[Anonymous]

I am using Roger. I have NINJA 10pt combo also, but haven’t even had the time to touch it.

It is taking me like an hour to get through a 15min Roger lecture. Then before I know it 3 hours of study time has passed and I’ve made barely any progress. For the amount of time I have already sat down to watch the Roger lectures, I should have completed all the videos a long time ago, but I just started chapter 10 of 32 and I am like 6-8 weeks in. Aside from it taking me an hour to get through a 15 min lecture, I can’t tell you a single thing I have learned in these 6-8 weeks.

Starting to wish I would have started easy first, rather than hardest first just so I can build some confidence and get into a groove.

[Anonymous]

Ya, watching the videos and taking notes helps more, but it takes me an hour to get through a 20 min video doing so.

[golfball7773]

did you just start your studying journey?

and the following question would be: how does MC questions help?

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Anonymous]

Like I said, I haven't started the mcqs because i feel like I need to understand the material first in order to answer the questions. At least a general understanding, or else I'd be just wasting the questions. Secondly, I am about 6-8 weeks into my studying and I got nowhere. On chapter 10 of 32 for Roger.

[golfball7773]

That is the problem – you are taking too long. 8 weeks max for FAR or you start forgetting what you learned in week 1, etc

I would suggest you think about how you learn and what works for you. In theory, you you should be through the videos in 2-3 weeks at the max and then pound mcq's to drill everything you listened/watched into your head.

I personally don't watch videos anymore as I just zone out or “Windows key + tab” to check the news/facebook/email/etc while pretending to listen to the videos. I only use the videos if I am struggling to grasp a key concept so that I gain more understanding.

Honestly, it has been working a lot better since I switched my study methods in early 2015. I been a lot closer to passing and much more efficient in my studying. (I only take about 4 or 5 weeks at the max now).

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Skynet]

First – If you are taking that long to go through the videos especially for FAR, you'll have a tough time getting through all of the materials especially if you would rather get a general understanding of the materials.

Second – The reason I say go through the mcq's and sims is that it will show you how to solve problems in a variety of situations which the videos will not do. You're going to encounter more difficult problems and situations and the videos will not help. You have to work the problems to truly and fully understand the subject and concepts.

Third – You have to understand the time constraint and the “Rolling 18 months” of the CPA exams. If you are taking forever to study for one section, then imagine how it difficult it would be if you pass your first section. Assume you took 1 year to study for and pass FAR. Now you have 18 months to pass the other 3 sections. Think about the amount of pressure for the other three sections. 18 months flies by fast.

Finally, Hopefully you will find your way of studying that will be beneficial for you because base on your posts, it doesn't seem to work all too well for your currently.

[golfball7773]

@skynet – thanks for adding what I wanted to add but couldn't find the words (typical accountant).

Skynet is dead on and I made that mistake when I started this journey 3 years ago. It took me a long time to realize that I needed to limit my study time to under 8 weeks and start pounding practice questions

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Skynet]

No problem golfball7773.

I would also like to add that even though, I'm using Gleim and that they recently added Videos, I basically stopped watching them completely after the first few units. They were long and time consuming. I actually got a better understanding reading the units 1 time and hitting the mcq's and sims.

[golfball7773]

^boom – it comes down to the following:

a. learning what your learning style is

b. applying that style to pass the exam and be efficient/effective with studying so you get your life back

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[golfball7773]

and Skynet – update your sig – you are more than halfway through now 🙂 and Congrats!

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the advice you all. But, I don't think you are understanding what I am saying. Or I am just doing a horrible job at explaining it and giving you all too little details for you all to help.

Yes, I agree 8 weeks is too long. But that is not actually how long I set it. I originally planned to take FAR end of May but I realized how much I was struggling with my studying so I pushed it back. Not struggling with the material but rather struggling with time, focus, distractions, dozing off, etc. And I agree, If I study for say 8 weeks, what is studied in week 1, I will forget. But that is not my situation. I forget what I studied 8 minutes ago, not just 8 weeks. All along it was my plan to study about 4-6 weeks per section. Before it all started I wanted to do End of May, Mid July, End of August, Mid Oct. That would have given me about 5-6 weeks per section. But realizing how horrible my study habits are and how long it is taking me to get through the material, I just keep pushing things back.

And I know It will take too long to watch all the Videos if it is taking me an hour to watch 15 mins. That is why I am lost and came on here. I can't do it anymore. I need to drastically change my method. And ya, I really think I need to ditch any method that involved a computer. I will just end of browsing the net. It is a disease. So I need to leave the laptop at home and go somewhere like a coffee shop or something. So, should I just start from page 1 of Roger's text or just completely ditch Roger and start writing Ninja notes and then after I finished re-writing it all, then start the mcq's?

