[Anonymous]

Lucky for me, my Prometric center was open today after being closed for 3 days due to the hurricane. At first, I was hoping they’d be open on my test day. While my wish came true, I now wish they were closed. This test was a nightmare. I’ve gone over EVERYTHING in the Wiley book and everything Phil Yaeger highlighted. About 70% of the material I painstakingly studied were not on the freakin’ test!! I had to stop for a moment to wonder if I was even taking the right exam. About half of my multiple choice questions came out of left field. However, my Simulations weren’t so bad, which is something not many people here said. It was the mutiple choice that I found difficult. And I don’t even know if the testlets got harder. All 3 Multiple Choice testlets were extremely hard, IMHO. I’m so screwed. Here I was studying for 300 hours and I’m probably going to end up with a nice big fat 50!!! I’m so depressed. I don’t understand why the CPA exam is like this. It’s supposed to be on material that’s covered in the Wiley book. But it looks like they are testing on material that Wiley and Yaeger didn’t even cover.

In order to pass this, I’d either have to be one heck of a lucky guy or there’s going to be a nice big curve. But I seriously doubt this will happen. So, I’m expecting to have to retake REG. I’m at a loss for words right now. I don’t even know if any additional studying would’ve helped. I’m so annoyed. This is ridiculous!!

Sorry, I just had to vent.

[ROACH]

CPAsoonerorlater.. I bought Yaeger and regret it. I might even sell it back on ebay since the video lectures (esp. in BEC) are worthless.

I'm understanding more reading the lectures on Becker than on Wiley. The Wiley books are awesome for MCQs though.

BEC: 66 | 69 | 7/23/2013
AUD: 8/28/2013
REG:
FAR:

[Anonymous]

@ ROACH,

I agree, the Wiley MCQs are great. I definitely felt prepared for them on the test. And I just realized that my performance was weaker on Business Law, which Phil assured us that this NEVER happens. I guess the Becker study method is just better for me. But, I did purchase the CRAM disc from them since it was at a DEEP discount. I will attempt to use this to retake the exam soon. We will see where it goes from there with Yaeger…

[Anonymous]

I don’t doubt all the good things that people say about Yaeger. From what I’m reading here, it seems as though the new format is a lot harder due to the fact that they’re asking harder and more detailed questions now. So, Yaeger might’ve worked on the old format, but it’s terrible for the new format. I screwed myself by listening to Phil. He said to only do his questions and only study the topics that he goes over. Unfortunately, the real exam has more challenging and more detailed questions, so it is important to do as many practice questions as possible. Also, I’ve encountered many questions on topics that Phil didn’t cover. And I’ve even encountered questions on topics that Phil just quickly glanced over because Phil believed it wasn’t important enough to stress over.

Phil does a great job on getting you to understand the concepts on the important topics such as AMT, MACRS Depreciation, Itemized Deductions, Transactions in Property, Gifts/Estate, E&P, etc…. The problem is, most of that will probably not be on your exam. 80% of your questions will be on small, nitpicky details that you most likely skipped over in your book.

Based on my experience with my REG exam, my advice is…. know EVERYTHING and know it well. Do not overlook anything just because your review book is light on the topic.

[RedRage00]

I used Yaeger for FAR and BEC, and I know they only say to do their questions, but I didn't. I took Jeff's advice and did as many MCQs as I could.

I'm going to use them for REG as well.

Texas CPA
Licensed, March 2012

[mike_terror]

wow, I just purchased Yaeger 2011 complete course a month ago. After reading through all the post in this thread, I feel like my confidence has been shot and I'm getting pretty scared and worried with my decision.

CPAman and Roach both have bad experiences with Yaeger and regretted going with their course. Now I'm afraid what will lie ahead for me. I'm using Yaeger, Wiley Test Bank, Wiley Text Book, Ninja Flash Cards, and Ninja Notes….. this is basically the same materials CPAman used for REG.

Started studying for FAR this week and hope to take it at the end of November 2011, and my confidence level has dropped after reading everything lol. Should I be worried that my studying will go no where on the test? Or is this a luck of the draw type of thing with the topics on the cpa exam.

I chose Yaeger cuz of the high reviews everyone has given, and decided to skip Becker because of the “dry” reading material people have claimed it to be. Now I'm second guessing my decision.

@CPAMan, I'm sorry to hear about your score and situation, I wish you the best when you retake it. You will definitely come back better and stronger, CPAMan version 2.0. Please keep us up to date on your journey and experience through this madness, and also how your decision on the new material is helping you!

[RedRage00]

mike terror…..you'll be fine if you put in the hours. Not just putting in hours, but “quality” hours of studying. I don't think any program is “better” than others. You're going to find people that love and hate every study program. I used Yaeger for FAR and BEC and passed. You'll find people who pass and fail using Yaeger, Becker, etc….hell, some people pass just using the Wiley book without the lectures. It just depends on the person. Make a schedule and stick to it.

Texas CPA
Licensed, March 2012

[mike_terror]

Thanks RedRage00, that's very reassuring. I'll follow your advice and keep cranking out those MCQ instead of just the ones that are assigned.

