[Rachael]

I wanted to get some people’s opinions on their experiences with comparing the degree of difficulty between NINJA and the exams they’ve taken – or their other prep systems vs. NINJA vs. Exam.
I’ve been using GLEIM mostly and NINJA just sometimes. I took AUD in November, got a 56 on my GLEIM practice exam and a 77 on my real exam – I truly believe that GLEIM is wayyy harder than the actual exam, which is why I wasn’t too discouraged by a failing REG practice exam score this past weekend. I’m sitting for REG on Friday and have switched to using NINJA exclusively and I feel like I’m acing these questions – not sure if its just easy compared to GLEIM or if I’ve actually learned something / improved.

What is your opinion and/or experience comparing your prep system or NINJA to the exam?

[jenpen]

Last year, I essentially ditched Wiley and went only with Ninja. I felt well prepared for all of the exams, except BEC but that was my fault for cutting corners. I've seen a couple of questions on the actual exam. So I would say that you're well prepared, and it's not just that the questions are easy.

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[Anonymous]

I have used Becker and Ninja and both prepared me well. Failed FAR because didn't give Ninja the time and attention I have with the other 3…I think:)

[itooshallpass]

I used Roger and Ninja for FAR and thought that both MCQs were very similar to the exam. Roger's sims were for the most part harder than the exam and Ninja's were a bit easier than actual sims.

[Recked]

If you are acing NINJA go back to Gleim, unless you feel the lower scores on Gleim are affecting your self confidence.
Gleim questions are known to be harder than the exam, so if you train on them, not only will you be solidly prepared, but you should be able to progress through the exam faster.
If the questions are too easy for you, then its like training for a marathon by running.
Train harder than you expect to perform at go time.

[Andyred04]

No doubt about it Gleim MCQs are tough as nails. However, I went into every exam fully prepared and rarely saw a single question that I was completely lost on. Although Gleim can be demoralizing because of how tough the questions are and how poorly you'll do on practice exams and question sets, I definitely would recommend sticking with it. I used Gleim probably 75% of the time I was studying and Ninja MCQs/Notes the other 25%.

FAR: 80 (Gleim, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs)
REG: 87 (Gleim, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs)
BEC: 87 (Gleim, Ninja Notes, Ninja MCQs)
AUD: 8/27/16

PA Candidate

[Tim]

I've only used Gleim. I never do the practice exams so I can't say how it compares to the real exam. For both FAR and BEC I was trending about 80-85% on the MCQ's during my review phase. I love how it breaks down my percent correct by section and subsection (so if average section has 4 subsections then there are 80 different topic breakdowns). This really helps me to identify my weak areas and hammer them until they aren't weak areas anymore. Gleim's questions and sims are definitely harder than the exam. Not because it covers extra material, but the questions are far more intricate and they try to trick you way more than the real exam does. I believe Gleim prepared me extremely well for FAR as there was nothing on the exam that Gleim didn't cover. There were a couple IT questions on the BEC exam that weren't in the Gleim book, but from what I've heard that's the case with all the study materials. There are just too many possible IT questions to cover them all. Gleim's coverage of COSO was a little too superficial but overall I think I was well prepared for BEC as well.

[Author]

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