[Guythatwantstopass27]

Hey all, I’m new to the forum and as you can tell from my username I’m a guy that wants to pass. For all of you CPA scholars out there who have managed to pass the exam, what are some tips for passing in a quick and effective manner?

I’m starting work in about a month and am currently studying for FAR, using Wiley CPAexcel because I heard a lot of good things about it. I’m skipping the lectures as of now because they don’t seem to be too effective, rather I am reading the study guides and slides and taking notes on them. I’m also looking at MCQ’s and TBS to see what I’m getting wrong. I’m also using the Wiley focus notes for FAR cause they seem to summarize a lot of key points.

Any and all guidance on how to effectively study and retain information for the exam is welcome. If you could provide a breakdown of your exact study methods too, it would be much appreciated. I would like to ideally pass in 5-6 months. Thank you all in advance!

[Harambe]

These were the key points that helped me pass exams quickly: don't waste time watching lectures, read the books and take detailed notes on pretty much everything, don't waste time doing sims, and do as many MCQ as possible. I used Becker in combination with Ninja MCQ.

Step 1: Read 1 section of a chapter and take notes simultaneously
Step 2: Review notes
Step 3: Do MCQ problems in Becker for that specific section
Step 4: Repeat step 1 for the next section

[H.Bonaventure]

The best advice I received was to pretend like I only had 12 months to pass the exam. This forced me to keep a tight schedule and never delay any of my exams. This also allowed for a cushion to adjust my schedule for any failed parts. I work full time in a public firm which has an extremely heavy tax season and extension season but the sacrifice was worth it.

I studied every possible day I could even if it was just a half hour. I only used NINJA MCQ and pounded question after question with the exception of FAR for which I bought a used Becker book to study key concepts. For FAR writing down journal entries and notes and actually understanding what I was writing was the difference between passing and failing. I didn't care about high grades nor had the time for lectures and note taking so this is why I simply did MCQ at first to get this exam over with. My schedule was as follows:

8-24-15 BEC 79
11-28-15 AUD 76
2-22-16 REG 83
6-10-16 FAR 74
7-26-16 FARx2 80

Good luck!

[Pete]

My advice would be to NOT MEMORIZE answers on the practice multiple choice. If you get one wrong, look at why you got it wrong, NOT AT THE CORRECT answer. Then try again and repeat. Only look at the correct answer, if you get super frustrated or don't understand why you got something correct. Also, really try to think out the answers.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[gobigblue]

What I did which was a HUGE help was go thru the MCQ's on Ninja and print out the answers and put them in a 3 ring notebook for the ones that require a lot of steps. This way each night I would pull the 3 ring notebook out and study the answers and begin going thru each of them doing the problems again to get the steps down. This was huge for FAR and REG for me to get stips downs on the complicated problems which was HUGE on TBS on the exams.

[Anonymous]

Make a timeline. Force yourself to stick to it.

Once you have your NTS, schedule your test. This really helped me. I couldn't focus until I had a clock ticking. As soon as you take a test, schedule your next one! Don't sit around for 2-4 weeks waiting for a score.

As far as studying, you need to be honest with yourself. If you learn better from listening, then listen. If you're like me, you can read it. I read through a chapter in Gleim and then did as many multiple choice questions as I can stand. The important thing is to understand the questions. Don't memorize the answers. If you get it right or wrong, look at the explanations as to why it is right or wrong and look at EVERY ANSWERS EXPLANATION.

Like others said, don't waste time on the SIMS for any test. You will have literature to help you, and if you truly understood the MCQ's you shouldn't struggle too much here. They just take too much time to practice for something you might not see exactly on your exam.

Biggest thing I will say is the schedule. Give yourself a timeline and stick to it. Study every day! Even just a little. Before work, on lunch, after work, before bed. To keep a short timeline, you will have to give up other stuff in life, but that is just the reality of the test!

You can do it!

[nadroj]

Take your next exam as soon as you're ready, but no sooner. You can't fail fast enough to catch up.

[SaveBandit]

Study like the grade matters. Constantly incorporate review into your studying. Space out your studying so you don't get burned out. 1 hour in the morning, 1 hour during lunch, 1-2 hours after work. Review notes for 30 minutes while in the bed.

I think you should also be working SIMS. They are 40% of your grade. I don't think it makes sense to skip over them. Often I would think I was comfortable with a subject and then get to a SIM and be totally caught off guard. For the SIMS I struggled with, I would rework them in my final review. Of course, if you can, us the AL on the test to help you. However, just because someone else could use the AL on their SIMs doesn't mean it will help you on yours. Some questions just don't lend themselves to using the AL so I wouldn't bank on that to always help out.

AUD - 94
BEC - 86
FAR - 85
REG - 90

If you pray enough, you can turn yourself into a cat person.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[.]

I don't think SIMS are all that time consuming. The review courses I've used really don't offer that many anyways. For FAR, CPAExcel only has 187 and Ninja has 75. About 20% of those are research questions. So I did all of them. Not sure how many Gleim or Becker have.

I saved time by not watching videos and only doing “new questions” on Ninja. I didn't bother trying to get to the review phase of Ninja. Instead I read all the explanations and the little links to more explanations that the Ninja MCQs have.

FAR- 88- 6/16- (Ninja Avg. 74%)
REG- 89- 7/16- (Ninja Avg. 77%)
AUD- 95- 8/16- (Ninja Avg. 81%)
BEC- 82- 9/16- (Ninja Avg. 75%)
[Wiley CPAExcel + Ninja MCQ]

Finally licensed.

FAR - June 2016 - 88
REG - July 2016 - 89
AUD - Aug 2016 - review phase currently
BEC - Sep 2016 -

Wiley CPA Excel & Ninja MCQ

[komatk2]

I would say only do a couple of SIMs to get an idea of the format and how to navigate any research sims. SIMs can be so varied that it's not really worth attempting all of them imo. You're probably better off doing as many MCQs as possible.

AUD - 88
BEC - 88
FAR - 88
REG - 77

Done!

[Author]

Replies