[Danny12490]

Hello All,

I am currently working and will begin to study for the CPA exam as soon as my materials arrive. I am using Becker’s online CPA study and my question for those who use it or even those who use Wiley CPA Excel, what exactly are your study routines. By that I mean do you read the chapters entirely or do you prefer to read/skim and focus a majority of your efforts on multiple choice practice and doing review exams.

Thank you and I am looking forward to any and all help!

Best,

Daniel

[i3ekah]

Danny,

I'm using Becker and I tailor my studying according to how much time I have and which section I'm studying for. I usually dive right into the lectures, and make the notes/highlights they suggest. Then I work on the homework, and after I've completed a chapter I complete several small comprehensive progress tests. Those are awesome – I use them when I just have a few minutes, or when I'm not sure I've really mastered a chapter. They were especially helpful for audit since there is virtually no math in that section.

I haven't utilized the books as much as I should have due to time constraints, but I do print out the chapter outlines and I like to be quizzed on the glossary a day or two before the exam.

You'll find your groove, but I think it's really important to do as many multiple choice as you can – both homework and progress tests. I try to keep the number of questions on the progress tests very low, so that I can see my results quickly and figure out where I went wrong. I'll do 10 questions if I'm focusing on one chapter, or maybe 18-24 questions if I'm testing myself on everything.

[Tux]

It depends how well you already know the material.

With all sections, I feel like I'm starting from scratch and not just reviewing, but LEARNING the material.

So this is my process –

1-

I watch ALL videos, highlight the book and take notes in the book (I usually write a lot more than the Becker video tells you to write, so I can go back and understand it later.)

2-

go through the MCQ's quickly and write rules, formulas, etc on notecards, grouping them with a rubber band by topic and by chapter. At this phase, I'm not really trying to remember everything. Just making sure I understand everything and what they're saying. (I skip the optional MCQ's at this time)

3 –

Here is where I go back through the MCQ's and really try to get them right and apply the rules, and really STUDY and LEARN, and REMEMBER, and test myself.

4-

Go back through the MCQ's again trying to do them faster and also doing the optional sections (either in this phase, or the previous phase 3 mentioned above)

BUT, doing MCQ's is the BEST use of study time, so if you feel like you have a good foundation in the material, go ahead and start with the MCQ's just to see how much you already know.

You can write notecards on the topics you have the most trouble with and just keep doing more and more MCQ's till the rules stick in your head.

So, basically, I say it depends how much you already know.

FAR - 86 - 2/27/14
AUD - 75 - 5/29/14
BEC - 80 - 8/31/14
REG - 89 - 2/27/15
Praise Jesus! I'm done!!

Study resources:
Becker
Wiley test bank

[JamesBJames]

Becker self-study here. I'm not sure how different that is from the online stuff, but here's what I do:

Start up the first module. Watch one of the lecture sections while pausing the video intermittently to take notes. Do all of the related homework. Did I miss any, or were there any questions I was unsure about? Do them again. Go to the next lecture section and repeat until everything's done.

Sometimes I do the SIMs and sometimes I don't. At the very least, I look at the correct answers and walk through the problem, but I usually don't spend a lot of time on them.

I also do a couple of progress tests when I'm done with a module.

FAR: May 1st, 2014 - 91
AUD: May 29th, 2014 - 97!
BEC: July 16th, 2014 - 91
REG: August 29th, 2014 - 88

Licensed December 2015

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn by clicking my username!

[Danny12490]

Thank you everyone who has contributed thus far! My next question is those of you who use Wiley Test bank do you find it useful and how do you utilize it efficiently and to the maximum to enhance your studying.

[Tux]

Danny –

I use Wiley in phase 3 of my studying (see my previous post above)

I use it when I get to around ch. 2 or 3 in “phase 3” because in Becker's progress tests, the questions are arranged in order of chapter.

I like Wiley because I can choose the topics I want to answer questions about, and the topics are randomized. So, it helps me to be tested on jumping around from one topic to a totally different one, just like I would have to do on the exam.

Also, the more Becker progress tests that you do, the more you get familiar with the questions, so using Wiley in addition provides additional questions.

Wiley questions sometimes address topics that Becker doesn't cover. So, it's another way to learn more material, too.

I see in another post, several people are recommending Ninja MCQ.

I used Wiley for FAR and AUD.

I am studying for BEC and have not purchased Wiley yet. I am sort of considering Ninja, but I'm hesitant to switch to something new since I've had good luck with Wiley, so far, and don't want to have to learn a new software, at this point.

BUT, for you, just getting started – it's worth it to try Ninja as your supplement (great price and it seems to have good reviews)

If you like it, stick with it through all your exams. If not, you can switch to Wiley and purchase it from Amazon.com.

But, if you haven't even received your Becker material yet. Just WAIT to buy anything extra.

Get started with Becker and use that for a while.

Then, when you're ready to add more questions to your studies, you can buy something extra.

Remember that Ninja is good for 3 months, so buy it when you KNOW you're about to test within 3 months.

FAR - 86 - 2/27/14
AUD - 75 - 5/29/14
BEC - 80 - 8/31/14
REG - 89 - 2/27/15
Praise Jesus! I'm done!!

Study resources:
Becker
Wiley test bank

[Author]

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