, 2018 at 2:32 pm #1695930
    suzieemac
    Participant

    @mike030882, too true!

    @pianocpa, I feel like we're on similar roads. Incorrect answers at this point are more because of my lack of focus and less because of not knowing the material.

    If I am memorizing the answer to a question and don't really know the theory behind it, I mark it as “incorrect” so it will show up again, something that I did not do in the past which I think hurt me for sure.
    I was aiming to be trending at least a 75 by the time I reached each test on the last two tries, struggling to learn new material during the last week… and now I'm at a 76 that two weeks out, so I'm praying for a better outcome. My first test was only a 69 so I feel like there's hope, but I definitely choked on the second attempt. I think given the opportunity to take it over, it would have been a totally different result, but hey.. that's life. Good luck!!!

    @cpafit will do!

    AUD - 8/12/16
    REG - 10/7/16
    BEC - 11/18/16
    FAR - TBD

    #300before30 - Pass the CPA exam before my 30th Birthday.

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