[caotran]

Hi everyone,
I have 35 days to my REG exam (first time taking REG) while working full-time at a Big 4 (Advisory). Can anyone give me an idea of study strategy for REG (assume 120 hours) ? Which chapters order should I go?
Thank you

[njvath]

Which study material are you using? I am using Becker and I took REG at the end of October and got a 73 :(. But I think that was because I went in the Chapters R1-R8 order where Tax is the first 4 chapters and Ethics/BLaw is the last 4. I feel like I spent way too much time studying Blaw (with Becker, there is a ton of BLaw material) and not enough time in Tax my first time around and that reflected in my score :(. So this time around, I am starting with BLaw & Ethics then doing Tax last so Tax will be the most fresh in my brain. I am hoping this works! I am also integrating Ninja MCQ this time around. Good Luck!

FAR - 76
AUD - 74, 74
BEC - 83
REG - TBD

[caotran]

Thanks for your reply. I use Becker textbook, Becker MCQ + Ninja MCQ.

[Yolonge]

From my previous post on my regulation study method and stats. Most importantly left biz law for one week before the test.

Study method: Listen Ninja blitz whenever I can, or do ninja MCQ.

Materials: Ninja MCQ + Ninja Blitz + Ninja Audio (not much of a help) + Ninja Book (read only few pages. Did not have time to read book)

This was retake (August, 68) but most of it was out of my head, so I constantly listened to Ninja Blitz to refresh my memory. On off days, I tried to listen to Ninja Blitz on the topics.

I did not solve any simulation. I read over the answer with description.

First week: (10/29-11/4)
210 Question in Individual Tax @ 88%

3 days of MCQ / 4 days off

Second Week: (11/5-11/11)
567 Questions in Individual Tax (complete), Ethics & Professional Responsibilities (complete), Property Taxation (complete), Federal Tax Process (complete) @ 86%

5 days of MCQ / 2 days off

Third Week: (11/12-11/18)
142 Questions in Entity Taxation @ 82%

2 days of MCQ / 5 days off

Fourth Week: (11/19-11/25)
440 Questions in Entity Taxation (complete) & Random @ 80%

3 days of MCQ / 4 days off

Fifth Week: (11/26-12/2)
Power 3 Day Weekend with Business Law! Probably worst 3 days of my study time.
1027 Questions in Business Law (complete) @ 74%
10 simulations

3 days of MCQ and 1 day for simulation / 3 days off

D-3 Days to Test day: (12/3-12/5)

12/3 – 10 Random MCQ (90%) + 57 Simulations
12/4 – 312 Random MCQ (94%) + 8 sims
12/5 Test day – write note and review

Summary & Highlights

Days spent = 38 days
Days studied = 20 days

Hours Spent on Ninja: 40 Hours MCQ + approximately 5-8 hours on simulations
Many hours of Blitz for one month

Average MCQ per day = 151 questions @ 18 days
Average Simulations per day = 25 (one day @ 57 simulations)

Days to Cover topics in Ninja:

Individual Tax: 3 days
Ethics & Professional Responsibilities: 1 day
Property Taxation: 1 day
Federal Tax Process: 1 day
Entities Taxation: 5 days
Business Law: 3 days

Ethics & Professional Responsibilities = 261 questions @ 90%
Business Law = 1071 questions @ 74%
Tax Process = 231 questions @ 87%
Property Taxation = 227 questions @ 88%
Individual Tax = 356 questions @ 87%
Entities Tax = 573 questions @ 83%

Overall = 2719 questions @ 81%, Trending 98% at 40 hours

Score Report: 83
MCQ: Strong on everything, except Individual and Ethics (Comparable)
Simulation: Comparable

Materials: Wiley book + Ninja MCQ

FAR - 83 (Jan 2016)
Study time: 6 weeks
BEC - 87 (April 2016)
Study time: 2 weeks
AUD - 92 (July 2016), (74 Feb 2016), (72 May 2016)
Study time: 4 (Feb) + 2 (May) + 3 (July) = 9 weeks total
REG - (70 April 2016)
Study time: 3 weeks

[caotran]

Thank you for sharing your study strategy. I really appreciate your help.

[Anonymous]

If you're using Becker, approach REG like you're having a big dinner. Begin a meal with soup or salad before eating the main course. Begin with chapter 5, then 6, 7, and 8. Those last 4 chapters include Professional Ethics and Business Law like soup and salad before the main course, TAX!. Next chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Good luck!

[SchruteBeet]

I would go in the order of R1-R8 except focus my attention on the tax and ethics section (R1-R5) as they make up almost 80% of the exam. Master these chapters first before moving on to BLaw. Since this section is only 20% of the exam, I wouldn't spend a ton of time (i.e. no more than 25 hours if you're studying for 120 hours for this exam).

[lindseyoswalt]

I just took reg today and I used only Becker to study. I studied in the section order 1-8. If I were you I would follow what they are saying. Do business law first and then spend the bulk of your time on 1-5.

[Lashifty]

It depends hw much free timeand study time you have. FYI i failed last Q cause i tried to cram it in 10 days…. Ideally for, if you have enough time to go 1-8, then 5-8, then 1-4, I would do that.

If time is kinda iffy, 5-8, then 1-4. If you have time to review, i'd do 3-5, extra 1-2. There was barely any BLAW on my exam last Q.

[Robert]

My experience was to break it up into.

* ch 1-2: individual tax
* ch 4: property tax
* ch 3-4: entity tax (estate/trust, c-corp, s-corp, partnership)
* ch 5: ethics
* ch 6-8: Blaw

I'd recommend breezing through 6-8 and watching short videos (maybe Ninja Blitz) because I believe you need to know BLaw on a moderate depth, but tax on a deeper level. Note that chapter 5 covers a high percentage of the CSO testable topics and is a fairly easy chapter, so you want to know that one well for gimme-points. Once you feel ‘ok' with all 8, work chapters 1-4 (tax topics) as much as possible.

[caotran]

Thank everyone for sharing your tips. I finished chapters 1 &2 this week.

[Author]

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