74 BEC and 74 Audit… Have any ideas for study to help me gain 1 more point?

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  • #167838
    Jacquelyn
    Member

    This testing window I received a 74 on Audit and a 74 on BEC… I kid you not. Unbelievable, I know. I have been using Gleim self study, and working full time. I am going to decrease my hours at work to gain more hours for study. Also, I am looking into taking a crash class offered in Minneapolis in April/May to supplement my study. Can you share your study habit success stories with me? How much reading vs problems did you do? How many hours did you study before a break? How did you learn new chapters while refreshing the old ones? I need some encouragement and ideas to supplement my regular routine. Thank you

    REG 80

    Audit 74, 72, 69, 74

    BEC 71, 74

    FAR have not sat for yet

    B 71, 74, 84*
    A 74, 72, 69, 74, 87*
    R 80* ... lost credit... 82* done forever!!!
    F 68, 68, 74, 78*

    Yep, I've gotten five 74's! Wah!

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)
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  • #685685

    youve already passed REG so you don't need too much advice on how to pass these things

    obviously a 74 is not what we want to see but youre pretty much right there, just tidy up on a few sections you were weak on while keeping your stronger sections fresh. That's how I was able to improve by 23 points on audit.

    As far as my personal study habits, I do a ton of MCQ and do my best to understand the material rather then memorize it because I have an extremely poor memory. The way to keep older sections fresh is by doing MCQ or by going back and re-reading the section (and/or your notes).

    Again, I dont think you need too much advice. Just a few more days of studying your weaker areas would have resulted in 2 passing scores I imagine.

    BEC- 80
    REG- 68, 71, July
    AUD- 61 , 84
    FAR- -- 75 🙂

    #685686
    jeff
    Keymaster

    From one fellow two-time Club 74 member to another: don't cut corners. Study like you scored a 64 not a 74.

    You're not “one point away” today. You're 75 “points” away today.

    I lost my FAR credit due to back to back 74s … I know how it feels. I also know how to rebound from it (92).

    Study with a vengeance like you want to kick its teeth in.

    AUD - 79
    BEC - 80
    FAR - 76
    REG - 92
    Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
    NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71
    #685687
    WhereIsGod
    Member

    Hi , I am sorry to hear about your story

    I had the same experience . I mean, I got a 74 for my first try on BEC and I got a 74 for my first try on REG

    I think reading the materials is very important. Read hard to understand the concept and really absorb them.

    Doing the practice is important too and that helps you to understand the materials

    But after doing some practice, I think it is better to come back to read through the book again

    Before I took the REG for the second try in Feb, I planned to buy new book from Wiley with the test bank ( I have been using Becker for all of my four parts) . But I changed my idea because I did not think I did well enough on Becker's material and practice.

    So I did not buy anything new as supplementary stuff but just went back to my Becker book. I read through the book again and did all of the practice for twice .

    This time I got a 84. I think I could get higher score because four to five questions I did wrong were clearly written in Becker's book but I got confused when I was at the exam ( due to the time constraints )

    That is why it is so important to read the book

    Do not feel too bad. 74 is just so close to pass. You will pass next time!!!

    Good luck!!

    #685688
    Jacquelyn
    Member

    Thank you for your feedback. Did either of you use a live classroom setting when studying? If finances allow, I want to add the Ninja flash-cards to my routine. Thoughts on these supplements?

    B 71, 74, 84*
    A 74, 72, 69, 74, 87*
    R 80* ... lost credit... 82* done forever!!!
    F 68, 68, 74, 78*

    Yep, I've gotten five 74's! Wah!

    #685689
    WhereIsGod
    Member

    live classroom setting? you mean go to the Becker class?

    If I understand you well, I can tell you that there is not big help there

    I paid for my live classroom setting but I only went to FAR session

    I do not think it is very helpful

    But Becker has a service. You can send your questions to them and they will give you answers within 24 hours

    That did help me a lot

    #685690
    Jacquelyn
    Member

    ….. @Jeff… I am actually a three-time club 74 member! But not for long… Been in this club for too long. Going to pass these bad-boys in May 🙂

    B 71, 74, 84*
    A 74, 72, 69, 74, 87*
    R 80* ... lost credit... 82* done forever!!!
    F 68, 68, 74, 78*

    Yep, I've gotten five 74's! Wah!

    #685691
    WhereIsGod
    Member

    Also I agree with Jeff

    When you review the material for the second try, just do it as you did the first time: review EVERYTHING

    My seond try on REG was very different with my first one. I mean the exam questions are on totally different topics. So ” do not cut the corners”

    #685692
    Jacquelyn
    Member

    @WhereisGod… this is a CPA prep class taught out of a Minneapolis based University that I researched online. It is called Twin Cities CPA Review. It is not Becker related, nor is it related to any specific study program. I thought it would help to solidify weak areas that I cannot master on my own.

