[DISLCPA]

Now that I have been reading posts and different topics, I keep seeing people mention learning from MCQ and I thing this is where I have been going wrong this whole time. Could someone explain to me what that actually means? From failing this test 8 years ago and now back on the horse with a failure already I am finding that studying for this exam is not like any ordinary test that I had to study for in college. I am retaking in Oct and I want this one to be a pass, so can someone help to explain how I need to approach this since apparently I have been doing it wrong. Please and Thank you in Advance.
Cindy

BEC(8/12/16)
AUD
FAR
REG

[SkiBum1990]

1st section of chapter: read (or lecture), take concise notes & do all MCQ
2nd section of chapter: read (or lecture), take concise notes & do all MCQ, — then do a good portion of previous section MCQ at random
3rd section of chapter: read (or lecture), take concise notes & do all MCQ, — then do a good portion of the previous section MCQ at random, then do a small % of the 1st section questions

…and so on and so forth.. so you are BUILDING UPON & REINFORCING topics in each chapter. When answering MCQ, if you get it wrong, write down why an answer is correct via the explanation, and (optional) if you got it right, write down why an answer is wrong. You can then refer to these notes for answering MCQ –Don't shoot for just quantity, shoot for quality too. — These are good memory and learning tools.

-Just recently adopted this method and am loving it. — Remember, you cant possibly know or take in everything..try and extract the most important things and reinforce my doing tons of MCQ.

-Not all study methods work the same for everyone.

“the mind can only absorb as much as the seat can take”

"The mind can only absorb as much as the seat can take"

B - 79
A - 68, __ (got bumped from Aug 4 release to Aug 23-THANKS AICPA)
R - Oct
F - Nov (HA! 1 month to study working full-time; love NTS rules)

[Anonymous]

First thing: people learn differently, so while one person (or, honestly, many people) on here may learn loads from MCQs, that doesn't mean that you'll learn well from MCQs. If you don't feel like you learn from them, don't feel like you *have* to do them. Different learning styles result in different learning methods for different people.

Secondly: people's learning methods from MCQs vary.

For me, I learned from them by trying to answer them, and when I got them wrong, reading through the explanation provided to see why it was wrong. However, the biggest learning thing for me was the challenge of trying to figure out what the right answer was. My dad used to say when I was in grade school that the most important learning moment is the “aha!” moment when you figure something out for yourself (which was his excuse to not explain math to me lol), and I guess he and I must have the same type of brain, cause that was the most important learning for me, too. I could read how to solve a problem, I could read the explanation for which answer was right, but the way I'd really learn it was by calculating it wrong, and having to re-calculate 15 times till I finally got an answer that was an option, and lo-and-behold it was the right one!

For some people, learning from MCQs means that for each MCQ, if they don't know the answer, they look it up on Google, in their textbook, re-play part of a lecture, etc. So, for them, it's not “struggle till you get it”, but “use your resources to learn how it should be done”. I didn't use this method, so can't speak to the details, but it's a method I've seen used.

For other people, learning from MCQs means taking detailed notes about how they should have done any MCQs that they got wrong (or any they got right but didn't really know, or for some people all MCQs regardless of right or wrong), then reviewing and/or re-writing those notes to solidify the concepts.

Then for some people, learning from MCQs is just a matter of doing so many that they start to figure out the mechanics of the MCQs and even if they can't quite articulate the specifics of what's going on, they still know the mechanics enough to answer the questions. So, these people might not read the answer explanations at all, and definitely don't take notes or research, but by doing 5000 MCQs total, they somehow learn the concepts just through repetition as well as learning the AICPA (since it's largely AICPA released questions) enough to pass the AICPA even if not the accounting.

…and I'm sure there are other methods of learning from MCQs that I've missed and that will be revealed in this thread.

So…”learning from MCQs” means different things for different people, because of different learning strategies. But, even with all these variances, MCQs aren't going to be the best learning method for everyone. For me, they were a critically important component of my review and prep, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are for you. I'd suggest trying a few different methods, to see if they work for you, but if they're all a waste of time, they don't keep doing it just cause someone else did.

[SkiBum1990]

also, what she said^

"The mind can only absorb as much as the seat can take"

B - 79
A - 68, __ (got bumped from Aug 4 release to Aug 23-THANKS AICPA)
R - Oct
F - Nov (HA! 1 month to study working full-time; love NTS rules)

[DISLCPA]

@skiBum1990 how you approached it is what I did. I read a chapter, took notes within the text and then did the MCQ for that section. which ever ones I got wrong or guessed right on I wrote the question and answer down in my notes. the problem I had is that once I did a question I pretty much memorized the answer ( once I see something like that I don't forget it) so then it got to where I didn't have to read the question because I knew the answer just by looking at the choices. It seems that since I have taken some no study time since my last test and now getting back into it for Oct, it seems that the information I studied for the test beginning of this month has sunk in. I purchased the Wiley MCQ for my retake and seem to be recalling the information a lot easier. It just sucks trying to find what works for you while failing sections.

BEC(8/12/16)
AUD
FAR
REG

[SkiBum1990]

I just started doing this for REG, on R4 (wish I would have realized this method earlier)… but I do see what you are saying with memorizing. — I suppose for sections like AUD/BEC its easier to memorize…but for REG its a lot of computations. — Even if I do remember a numerical answer, I still talk myself through the answer to reinforce things.

