Taking BEC 1/21/11 and im scared

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Taking BEC 1/21/11 and im scared

25 posts from 8 voices

Started 5 months ago by rezaking
Latest reply from Peanut

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rezaking

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Hi,

BEC is my first one and ive been studying for about 3 weeks so far. Ive gone through all the lectures and once I was done with that, I began reading the book and taking notes as I went on. Ive read BEC 1, 2 and 4 and plan to attack 3 and 5 and leave about 2 weeks of review for myself before the exam... everyone tells me I have a good schedule and I should be fine, but im absolutely freaking out! im having a hard time focusing while at work and ive been performing badly.. I dream about passing/failing my exams EVERY night.. from those who have taken BEC.. please give me something.. something that will tell me if i continue with my current schedule ill be okay.

Thanks in advance.

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012
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Posted 5 months ago #
Peanut

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I'm not seeing MCQs in this plan?!!

AUD 59, 72 :( 72 AGAIN :( :(
REG 59, 60, 80
FAR 67, 75
BEC 58, 79

Posted 5 months ago #
akb9874

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No one can promise you that you will be fine but I can say that if you freak yourself out it will be way harder to pass. I have horrible test anxiety. Instead of me focusing on learning the material and doing my best, I focused on how crappy I would feel if I failed. Guess what? I failed every single test. I finally learn to stop killing myself about if I do fail. Sometimes you don't pass and you have to pick yourself up and move on. What you need to focus on is understanding the concepts and being able to walk into the test saying 'Ok, here I am, pass or fail I am going to try my best'. Sometimes you may get a test that is so hard for you and not pass. It doesn't been you are a failure or that you suck, it just wasn't your day. I know I sound like I am rambling but just keeping saying to yourself, 'I can only prepare so much and if I don't pass then I will pick myself up and try again and again and again...some silly computer test is not going to defeat me'. Don't worry about what people with think if you fail or if you pass. Screw them. It only matters that you can have faith in yourself and that you are capable of kicking this things butt!

*TEXAS*
BEC - passed
AUD - passed
REG - passed
FAR - ???

Posted 5 months ago #
rezaking

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MCQ's are the main thing im doing.. i wont leave a signle MCQ unanswered. But when i finsiehd section 1 i felt like crap.. i got 60% right first time and got 100% right second time (no lucky guesses) but then a few days ago i challenged myself to some of them again just to see if I remember section 1 now that ive moved on and i did horrible... not even sure, but i just dont seem to have the right confidence for this thing

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012

Posted 5 months ago #
rezaking

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@ akb9874

I have serious test anxiety as well.. Ive never been good while timed. Also, everyone at work is expecting me to pass and my family on top of that.. and ive been told so many times that BEC is the easiest one (which is why I chose to take it first) , so I keep telling myself if I fail this one, maybe I should just stop.. but your right.. maybe I should stop caring about everyone else. Hope i can be calm come test day... I also have to find a way to stop dreaming about this stuff.

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012

Posted 5 months ago #
akb9874

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Oh and get Jeff's Ninja notes for BEC. I have probably said that a million times on this forum but I am serious! And about not doing well on the MCQ, keep in mind that every time you answer one, right or wrong, read the explanation and make sure your reasoning agrees with theirs. Don't put all the weight into what you get on the MCQ, I have never scored over about a 65 and I passed 2 tests. Don't let a 60 discourage you.

*TEXAS*
BEC - passed
AUD - passed
REG - passed
FAR - ???

Posted 5 months ago #
akb9874

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BEC was the hard for me and is hard for a lot of people on this forum. I know more people that failed this one than others. Do not let them tell you it is the easiest. First of all, when they took it, it probably covered different material. Corporate Governance blows! I did weaker on that peice both times. IT is super confusion and frustrating because why the hell do I care about the different IT verbage?! The Ninja notes help a ton with IT. I know it is hard but you have to put your blinders up. Again, SCREW THEM!! :)

*TEXAS*
BEC - passed
AUD - passed
REG - passed
FAR - ???

