[Anonymous]

So I am taking BEC on January 18th. I have to pass this one or else it’ll just ruin my motivation. I haven’t passed any exams yet and I am studying for BEC now. I went through the lectures but the way I learn the most of course is by doing MCQ. My question is… What should I focus on? I am using Gleim software so it breaks out the sections into 20 chapters. I have been reading things like don’t focus on learning curve it’s not tested and all that.

To people who’ve taken BEC- What is your best advice for me to focus on and really learn inside and out? Also, what is the BEST way to practice the writing section? I am really giving this my all I need to pass it

Thank you!!!

[monikernc]

i am taking BEC on 1/18 too. i am using ninja mcq and book. i should finish the first pass on all mcq's this weekend. then i will hit review and start drilling weak areas hard.
i spent some time this weekend going through the posts on BEC exam experience and Q3 study group to see what was shared for emphasis. like BEC the advice is all over the map – i am just going to hit it all again in review and hope i am ready on the 18th. if i had to test today i would not pass – so i will keep at it.

AUD - 93
BEC - 82
FAR - 76
REG - 88

How have you been?
Ninja book and MCQs and the forum, all first try! 2016
Licensed State of Montana April Fool’s Day 2020
State of Colorado June 2020 - AICPA Ethics 93
Experience was the worst part of the journey for me. You?
If you want things to change you have to do something different.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[monikernc]

i also plan on watching the exam experience thread closely as folks start testing again in january.

AUD - 93
BEC - 82
FAR - 76
REG - 88

How have you been?
Ninja book and MCQs and the forum, all first try! 2016
Licensed State of Montana April Fool’s Day 2020
State of Colorado June 2020 - AICPA Ethics 93
Experience was the worst part of the journey for me. You?
If you want things to change you have to do something different.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[ohiostategirlcpa]

You should know the learning curve. If it were not tested why would it be in Gleim?

Practice the writing part through repeated essay writing practice.

F91 A95 R90 B94
CMA since 2015
(Gleim books/PDFs, MCQs, SIMS)

[sar_rah]

i outlined the chapters and that really seemed to help. mainly focus on the mcqs and know and understand EVERYTHNG. also, dont stress over the writing. just know to have an intro where you restate the question, some body paragraphs addressing th poits that you addressed in your intro, and a conclusion offering help if they have any followup questions. i ran out of time on the writing and only had 20 minutes for all 3 memos. i had no idea what i was even writing. i just had what i said, no essay was more than 7 sentences.i walked out and cried thinking i bombed. turned out to be an 86 which i chalk up to the mcqs and then scoring minimal points on the WC

AUD: 98
REG: 91
BEC: 86
FAR: 83

DONE DONE DONE and DONE all on the first try! It IS possible, just keep on studying!

[monikernc]

i dread using the calculator that is provided for the exam. is it as awful working through all the calculations with the provided calculator as i imagine it will be? any advice on this point will be greatly appreciated. i am using ninja and the calculator is even more limited than the exam calculator to be of any help in preparing.

AUD - 93
BEC - 82
FAR - 76
REG - 88

How have you been?
Ninja book and MCQs and the forum, all first try! 2016
Licensed State of Montana April Fool’s Day 2020
State of Colorado June 2020 - AICPA Ethics 93
Experience was the worst part of the journey for me. You?
If you want things to change you have to do something different.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[MrCPA511]

I would say that after taking all the exams, I was always surprised after each exam on what I was tested on. There were always at least 1 or 2 topics where I thought to myself I would probably not get tested on this come exam day, but the topics ended up being either a sim or multiple questions. Fortunately, I prepped for every combination of questions possible. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking you will not be tested on something.. you most certainly will.

What worked for me was to do every MCQ to a point where seeing it becomes second nature and I do not mean that in a memorizing manner. You should be able to show your work on every MCQ even if you already know what the answer is.

FAR - 86 7/2014
AUD - 95 10/2014
REG - 87 1/22/15
BEC - 84 7/2015

[accountingisfun]

The two times I took BEC and passed (go figure I don't have credit it for it right now and will have to retake before end of 2016…) I barely did any multiple choice questions.

I strictly read through the Wiley text book (no lectures of any kind) – maybe hit 50-80 questions the first time through and the second time through did about another 100-120.

Keep in mind I'd imagine I'm in the huge minority here…

AUD - 90 (6/15)
REG - 84 (12/15)
BEC - 79 (6/16)
FAR - 82 (11/16)

[hasy]

@monikernc, The calculator they provided is actually not that bad. You can use the 10-key and it's really fluid the way the numbers come out. The one Roger provides is actually worse.

@OP, Note that I didn't read any of the responses except the one above, please don't do that.

Do as many MCQs as you can. I did all of Roger's (even went back to redo the ones I got wrong), 900+ from NINJA, and 800+ from WTB. For the NINJA and Roger questions, so little by day. When I studied, the moment I finished a chapter, I would do 50 questions from Roger. His book was 7 chapters, so it wasn't that bad. But I also did 30 MCQ fro NINJA every single day, matching the material that I studied. There is a drop down menu where it lists sub-categories so you can customize the topics you have questions on. My studying was spaced out 7 weeks but really, I only studied consistently every day for about 5 weeks.