You can only do them over and over so much before its time to buy supplementary MCQ… I been using BECKER and just got NINJA MCQ which I will visit later.

B- 79
A- 68,70, Nov
R- Oct
F- ?

"The mind can only absorb as much as the seat can take"

B - 79
A - 68, __ (got bumped from Aug 4 release to Aug 23-THANKS AICPA)
R - Oct
F - Nov (HA! 1 month to study working full-time; love NTS rules)

[DISLCPA]

BEC is what I just failed and now taking again. Since I am not in a hurry to get this damn thing finished I am focused on one section until I pass then I will move on. I am trying to get one more section in before the end of the year but torn between taking AUD or FAR. I am saving REG for last since it is my easiest section. After the end of the year I won't be able to study or sit for any section until after tax season. I have way too much work during that time and I'm a wife with two kids. I won't be able to pick anything else up until May and hope to have the thing finished by the end of next year.

BEC(8/12/16)
AUD
FAR
REG

[hasy]

Do REG now…. before the exam changes….

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

-

BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[Sang]

1. A lot of times, I cannot retain the information from the watching the videos and reading the book the first time around.
By reading the answer explanations from the MCQs, it helps me retain the information better.

2. The videos and books usually cover the basic information. Sometimes there are questions in the MCQs that are not covered in the videos or books.
Sometimes you can learn new information from working the MCQs that are not covered in the videos and books.

3. Some people recommend taking the exam that you are most comfortable with first, so that it can boost your moral when you pass it.
The CPA exams will be made harder on April 1, 2017, and BEC and REG will have more changes than AUD and FAR.
I think you should take REG next, so that you can try to pass both REG and BEC before the April 1, 2017 changes.

FAR: (05/24/16) | (07/15/16) | (10/22/16)
AUD: (09/07/16) | (11/29/16) |
BEC: TBD
REG: TBD
Using Roger CPA Review + Ninja (MCQs, Notes, Audio)

[DISLCPA]

Thanks for the advice. Even after reading the changes, I still prefer to take REG last. I have been doing taxes for about 10 years so it is pretty common area for me. I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it, right now my focus is on passing BEC once that happens, which I won't know until Nov, I will see how my workload is at work ( I acquired 8 more locations of a current client, so now I will have about 1,000 employees for payroll, and 9 monthly reporting clients) to figure out how much study time I am going to have. if my time seems to be limited then maybe I will do REG.

BEC(8/12/16)
AUD
FAR
REG

[Anonymous]

@DISLCPA For what it's worth, I think your decision to keep REG till last is fine. I know I'm in the vast minority on this forum, and people probably discount my view on it since I already passed, but I don't think the changes are going to be nearly all they're cracked up to be. Within a short time, I expect the pass rates will be very similar to what they are currently. That short time they'll be either higher or lower, and if they're lower, it will probably be because review materials haven't caught up yet. Given that REG materials are fairly familiar to you, I would be even less worried about it than I would be otherwise.

Every so often, there's some big “the exams are changing – be scared!” thing, and after it, there's still about 1/2 the exam takers passing, and about 1/2 failing, and it doesn't seem to change that much. So, I think you're making the smart choice, to follow your plans without changing them drastically based on the coming changes. REG is getting a bit longer, but so what? More problems means each wrong one won't hurt you as badly, and if you're familiar with the material, then being longer isn't the end of the world.

Focusing on BEC – especially if it's not your strong suit – makes sense, since its changes will be larger and the exam prep materials will likely lag far behind in preparing people for it, but I wouldn't stress over REG.

[DISLCPA]

@Lilla. Thank You. I don't see how much REG could change either and especially coming out of a tax season I will be up to date on all tax changes anyway. I scored the highest on REG only missed it by a couple points when I took it 8 years ago, this is why I am saving it for last. I would rather have my last test be the one I am most comfortable with. Last time I took the exam I started studying for the next section right after taking a section. I am not doing it this time, I think that is why I never went back to try again. I want to tackle one section at a time and keep the information fresh in my head in case of a retake.

BEC(8/12/16)
AUD
FAR
REG

[sancasuki]

My first phase of studying is doing the reading and the assigned questions in CPAExcel. I don't go crazy with it but just try to get the gist of how things work. Go crazy, I mean do the questions over and over till I get them all right or spend a ton of time on one poorly worded bizarre question. It's just a waste of time doing that. The final 2 weeks are so is my review phase, where I do tons of Ninja MCQs and the last 2 days are spent on simulations. The simulations I do in no particular order.

I learned from the MCQs by doing them by category/topic and only doing new questions. For example, in one session when I was doing REG, I'd only do new questions on Corporate taxable income/loss. By getting a whole bunch of questions in a row on the same topic, I find that I learn more effectively than doing random questions on various topics. Some might think that it's better to do random questions since that's what the exam will be like but I didn't find that to be an issue. I'd consult my textbook for some questions if the explanation wasn't very good or I just wasn't getting it. The little hot links to more explanations in Ninja MCQS are very helpful.

Note taking is just so time consuming, I haven't bothered much at all. Maybe I had 20 pages of one sided notes for FAR and I write big with lots of spaces.

[Author]

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