[KADFC]

Under these conditions, what would you do? How would you study?

Retaking AUD, FAR, and BEC

15 to 18 Days between tests

Using CpaExcel, WTB, and Ninja Notes + Blitz

Previous Score for all 3 were above 60. AUD was closes to passing (72)

So far, I only have 2 approaches. The first is based on the Performance Report, and the second is doing 3 or 4 diagnosis tests and then average them out to find my weakness.

Personal Comment: I would love to have more time for each retake, but I have personal goal in mind. I want to pass at least 2 sections before my birthday, which is in June. A relative is giving me an early present and they are willing to pay the fees for my retake (since it’s to a good cause and not entertainment). On top of that, I’m studying REG right now for my 4/4 test. I’ve timed how much hours I can study per day with my full concentration. It’s not looking that great. Average is 7 hours 33 minutes.

FAR - 62 (10/2/13), 50 (5/30/14)
AUD - 73 (10/30/13), 66 (5/6/14)
REG - 69 (4/8/14)
BEC - 66 (2/27/13), 73 (4/21/14)

[mla1169]

While I hope you can do it, I don't think it's wise. I think it's great that you have a personal goal in mind but you've tried to take two in the same month before and it's apparent you need more time. You're not trying to get 2 or 3 more points, you're trying to get 75 more. Give each section more effort than you did last time and you've got a good chance.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[mla1169]

While I hope you can do it, I don't think it's wise. I think it's great that you have a personal goal in mind but you've tried to take two in the same month before and it's apparent you need more time. You're not trying to get 2 or 3 more points, you're trying to get 75 more. Give each section more effort than you did last time and you've got a good chance.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[KADFC]

@ mla1169

True as that may be, is there a way to measure if I'm putting more effort then I did the first time?

FAR - 62 (10/2/13), 50 (5/30/14)
AUD - 73 (10/30/13), 66 (5/6/14)
REG - 69 (4/8/14)
BEC - 66 (2/27/13), 73 (4/21/14)

[KADFC]

@ mla1169

True as that may be, is there a way to measure if I'm putting more effort then I did the first time?

FAR - 62 (10/2/13), 50 (5/30/14)
AUD - 73 (10/30/13), 66 (5/6/14)
REG - 69 (4/8/14)
BEC - 66 (2/27/13), 73 (4/21/14)

[mla1169]

Sure lots of ways. You probably have an idea of how many hours you put in to get that 72. For a retake put in that many hours plus another 10 or so. When I took AUD For the third time I studied about 120 hours during the 6 weeks leading up to it.

If you were doing MCQs you probably remember ballpark your % correct on those. If you were averaging 75% you know you want to be in the 80's this time.

If there was a subject before you didn't quite get but figured it wouldn't be heavily tested get a better understanding of it for this time.

It's our instinct to think we were close before and it shouldn't be as much work to retake it but that's the trap that ends people up scoring lower the 2nd time than the first. There's no such thing as “close” when you don't know how the exam is even scored. Trust me I know it's frustration but it's better to work smart than try to cram.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[mla1169]

Sure lots of ways. You probably have an idea of how many hours you put in to get that 72. For a retake put in that many hours plus another 10 or so. When I took AUD For the third time I studied about 120 hours during the 6 weeks leading up to it.

If you were doing MCQs you probably remember ballpark your % correct on those. If you were averaging 75% you know you want to be in the 80's this time.

If there was a subject before you didn't quite get but figured it wouldn't be heavily tested get a better understanding of it for this time.

It's our instinct to think we were close before and it shouldn't be as much work to retake it but that's the trap that ends people up scoring lower the 2nd time than the first. There's no such thing as “close” when you don't know how the exam is even scored. Trust me I know it's frustration but it's better to work smart than try to cram.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[10keyLeah]

I agree with mla. You are the only person that can tell whether or not you are better prepared than you were on your first attempts. Do you have an understanding of your weak areas? If not, then you probably aren't ready.

You may try and gauge by your practice MCQ scores, but once you've been through them be careful that you aren't just memorizing the questions. I would suggest that you stick with FAR and AUD and pass them before moving on to other sections.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[10keyLeah]

I agree with mla. You are the only person that can tell whether or not you are better prepared than you were on your first attempts. Do you have an understanding of your weak areas? If not, then you probably aren't ready.