    Thank you for your feedback on your classroom setting. Specifically, was it not helpful because it was not in depth enough beyond your book? Or was it too canned? etc?

    B 71, 74, 84*
    A 74, 72, 69, 74, 87*
    R 80* ... lost credit... 82* done forever!!!
    F 68, 68, 74, 78*

    Yep, I've gotten five 74's! Wah!

    #685693
    WhereIsGod
    Member

    On Becker's live room class, the only thing they did is to highlight the book 🙂

    You are welcome

    Good luck!

    #685694
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I have a different perspective on studying. It worked well for me so I'll share it since I've never heard this style from anybody else.

    1. Go through all the lectures, make all the little highlights and notes. Just finish them as soon as possible. You shouldn't need them again if it all once you've already done them once.

    2. Re-read the book all the way through.

    3. Print out the MCQ's. Read the question, don't look at the answer options. Try to get the answer without looking at the answers provided. If it takes you more than 2 minutes, just read the answer descriptions and read all of them. When I first started studying, I tried to get every answer right and that's not the point. The Becker MCQ's are meant to help recall and supply additional fact nuggets that weren't explicit in the text. And if you're taking more than 2 minutes to recall, then you need to work on re-reading which would be provided by reading the answer descriptions. Mark the ones that are you giving you trouble and go back to them several times. Make additional notes and highlights on the questions so you can remember what gave you trouble last time and highlight particular phrases and fact nuggets from the answer descriptions.

    4. If you feel you need extra practice, try Wiley's software. But by the end, I was able to do all the questions from memory without looking at the answer choices.

    Once I went through all the material, I used Jeff's NINJA guide and reviewed it for atleast a half hour every day to build up my recall. For example, when you get to the Pensions section in FAR, Jeff provides the high level stuff you must know, but a bunch of other things about pensions should be going through your head at the same time (like doing the actual calculations).

    I passed all my sections with only a week of 8am – 8pm study for each exam (with the exception of FAR because I couldn't get to 8 and 9). And the only way I was able to do that was not spending hours racking my brain on a questions where the answer descriptions and making your own notes are a lot more valuable.

    #685695
    mopena14
    Member

    You have to just keep on going, I've seen my share of 70s and I just kept hitting it again maybe tweak a little way in material or try just adding a little testbank here or there, Jeff's notes have helped me out a lot, I always make sure to rewrite them at least once.

    BEC 73, 71, 79 (1/3/12)
    AUD 48, 70 (1/31/12), 85 (4/9/12)
    REG 70, 61, 77 (2/29/12)
    FAR 42, 74 (5/29/12), 80 (7/16/12)
    Ethics - 98 (4/20/12)
    Officially a CPA (8/9/12)

    #685696
    Jacquelyn
    Member

    wow thank you David. I never thought to try the MC's without the 4 options there. That is a great tool to help me not rely on the 4 answer choices. And it will really help me to determine if I am guessing, or honestly know it.

    On your note taking, are you pretty much re-writing the outline in your main study program, but in your own words? Or are you creating notes from multiple sources of data (online, text books, ninja notes, etc)?

    Thanks for the new perspective. It is greatly appreciated.

    B 71, 74, 84*
    A 74, 72, 69, 74, 87*
    R 80* ... lost credit... 82* done forever!!!
    F 68, 68, 74, 78*

    Yep, I've gotten five 74's! Wah!

    #685697
    nextstopCPA
    Participant

    @Jacquelyn…I agree AUD is the demon test. Why is it so difficult to pass? I am taking my third stab at it in April. But I really like David's suggestions. Should help me cement the info for my retake! Kick AUD in the throat on your next retake!

    FAR Passed
    REG Passed
    AUD Passed
    BEC Passed

    All aboard, this train's leaving. Next stop, TBD!

    #685698
    Jacquelyn
    Member

    @nextstop….I see we are both team 74's! I have NO IDEA why it is a killer test. I personally have issues with the simulations. Do you have a good software for sims you use? I use Gleim Test Prep, but their simulations are really just multiple choice questions put into T/F statements, and you pick the answer. They haven't provided me with solid sim practice.

    B 71, 74, 84*
    A 74, 72, 69, 74, 87*
    R 80* ... lost credit... 82* done forever!!!
    F 68, 68, 74, 78*

    Yep, I've gotten five 74's! Wah!

    #685699
    nextstopCPA
    Participant

    @Jacquelyn, I was also using Gleim simulations but stopped after the 17th unit. They were helpful but obviously not helpful enough. I am sure the SIMS did me in this go round as well. I am going to look over the AICPA released simulations. Hopefully, that will be beneficial.

    FAR Passed
    REG Passed
    AUD Passed
    BEC Passed

    All aboard, this train's leaving. Next stop, TBD!

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)
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