[jkey57]

Hey Everyone,

I’ve noticed in a lot of these topics/responses that some people prefer to do thousands of multiple choice questions as a method of learning and was wondering how well this worked?

I spoke with a few professors at my school’s acct department (granted, they are not professional test-takers) and they felt that too many students focus on MCQs, but really don’t get the concepts and stall when they sit for the test; they simply end up memorizing practice answers. Anyways, the consensus was MCQs should only be used to evaluate where you stand after you feel that you’ve mastered certain concepts. Example of a typical week: After studying concepts for 20 hours, do 1 hr of questions, as opposed to studying for 14 hours and doing 7 hours of questions.

Just wondering if any of you passed this way? I read in a post that someone did 3,000 questions in one month. That comes out to about 100 questions a day, which @ an average of 1.5 minutes a question, comes out to 2.5 hrs a day? That’s a lot of questions and a lot of study time devoted to them!

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Here's my take on it. When learning I try to go over the concepts and then do the MCQ's many many times. I think you have to do both. If you just do MCQ's (largely what my first attempt at the CPA entailed) you will fail because the questions will be different and you will be lost.

However, reworking the questions over and over has a tremendous value. Somewhere in the midst of reworking a MCQ many times, you do memorize the answer. But here's the important part. Once you memorize which answer it is, your mind switches from struggling to remember which answer is correct to proving why it's correct. It's a tada moment and it works.

[katiekanton]

With all due respect to your professors, they don't know what the heck they're talking about. They likely haven't sat for the exam in years, if ever, and it's a much different ballgame now. They're also coming from a position of “learning” rather than “passing”. This exam isn't about learning a baseline of information necessary to practice. It's about winnowing out the top 45% of applicants based on tricky, in depth, frequently obscure questions.

I'd say a third of your success on the test is based not on knowledge but how you handle exam trickery. The only way to become familiar with how they ask the questions, the tricks they play with questions and answers, and how to narrow questions down to two best answers comes from DAYS of doing MCQs. Furthermore, I'd be filthy rich if I had a dollar for every time I read the review material, understood it completely, began doing MCQs and ran into “exceptions” that weren't even mentioned in the text but are explained in the answer explanation.

I'm going to reiterate what CPAPending said because it's the most important thing. When you read the text and understand it, but then you try to do MCQs on it, the act of doing the question, getting it wrong, and trying to figure out why CEMENTS the concept in your brain in a far more effective way than reading it 20 times would have done. The more I think about it the more ridiculous their position is. It'd be like saying, “If you spend 20 hours in lecture and you pay attention, then you should only need 1 hour of homework.” They would never say that. Homework = MCQs.

Now, giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they're talking about their students who really shouldn't be attempting this in the first place and are literally just memorizing MCQ answers. I don't think that's most of us. There are some really bright people here. I haven't heard anyone say “just read the text and don't do questions”. I think the brightest of us would say the MCQs are key.

AUD - 88
FAR - 90
REG - 85
BEC - 88

[mla1169]

I agree that most likely the professors who gave the advice have not taken these exams in particular. The problem is that the materials covered in this exam sequence are a mile wide and an inch deep, meaning there are far too many concepts to build an understanding of. If you were to study their way its not likely you could pass all 4 exams in an 18 month window because frankly you'd need minimum 6 months to study per exam.

Besides if you're seeing people pass who did thousands of MCQ's, I'm not sure what there is to question about it. I did over 3000 MCQs for AUD and ended up with an 84.

As far as this exam goes, if you score higher than a 75 you studied too much. Unless you are a candidate for a Sells award, there is absolutely no benefit (aside from personal satisfaction) to getting a blockbuster score. I am every bit as proud of my 75s as I am of my 84.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

From what I hear, the key to mastering this exam is REPETITION of the questions. It isn't exactly a test of knowledge, but a test of discipline and who is willing to sit down and grind these questions out. I think this is especially important when studying for AUD. Much of the lecture and notes cover the MCQ, but you won't remember it just by reading it. Applying the book and grinding the questions more than at least 2-3 times is the strategy…hopefully.

[Anonymous]

I've passed 3 parts of the exam without doing a single MCQ, just reading the Becker books (I do read the example problems), but everybody is different. If you truly understand the concepts, there is no reason to hammer out 50 questions on the same subject. The questions on the exam are relatively straightforward – you will very rarely get something where the answer turns on some small detail that you would only master through hours of questions.

Some people are audible learners, so they should watch the lectures. Some people are visual learners, so they should read the books. Some people only learn through repitition, so they should do lots of MCQ. By this point in your academic life you probably know where you fall in this spectrum and should approach the CPA exam accordingly. It's just another accounting exam like the ones you took in school, just more comprehensive.

[Minimorty]

@drg – You should definitely stick around and post more. I like you.