You may try and gauge by your practice MCQ scores, but once you've been through them be careful that you aren't just memorizing the questions. I would suggest that you stick with FAR and AUD and pass them before moving on to other sections.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[Anonymous]

I agree with the other comments. I think you're going to find that you won't remember as much as you knew the first time because you have taken other exams in between. My advice is to not move on until you've passed a section so you will retain what you've already study without mixing in other concepts, but with the tight schedule you have put yourself on you won't have time to wait for score release to find out whether or not you've passed/failed before starting to study for the next section. I don't want to discourage you from your personal goal, but I fear you will have more retakes in your future if you don't take these retakes like they are your first time instead of just studying from your score report, etc. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I agree with the other comments. I think you're going to find that you won't remember as much as you knew the first time because you have taken other exams in between. My advice is to not move on until you've passed a section so you will retain what you've already study without mixing in other concepts, but with the tight schedule you have put yourself on you won't have time to wait for score release to find out whether or not you've passed/failed before starting to study for the next section. I don't want to discourage you from your personal goal, but I fear you will have more retakes in your future if you don't take these retakes like they are your first time instead of just studying from your score report, etc. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

15-18 days if you study 7.5 hours a day is 112.5-135 hours of study for each test. So, if you can do these one right after the other and keep up that study-pace, that's a reasonable amount of study. However, it is important that you are honest with yourself about what you truly can and can't do. What will be different about these 15-18 day apart exams than the 28 days apart that you took in October?

I think that this can be done, but you're going to have to have a great game plan, not just a goal. If I asked you why you failed the other times, could you give me a concrete answer and a way that you will avoid that problem this time around?

With 112.5-135 hours of study each, you should be able to pull it off if that studying is efficient…but you need to make sure you're not making the same mistakes as before, or it will just be wasted effort.

Also, I would spend the extra $35 or whatever it is to move the 4/4 test to 4/1. That'd be an extra day for each of the other exams, and an extra day is a significant amount of time if you're just having 15-18 days for each exam!

[Anonymous]

15-18 days if you study 7.5 hours a day is 112.5-135 hours of study for each test. So, if you can do these one right after the other and keep up that study-pace, that's a reasonable amount of study. However, it is important that you are honest with yourself about what you truly can and can't do. What will be different about these 15-18 day apart exams than the 28 days apart that you took in October?

I think that this can be done, but you're going to have to have a great game plan, not just a goal. If I asked you why you failed the other times, could you give me a concrete answer and a way that you will avoid that problem this time around?

With 112.5-135 hours of study each, you should be able to pull it off if that studying is efficient…but you need to make sure you're not making the same mistakes as before, or it will just be wasted effort.

Also, I would spend the extra $35 or whatever it is to move the 4/4 test to 4/1. That'd be an extra day for each of the other exams, and an extra day is a significant amount of time if you're just having 15-18 days for each exam!

[KADFC]

Hmm, I guess I'll be typing a lot. I don't mind since it's my little small break anyways. I take one every hour or so. I don't know if these are excuses or not, but o well, I'll just type what's on my mind.

For FAR, I failed because my review wasn't thorough enough. That plus the fact that I didn't do about 20% of the MCs because I was sick of them. I only read some of them sections, while I was too overconfident in others. I relied on my tablet to get some MCQs going via CpaExcel. With how sensitive the buttons were and how vague the answers were, I'm pretty sure I didn't learn anything in the process. It was going through the process of just memorizing the right answers. Only in the last few days before the test did I find how much little I know after going through WTB. The MCQs there did help me, but I guess it just wasn't good enough. Overall, FAR was just too overwhelming.

For AUD, I took my weakess before FAR into consideration. Originally I had 1 more week for review, but I got a Temp Job offer. At the time I felt I was ready, so I changed my date and took it 8 days before my original intention. Not sure if that was wise or not. AUD is still my favorite topic. Kinda bummed when I failed it. When the test was over, unlike I FAR, I told myself I wouldn't mind retaking it over again. I just like the subject that much. Overall though, just not enough time.

As for the most recent BEC, I took about 2 weeks ago. Got a 66. Quite frankly, it was more like a last ditch effort. It wasn't really right for me to take it. I scored 85%+ on constant WTBs, but I was ignoring CpaExcel altogher. I just wanted to test out if it was possible to pass solely on doing MCQs and Ninja Blitz. A few things did hit me hard though. Some of the formulas that they wanted me to use, I have NEVER seen it being used on WTBs before. I do remember seeing the formula when I googled about a few things that relevant to that subject, but I didn't know they would pull a fast one like that on me. I practically remembered 50 formulas and I was only able to use like 10 of them, if not less. They were helpful… if I was going through FAR that is! What's my weakness? For starters, I didn't read the text whatsoever.