Posted 5 months ago #
CPA-Convertible

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@rezaking...my study plan is kinda different from others here. In stead of giving myself a deadline or time to study, I focus on how many chapters and sub-chapters I need to grasp before the test. On my plan, I ensure I have read the chapter at least twice, in addition to my live class and practice questions. Then, when I was about half way thru I scheduled the test...
In my opnion, an easy chapter might take less than a week when a difficult one might take more than a week and need second review. Everyone is different in term of the ability and speed to understand and remember the concepts. So, my suggestion is to take as much time as needed to study and study as hard as you can and don't stop more than a day or two until the day you take your test. CPA exams are not easy, but they are not rocket science either. We are all on the same boat, and sometimes I doubt myself if I can take on the next exam (FAR this time.) But then, when I look around the CPAs I know, I told myself if they can do it I can too!

AUD - Passed - 8-31-11
BEC - Passed - 11-29-11
FAR - Passed - 2-29-12
& REG - Scheduled - 5/31/12

Posted 5 months ago #
akb9874

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@CPA-Convertible

I agree!!! I know some real idiots that passed this thing!! haha I actually had a girl that had just passed her CPA ask me how to calculate Accum. Depreciation over DDB. I hadn't even sat for a test at that point. I was amazed...

*TEXAS*
BEC - passed
AUD - passed
REG - passed
FAR - ???

Posted 5 months ago #
rezaking

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@akb9874
I love to hear things like that.. for so long ive heard how impossible it is to pass and i think thats why im freaking out.. hopefully itll go away once i pass one of them. lets be honest, some of the material in BEC is piece of cake (except for 1, 3 and 5).. so at times i wondered why people make it seem so impossible.. I think this is more mental for me than anything else.. I NEED to pass this one to prove to myself I can do it.

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012

Posted 5 months ago #
CPA-Convertible

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@akb...well, once a while I just need that confidence boost to keep it going. :-)......but believe it or not, once I pass all exams and become a CPA, I will become THAT idiot CPA. LOL...I passed AUD in August, and I already forgot most of it. ;-).

AUD - Passed - 8-31-11
BEC - Passed - 11-29-11
FAR - Passed - 2-29-12
& REG - Scheduled - 5/31/12

Posted 5 months ago #
akb9874

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Even if you don't pass your first test, you shouldn't give up. It isn't impossible, you just have to be determined and dedicated. You have to have endurance and quick rebound. Just breath deep and believe in yourself. You may not pass all parts first time through or second or third but you are not a failure until you quit. Don't let that be part of who you are because you will always wonder 'What If'.

Good luck and have a great weekend! I am going home!!

*TEXAS*
BEC - passed
AUD - passed
REG - passed
FAR - ???

Posted 5 months ago #
rezaking

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Thank you guys very much! this really helps.. I need to stop worrying and just keep doing what im doing. and I wont give up.. no chance. You have a great weekend as well! thanks for all your help

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012

Posted 5 months ago #
makinthemagic

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like a few others said, go hard at the mcq's. they are such a big part of the bec score you can pass with basically a 0 on the writing. be able to get 90%+ on quizzes all the time.

once you learn how to study for bec you just need to scale up the plan for the others.

Bec 4/11/11 91
Aud 7/11/11 75
Reg 8/31/11 80
Far 5/24/11 86
Ethics - 98

Posted 5 months ago #
CPA-Convertible

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@rezaking. We are our own worst critic. I am like you. I was so scared to take the exams I picked AUD first. I was told either AUD or BEC is the easist one. So, I picked AUD first and then BEC. The easiest way to cope with my fear and anxiety is to study. It's like climing a mountain. Don't look up because you will see how high you still have to climb. Don't look down because you will fear how far you have been gone. Just focus on your next step. just plan what you need to study tonight and this weekend and don't think too much about it. I also took some PM pills to help me sleep better couple weeks before the exams.

AUD - Passed - 8-31-11
BEC - Passed - 11-29-11
FAR - Passed - 2-29-12
& REG - Scheduled - 5/31/12

Posted 5 months ago #
rezaking

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Yea thats something I need to learn to do.. i wasnt kidding when i said ive been dreaming about it every single night.. most nights Ive already passed all 4 exams hahaa and some nights im getting fired haha.

