[mjbey1s]

Hello all,

Last night I received a passing score of 80 on FAR, and I am officially DONE with the CPA Exam! I promised last night that I would post my method on here because in October of 2016, I scored a 68. I was able to raise my score 12 points!!!!

If you aren’t willing to put in a RIDICULOUS amount of time and effort into this, then stop reading now……I hate to put it that bluntly, but that is how people were with me, and that is what each and every one of you need in order to pass this exam.

When I took FAR in October and failed with a 68, I was devastated. In my mind, I had studied my ass off and done everything I possibly could to pass the exam (I was dead wrong). By the way, I used Becker review and Ninja MC. I watched all of the Becker lectures, did every multiple choice question, every sim, and all of the practice exams. I bought the Ninja notes but never actually read them. I then moved to doing every single Ninja multiple choice and Sim. In the two weeks of review, I went back and forth doing practice exams from Becker and Ninja MC. I FAILED………….

After I got done pouting, I got right back to work. I scheduled my exam 60 days from the date I failed, and decided I was going to study more than I ever had in my entire life. Instead of watching the becker lectures, I read every stinking word of the becker book and took over 100 pages of my own personal notes. As i read each section, I took my notes, then I did the sets of multiple choice. Then I did the SIMS for each chapter. After this, I went straight into doing Ninja MC. I completed every single multiple choice that the software had to offer once again, and did not do the SIMS. (They are a waste of time. The ninja sims are nothing like the exam. Becker has very close examples).

After I finished the Ninja MC, i went and got graph paper, and using the 100 pages of notes I took, I made 1-3 pages per chapter of graph paper notes detailing out the most important things from each chapter (Ex: J/E’s, definitions, different phnemonics, etc). I split the page into three columns and wrote my notes. After I did this for all 10 chapters of Becker, I read over these notes every other day (it was about 21 pages, front side only, of notes total). During my review time, probably about 14 days, I read over my graph paper notes, read over ninja notes 3-4 times total, and did constant progress tests of Becker and Ninja MC.

The last week leading up to the exam, I took off work the entire week. I read my graph paper notes every day, did MC from both softwares, and actually went back and reviewed every single SIM from the becker software from all 10 chapters. I probably spent between 30 and 45 hours per week studying during these 60 days.

This study method may sound ridiculous, but it took me from a 68 to an 80 on FAR. You may be thinking to yourself, “There is no way I can do that…i don’t have the time. I want to hang out with friends….I have to take care of my dogs….I work too many hours”. Those are all just excuses. We all have other time consuming things in our lives, but you know what? No one cares, and that includes the AICPA. They are trying to weed out the individuals that don’t want it enough. I hate to be blunt again, but it’s just the honest to God truth.

I am going to end this post with a quote from Will Smith that I would listen to every single day during my workouts over the 60 days I studied for this exam.

“I have never really viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic. While the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working. While the other guy’s eating, I’m working.”

“The only thing that I see that is different from me is that I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. You may have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, but if we get on the treadmill together, there are two things that are going to happen. Either you’re getting off first, or I’m going to die”.

If anyone has any other questions about my method, I will be getting notifications on my phone and will respond ASAP. After this post, I will no longer be around on this forum! Willing to respond today to anyone who needs any advice!

[Lucy15]

Congratulations on such an achievement, it must be such a relief to be done! Very well deserved. A couple questions: you said you split your paper into three columns when taking notes on the graph paper. Did each of these columns contain something specific, or was it just a way for you to fit more notes on one page? Also, how did you manage to make it to the gym while studying this way and working? Lol did you ever sleep?! Congrats again! I just failed REG for the second time so I'm hoping maybe I can follow some of your tips and finally see a passing score for that exam!

[mtaylo24]

Respect man! Good job!

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[mjbey1s]

Sorry, I had so many thoughts in my mind and was trying to explain all of them. Let me be a little more clear.

I did not study while at the gym. I usually got up at 4:30am and went to the gym to start my day. Then I would come home and study from 5:30 to 6:30. Then I would study during lunch for 1 hours, and then study 2-3 hours when I got home. Luckily, my work was very supportive of me and pretty much let me work only 40 hours every single week while studying. I work for a corporation in the tax department.

As far as the graph paper, I just split it into three columns to fit more details on one page. This was actually a concept that Jeff explained either on a blog I read he wrote or on the ninja website somewhere. It is just a way to get the most important details down (especially J/E's and calculations), and put it in a format that is reasonable to read over every day. My 100 pages of notes would not have been good for that. I think it may have been one of the most valuable pieces of study material that I used. It was especially good for Gov't and NFP.

For you @Lucy15, based on my REG experience, I think the graph paper would be very valuable. There is a lot of memorization that goes into that exam, and like I said, it is a good way to get a summarize packet of information that is like GOLD.

[Anonymous]

I love it! Don't just pass the exam, kill it!

[santaclaws]

@mjbey1s

could you spare the AUD and REG techniques used?

I am having hell with AUD, failed twice miserably. Reg next month. 4 weeks left 25% done.