Overall, I have many weaknesses in how I study. I did pick up a few of them and I'm doing my best to correct them. If people read this, I bet they'll yell at me and say “No wonder you're not passing!” I turn anime on my tablet for background music. At the end, I find myself watching it half the time; even though I've seen them before. I turn on music on my tablet for background music. It helps some, but sooner or later, the lyrics just distract me from concentrating. As of now, my fix is that I just don't touch my tablet and study in a silent room.

Next weakness: After studying a lot, I get bored and somehow, someway, I tend to randomly think of a random subject and so, I google it. Next thing I know, I spend like an hour googling that even further. The same thing happens when I'm on A71. There are so many posts. I can practically spend over 3 hours reading people's posts. So many message boards to choose from. My fix for this is quite unique. I have an old cellphone that I don't use for calling anymore. It has a timer feature. Whenever I give my full attention to studying, I turn it on to count. Whenever I find myself not studying, I stop it. It lets me set a goal of how much time I'm actually studying intentively; with my full concentration. I have to get my quote up or I feel like I'm really, really slacking off.

I also made an Excel file that listed the sections of how many MCQs I'm going through per day. On the side, it states my current rate and the rates that I want to go at as my goal. I'm not just trying to blow through everything now (unlike what I did for BEC). I actually decided to read all the remarks left for each possible answer. A small tracker to what I've been doing I guess. WTB doesn't really track what I've done unlike CpaExcel. Just last week, I decided to add a few things to my wall. A few quotes for inspiration, I guess. One on each wall, but I do need one more. I only have 3:

“Don't Be Sad! BE MAD! O_O!”

“Procrastination Is Dangerous!”

“FAILURE IS AN EVENT; NOT A PERSON!”

With everything that I said, I'm still going through with it. Most of the comments that I read, told me “Don't do it! I don't recommend it!” And to some degree, I agree. I shouldn't do this to myself. It's like I'm setting myself up to fail. However, when I keep thinking back on it, is this another excuse? How would I feel seeing 4 Failing scores during my birthday VS The feeling of spending my birthday studying; just like last year and have NOTHING to show for it? I just can't get through it. I rather have 4 failed scores. To me, it's less painful. Call me crazy. Anyways! Back to studying!

PS. I wanted to do 4/1, but it's all filled up.

(Just curious about anyone that reads this, how do study? Just like me? Shut off in your room with no music, just silence, and no interaction with the outside world? And your only entertainment is Ninja Blitz?)

FAR - 62 (10/2/13), 50 (5/30/14)
AUD - 73 (10/30/13), 66 (5/6/14)
REG - 69 (4/8/14)
BEC - 66 (2/27/13), 73 (4/21/14)

[KADFC]

Hmm, I guess I'll be typing a lot. I don't mind since it's my little small break anyways. I take one every hour or so. I don't know if these are excuses or not, but o well, I'll just type what's on my mind.

For FAR, I failed because my review wasn't thorough enough. That plus the fact that I didn't do about 20% of the MCs because I was sick of them. I only read some of them sections, while I was too overconfident in others. I relied on my tablet to get some MCQs going via CpaExcel. With how sensitive the buttons were and how vague the answers were, I'm pretty sure I didn't learn anything in the process. It was going through the process of just memorizing the right answers. Only in the last few days before the test did I find how much little I know after going through WTB. The MCQs there did help me, but I guess it just wasn't good enough. Overall, FAR was just too overwhelming.

For AUD, I took my weakess before FAR into consideration. Originally I had 1 more week for review, but I got a Temp Job offer. At the time I felt I was ready, so I changed my date and took it 8 days before my original intention. Not sure if that was wise or not. AUD is still my favorite topic. Kinda bummed when I failed it. When the test was over, unlike I FAR, I told myself I wouldn't mind retaking it over again. I just like the subject that much. Overall though, just not enough time.

