[See Pee A]

I promise this is not an attempt to brag about my abilities or anything of the sort. I took FAR in mid-Oct and received a passing score of 84. I used the Becker review materials and finished going through the lectures and homework on a Sunday. Monday through Wednesday I reviewed each lecture (did a few supplementary problems–not many since I didn’t have much time, and didn’t do any practice exams or sims) and took down higher level notes on major topics and calculations. Thursday I took the beast.

In studying for future exams I am tempted to claim that doing sims aren’t that great of a study tool (in the relationship of study time to exam points). I cannot tell if this was sheer luck or the grace of some divine being. Since I received an 84, I must have done at least okay on the sims, which were by the way infinitely shorter (not necessarily easier) than the ones I saw in my Becker materials. Nothing even close to generating a full Stmt. of Cash Flows! And with the sims being all over the place, it seems like my time might be better spent just reading over key information and re-reading my handwritten review notes rather than going over obscure sims that the Becker elves conjured.

Am I onto a huge time saving miracle in exam prep, or did I guess a few things correctly and wake up on the right side of the bed that morning? Anyone else have any other ideas on the most time-efficient (more points for time spent reviewing) review tactics?

BEC 86 (08/30/11)
FAR 84 (10/13/11)
REG 88 (11/08/11)
AUD 86 (11/29/11)

Exam prep - Becker self-study

[KasiaS]

I think it all depends on the person and their learning style. In my case, I only worked 2 SIMs while preparing for FAR and did none for BEC and AUD and I passed with scores in the 80's. My thinking here is that SIMs are just expanded MCQs and I always place more value on knowing the concepts cold as opposed to working SIMs.

In my experience thus far, doing MCQs in the Gleim test bank and reviewing my progress reports were most beneficial because it allowed me to locate weak areas and review/study these to improve performance. I think I'm actually going to try working the REG SIMs though because I think I need the practice.

FAR 88 (07/15/11)
BEC 83 (08/31/11)
AUD 81 (10/15/11)
REG 83 (11/26/11)

Used NIU Correspondence CPA Review

[mariamb]

See Pee A…I think you are so right! I am beginning to think that is the best way to go for me. I, too, have the Becker material. I have spent 4-5 weeks per section doing all the hw problems, sims and final exams over and over again. I have the last of the four at the end of this month. I stopped doing the MCQs, etc and decided to focus on the material itself. Know the basic formulas and hope it pays off.

Thanks for the post!

[RedRage00]

Jeff has stated to not put too much into the SIMS. He recommends learning the material through MCQs. I took his advice for FAR and it paid off. I think I did maybe 10 SIMS just to get a feel for the formatting, etc…..but I learned a majority of the material by doing MCQs. I received “Stronger” for my SIMS compared to others in the 75-80% range on my score report.

btw, the SIMS software using Wiley isn't very good. It's just a big headache b/c you have to have everything entered in a certain way and it marks things wrong even when you have them right because of formatting, etc. It was a bigger pain learning the material doing the SIMs. I wasted too much time fighting with the SIMS software.

Texas CPA
Licensed, March 2012

[yankeeaccountant]

@ See Pee A,

That is awesome. I think that is half the battle of the exam process-finding what works for you. I wish I could sit for an exam with such little review, but I don't think it would work for me since I graduated college in 1985–so it has been awhile school wise, and secondly-this is probably more important–knowing I didn't study like a crazy person would play on my confidence. That is what I struggle with the most on the tests. I really have to make en effort not to let everything psych me out. I never spent much time on sims for BEC and FAR. But I have with REG..and probably will with Audit.

All in all—I wish I could do it your way-totally jealous–but at the same time–I say that you should keep it up. Good luck!!

[Author]

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