[mjbey1s]

@santaclaws,

REG was the first section that I passed. All I used was Becker for that exam, and I spent about 20 hours per week studying. This was the least amount of hours spent on any exam. I was a little different though because ALL of my experience is in tax and I also worked for a small CPA firm in college filing over 200 individual tax returns per year. This gave me great insight into the individual tax portion of the exam. The Becker book is very good for REG, and the MC questions are very close to the exam. The SIMS are what I thought got me, but I guess my knowledge got me through. I was very surprised to get an 83 honestly.

AUD was another monster. I took it twice and scored a 73. Then I followed the exact same concept as above, and I went from a 73 to an 83. I really think that my method works, and could work for anyone. Its just very painful and time consuming. I did nothing except sleep, work out, study, work, study, sleep. I really think that reading the book and taking my own notes is what gave me the understanding of all of the material. The lectures put me to sleep and i never got anything out of them. I only watched the lectures the first time I took an exam.

I passed REG and BEC on the first try. Passed AUD on the 3 try, and passed FAR on the second try…

[Anthony]

How much did your scores such as trending/avg scores on Ninja MCQ/Becker improved on the second time around?

[mjbey1s]

When I took FAR the first time, I was trending in the mid to upper 70's on Ninja MC.

The second time, I was mid to upper 80's….after reading the book and doing all of the notes I did, I gained a greater understanding of everything…..

[Ag12thman]

@mjbey1s – This is a GREAT post. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experiences and method. I have already favorited it. It really is a huge help to those of us who are struggling with this whole process. I have a family (wife and 2 kids), very busy job, house, vehicles, yard, etc. to keep up with so some of what you said definitely hit close to home for me. I also like to workout and really do not think well if I do not get in at least a good hour on at least 5 days per week.

My question is – how did you specifically use Becker? It sounds like you did not do much lecture video watching and did a lot more reading on your own. Did you follow the Becker study method as they outline in their course instructions? How did you split up the sections or did you split them up at all? For example, Jeff says to watch all lectures (or, in your case, read the entire book) before attempting any MCQs at all. Others say there is no way they can study that way as the concepts would be all jumbled up in their minds, so they go one section at a time (reading, working the MCQs, and then working the SIMs). Others go even further and will split things up into one (or just a few) lecture(s) and then will stop and work the MCQs related to that one (or just a few) lecture(s). It sounds like you did this one chapter at a time (i.e. read all of F1, then F1 MCQs, F1 SIMs, read all of F2, then F2 MCQs, then F2 SIMs,…and so on), but just want to be sure I understand how you successfully implemented the Becker materials. I am using Becker primarily as well and also have some of the Ninja materials.

Also, did you go straight to doing Ninja MCQs after you fully completed the Becker materials, or did you go to them after completing each Becker chapter?

FAR: July 2016

[mjbey1s]

The first time I took FAR, I did the lectures, piece by piece, and all of the multiple choice, piece by piece as it coincided with each lecture. I respectfully disagree with any method that involves reading an entire chapter and then doing all of the multiple choice, much less reading or watching lectures for all chapters and then doing the questions.

Also, as far as splitting up the sections, the first take I did 1 section some weeks and 2 in others. Depended on how far I got and if I needed to redo any material.

The second time I studied, I did not watch a single lecture. I read the book by each lecture section (the pages included for each lecture piece), and then did all of the associated questions for each lecture that I took notes on. I used the ebook by the way also.

Lastly, I did not touch anything with Ninja until i was fully completed with the Becker course. I think it is good to start fresh with Ninja after Becker to give you a fresh outlook on how Ninja organizes the questions differently than Becker.

If I didn't answer anything, let me know.

[Scared-cpa]

@mjbey1s Thanks for your post! I used CPAexcel and Wiley test bank my first go around with FAR and got 67. I studied 1 month with Ninja MCQ only and got an 82. I'm so elated. I'm currently on AUD and getting through the material much faster than FAR. I'm 25% of the way through (started a week and a half ago) and sit for the exam on the 8th of March. I am done studying on the 3rd of March so I won't have much time at all to review. Do you suggest I just go all of the MCQs and SIMS that Wiley test bank has to offer or use Ninja? I would love to use Ninja again since it was my saving grace for FAR, but I don't think 5 days is enough time to fully utilize much of anything. So now I am kind of freaked out about how to “tie up” AUD at the end. I have no auditing experience, by the way. Never took an auditing class in college as an undergrad and currently a full-time grad student too I don't work currently.

[Spartans92]

Congrats to you guys! I somehow did all Becker questions and some Ninja Questions and still failed.. But I will be honest I was only able to study 3 hours a day and I didnt study every day. I left myself only 3 days to review so I knew going in I was going to fail.

Thanks for the post.. I need a new study method 🙂

BEC- PASS

[mtaylo24]

@scared_cpa I knew you could do it! Good job!

@Spartans92 You will knock it out next time. Keep your head up!

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[Cruzer]

@illoho1 how did the NINJA notes help you? Did you end up using them to review or as part of your daily studying?

[NotYourAverageCPA]

Congrats on passing @mjbeys1! Only thing I caution is not to represent yourself as a CPA yet until you get licensed (its a grey area saying you're a cpa right when you pass them exam). The state boards can enforce disciplinary action if they were to find out.

FAR - PASS
AUD - PASS
REG - PASS
BEC - PASS

NY CPA- Licensed Jan 2016
CISA Exam - Passed June 2016

[Author]

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