Comprehensive Study Guide (be warned.. it's long)

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  • #164504
    See Pee A
    Member

    A few members (cough, kmcg4k and SIMSLAYER cough 😛 ) have asked, very politely I might add, for me to post my advice. I suppose I did pass, and though I do not consider myself brilliant I suppose I could spare 10 minutes… (cracking knuckles)

    Exam Order

    Perhaps the lease important topic, so I’ll start here. Some say easiest to hardest while others say the opposite. I say as long as you take AUD after FAR (since AUD seems to have some FAR-looking stuff in sims) you are fine. Ideally, a gap between FAR and REG may be nice as well since they cover some similar topics with different rules which may be confusing to some. I took them side by side and did fine, go figure. Overall, the order shouldn’t matter much. Moving along..

    Best Exam Materials

    I used Becker. Becker iz gud. My Big 4 firm paid for Becker so I took it. I didn’t exactly weight options or really think another course would be much better. Overall, study course shouldn’t matter much as long as you do everything they say.

    The Good Stuff–The Exam!

    MC: Read, practice, read some more, and practice some more. Lather, rinse, repeat. Any review course that licenses some problems from AICPA probably also does a good job writing their own practice MC. Pick your poison. Regardless, below was my method for Becker. Watch all lectures for a chapter (e.g. B1, F2…). Then go back and skim over a subchapter, and do the MC for it. Next subchapter, next MC group. On and on. I wouldn’t waste time trying to understanding everything completely before doing MC, since you learn a lot through doing MC, getting them wrong, and reading AND understanding the explanations.

    Sims: I did maybe 3-4 practice sims per section I took. In my humble and possibly inaccurate opinion, sims are nuts! It may be effective to do all the sims in the software, but it would be very INEFFICIENT. You could get anything on test day. Point for point, you are better off reading through the book and practicing MC. People complain about sims. I did not like them myself, but I believe they separate the bulimics (those who can only eat and subsequently regurgitate information) from the chefs (take raw information and put spells on it and give it back to the AICPA in different forms when asked on the exam). Sims test your logic on top of your memory. No need to continue here. UNDERSTAND the material, and strong sims will follow.

    Other: I personally did not touch a flashcard. I have good memory and the book itself was my giant flashcard. Use them or not, up to you. Full disclosure-I never used flashcards in school either. I think they are girly, lol–no hate mail for this please. Plus, I have bad handwriting and don’t like to carry things around besides my laptop and book. Also, I hate the way the Becker elves word things. I prefer my own words.

    Final Review: I spent no more than 3 days after I finished reviewing things for the first time. (BEC-2, FAR-3, REG-1.5, AUD-1.5) This was mostly a function of my exam schedule. If I had more time I would have used it. Obviously. I believe my key for this was to rewrite a study guide of my own at the end AFTER having done all the MC for the whole course and while reading through each chapter carefully. The study guide should NOT be copying your notes. Copying helps no one. You must force yourself to write seriously condensed notes. I write small and would write all over a page. My longest study guide was REG at 7 pages (3.5 sheets of paper). Copying requires no brain power. Summarizing forces you to understand what you are writing so it makes you think about everything as you write it down. More effective + more efficient (low beta and alpha risk.. lol to my AUD peeps).

    Other stuff

    If I had more time, I definitely would have used it. This process was tough for me. I was in school this semester and I often got behind due to school exams, papers, etc. Plan ahead and plan for the unexpected. Give yourself a cushion. I typically scored in the 70s on MC the first time through (very few in the 60s, and some in the 80s). This was a factor of me not worrying so much on ?’s that I wasn’t sure about since I learn a lot through reading explanations.

    Other other stuff

    Eat, stay hydrated, sleep, exercise as best you can. Keeping your mind able to hold info is just as important as feeding it info to pass this exam.

    My rant is over. I truly hope this helps. Worked for me (see scores below). If I had longer study periods and wasn’t such a procrastinator, who knows perhaps I could have been in the low 90s? Not that I care unless I was trying for Watt Sells. Anyway, good luck to all!

    May the force be with you.

    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

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
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  • #318353
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Great tips….I think I would add that only an individual knows their best way of memorizing information (there is a lot to memorize in just about every section). For me, flashcards are the way I memorize small details. Other people may have different methods, but after a college degree, you pretty much should know already how to memorize. Mnemonics help others.

    I found that because there was such a vast amount of material to know, if I got stuck and overwhelmed by a particular section, I would use NINJA notes to guide me in the right direction. If NINJA notes have one sentence on something, and you're trying to remember 100 pages, forget it…use NINJA to know that you can cut down a bit on a specific area.

    Multiple Choice problems are essential. Do them from a variety of sources – Wiley, your review course, Cpareviewforfreecom, *** Released AICPA Questions *** <– highly recommend

    Finally, I found that rewriting all my notes a week before my exam (it takes about 4 or 5 days to do it) really cemented the material.

