[Anonymous]

So I took REG on Feb 25. I listened to all the Becker lectures, took notes, read Ninja Notes and did a ton of Becker MCQ. When I get my score I was devistated. I got weaker in MCQ and comparable in Simulations.

I was planning on retaking REG on April 14th. After some reflection, I feel my biggest weakness was that I didn’t understand how to disect the MCQs. So, my plan of attack was to re-write the ninja notes and my notes. I also bought the Wiley test bank and plan to do those and the Becker MCQs and write the ‘Fact Nuggets’ that I get from the explanations. So far, I have only written 40 pages from the Ninja notes….and that is it….I was really hoping to take FAR again on 5/26. What should I do?!?!

Brutally Honesty here!!

Mini and Baseball…I am serious, brutal honesty!!!

[Minimorty]

@akb – Remind me what you got on REG and when your BEC and AUD expire. Also, how many times have you taken REG and FAR?

[Anonymous]

I am the exact opposite on REG. Always stronger on MCQ's and weaker on Sims. It's like I know the rules but I don't know how to apply them. Does that make sense? I write and write and write and then read and read and read and now I'm listening to Jeff's Audio over and over and over. I can practically recite it along with him but when I try to practice the Sims I totally freak out! For FAR I am consistently stronger on Sims and weaker on MCQ's. There I know how to apply the rules but I can't spit them out when I need them. Baseball said on another thread that I needed to “get out of my head”. He used a baseball metaphor that helped for a day or two but then I forgot what he said and now I'm getting all knotted up again! If I could find the thread I would print it out! BaseballCPA where are you? I need help!!!!

[jokami]

Mini.. you can include me in that speech if you want but for BEC not for REG…. My first pass expires on 4/2013. I know I won't have any trouble with REG second time around I just couldn't review and just covered everything once.

But BEC is a whole other story.

B - 62, 70, 72, 79!!!
A - 68, 81
R - 70, 82
F - 84

"The limit to your abilities is where you place them" - Fortune Cookies

[Anonymous]

I am too embarrassed to say my score. It is the lowest score I have made so far. I have taken REG twice now. Once was a year ago and the second time was February. I have taken FAR 3 times. Once over a year ago, the second time was August and the third time was January. I have such big gaps in REG and FAR because I wanted to pass AUD and BEC because I made a 74s on those the first time.

Audit expires May 2013 and BEC, I think, August 2013 but my Becker expires in June 🙁 I do qualify for the Becker Promise so if I only have to update 1 section it won't be too bad.

[Minimorty]

@akb – The good part is that you have a little time to work with. The bad part is that you are struggling with the two hardest sections. Definitely postpone FAR. When does your NTS for FAR expire? Schedule FAR for that day. You need to put everything you have into passing REG and then put everything you have into passing FAR.

Are you confident that if you take REG on April 14th that you'll pass? That is like 3.5 weeks away. How are you doing on the Wiley multiple choice right now? Are you having more difficulty with the taxation or the business law?

Does re-writing the notes actually help you, or are you just doing it because everyone else told you to do it? Are you getting a better grasp of the concepts by writing the notes? My take is that note writing (and re-writing) is great for review and keeping topics fresh, but it is not really going to teach the material. You are not going to learn the concepts just by re-writing what someone else understands. Since you didnt come close to passing REG this last time, it sounds like you need to get into the material again. How were you listening to the lectures? Did you just listen straight through to get through them or did you pause the lecture to absorb, rewind to re-listen to certain topics that you are weaker on, and take notes as you listened? Some people tend to think they should just watch all the lectures straight through and then start banging out multiple choice questions. It is especially important if you are struggling that you go topic by topic and really dig in and try to understand the key points.

You'll know where you stand better than I will. If you think you'll be ready by April 14th, then go for it. If you think two or three more weeks would be beneficial (i think it would) then you may want to consider rescheduling. Dont worry about FAR right now. Let it go and worry about it later. It wont matter if you dont pass REG, so focus on REG.

I would be happy to connect with you via email if you would prefer to chat in a less public arena. I really hope you kick some ass on these next two exams.

[Anonymous]

For the February test this is what I did:

I listened to the lectures and took notes while I was listening. I really felt I was understanding the material. As Jeff suggests, and as I had done on AUD and BEC, I listened to all the lectures and took notes first. After that I read L1 notes and did the MCQ. I was scoring high 60s – low 70s the first run through. I would do all the topics in 1 lecture and take notes on the MCQ. After I went through the whole Lecture, I did the MCQs again. If I scored in the high 70s or higher I would move on. After that, I started taking the full practice tests. I was scoring in the low to mid 70s on the practice tests. When I would review the question I would notice that I wasn't understanding the question they were asking. I thought they were asking one thing and it was really something else. That was the majority of my mistakes in the practice tests. So I thought, ok just keep doing more. Obviously that didn't work.

