[Jeff Elliott, CPA]

Celebratory posts are awesome…it would be great if they were in one place for the benefit of others.

I also think people would enjoy reading the strategies of others and how they passed.

No questions here please (I will delete them to keep it clean) … just success stories and advice/strategery from those who passed.

“I Passed” Threads:

I Passed the CPA Exam

I Passed FAR

I Passed AUD

I Passed REG

I Passed BEC

 
Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA Review

[Jeff Elliott, CPA]

We lost these awesome posts in the transition – I'll be recovering them and posting here.

I look forward to the new round of “I Passed” posts. Thanks everyone.

 
Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA Review

[Anonymous]

REG is done and so am I!!!

[Anonymous]

80!! Hallelujah!! BEC is all that's left now!!

[gobigblue]

80 on REG!!! 4 exams taken and 4 exams passed. Done!!!

CPA sounds so sweeeeeeeeet. Work in the morning is going to be so fun with the BRAGGING!!!

[Msbeekie]

Yesssss!!!! Passed REG with a 79. I have looked at the score like 10times to make sure. Thank you Lord!

[jdhcoca]

I passed REG with an 81. Onward to AUD!

AUD - 94
BEC - 90
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 81

I hate FAR.

[rybread7293]

After feeling like I completely bombed the exam, it's great waking up to an 83 on REG! So super pumped and now I've only got BEC left tomorrow! Such a sigh of relief that I don't have to deal with tax ever again.

[charlesrskinner]

Passed REG… whew. One more to go. I'm taking solice knowing I won't have to touch REG for 18 months if everything goes to hell.

"It doesn't matter if you passed with a 75 or a 95, passing is passing..."

 

CPA, CFE, CICA

[Cheeks]

I passed REG with a 79. I knew about 8 questions for sure in each testlet, and felt like the other 16 were just shots in the dark. And the sims were a nightmare; I pretty much just typed in random numbers into the boxes.

I was so sure I failed REG, that I bet $50 with a friend that I didn't pass. Never have I been more happy to lose $50 in my entire life. I am now never going to try to determine whether or not I pass/fail an exam; I will just wait till score release day. You never can tell with these exams. I did not deserve to pass, yet somehow I did.

[DPTX2017]

I passed my 1st CPA exam in my life REG with 86! I'm so excited and relief since I did not have a good feeling after taking the exam and mentally prepared to retake it in October.

Therefore, whoever left the exam room feeling pathetic, there is still hope on the way!

Study 100% with Becker and Ninja MCQ the last two weeks before the exam-

[Ib]

I passed my last section REG with 81. I wasted way to much time on simulations. But I will take it. I am all done.!

Thank you Jeff!

AUD - 87
BEC - 78
FAR - 79
REG - 81

Licensed CPA in MA, OCT 2016

[Anonymous]

I passed my REG with 86!!!!!
In my first testlet, I thought it's a piece of cake. However, my second and third testlet frustrated me.
And I cannot have enough time to check my simulation. In some simulations, I just typed numbers in blocks.

The only material I used is Becker.

[Anonymous]

I passed REG with an 88!! All I have left is BEC, which I can do before tax season

[melody_pinaycpa]

I passed REG with an 82 and I'm done with the CPA exam journey!

FAR - 88
AUD - 86
BEC - 82
REG - 73, 70, 82

[Rhunter]

I passed with an 84! Glad that's over.

TLDR – My advice is at the end of this post.

A bit of background on me. I finished my undergrad in 2010, and my MSA in 2012, so it had been 4 years since my last accounting course. I have been working in the field since March 2011, and now have a staff position at a small company in VA.

This was my first time taking any exams, and I managed to pass using exclusively NINJA materials. I gave myself 6 weeks. It took me the first 3 to get through the books alone following the prescribed NINJA method (granted I was going WAY overboard with my notes at first). Before the exam, I had a trending score of 86% and had 68 hours of study time logged online. I did not reach the review phase, I only got about 3/4 of the way through adaptive learning. I also made sure to work through all 75 of the available sims, which I think are crucial.

I took one practice exam the night before my exam and scored a 92. On the day of the exam, I submitted the simulation testlet with 40 seconds remaining, and I did not take a break during the exam (good thing, because I used the last 90 minutes on sims alone). I was furiously searching the literature in the last 5 minutes to make sure I had reasonable answers for my SIMS, talk about sweating bullets! I walked out feeling that my chances of passing/failing were around 65/35.

ADVICE – Caveat: Everyone is different, this is just what worked for me:

Focus your time on working through as many MCQs and SIMS as possible, taking notes as needed using the explanations to the questions/SIMS. Only refer to the books when you are struggling with a concept. Usually, the explanations to the MCQs and SIMS will be more than adequate.

As I mentioned earlier, I spend 3 weeks “nailing the concepts” and taking “intense notes.” However, I wish I had spent that time working MCQs and SIMS because that's where I absorbed most of the information. When I was taking notes before I had worked any problems, I didn't have any context within which I could apply the concepts. It was like I had all these concepts just floating around in my head with nowhere to go except out. The MCQs and SIMS provided the structure upon which I could build my understanding; a frame of reference, if you will.

