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August 17, 2017 at 8:43 pm #16046211skibumParticipant
Hi everyone! I began my CPA journey about 14 months ago and as of right now I’ve passed BEC and am waiting on my AUD score. Last night I found out that I failed REG for the 3rd time with a score of 73…I received a 72 and 74 in my prior times. I am now supposed to be studying for FAR and am wondering if Becker maybe isn’t for me. Would I be better off picking up a different class since my Becker license is about to expire? Or should I just pick up Ninja MCQ to complement my Becker materials? Thoughts? Opinions? Thanks!
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August 18, 2017 at 1:25 am #1604886CPAgoal2017ParticipantAugust 18, 2017 at 1:49 am #1604889reallytiredParticipantAugust 18, 2017 at 2:41 am #1604907AnonymousInactive
The more Becker dumbs down their material the better it gets. Prior to their 2017 update they had way too much “highlight this and highlight that.” It was very impracticable.
I still wonder to this day if I would have been better or with Ninja or Roger. Oh well, one more exam to go and I will be done.
Goodluck.
August 18, 2017 at 9:19 am #1604970AnonymousInactiveThere are other courses that give free trials. You should do the free trials for every other course available and see if one keeps you engaged more.
August 18, 2017 at 11:39 am #1605083Finally_a_CPAParticipantI second helpme: Try one of the other courses and see how you like them. I think it all boils down to your learning style. When I was trying to decide what review course to purchase, I signed up for both Becker's and roger's free trial. Almost immediately, I knew Becker was not for me. I honestly feel that had I chosen Becker, I would still be taking these exams. With Roger, I knocked them out in just under a year.
But again, I hate reading and taking notes so I needed someone with Roger's energy to keep me somewhat focused. I learned mainly by watching his lectures and reading only those sections that I just didn't get. Then of course I did ms questions until I would see a, b, c, d whenever I closed my eyes.
AUD - 75
BEC - 78
FAR - 81
REG - 92"If you study, you will pass" - RogerAugust 18, 2017 at 11:42 am #1605090tygolferParticipantI highly recommend Ninja MCQ, especially for REG. $47 can't beat the price, but I don't have any experience withe Becker so I can't speak to that.
AUD - 92
BEC - 84
FAR - 77
REG - 89MDS CPA Review and Ninja MCQ for final review 2 weeks prior to each examAugust 18, 2017 at 12:15 pm #1605143CPAgoal2017ParticipantThankyou all for your inputs.Its given me a new perspective.Will attempt Reg in Q3. Will not give up..
August 18, 2017 at 12:32 pm #1605186M123ParticipantBecker content is good – how they deliver it is questionable. The videos should explain/expand on content, but 80-90% of it is simply parroting what's in the book. If you go through the book and exercises, that will get you to a good starting point. Then Ninja MCQ and TBS to master the content.
The main advantage with Ninja is the clarity as to how you're tracking and improving. Unless I”m wildly mistaken, I don't see Becker doing that , even in their new “adaptive” format.
You may be able to sweet talk Becker into an extension. You sure as shinola paid enough for it!
AUD - 77
BEC - 81
FAR - 77
REG - 81REG - 1. Becker only - fail (forgot to study depr - oops); 2. Becker only - Pass
FAR - 1. Becker only - fail; 2. added Ninja Notes and MCQ - Pass
AUD - 1. Becker videos; Ninja Notes, Audio, MCQ, Becker Notes - Pass
BEC - 1. Ninja Notes, Audio, MCQ, Becker Notes - PassAugust 18, 2017 at 12:53 pm #1605221dbmonster21ParticipantI failed reg in May with a 73… Used Becker only… for my re-take, I supplemented with Ninja. I focused ALOT more on sims, because my failing score report indicated I did weak on them. I ended up with an 86 on REG this past score release.
I know how you feel… I felt so defeated when I failed reg the first time with a 73… I dreaded the next day knowing that everyone at work, friends, family, etc would ask the same question everyday… “Have you gotten you're score yet”?
Everyone's journey is different. Some people pass all four sections without failing any, some people failed over 10 times.
If this helps at all, one thing I did after failing reg the first time was to make changes outside of studying for the actual exam as well…
For example, I built a schedule that I followed strictly, where every day after work I would study at least one module on Becker. I kept that consistent throughout my studies… NO DAYS OFF…
Also, every single day I would do 20 to 30 progress test questions to refresh on random content every day… Sometimes it was 12:00 AM midnight, and I still had not started my 20-30 progress questions… Guess what? No excuses, I stayed up until I did my progress questions.. NO EXCUSES!!!
I also made an excel spreadsheet where I will keep track of every single progress test question I did for each chapter, so I can see what average progress test scores were per chapter. It helped identify my weak area chapters so I would reread sections of those chapters or do some more progress questions.