I couldn't agree more with @drg. Look, it comes down to this. If you know and understand the material, it doesnt matter how the questions are worded on the exam. I learned the material through a combination of watching the lectures and reading the book. The MCQ only reinforced these concepts and to a greater degree were just used as a review to keep the material fresh. Everyone learns differently, but once you have a reasonable grasp of the concepts, some weird wording or “trickery” is not going to make any difference.

[Tebowwwww]

I think it depends on how best you learn as an individual, and this goes for the whole exam and not just MCQ's. For example I know I'm a visual learner, but I also know that I learn and remember things much better if I write them down by hand instead of just reading. That may not be the case for everyone but it works for me so that's what I do. I'm a big fan of multiple choice questions because when I read the question, the answers, and the explanations after I remember them a lot better the next time.

I'm specifically good at remembering what concepts a certain question is asking about after several rounds of MCQs. When I see that I got an answer right I make a link between what the question was asking about and what the correct answer was which reinforces my application of the concepts I've already learned.

There's also a difference for most people between theory and application. You can know everything there is to know about accounting or tax or auditing theory but that doesn't necessarily mean you can apply that knowledge in a MCQ on the exam. And as others have said, they aren't testing your accounting knowledge so much as whether or not you can answer enough questions correctly to pass their exam.

REG (7/7/11) 75
FAR (7/28/11) 76
BEC (8/27/11) 81
AUD (10/15/11, 1/20/12) 63, 91

DONE!!!

[Anonymous]

For FAR, I barely did any multiple choice questions and watched very few of the Lectures (Roger). I used almost exclusively the book and read through it, making sure that I understood the main concepts. For me, I know that I learn by reading text and not audibly so I wasn't going to waste my time watching the lectures because I wouldn't get anything from it. For someone else, the lectures may be the best way to go and still for other the MCQ's may be right.

I used a few MCQ's to test whether I understood the concepts that I wasn't entirely positive that I understood and if I did poorly, went back and reviewed it, but for the most part I did minimal MCQ's.

It all comes down to how you learn. For me, I try to divide my time 95% reading and studying the book, 5% MCQ's, and 0 percent lecture. I also never practiced a single sim.

[jkey57]

Thanks for the great info, guys! As someone who's just starting this process, it's nice to hear different viewpoints.

As for the professors who made these comments, I should note that they all have taken the CPA in the last 3 years. The school I went to “revamped” their entire business school (they got a TON of federal $) and all full-time professors who teach accounting are required to take the CPA every 36 months. For what it's worth…..

I agree that it would be impossible to pass FAR if I had to go through a 1200 page Intermediate Accounting textbook and hit every page with detail. That's just not feasible or efficient. I was referring to most of the review material that I've seen, usually around 300 pages or so.

As far as “trickery” goes, perhaps you're mistaking it for a lack of knowledge of the finer points being tested. If you have a solid understanding of the concepts and theories being tested, and you understand exactly what the question is asking, how could you be tricked? Trickery implies deception and devious intentions, which couldn't be farther from the truth when it comes to any professional exam, especially one based 60% on MCQ. Each and every MCQ has a definite answer, which is why it can be asked. Just my thoughts on this interesting topic!

[J.P.]

Are you sure they have to take the exam every 36 months? When I apply to take or retake a section, I have to sign a document certifying that I have not passed the exam in Illinois or any other jurisdiction. Just seems odd to me that you would be allowed to take the exam after you have already passed.

BEC - 11/25/08-61, 8/31/09-76*, 2/24/12-76
AUD - 2/21/09-53, 8/31/10-60, 11/30/11-83
REG - 11/30/09-68, 5/31/12-79
FAR - 8/29/11-81

IL Ethics - 93

*Lost to 18-month Rule

[katiekanton]

@jkey57

I meant tricky as in “difficult to deal with” rather than “deceptive and devious”. There's no way they could LITERALLY “trick” you with a question. However, they are adept at throwing you answers that look right but aren't, and using language that means the same thing but sounds very different than the review materials used. Under normal circumstances, the answer might seem obvious, but in the hyper-adrenaline-charged environment of the exam, being familiar with how they word things and having practiced lots of their “which of these is NOT” questions is a definite advantage. Having said that, if you're a high-level student, that level of practice with how they like to word questions is not likely to make the difference between a pass or fail.

AUD - 88
FAR - 90
REG - 85
BEC - 88

[jkey57]

@JPYoung – Good question? I never questioned the validity of what they were saying, but that was a big rumor when they started cleaning house in 2008. At least 2 professors spoke about taking in 2009, when they got hired, and how they were planning on taking it again soon. I guess they could be lying, I just don't know what good that would do?

[Anonymous]

I find working MCQ useful in a way that if I get a question wrong, I go back and try to remember my thought process as what I was thinking in my head to choose a particular answer. For example, one of my weaknesses is that I am over analyzing stuff and if there is a very simple questions with a simple answer, I usually think that it can't be so easy and there must a hidden trick into it. Now I don't over analyze questions and the answers are usually right. MCQ also reinforces your conceptual understanding provided that your revisit the questions and review reasoning for why is this the answer.

[Author]

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