    Also, don't make the mistake of dragging your studies on for months. You'll lose momentum, lose focus, start to forget, etc. It really takes 6-8 weeks of 20+ hours/wk per section.

    #318354
    jenuno01
    Member

    @See thanks for the post! Great tips! Can you explain a little more on how you prepared your notes? Did you prepare these while you were going through the material once? Or during your final review? And were your notes based only on the Becker book or on MCQs as well?

    Class of 2012

    #318355
    See Pee A
    Member

    @jenuno01: My study guide was prepared at the very end after finishing all my other studying. This way, I had an idea of what was heavily emphasized in MC and had a good chance of being an important topic. They were based largely from the Becker book (97% if I had to pick a number), but I'm sure I may have written in some notes on specific questions that I felt were really tough or really good learning tools. The key with this “last minute” study guide is that it forces you to summarize what you know. You can only summarize something if you understand it. Thus, it forces you to understand it. Good luck!

    I also notice you didn't fare so well on AUD. This section is tough because it is B-O-R-I-N-G!!! Again, the study guide I suggested helps with this since you can't really move on until you write your notes whereas if you're just skimming you may end up doing so (even unintentionally).

    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

    #318356
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    wow thank you for this. i wished everyone who passed would impart their wisdom as you did

    #318357
    misanthrope87
    Participant

    I think the condensing advice is quite useful. Definitely something to think about. But it seems to me that you're just quite above average. I'm sure not everyone of us would have gotten those kind of scores or passed if we did the same things you did. And shame on you for saying flashcards are girly! You sexist. =]

    B 2/12 87
    A 11/11 90
    R 8/11 86
    F 5/12 88

    #318358
    RedRage00
    Member

    Great tips!

    I agree with the way you handle SIMS. I do the same thing and I've gotten “Stronger” on my reports for SIMS. People waste too much time doing SIMS when you could get a better grasp of the material doing MCQs.

    I'm doing a lot of what you are doing, but my scores aren't as high haha. As long as they're above 75 I'm happy 🙂

    Texas CPA
    Licensed, March 2012

    #318359
    jeff
    Keymaster

    Good stuff…thanks!

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

    #318360
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I 2nd the opinion that flashcards are girly and also a waste of time. When I began studying for FAR I was making flaschcards and would end up wasting sometimes an hour just making these. I don't write notes either because that's not how I learned. I tried it and it was a completely waste of time too. lol…All I do is read each chapter about 7 times and practice the mcq's over and over along with AICPA Adapted problems from my college textbooks..I bought NINJA notes, but I found them to be very basic….except for the concept about End and Beg Inventory..over and understated.lol..and interest expense on the SCFs on IFRS..lol

    #318361
    jenuno01
    Member

    @See thanks for taking the time to put this together, definitely some helpful tips…and I agree, AUD is boring! but I also didn't fare as well because I didn't take it as serious as I did FAR…(notice how I didn't blame Becker! 😀 )

    Class of 2012

    #318362
    rgibson3rd
    Participant

    For me, flash cards were very beneficial because I take a Path train into the city with no cell or internet reception. Rather than stand next to strangers on a bumpy ride for 20 minutes or so, I would run through my flash cards. If I drove to work, flash cards would not be helpful. It's about putting together a study plan that works for you. See Pee A offers some good stuff but I personally would be cautious of advice from someone with high scores…either they are a lot smarter than me (definitely true for See Pee A) and/or they spent a lot more time preparing than I can. What worked for them may not work for me. Customization of study is key. Good luck!

    BEC (11/10) 77 (Bisk)
    FAR 7/2 - 63 11/5 - 80 (Yeager - Fail, Becker - Pass)
    Reg (08/11) - 78 (Yeager)
    Aud - 11/29 - 78(Yeager)

    #318363
    See Pee A
    Member

    @rgibson3rd: I completely agree with you. Not everyone can study the same way as someone else. Above was just my approach. I would be insulted and a bit amused if anyone did that 100% the same as I did. I definitely study different than most of my friends, but I just thought some people who asked and maybe some others may be curious to know my process.

    FYI to anyone, these are the hrs I spent: BEC – 62 hrs, FAR – 88, REG – 83, AUD – 71 hrs (yes, I counted, I know that's weird, and these are accurate +/- 1 hrs). Best of luck… I lie… Good studying for all!

    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

    #318364
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I think that SeePeeA is either an alien or Einstein's grandson….lol

    #318365
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I think all Goodluck wants is advice and help…. no need to write nasty comments……just sayin'

    #318366
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    wrong thread..lol

    #318367
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I agree with SeePee A on the card notes. I purchased Becker Flashcards, and I did use it on BEC but don't think that help much. My book is my note. I was flipping thru the book back and forth when I studied it, and that is how it helped me to understand the concepts.

    I wish I could be like SeePee A to review the book in such a short time. I daydream too much when I study…sometimes I could daydream for an hour!…this is not efficient, but I can't help it. I had this problem since I was a kid. I usually compensate it with longer study hours…does anyone here have similar problems?

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
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