How long does it take you to read a chapter?

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #187083
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I just passed REG and am reading AUD now. I only finished reading 6 chapters of REG and might only get to 5 before my AUD exam (very behind on hw though).

    I usually read about 5-10 pages a day, usually read half a page and get distracted. How long does it take you guys on average to read a chapter, and are there any tips you can share for someone like me?

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #583942
    thechapman
    Member

    I try to make it through an entire chapter's lectures + taking notes on everything in one day, and do the homework for that chapter the next day. Sometimes it take a little longer, but it's fairly consistent.

    Passed - 2014

    #583943
    Sarah1421
    Member

    What materials are you using? I have Becker… I'm reading my text now. I'm read about 25-50 pages a day (2-3 sections within the “chapter”). I'd estimate that it takes me a couple minutes per page, but I haven't really been timing myself. I know that it takes me WAY longer than it should – I often have to re-read pages.

    I found it helpful to take limited notes (and keep a pen in my hand!) while I read. Simple stuff – like just writing the mnemonics down. It makes me more “actively” involved in the process. Also, depending on the length of the section, I'll do my reading/notes and then immediately take a MC quiz to break up the monotony.

    I also make sure I'm not too comfortable – this stuff can put me right to sleep! 🙂 Caffeine!!

    FAR - 90
    AUD - 91
    BEC - 86
    REG - 87

    #583944
    onebear
    Member

    same here, i get distracted too. just keep forcing yourself!

    #583945
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks for the encouragement everyone! Sarah those are some great tips, thanks!

    #583946
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Sarah how did you get such an amazing score in far? I'm doing far now it's taking me forever to do the homework! And there's so many ways to solve a problem that it's hard to learn it all. It's so overwhelming! I'm just finishing up chapter 3 I have been working on it since Thursday! Any advice on learning all this material would be helpful. My exam is 8/28 and I don't work.

    #583947
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I used Wiley, and would read through the book in 3-5 study days depending on which exam it was. I still have my study schedule from REG – for that exam, that worked out to:

    Day 1: 4 chapters / 82 pages

    Day 2: 7 chapters / 95 pages

    Day 3: 2 chapters / 76 pages

    Day 4: 4 chapters / 79 pages

    Note that these were full study days, not post-work etc. My goal was to split the book up into as even of sections as possible by page count, but also to finish any chapter started in a day. I didn't take notes or do MCQs as I was reading, though. Oh, and I didn't fully follow my schedule. 🙂

    #583948
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Lilla… Did you do any homework problems or take notes on the homework problems? How much time did you devote to that?

    #583949
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I didn't do homework problems. My philosophy was to read everything so I (supposedly) have the knowledge, then work the problems to help understand the application. So, after doing all the reading, I'd hammer MCQs and SIMs till test-day.

    #583950
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I forgot to mention I'm using Becker self-study.

    In my opinion, REG mc is easier to go through than sims, but AUD sims seem simple compared to the AUD mc.

    #583951
    Sarah1421
    Member

    cpa8488 – So, you're already in F3 and you started Thursday?! You are flying though it – working or not!! Are you listening to all the lectures, doing the MC, Sims, any flashcards, etc.? I've read about people in this forum doing it, so I'm sure it can be done successfully. Honestly, I studied for several months for FAR (a little bit on and off). I'd say it was 4 1/2 months… On my first time through the material, I only averaged about 1-1.5 chapters a week…and I definitely didn't work on it every day. I initially thought I could do 2-3 per week, but I quickly figured out that if I was REALLY doing to understand (and pass!!), I needed to reschedule my exam for the next testing window and take the pressure off.

    Granted, going into this I knew I'd need to work extra hard. My degree is in Business and I've never held an accounting position… I'd never seen a lot of the FAR material before I started studying. I'm really proud of that 90 – I was positive I failed because I left TWO sims completely blank and only had time to throw answers in another 2. I was so happy when I received my score… I had to refresh my screen several times and google “advisory score.” lol

    That said, my strategy was to make sure I completely understood every multiple choice question I saw. Becker is excellent at forcing you through the material… I didn't even care if I referenced the book on my first time through the questions – I saw the time management and memorization as irrelevant at that point. I'd read the explanation to every question (right or wrong). Once I'd made it all the way through F10 once, I went chapter-by-chapter skimming the outline/writing limited notes to memorize the concepts. Then, I went through the MC questions a second time focusing on my ability to answer the questions quickly and never referenced the book. If you can, try to listen to the difficult lectures more than once – I'd play it in the morning while I was getting ready, doing household stuff, etc…. granted, my mind would drift off, but I think it really helped tie concepts together… I've got lots and lots of tips, but I'm guessing your strategy is going to be different if you've already made it through F3.