As for the most recent BEC, I took about 2 weeks ago. Got a 66. Quite frankly, it was more like a last ditch effort. It wasn't really right for me to take it. I scored 85%+ on constant WTBs, but I was ignoring CpaExcel altogher. I just wanted to test out if it was possible to pass solely on doing MCQs and Ninja Blitz. A few things did hit me hard though. Some of the formulas that they wanted me to use, I have NEVER seen it being used on WTBs before. I do remember seeing the formula when I googled about a few things that relevant to that subject, but I didn't know they would pull a fast one like that on me. I practically remembered 50 formulas and I was only able to use like 10 of them, if not less. They were helpful… if I was going through FAR that is! What's my weakness? For starters, I didn't read the text whatsoever.

Overall, I have many weaknesses in how I study. I did pick up a few of them and I'm doing my best to correct them. If people read this, I bet they'll yell at me and say “No wonder you're not passing!” I turn anime on my tablet for background music. At the end, I find myself watching it half the time; even though I've seen them before. I turn on music on my tablet for background music. It helps some, but sooner or later, the lyrics just distract me from concentrating. As of now, my fix is that I just don't touch my tablet and study in a silent room.

Next weakness: After studying a lot, I get bored and somehow, someway, I tend to randomly think of a random subject and so, I google it. Next thing I know, I spend like an hour googling that even further. The same thing happens when I'm on A71. There are so many posts. I can practically spend over 3 hours reading people's posts. So many message boards to choose from. My fix for this is quite unique. I have an old cellphone that I don't use for calling anymore. It has a timer feature. Whenever I give my full attention to studying, I turn it on to count. Whenever I find myself not studying, I stop it. It lets me set a goal of how much time I'm actually studying intentively; with my full concentration. I have to get my quote up or I feel like I'm really, really slacking off.

I also made an Excel file that listed the sections of how many MCQs I'm going through per day. On the side, it states my current rate and the rates that I want to go at as my goal. I'm not just trying to blow through everything now (unlike what I did for BEC). I actually decided to read all the remarks left for each possible answer. A small tracker to what I've been doing I guess. WTB doesn't really track what I've done unlike CpaExcel. Just last week, I decided to add a few things to my wall. A few quotes for inspiration, I guess. One on each wall, but I do need one more. I only have 3:

“Don't Be Sad! BE MAD! O_O!”

“Procrastination Is Dangerous!”

“FAILURE IS AN EVENT; NOT A PERSON!”

With everything that I said, I'm still going through with it. Most of the comments that I read, told me “Don't do it! I don't recommend it!” And to some degree, I agree. I shouldn't do this to myself. It's like I'm setting myself up to fail. However, when I keep thinking back on it, is this another excuse? How would I feel seeing 4 Failing scores during my birthday VS The feeling of spending my birthday studying; just like last year and have NOTHING to show for it? I just can't get through it. I rather have 4 failed scores. To me, it's less painful. Call me crazy. Anyways! Back to studying!

PS. I wanted to do 4/1, but it's all filled up.

(Just curious about anyone that reads this, how do study? Just like me? Shut off in your room with no music, just silence, and no interaction with the outside world? And your only entertainment is Ninja Blitz?)

FAR - 62 (10/2/13), 50 (5/30/14)
AUD - 73 (10/30/13), 66 (5/6/14)
REG - 69 (4/8/14)
BEC - 66 (2/27/13), 73 (4/21/14)

[Anonymous]

I feel like you can be ready for AUD based on your close score, coupled with having exposure to FAR which helped me in my SIMS both times I took it. Plus, BEC and AUD have the IT stuff overlap. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. That's my study method. I took the audit book and broke it up into topics (planning, compliance, review services, etc) and I didn't move on until I felt like I had a decent grasp after reading and highlighting (I know that's bad form for Ninjas) which I'd go back and look at during the review phase/cram a week before the test. I coupled each session with a heavy dose of MCQs, because I feel it's the best way to solidify what was just read. The questions are specifically written to trip you up, so it was key to know why my answers were wrong. The WTB has some note-worthy fact nuggets in their solution explanations. Writing notes is helpful too.

Retaking BEC- I think you have a decent shot at passing that one as well next window. I had a good formula sheet, mnemonics for lists, and wrote down at least one good MCQ from WTB for each problem type (FIFO, Weighted avg, ABC, Breakeven, variances, payback, etc) which helped me during the exam to remember how I used the given info to find the solution.

No advice to give on FAR, because I barely passed by the skin of my teeth after some inefficient 200+ hours studying (it was my first exam and didn't know what to expect).

Put in the solid study time and it will pay it's dividends.

I hope you get your first pass soon and start the momentum!

[Author]

Replies