My studying philosophy now is why spend time taking notes on topics that you already understand and remember. Using this approach, the MCQs and SIMS allow you to identify your weaknesses where you can then focus your efforts instead of trying to write everything down. It seems so obvious to me now, and was probably obvious to a lot of folks early on, but I needed to go through the trial & error of determining what was most effective for myself.

AUD - 99
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - 89
REG - 84

I'm as shocked as you are...

[Anonymous]

I passed on my second go!

3 down 1 to go! <3

[The.Underdog]

WOW DONE REG -84 604 ID LETSS S GOGOGOOGGOOGOGO

AUD - 94
BEC - 86
FAR - 85
REG - 84

AUD 94- Feb 2016
BEC 86- June 2016
Far 85- August 2015
Reg 84- October 2016

[Paydirt123]

85! Section ID 616 REG 85 10/13/2016
FAR 80 7/1/2016
BEC – 11/28/2016
AUD – 2/1/2017
I used Becker. Candidly, my strategy has a lot of rout memorization, which isn't the way to go, but it's all I know. I just obsessively read the text and do the homework over and over and over. That's been my life the last few months, but it's working.

AUD - 84
BEC - 80
FAR - 80
REG - 85

Took the long way, but I got there

[red_rose]

I PASSED REG!!!! OMG!!!! iT took 3 long tries, but i passed that biatch! lol 1 more, and im done! Congrats to everyone!!!!!!!

AUD 86 3x
REG 77 3x (Prayers work!!!)
FAR 75 2X
BEC 77 (Lost credit, retake Nov 2016)

***dont give up…that's my motto. It's been a loooooong painful journey, but no matter what, DO NOT QUIT, KEEP GOING!!! 🙂

[suzieemac]

I passed REG! Two down, two to go. I really didn't feel confident with my SIMS but I guess it was enough for a pass. I spent the entire night tonight studying for BEC & staring at the clock, I stopped studying at about 12:40, went to go log onto NASBA…and my internet decided to go down at that moment… couldn't connect to WiFi or by Ethernet, and the cell service isn't too good in my house, so needless to say I checked my scores on the front stoop at 1am in the cold. 🙂 Well worth it.

Roger CPA Review's Lectures & Ninja's 10 Pt Combo has been the key to my success. I am not a great test taker, but these study materials have helped more than I could have imagined. Thank you Jeff!

Congrats to everyone who passed! Celebrations are in order this weekend. =)

AUD - 75
BEC - 84
FAR - 78
REG - 86

Suzanne

"No one cares, work harder."

[Tcohle]

I passed with an 87!!!

Wow, if I failed I would've lost FAR. Got a 72 and 74 and this was my final hope.

I actually left the testing center feeling confident and I was thankfully right.

The difference this time (Jeff's advice) was starting from scratch-reading through the whole book and relearning everything.

Woo hoo I'm donezo!!

AUD - 84
BEC - 75
FAR - 76
REG - 87

Ninja Notes/MCQ/Book/Audio for all

[Anonymous]

PASSED! 3 exams taken, first one passed! Reg second time, not too shabby!

On to the rest now lol

[OnmywaytoCPA]

It's still hard to believe. I can't sleep. This has been a long journey. I finally passed REG with a 90! I guess 3rd time's a charm. And I'm completely done with the CPA Exam. The combination of Ninja, Roger, Wiley, and CPA Review for Free has finally paid off. My score increased by 18 points! Congrats to all who passed!

AUD - 83
BEC - 79
FAR - 77
REG - 90

CMA Part 1 - 360 (Barely made it but I made it)
CMA Part 2 - 360 (Made it by the skin of my teeth)

[ixlr82day]

I'm from Hawaii and was getting nervous since everyone got their scores…I passed!!! So excited…now I need to study for Audit.

AUD - 76
BEC - 75
FAR - 79
REG - 84

I'm an older candidate, if you are like me please don't give up!   Last time I took an exam was 2011...and I got the motivation recently to pass!

AUD 65, 76. FAR 49,79 BEC 75, REG 84...DONE!

 

[Key522]

Passed REG took three tries at it! Guess 3rd time was a charm. I was on the verge of losing BEC. It took me almost 2 years but I passed the CPA exam. That 74 last time was a dagger.

AUD - 85
BEC - 84
FAR - 77
REG - 80

BEC - Feb 2015 68 April 2015 84

FAR - July 2015 77

AUD - Oct 2015 74 Feb 2016 71 April 2016 85

REG - Jan 2016 67 July 2016 74 Oct 2016 80

 

[sonja90]

I passed REG!!!

Used only Ninja MCQ and Ninja notes and created my own notes as i went through eeach category of Ninja MCQ!
Ninja trending score 76
Passing score 82!

Happiness!!!

sonja90

[jonm857]

Sonya! We both got a 82! Yes!!!!!!!!!!

B - passed
A - passed
R -
F -

[jgod]

Passed!!! Used a hodge podge system. Mostly Wiley book, Ninja notes, and text books.

Two more.

[N4]

After a disheartening 73 i slayed the beast on my second try by the grace of God! 88!!! Never thought i could get a score like that.

AUD - 90
BEC - 81
FAR - 76
REG - 88

Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.

FAR DONE -Becker

REG DONE -Becker, Ninja Audio/Notes

AUD DONE- Becker

BEC DONE- Becker

 

[Author]

Posts