I do feel the re-writing of notes helps things stick in my head. I was not planning on re-doing the lectures because I already have good notes on them and I don't feel I get much out of the lectures. I really have no clue where I am. I feel very lost with all of this. Also, when I am writing the notes, if I don't understand then I either go to my personal notes or the book. I am writing the notes in my own ‘language' if you will. Honestly, I have only written notes and done 2 Becker practice test which I have made a 68 and 73. I am being stupid. I know I shouldn't be doing Becker MCQ because obviously it doesn't help things click for me. However, in the practice tests, I do really well on the business law part. We are talking high 80s low 90s. That is how I was doing before my test too but I still got weaker on that section. The Tax appears to be my weaker area but if you look at my score report from February it would disagree and say all the sections are my weaker sections!!

I haven't scheduled the test because the NTS came while I am in China and the Prometric site doesn't work here. My NTS for FAR ends on June 12 but I will be in San Antonio for my companies financial conference from May 28 – June 2. That is why if I am going to take it in this window I have to do it before May 28. Do you think I should just worry about passing REG and if I don't get to take FAR in this window just suck it up?

I would like to continue this via email but gmail doesn't work in china very well either! haha

[Anonymous]

Also, I have the Gleim Audio CD which I listen to all day at work. Not sure how much it helps but figured it couldn't hurt any!

[Minimorty]

Brutally honest, right?

In a nutshell, I get the feeling that your study habits are geared towards quantity and not necessarily towards quality. We need to figure out a way to get you more focused study sessions are particular topics that are giving you trouble.

I would think that Audio would be fine for the business law portion, but I am not really a big fan of it for most of the tax portion. Yes, there are rules and exceptions in tax, but for the most part it is hard numbers. Not being able to see the numbers as you work through concepts seems problematic. Perhaps you learn that way though.

You should run through a diagnostic exam. Just do like 100 questions in all topics and get the print out of your weak areas. Go back and hit those weak areas hard for a week and run the diagnostics again. When you are reviewing a topic that is giving you trouble, go back and watch the lecture again (not all of them, just for that topic) and then immediately do some multiple choice questions and a couple simulations on that topic. Then run the diagnostics again and see if there is any improvements.

You need to have a very narrow game plan and it doesnt sound like you have one right now. It sounds like you are just starting at the beginning and throwing a bunch of study methods against the wall to see what sticks (again, quantity and not quality).

When are you coming back from China? Let's connect via email when you get back. Only if you want to, of course. No biggie either way for me. 😉

[Anonymous]

I will be back to Shanghai tonight around 6pm which is 5am in TX. Internet is better there so I can email. I feel I am just trying to use what worked for me on AUD and BEC instead of a specialized plan for this section. Feel free to email me at DON'TBENOSEY.COM

I will be on a plane starting Saturday at 4pm (3am in TX) so I won't be able to get email until I land on Sat. at 11pm (TX). Maybe you can give me a hint on what the hell to do between now and Sunday morning? 22 hr plane ride so I should be able to find some study time in there 🙂

[Minimorty]

DONTBENOSEY.COM?? Wow, I was just trying to help. Sheeeesh! 😉

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, im here just at a bar watching some basketball . I will def respond when i get home!

[Anonymous]

BaseballCPA – I'd give you grief for playing while some of us are desperate but you earned it! Seriously, dude, I'm desperate! Freaking out here!

[Minimorty]

You have your Ninja Notes and your Becker book, right?

Until you get back to Texas, do this:

Start at the beginning of your Ninja notes and start reading. Try to cover up the bottom half of the page and only reveal what you are currently reading. Once you read a heading, you'll want to start thinking about the rules, exceptions, calculations, formulas, etc. relating to that topic. See if you can think in your mind what will come next before you actually read what comes next. There are topics that you'll be very comfortable with and will know right away and there are other topics that you'll either have to think about or you wont know or you'll guess wrong. For those topics, immediately open the Becker book and read up on it. Take a few notes if you need to. Ideally, you would immediately do a few multiple choice on that topic, but that can wait until you get home. Go through the entire Ninja notes doing that. If you arent comfortable with a topic, go to the Becker book and read more on it.

[jkey57]

IMO, you shouldn't spend so much time writing and rewriting notes. It's a good idea to work a certain problem over that's giving you he**, but you're not going to gain an understanding of the concepts by rewriting the same sentence 15 times. That's ridiculous and foolish.

1st – Don't concern yourself with time. If you need to schedule for a month later, do that. It's not cost efficient, and it's very stressful to put yourself through an intense cram session, only to fail and have to take it again six weeks later.

2nd – Do not continue with another chapter until you have MASTERED the chapter you are on. With any exam that tests conceptual knowledge, being familiar with the material will kill you when the pressure is on. Familiarity gives you a false sense of confidence before you take the test, but we all know test material is intended to push the boundaries of your knowledge.

3rd – Don't look at any of these “notes” as some sort of a miracle. Rest assured, they are not. Let's be realistic: When a person condenses a 600 page textbook into 80 pages of 18pt font outlines, you'll be lucky if you can answer 40% of the questions correctly. At that point, you're just hoping to guess right.

Remember, there are no surprises with these exams; the content is listed and straightforward. It's your job to learn it and there are no excuses. You know it or you don't. You pass or you don't.

Best of luck and I hope this message clears your mind…

[Anonymous]

I have the Becker MCQs on my laptop and they do not require internet. Could I do the MCQ for the topics in there and then do the Wiley?

[Author]

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