[golfball7773]

okay – so we established that it isn't working for you. I have ADHD (professional diagnosis over 8 weeks) and I learned the following.

1. Videos – I zone out

2. I need to do hands on as that is I get material to stick

3. Therefore I pound MCQ's and research deeper if I don't understand why I answered wrong. I make sure I know why the other 3 choices are wrong when I answer correctly.

4. Also when doing NINJA MCQ's, I use full screen so I can't see notifications or mitigate the temptation to open another tab 🙂 it is struggle but I am learning every day

I think Skynet and I are saying the same thing – but what is it that we may not be grasping or is it actually you don't focus on videos?….

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Anonymous]

Thanks,

Ya, I am pretty sure I have some form of adhd or learning disability. I have always struggled. I don't struggle with material but rather focus and commitment. I of course can read lol but I can't absorb what I read.

So, tell me if I am wrong but I work the MCQs, research the topic of the question when I get it wrong, learn it and then move to the next question and do the same. Therefore, you go into the mcqs knowing nothing and learning as you go, and therefore you need no other material aside from the mcqs, or rather you don't need to touch any other material besides the mcq's until you need to research a topic you don't understand? So, I don't need to watch the videos all the way through and don't need to read the roger text all the way through or even touch the ninja notes, unless I am struggling on a certain topic and therefore just using that material as sort of a dictionary and not something I read all the way through?

[ncjm304]

If you feel like you aren't retaining anything from the videos, I suggest the following. As a caveat, I've only skimmed the above posts so something like this may have already been suggested.

I use Roger as well. I like the notes feature. I say you just read the chapter and take your notes in the notes feature for the videos. That way your notes are all in an organized location. There is a self control app you can download (at least for macs) that will block whatever websites you want for whatever period of time you want them blocked. You could utilize that and take notes based on your reading. I would read one sub unit, then go and do questions relating to that material. When you don't understand something, go back and look in the book. Only when you really don't understand something go to the videos.

I agree you will retain most of your knowledge by doing the problems. The videos can only take you so far. Roger's lectures are excellent, but I zone out from time to time also. It is normal

AUD- 71,79
BEC- 72,77
FAR- 83
REG- 63,71,83

DONE!

[Skynet]

The one thing about the CPA exams is that because it is mostly self study, lots of distractions will often be involved.

You need a lot of motivation and must be able to stay focus. Getting distracted even for a few hours could throw you completely off track on your studies.

[Zuly]

@allaboutstout I am also studying with Roger and I know what you mean. I just wanted to chime in with the following advice. I also made the same mistakes you made when first started studying and it took me a while to find my groove and unfortunately didn't feel confident enough that I ended up failing the first one. The second time was a different story…sometimes you need to fail to get the momentum you need to really want to study and pass. So what I did was that I watched the videos but I only wrote notes from what Roger wrote on the board. I didn't stress about what he read out of the book…I know what you mean about zoning out during those times. By doing this, a 15-20 minute video ended up being a 20-25 minute video just to pause when I absolutely couldn't keep up. Then right after I would start doing MCQs out of that section to try to apply what I learned. Usually on my first go around with MCQs, I completely cheat and look up all the answers in the book. I noticed this helps reinforce the material and forces me to read through the book. I would write notes about concepts I absolutely didn't know, weren't covered, felt were important, etc. FAR has so much material that you have to incorporate times to stop to review old material. Ideally every other day should be good but if not at least once a week…maybe weekends to make sure you aren't forgetting the material. The last thing that I recommend is that since you have the 10PT combo listen to the audio as much as you can, this will also help reinforce the material. If you want to change it up listen to Roger's videos…I usually stream them on my computer at work or in the car on my iPhone and have them in the background. Don't worry about retaining much during them but you'll be surprised how much your brain picks up and it's just another way to get the videos in without having to watch them.

So at the end of the day don't worry about not retaining much during the videos or even zoning out…I'm on my 3rd exam and I'm still trying to figure that out…but I do learn best by audio/visual so I feel like it's important and I also learn most during MCQs. Studying the first time for the CPA is truly a test of the material and it also tests how you learn best, tests your dedication and perseverance. You'll see you'll go through the whole gamut of emotions during this beast that we call the CPA. The important thing to know you aren't alone. 🙂 Good luck with everything!

FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
AUD - (04/30/15) 86
BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

[Author]

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