AUD - 82
BEC - 81
FAR - 84
REG - 86August 18, 2017 at 1:02 pm #1605233tskits75ParticipantI had becker for REG (pre-changes) because my firm paid for it, but personally I agree with above it above it was basically just non-stop highlighting. Specifically I always found myself learning more from the Peter Olinto parts instead of Tim Gearty. Pete explains things better in my opinion, but for REG he is just the law sections so you are sort of stuck with Tim.
After two attepmts it would probably make sense to switch, and see if a different approach is better for you personally.
Pete > Tim, especially when he goes over MY LEGS, LOL!
AUD - 92
BEC - 79
FAR - 79
REG - 76If I can do it, anyone can!AUD - 92
BEC - 79
REG - August
FAR - TBDAugust 31, 2017 at 3:26 pm #16187661skibumParticipantSo I got my Wiley books and am through about 10 lessons. I don't know if buying Wiley was the best choice or not. The topics are broken down into bite sized lecture, but it feels like the questions are very basic compared to Becker. On top of that the Wiley online software has given me errors the past three days so I haven't been able to study. I finally called today about it and they're looking into it. I have a 10 day return period. Thoughts?
August 31, 2017 at 4:01 pm #1618775K.JamesParticipantI've definitely had a struggle with these exams and Becker. I think the material is there its just all about paying attention to the breakdown of the exam and how to execute your studying. I'm retaking FAR (hopefully my last part) but for the other three parts I had to break it down by what I know I could learn quickly vs. what would take more practice. For me, going through and knocking out the non-math portions of a particular part (for BEC, all of COSO, IT, Economics) gave me a boost, because I knew that I would remember those quickly and just continue to do progress tests each week for them. Then I spent most of my time on the math intensive portions because I knew there would be tricks and things I needed to remember.
Honestly I think it is just a learning curve on how to study for these exams. I've studied for each of them a different way (I've passed BEC and AUD, awaiting a score for REG, retaking FAR in November) and supplementing with NINJA could be a good thing to do. I've had some people recommend it to me, because what could happen with Becker is when you are doing those progress tests you could end up seeing the same questions over and over and then you will start to memorize them. So having a fresh bank of MCQs and TBS could be helpful for your studies because you will see more and can go back and focus on things that you got incorrect. Also, people have said that the Ninja MCQs are not outlined the same way as Becker (as far as sections go) so once you completely go through your sections it would be a good final review tool.
Also, Becker offers a 3 month extension of the course for $299, but if you fulfilled the Becker promise they will extend the course to you for no cost I think.
I hope that helps. Good luck with your studying.
BEC -80AUD-81
FAR-69 (Retake in Q4 2017)
REG- 8/21 (Score TBA)
BEC-80 5/28/2016
AUD- 7/2/2016
FAR (TBD)
REG (TBD)August 31, 2017 at 4:12 pm #1618780Twenty17ParticipantI initially purchased becker without sampling it because everyone was saying how great it is. For me it was not great and I had to eventually switch to Gleim which I like much better. I regret not trying out each review course to see which one works better for me. I feel like Becker is all about memorizing things, but for me I need to understand it in order to apply it and remember it so for that reason Gleim works better for me. I felt like I was reading a summarized outline with Becker, if that makes sense, and then the videos were just a bunch of highlighting and underlining As others said, try the trial versions.. each one I think offers the first chapter or section to try it out, see which one fits you best.
As someone else mentioned Becker does offer to extend the software as long as you can prove to them you have an exam scheduled, so take advantage of that but keep in mind they will only extend ONE section for those 3 months which I thought was annoying.
August 31, 2017 at 4:39 pm #1618781AnonymousInactiveI have used both Becker and Ninja and I find that together they are a perfect combination. I have passed two sections with REG pending. Here is my approach.
-I don't watch lectures-I listen to them in my car, which kind of gives me a gist for what's in the book. Certain modules I am able to retain just by listening.
-I then do MCQ for each module, skills practice, and review the book, make notes as I go. SIMS in each chapter of course. I basically ensure that each week I have every module “checked off” according to Becker.
-I do progress tests every week.
-Then after the Becker course is done, I jump into Ninja for review…It's brutal, because you feel like you are failing, but Ninja is amazing at analyzing what you do and don't know. So I do the entire Ninja testbank as my review-new questions only. Then repeat it for questions “missed since last time seen”. And you can see in Ninja which sections you are bad at.
This is also when I go back through my Becker book and notes, etc. to review and hone my understanding for weak concepts/topics.
The last week or so is spent between progress tests in Becker and MCQ in Ninja… and probably reading and re-reading the book a 3rd time. I do Becker Mock Exams at that point as well…
You were close in Becker, you might just need that extra with Ninja to get over the hump.August 31, 2017 at 8:21 pm #16188501skibumParticipantThanks for the help everyone! I called Wiley today and am able to return my stuff with only paying about $20 to ship my books back, so that's what I did. I think that there's too much content there for a person like me. It was daunting and the fact that Becker has gotten me so close, I think adding Ninja may help get me over 75. The one 74 I got I had used Ninja for 3ish hours so I'm hoping that's the case.
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