[Shakh05]

I plan to take FAR in late Q4 as my first exam tackle, and want to formulate a better strategy to tackle the exam this time around. I’ve taken the CPA previously, but just looked through the books, watched videos and did examples, and did pretty bad, safe to say. I have CPA Excel, bought the study plan on my own, as I wasn’t working in accounting at the time, I couldn’t shell out $3K+ for Becker, so I did my research, and found CPA Excel the best option for me.

I’d like to incorporate some of the NINJA study guides in as well, as the consensus I’ve gotten is to branch out and not stick to just one form of review material. Can others recommend which NINJA study options have worked best, and what steps you’ve used to do study? At this point, I’m guessing:

1) Read books (CPA Excel)

2) Watch Videos (CPA Excel)

3) Jot down notes for review

4) Multiple Choice Q’s (CPA Excel/NINJA)

5) Flashcards for review (NINJA)

6) Review notes

***Also, I purchased FAR NINJA flashcards back in July, but am not sure if they would have the most current information for studying? If someone could chime in on that, I’d also appreciate it.

Please feel free to share your own experiences in which steps worked best for you, and also how much time (approx.) to spend on each step during the 8 week study period. I recall Jeff and others suggesting not exceeding more than 8 weeks for FAR study.

[Sir Study Alot]

Comments on your steps….

1)reading a book is a good start

2)Watching lectures may be a good step, but is not necessary. People can read faster than another person can speak, so unless you are an auditory learner you may learn less efficiently watching the lectures. A good rule of thumb is to only watch lectures for the sub sections that you couldn't grasp by reading. If you are an auditory learner the lectures can replace the reading of the book since 80% of a successful efficient review program should be multiple choice questions. The goal should be to get out of the lecture watching/reading phase as soon as possible. Its like staying inside all day to read about how to peddle a bicycle.

3)Note taking and flash card making before doing multiple choice questions is VERY INEFFICIENT. Most of the CPA exam questions are major points on major topics. Review programs go into more detail than what is necessary to pass these exams. I would say that at least 40% of every review programs info is just to cover their a** for the random questions that make up less than 10% of each exam(this is to keep their customer base from complaining about content on the exam that wasn't covered in their review course). You should take notes(preferably in flashcard form) ONLY ON INFO NECESSARY TO ANSWER TEST BANK QUESTIONS.

4)Multiple choice questions should be moved up to #2. Many people think the book is telling them what is likely going to be on the exam, but it is the multiple choice questions that serve this function.

Book=what can be on exam

Multiple Choice Questions=what will likely be on exam

FOCUS ON WHAT WILL LIKELY BE ON EXAM!

5)When your not doing multiple choice questions flash cards are the way to go

6)Why not make all of your notes flashcards? It is very easy to mindlessly look over notes, but it is much harder to do so with flashcards since you need to focus on output “recall”. Most studies suggest that output activities are more important than input activities when it comes to learning:

Output activities: multiple choice questions, flashcards

Input activities: reading, reviewing notes, and watching lectures

FOCUS ON OUTPUT ACTIVITIES!

Here is what I would do during the learning stage….

1)Read over 1 chapter with the intention of getting a grasp of the main idea(only reread chapters of hard to grasp topics;otherwise rely on multiple choice explanations as main reading material after initial read). Do not take notes during this stage.

2)Do cpaexcel multiple choice questions RIGHT AFTER YOU READ CHAPTER for related chapter and make flashcards for concepts that you may not remember after reading explanation. Flag hard questions and computational problems that you must master.

3)Revisit flashcards and flagged multiple choice questions that you struggled with every few days to commit to longterm memory. Frequency will depend on your ability to commit ideas to long-term memory. I did flagged questions at least once a week and only removed flags after I got them correct twice and knew that there was no chance I would ever forget the concept.

4)repeat for next chapter

Here is what I would do for review stage(ideally at least your last 50 hours of studying)…

1)multiple choice questions

2)multiple choice questions

3)multiple choice questions

4)flashcards

5)multiple choice questions

6)multiple choice questions

Note: The review stage is where you can implement another test bank like Ninja and Wiley. CPAexcel is the best program for giving you questions on topics you just read so it is better to use while learning the material.

Disclosure: Since my advice is highly dependent on multiple choice questions it works best using 2 test banks to fill in the gaps that may be overlooked by not spending as much energy on the books and lectures. However I have not failed an exam using this method..

Passed all 4 exams in 2014!

[Vern -No what I mean]

Sir Study Alot forgot to round out the top 10.

7)multiple choice questions

8)multiple choice questions

9)multiple choice questions

10) Practice test = multiple choice questions

AUD - 90
FAR - 71, 76
REG - 75
BEC - 76 (bubble sucks)

Becker + Ninja MCQ's

[Shakh05]

Thank you for the detailed response, SSAL and VERN for chiming in. Emphasis on MCQ's -Got it!!

I'll start with reading the books, and supplement with videos if necessary (CPA Excel)

As far as the other NINJA study options–blitz, notes, 10 point combo, any feedback on which of those helped you guys out? I have purchased NINJA FAR flashcards in the summer, but uncertain if they are the most recent, if I need to re-purchase updated versions…or if updates themselves are free?

Thanks again!

[Juliemiddle]

I use CPAExcel & Ninja Audio. Your plan of attack sounds good, but especially with CPAExcel, I seem to learn so much material from the answers I get wrong on the MCQs – be sure to go back and review why you missed a question.

After I've done the 1st round of review of the study material, I re-take missed MCQs, re-take notes, MCQs, make flashcards on items I'm still not grasping, MCQs, MCQs, MCQs 🙂 Then say a prayer and take the exam.

AUD: 84 - Oct. 2013
BEC: 83 - Feb. 2014
REG: 91 - May, 2014
FAR: 68, 96 - Oct. 2014...DONE

CPAExcel, Ninja Audio (all sections)

[golfball7773]

Updates are always free with NINJA until you pass

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - 86
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

AUD - 71, 73

BEC - 74, 86

REG - 77*

FAR - 57

*expired

(I have been trying to become a CPA since 2013). only one test down.......

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[golfball7773]

Except for NINJA MCQ which you buy in 3 month packages per se

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - 86
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

AUD - 71, 73

BEC - 74, 86

REG - 77*

FAR - 57

*expired

(I have been trying to become a CPA since 2013). only one test down.......

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Author]

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