[Madhav]

I am on my last chance to take Audit before my FAR expires. I failed Audit for fourth time with score of 54, 58, 71 and 65. Due to sheer frustration, i contacted a tutor and it is very expensive with cost of $1100. Do you think it is worth to hire tutor for my last part? I am really in double mind. I do not want to spend that much money considering i already spend a tons of it. What should i do?

[Anonymous]

My first instinct would be to say that the $1,100 isn't much in the long run of things. I don't know how difficult FAR was for you but if that one was as brutal as AUD then it might be worth it in my mind. Personally, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't spend the money because I'm incredibly cheap!

[turo9992000]

When does Far expire? How often would you meet with the tutor? I was going to hire A tutor, I think AUD would be the one. A lot of that stuff is conceptual and having someone to talk through the questions would have helped.

[Tono23]

Good day, Madhav:

Oh, my, who does this tutor think they are? @ 1,100 dollars are they an audit guru?! That's' a full review course, I'd even consider that amount college tuition for someone.

I am only speaking based on my experience. I once hired a CPA tutor. I did an initial phone screen to see what he had to offer. We spoked, and I hired him. Well, after a couple of sessions which were 1 hour long @$65 per hour, I decided to fire this tutor. Why? This individual was not meeting my expectations or needs. I specifically explained to him how I learned best, and what my goals were; neither were being addressed and he just went about it in his own way. Heck, he just wanted the money! I would NOT hire another one of these private tutors again! Unless they are a full pledge professor at a university, then I'll consider hiring someone again.

Moreover, it really is a hit or miss.How did you find out about this tutor? Did you read yelps reviews (be careful with those; could be misleading). Is this person a CPA? If so, how long has it been since they took the exam?

This is what I would opine you should do. Heck, I may even consider this route. Find a tutor at your local university or college! These services are free of charge! Are you a recent college grad? reach out to a professor which whom you made a connection with. They usually have CPA material with the institutions accounting department.

Lastly, may I ask what review course you're using? How did you study for FAR, REG & BEC? I need guidance since I cannot pass a single section.

Thank you.

Kind Regards,
Tono

[ruggercpa2b]

Before hiring a tutor you need to figure what exactly you hope to gain from having a tutor. If it’s someone to explain questions, you can get that for free on this forum. Also, Audit is very conceptual. I just don’t see the value of a tutor. If you need to talk things through, I talk to myself all the time and explain concepts that way. What review course are you using? Also, what is your study method. How are you preparing for these exams. One of the best ways to conquer exams is by reading how other people on this forum finally passed. There used to be a pinned post in the Audit section on how one lady finally passed audit. I will try and find that link.

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[Anonymous]

I really feel that tutors, like watching videos, is just delaying the inevitable which is really digging into the detail of the material in the literature and answering questions, getting them wrong, re-reading, and then answering them again until proficient.

[aaronmo]

$1100 in the scheme of your career? If it helps? If I had this issue, I'd do it. When i was studying for FAR, I felt like I was really behind for the first several chapters…and I promised myself I'd get a tutor if it didn't start coming together. Just that resolve alone felt good.

I was going to make a joke about hiring a Tudor but…well…yeah.

[Madhav]

@Tono I used Roger and Ninja MCQs for FAR, BEC and REG. As per audit, i feel more prepared than other sections but some how i just cannot get it done. During my NINJA MCQs for Audit, i was scoring in 90s and hence i feel so frustrated. However now i am thinking of using another tutor who will cost half of $1100 and probably help me with the materials. Any way thanks all for your opinions.

[Madhav]

As per tutor, I found a guy name Joseph. I read all his reviews in linkein and found almost all of them as positive. I think i will be studying with him and practice mcq using ninja and gleim cpa reviews. Thanks every one for their inputs.

[Anonymous]

AUD was the second hardest for me (3 tries) and a nightmare in its own right, because I couldn't even figure out where I was wrong. What I did was to finally read the Wiley chapter notes (i.e. all the stages of an audit from beginning to end, and the differences between the various report types).

But I wouldn't say that AUD is necessarily a difficult subject, so if you're scoring in the 50's then you should definitely re-evaluate your approach imo.

[Madhav]

I passed it but GLEIM Test BANK helped more than tutor. Tutor's help only help me gain 1 or 2 points but GLEIM TEST BANK WITH RATIO ANALYSIS SIMS HELPED ME. Thankfully i only spent 500 for tutor.

[TommyTheCat]

i dont see how a tutor can be that much better than the Roger review course.

I absolutely hated AUD, I avoid audit work like the plague and have done so successfully so far in my 12 years of public. I paid 2k for the rull roger package and it was more than enough.

If you have problems sticking to your schedule or being held accountable for putting the study time in then i can see the value of a tutor. But then again if its that hard for you to make time for this test then maybe its just deep down not that much of a priority to you, so even then a tutor might not do the trick.

[Madhav]

@Tommycat, I did not have any problems like you mentioned but i was not understanding the concepts which is heavily tested by AICPA. Thankfully i passed.

[Atiq]

@Madhav To sum it up, in your opinion getting a tutor isn't as helpful as working through the review course. I am currently using Surgent CPA and was thinking to get Ninja as supplemental study material. My score is decreasing and I need to get it back up in the 80's. That is why I was considering getting a tutor.

[Madhav]

@Atiq, yes in my case tutor did not really helped. I can give you specific example. I was struggling with assertions and Evidence portions of audit and when asked about it to tutor, he did not tell me anything new. He was just repeating my understanding and none of those topics actually got tested in real exam. However I bought GLEIM and it helped me since similar sims from it appeared in the exam. Hiring tutor is good idea if one is struggling with specific topic and needed little push however if you are really struggling, i would re-think my learning strategy as well as analysis my course if that is right fit for me or not. I was scoring in 70s before i hire tutor just to give you example.

[Atiq]

@Madhav, thanks. I am working on FAR, for now, I took the exam few months ago and got in the 40's. Preparing for the second retake has been hard due to work, family, and other obligations. You are correct, I need to rethink my studying strategy. I am adding Ninja to my study material hopefully that will help since they have additional materials e.g. audiobook, MCQS, SIMs etc. I so wanna be done this exam.

[Author]

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