But you are right.. I will give this my best and if I pass it will be a great boost in confidence and if I dont I will move on to audit which I already have scheduled. and retake BEC after that before moving to the other two. the whole process is so long and im so impatient already.. maybe i need those PM pills too.

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012

Posted 5 months ago #
CPA-Convertible

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The writing parts are most likely graded by computer. So the key (in my opinion!) is to dump as many keywords as possible in your answers. I kind of know and kind of don't know on two questions I had. I just wrote down lots of big words and terms in my essays. I honestly didn't know what I was writing about. I just kept adding new words with simple sentences until the last minute and added something like "I look forward to...." at the end to make it look nice in case it is going to be graded by humans...guess it works, my reports said my writing is compatible as those who passed...LOL...and English is my second language.

AUD - Passed - 8-31-11
BEC - Passed - 11-29-11
FAR - Passed - 2-29-12
& REG - Scheduled - 5/31/12

Posted 5 months ago #
rezaking

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heres a question I have about the writing parts.. When i sit for the exam.. can i go to the end and do the writing parts before i start the 3 packets? or do I have to do them in order?

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012

Posted 5 months ago #
CPA-Convertible

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No. you have to finish the testlets first. THEN the writing parts.

AUD - Passed - 8-31-11
BEC - Passed - 11-29-11
FAR - Passed - 2-29-12
& REG - Scheduled - 5/31/12

Posted 5 months ago #
rezaking

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oh.. i was hoping id do those because at times ive found myself spending 5-6 minutes on some questions and im worried about running out of time. i dont understand why it matters to them which part we do first..

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012

Posted 5 months ago #
Minimorty

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Do NOT spend 5-6 minutes on a question. One to two minutes then move on.

Posted 5 months ago #
rezaking

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well thisll be the fastest 3 hours of my life.

BEC - Passed
AUD - 4/7/2012
REG - 5/27/2012
FAR - 8/5/2012

Posted 5 months ago #
bobkorz

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I'm a non-traditional student, who graduated university in the mid 90's. So I went back to school and took accounting courses at community colleges to get my credits. So I was surprised I got straight A's. I was warned that community college courses would not prepare me for the CPA so that scared me too. I got Jeff's NINJA notes and Wiley's online test bank and pounded on the MCQ's until I wanted to puke. Slowly my practice test scores rose from the 60's to the high 80's for FAR and 50's to high 80's for AUD.

After passing two sections on my first try, now I'm more confident. Studying for BEC now.

So don't panic, just do MCQ's until you are absolutely sick of them. Pay attention to each question, read them VERY carefully. When you take the study mode, see why the answer is correct and why the others are incorrect. EVENTUALLY, you will start seeing what the tricks are in the MCQ's and then you'll be able to see right through them. You'll see that 3 answers have something in common that the 4th doesn't and that 4th one is the correct answer (even if you're not sure of it)

So don't panic. Listen to Roger's videos on youtube. He put a couple of BEC videos and he can be motivational.

√ FAR - 81 10/2011 √ AUD - 84 11/2011 √ BEC - 89 01/2012 √ REG - 82 02/2012
√ ethics - 90 10/2011 √ CPA Certificate √ CPA License certificate
REGISTERED LICENSED ILLINOIS CPA

PMP - Pass - 3P 2MP

Posted 4 months ago #
Justinnnn

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@rezaking

Don't forget about the BEC updates:) Consider this BEC 6 (assuming you have Becker 2011 like me and this isn't in the reading).

http://www.becker.com/accounting/cpaexamreview/students/2011%20BEC%20Update%20AICPA%20CSO-SSO%20Reference%20Changes.pdf

@CPA-Convertible - I implemented the same study technique when I took audit. The effects were exponential. I also read the last five pages from my last study session as my first five pages of a new session. On my second read-through of BEC 1 right now.

REG 80 2/7/11
FAR 91 10/8/11
AUD 97 11/22/11
BEC 96 2/4/12

Posted 4 months ago #
Peanut

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@Justinnnn, thanks for posting that link. I didn't go over any of that :/ Back to being nervous again. I'll have to read through that material tonight

AUD 59, 72 :( 72 AGAIN :( :(
REG 59, 60, 80
FAR 67, 75
BEC 58, 79

Posted 4 months ago #

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