    FAR is crazy – I find AUD much, much easier.

    FAR - 90
    AUD - 91
    BEC - 86
    REG - 87

    #583952
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I've outlined 2 chapters a week and will have about 8 days to review. The material is definitely intense. I can't reschedule because I have reg and bec scheduled already. I to have a degree in business and the few accounting classes I took in 2012 barely covered most of this stuff. Some of the homework explanations I'm finding confusing too. But I'm going to keep trying to learn the material and understand WHY I got something wrong. I feel like I work better under pressure so if I give myself TOO much time I think I will slack off and eventually get burned out. Thanks for the tips it's exactly what I'm doing. I'm reading the subsection… Listening to the lecture.. Then attempting to answer the MCQs. I'm also writing out the Q&A weather I get it right or wrong. I feel like the mcq cover the majority of the topics in that subsection so If I can learn that I will be in good shape. How do you feel the becker questions were compared to the actual exam? Also I'm finding a lot of calculations on the mcq and it takes me a lot longer than 2 minutes to answer the question. Would you say the exam is split between concepts and calculations?

    #583953
    kahtwoloo
    Participant

    AUD took forever for me. I would probably get through two a week at best because I would read the standards too.

    BEC-51,71,70,77
    AUD-50,62,68 (retake july)
    REG-55
    FAR-15(didnt study)

    #583954
    IWPGirl
    Member

    I tried reading first but I felt that it was too much and I wasn't retaining the material. I actually like lectures better. I usually listen to the lecture, make flash cards on mnemonics and then go straight to homework questions. When I do homework, I make an ‘educated' guess and read all answers and go back to the book/lecture to get full understanding or make more flash cards.

    AUD - 90
    REG - 78
    BEC - 84
    FAR - 91 woo hoooo!!

    Becker and Ninja MCQ

    #583955
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @ Agonz470, if you are doing 5-10 pages a day.. dont worry.. thats normal… everyone is different.. at the end of the day how comfortable u are with the material that matters thats it! ntn else…..

    The way I study is, I actually assign for example one chapter a week, I like to understand the material so on an average I also do 8-12 pages are day at Max. But if I think I am unable to finish in 1 week.. I try to do a little more to catch up… n if i am unable to I just go over a day or 2 but no more than that .. this helps me plan by study really well…..and gives me a little more flexibility every day….

    so see if u can aim for doing a chapter week wise rather than day wise may b that will help… it works for me…:)

    Having that said, I actually listen becker chapter first (meaning sub chapter of lets say chapter1), then do MCqs and then move on to the next chapter…..when I do the McQs I actually make detail notes within my book so that when i revisit my chapters I know what is important and how should I study 🙂 I belive that when I read a chapter for the first time I dont really know what to focus on and how the questions will be on the exam.. so i read everything.. but once i get to the McQs i kind of get an understanding how to study.. so making detail notes right from day 1 really helps me when I do the second review. I think its normal that by the time u finish doing you first review.. u tend to forget the key topics (atleast its with me).. but if u hv ur detail knows written in ur book.. and when u review them again.. that help u refresh ur memory in a very efficient way….. I did that with my REG (87) and now studying for AUD in a same way….

    I have no idea abt AUD so everything is foreign to me… so wil hv to put extra time to get through all!

    Hope this helps!

    #583956
    Sarah1421
    Member

    CPA8488 – I feel like Becker throws A LOT of calculations at you (specifically in the MC)… but you'll be happy you're quick at them. I keep typing and deleting my answer to this question because I don't want to walk the line on disclosure rules!!

    So here's my general experience – my first testlet was EASY. I mean, seriously… I actually smiled a few times and thought to myself, “if this is medium difficulty, hard can't be too much worse!” I was wrong. My second and third were SHOCKLY more difficult. Every 3rd question or so was written in a way (or involved a topic or concept) that I wasn't confident I even understood.

    Let me say this – I never was that fast in answering calculation questions. But, I moved comfortably through the exam MC… probably faster than I did in most of my Becker practice.

    I'd go so far as to say if you're answering the calculation questions in 2.5-3 minutes you're probably just fine. I can't remember exactly, but I think that's about where I was before my exam. I always made up time on conceptual questions.

    FAR - 90
    AUD - 91
    BEC - 86
    REG - 87

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.