By the way, did you use any other materials besides Yaeger? When did you take FAR & BEC, and if you don't mind, can you share your studying system / method / schedule?

I just started earlier this week, and so far I'm just following along on Cindy Simpson's lecture, play & pause vid, taking notes of her explanations, and reading the handout.

If you can share your study system of what you do, that would be great.

[Peanut]

@mike_terror, I know we can be a little scary on here with our experiences & horror stories, but don't let that get you down! The hardest part for me throughout this journey is learning my study habits and what methods will work for me. Can I ask how many hours you plan to dedicate each week to studying? Will you be studying full time, or are you working full time? FAR is the biggest so that's good get that one out of the way! I didn't pass FAR as you can see, but my advice would be, which ever lectures you are watching try to take really good notes. This doesn't always work for everyone, I've seen people pass all of their sections with 80's & 90's but never lifted a pen. I never took notes at first and as I went through this whole process I realized writing this material out made a huge difference. The second most important thing is do as many MCQs as possible, people will tell you this all the time–take it seriously! Hundreds if not thousands of MCQs! Good luck Mike, don't let us ruin your confidence 😛

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[mike_terror]

@peanut, thanks for the confidence booster. Right now I'm working part time and plan to squeeze in as much studying time as I can. I hope to take FAR by the end of November, so that gives me exactly 9 weeks including this week.

My plan is to do 4 hours a day, 7 days a week. I'm afraid because on the first section of the disc, the video was 55 minutes, and it took me close to 3 hours to play, stop, play stop, rewind, play stop and write down all the notes and explanations.

What is a good system or way to do this? I know that in the beginning of Jeff's Ninja Notes, it says to watch all the videos first. Should I play through all 15 disc of Yaeger first and just watch them without taking any notes, and then go back and rewatch a 2nd time now that I've seen everything but while taking notes?

There are a few basic principles here and there, such as whether to debit or credit a certain account, that I've forgotten from my accounting classes, and the lectures assume you already know them. It gets a bit frustrating at times since I'll have to pause and go search on the web to refresh my memory.

[Peanut]

It takes me about 8 hours for a 4 hour lecture. You will start to get the hang of it as you go along. In my opinion it's worth it. I usually don't need to go back and read the book because my notes are so good. This is just my opinion but I wouldn't watch the lectures twice, I would do it efficiently the first time. Take my advice with a grain of salt, everyone learns differently. I take about 4 or 5 pages front and back per chapter, in Becker there is 9 chapters not sure how many are in Yeager.

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Anonymous]

The only Yaeger course I regretted buying was the BEC course. Cindy basically just read the Wiley book. The REG course was good, but my only complaint is that Phil didn't cover much on Ethics & Legal Responsibilities nor did he cover anything on Circular 230. This is about 15% of the exam!!! Also, Phil's advice on only doing his questions is a very bad one. The REG exam is full of surprises, so the more practice questions you do, the better. Other than that, the REG course wasn't a total loss. I have absolutely no tax experience and all my Tax tests in college were open book, so this is my first time getting a real test on this material. So Yaeger did help me get my foot in the door. Now that I got my foot in the door and now know what to expect on my exam, I know I can make it next time.

There's no doubt about it. I put in the hours, that's for sure. But they weren't the “quality” hours I thought they were.

[Anonymous]

Ok, got back from my REG retake. It was a completely different experience this time. The multiple choice questions were pretty easy. I'm pretty sure I'm stronger there. There were no more than 2 or 3 questions per testlet that I was unsure of. Testlets 2 and 3 did get a tad bit harder, but not much. Everything was straightforward. It was MUCH easier than the Gleim questions I practiced with.

After I finished teslet 3, I was like, “I so passed this beast!!” But then the simulations came along. I would say 3 of my sims, I knew most of them (about 60% correct). 2 of them were like, “Huh???” And the Research question, I was clueless because I was getting either no hits or too many hits when I searched. I'm telling you, everytime I take these exam, the research questions seem to get harder and harder.

I know for sure that if I failed this, it's all due to the Sims. If that's the case, then I don't know what to do next time to prepare for those insane Sims. You need to be a real expert in this stuff to nail those. Let's hope I get a lot of partial credit because I sure can use it.

I did feel this exact way about AUD, so maybe my good performance on the MCQs will get me a passing score. Who knows?? All I have to do is wait until Dec 7th.

[Youngbizman]

Don't stress too much man. What you just described is exactly how I felt coming out of Audit, except I only felt good about maybe 2 of the 7 SIMS. And I ended up with a 93. Looking at your other score improvements, I bet you did well. You also have to consider, if it is that difficult for you, it is that difficult for others so the curve effect comes in to account.

[Anonymous]

@CPAMan,

if you did extremely well on MCQs you should be fine, like Youngbizman said, if you were struggling then everyone else was struggling too, consider that you studied sooooooo much.

At least you are feeling good about the MCQs, my second testlet was horrible, so much detail questions and my third testlet I had to rush, I am pretty sure that I will have to take it again.

I sure hope that the AICPA would give partial credits, all my sims are calculations except for the research question, it was ridiculous.

[Minimorty]

@CPAMan – That sounds pretty positive, you should be good to go. I am pulling for you.

[Author]

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