I think the key for me getting a higher score is that if I attacked my weak points, which was IT and capital budgeting. I even understood variances and cost accounting but my exam had so much NPV questions on it that I thought it was so unfair. So finish the book and keep hacking at the NINJA questions. I did the NINJA daily that once I finished the book, I was at the adaptive phase, so I knew where I was weak at.

I gave myself 45 minutes for the writing portion. Even as a decent writer, I got comparable, though I think it's mostly because I didn't use enough key words. Also, I barely finished. So leave time for that. Yes, MC are worth more, but the WC are such easy points. Good luck.

AUD - 83
BEC - 80
FAR - 83
REG - 78

BEC - 80 (Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB)

FAR - 72; 83 (Roger + NINJA MCQ)

AUD - 83 (Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB)

REG - 52; 78 (Roger + NINJA MCQ)

Ethics - 68, 96 (how I dislike you)
-
This forum is more addictive than drugs. Still returning after licensure.

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

[monikernc]

hasy , thank you for the info on the calculator. and all the additional info is appreciated, as well. happy new year! i hope the job front improves for you soon. keep us posted!

AUD - 93
BEC - 82
FAR - 76
REG - 88

How have you been?
Ninja book and MCQs and the forum, all first try! 2016
Licensed State of Montana April Fool’s Day 2020
State of Colorado June 2020 - AICPA Ethics 93
Experience was the worst part of the journey for me. You?
If you want things to change you have to do something different.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[ocarina]

Make sure you are golden on the writing assessment section since it's 15 stupid easy points you will need. (I did with my 78!)

Focus on FORMULAS! This is in regards to all the chapters related, especially financial management!!

For Cost Accounting memorize the t-accounts associated… WIP/Finished Goods/COGS, ect.

IT just review over something like the Ninja Notes. Memorize yo terms.

COSO Model – know that inside and out. Seriously.

Think LOGICALLY about the Economics section. If you are recently graduated you should have some of this stuff still in your head. It's all conceptual if I remember right!

FAR - 78
AUD - 82
REG - 79
BEC - 78

Study Materials: Becker Self Study, NINJA Notes, NINJA MCQ for review
Started March 2015 and finished December 2015 all on first attempt. Licensed CPA Jan 2016.

IT Auditor/CyberSec Consultant in Public Accounting
Future goals: Learn IT Network infrastructure, obtain CISA & CISSP

[MinSeokYi]

BEC….

I had to retake BEC because my credit expired, however, the exam was a terrible experience!

My second teslet was very difficult, so, my whole timing was off and had like +30mins to do the writing portion. I don't really know how I scored on the writing portion, however, I am assumming that I did not get the full 15 points since I had to rush everything…

The night prior I got like 3-4 hrs of sleep and came into the exam with a little headache. Thankfully, I wasn't taking FAR in this condition….

Luckliy, I pass the exam with a decent score…

(I went straight home after my exam and realized I got the whole content wrong in my writing) I mixed up some terms and the answer was completely wrong.

Not sure how this changed my score though since they don't tell you individual breakdowns when you pass.

BEC: Passed
REG: Passed
FAR: Almost Past (lol)
AUD: I thought I passed with flying colors, but I wasn't close!

[Anonymous]

“Don't ever make the mistake of thinking you will not be tested on something.. you most certainly will.”

With all due, unless you have access to information the rest of us don't, there's no way you could know that. “Study everything” is worthless advice (great at upping people's anxiety however) versus “study lots of MCQ's” – which is probably the most helpful direction anyone got on this or any other exam forum.

[hannahFletcher16]

@ocarina!

What was your study strategy? Like how did you go about starting each course and learning/remembering it all in order to pass all on your first try? I am using the same materials as you mentioned, Minus the Ninja notes, but I have other notes I feel are good. I have taken BEC once and got a 65 without Ninja, so I added Ninja and plan to re take the exam on 4-5. Are you a pretty quick learner or do you have to try?

I would die if I could pass all of these as quickly as you! Any advice would be awesome! Thanks!!

[jlee1086]

I have to second 2021. No one can possibly memorize everything so to study everything isn't the most productive endeavor. It's worth noting that in college, every professor I had who told us to study everything only tested us on a tiny portion of what they taught. But I am curious, has anyone had the experience of a review course instructor telling you not to spend so much time on X but X ends up being on your exam?

I had a Becker instructor say BEC is the most predictable part because they don't regularly update like REG and FAR. But from what I read, people's exam experiences are all over the map when it comes to what they see. The most scary part is IT, where they either barely get any questions or it makes up a majority of their exam. To make matters worse, IT feels like several chapters jumbled together (there's no connection between subsections). The Ninja audio makes me nervous. The “random words” that “have a good chance of appearing” according to Jeff are not really discussed in Becker (they're in glossary but not in actual text). Who has the right emphasis?

FAR 57 (11/2014), 64 (1/2015), 79 (7/2015)
AUD 68 (2/2015), 79 (11/2015)
REG 79 (1/2016)
BEC 81 (4/2016)

[cbecken]

Just started studying for BEC. Have to pass this exam or I have to submit another Application of Intent and possibly meet more requirements to sit. I 3rd the question to Ocarina about your study techniques.

One more general question for the forum. Is it important to know the actual Title #s for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002? Just got through B1 in Becker and already feeling stressed.

FAR 51, 53
REG 61
AUD 58
BUS 5/13/16

FAR 51, 53
REG 61
AUD 58
BEC 62

[Author]

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