How to study for AUD retake

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #1523281
    Scared-cpa
    Participant

    I sat for AUD on 03/08 and found out I failed last week. Tomorrow I begin restudying. Should I go back through all the material as if I’ve never done it before or just do Ninja MCQ until I am trending like I need to be?

    Since I’m wanting to give myself as much time as I need, I thought it would be best to start over from scratch. This is also what Jeff says to do. My only worry with this is that since studying wasn’t enough to get a pass the first time, why would it get me a pass the second time through? I’m just afraid Wiley CPAexcel isn’t fit for me, but I bought it and can’t afford another course.

    However, I do have Ninja MCQ and will be utilizing it to the fullest. With my FAR retake, I literally only did Ninja MCQ so that is why I wonder if it’s what I should do for my retake with AUD, I’m just terrified of failing at this point.

    So should I (1) Start over from scratch then finish the review with Ninja MCQ, (2) Only do Ninja MCQ until I am trending 85 and feel ready, or (3) Start over in studying AND simultaneously work through Ninja MCQ?

    Since FAR, the only section I have passed so far doesn’t expire until 07/31/17, I’m wanting to take my time with the other three sections and give myself the bet chance possible of passing. So I am devoting all of Q2 to studying AUD. Ideally, I want to sit May 10, but I can extend that date until the end of May if I feel like I need to.

    "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

    FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
    AUD - 68, 79
    REG - 75
    BEC - 82

    Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

    I cannot believe I am done.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 95 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #1523287
    Bluetoothray
    Participant

    I'm in a similar boat. I got a 72. :(. I'd start over. As Jeff says you don't need to earn 7 more points, you need to earn a full 75. It's kind of crazy how much you forget even in a couple of weeks. What I'd suggest you do is take a ninja practice test or two first. See what sections look like your weakest. I would then start from the beginning and read the book for all of the sections and focus primarily on the audit sections you struggled with in the practice exam. I failed audit because my Sim score was low, I am convinced of that. Since this new exam will be more weighted towards SIMS I realize I have to know the principles much more deeply than I did before. Simply put I need to know them through and through. I'm going to be starting my studying over completely as well. I just reset my MCQ recently. I'm starting this time with reading the ninja book and taking notes with MCQ sprinkled in. I plan on doing that until I've gone through the material at least twice. Then I'll just hit MCQs hard near exam time. There are my 2 cents.

    AUD - Passed

    BEC - Passed

    REG - Passed

    FAR - Passed

    CPA - VA

    #1523293
    jc510
    Participant

    I'm on the same boat as you guys. Failed audit twice with 72 and 73. Stronger on MC's and weaker on the SIMS. I just don't know what I was doing wrong because I felt like the SIMS weren't as hard as I thought. And I'm using Wiley and Becker. :/

    Aud- 85

    BEC-75

    FAR- 77

    Reg-80

    #1523302
    Scared-cpa
    Participant

    Thanks, everyone. My score report said I was weaker in three sections of the MCQs and comparable with the other three sections. Overall, I was weaker in both sims and MCQs. I am just not sure if I will have time to read back through everything and still have at the very least two full weeks for Ninja MCQ exclusively. But I guess I'm gonna try!

    "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

    FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
    AUD - 68, 79
    REG - 75
    BEC - 82

    Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

    I cannot believe I am done.

    #1523349
    Scared-cpa
    Participant

    Anyone else?

    "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

    FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
    AUD - 68, 79
    REG - 75
    BEC - 82

    Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

    I cannot believe I am done.

    #1523367
    Meg267
    Participant

    I'm in the same boat. Found out I failed AUD as well. I was comparable on the sims and weaker on the MCQ (even though one section was stronger and one was comparable). Ugh. I used Ninja materials for the first time through. I'm going to start over, this time with my Wiley materials and finish with Ninja. I'm hoping to sit around May 12th. I need to get my butt in gear and get started again.

    BEC - 57, 68, 78
    REG - 62, 82
    AUD - 61, 76
    FAR - 79

    Licensed.
    No one ever fails the CPA exam, there are only those who give up.

    #1523380
    IwannabeaCPA2017
    Participant

    For those retaking.. are you using the new book? I really dont wanna buy because it will be my 4x taking the exam. Is the old version sufficient?

    BEC- PASS (Expiring in DEC 2017)

    REG- PASS (Expiring Feb 2018)

    AUD- PASS (Expiring Oct 2018)

    FAR- 65, 60, 59, 77!!! -GOD BLESS

    If I can do it, anyone can do it!

     

    #1523410
    Anonymous
    Participant

    I, too, found out I failed AUD last week. However, I was a bit apprehensive about taking it in the first place as I didn't feel completely prepared (do you ever). My NTS wouldn't have expired, but the cost to reschedule at the last minute would have been equal to the NTS. So, it was best for me to go ahead and try. Honestly, I thought I did a good enough job to pass, but was not completely destroyed when I didn't pass. I knew I needed to do more. At this point, I know I need to start over from scratch for the retake. Currently, I'm studying for FAR and have decided the same as the OP to focus on giving my next exam everything that I have. BEC will not expire until 6/8/2018, but I know that time can pass by fast. Right now, my hope is to take FAR in Q2, and retake AUD at the very beginning of Q3. I want to use all of June to study for AUD and make sure I have 2 solid weeks to read over the authoritative literature, learn the different reports inside and out, and learn the small differences for internal control. I will copy the ninja notes and do ninja MCQ. Honestly, I believe I got tripped up on the actual reading of the questions and not what it was asking–basically, the verbiage of the question as opposed to not knowing the answer. If I can just master that part then I think I'd be home free. BTW, is it me or does 69 seem far away from 75?

    My score report shows stronger in understanding the entity, comparable in evaluation and reporting, and comparable in accounting and review services.

    Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

    AUD Passed  78
    BEC Passed  79
    FAR Passed  77
    REG Passed 76

    I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

    #1523454
    Anonymous
    Participant

    After thinking about it, I'm going to shift gears. Instead of continuing on with studying for FAR, I'm going to go back to AUD. I realize that my course materials (Roger and Ninja MCQ) have an expiration date which is closer than the FAR materials. I need to be smart in my approach because this is costing me money and time. I'm going to start over as if I never studied for it. So, my plan is to do the following:

    Weeks 1&2 Re-watch the lectures on 1 3/4 speed and read corresponding chapters while rewriting 12 pgs of Ninja notes everyday

    Weeks 3&4 Continue to rewrite the Ninja notes which have been infused with my notes AND read the authoritative literature/various reports to make sure I'm filling in any holes (add this to my notes). Begin doing 30 Ninja MCQs per day.

    Weeks 5&6 Continue to rewrite the Ninja notes which have been infused with my notes AND Do Ninja MCQs 50-70 along with 1-2 SIMs per day.

    I wish I could afford the CRAM or Intensive. Hopefully, I don't need that. I'm hoping that I will be able to “get it” this time around.

    Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

    AUD Passed  78
    BEC Passed  79
    FAR Passed  77
    REG Passed 76

    I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

    #1523520
    Scared-cpa
    Participant

    It's great to see you all on this post, in a similar situation to me. A lot of us have had similar failing scores as well (60s) and passes, as well. These scores show that just because you fail, it doesn't mean you can't pass!

    As far as using the old vs. new book, you may want to look up what content is changing in AUD. I know several things are changing and being taken out of FAR material, but I'm not too sure the details of these. Does your review course provide the ebook? Wiley CPAexcel has the section listed with the videos so I am going to read those since they're updated with 2017 content instead of my book which I got in August 2016.

    I am going to go by the NINJA method as closely as I can. My plan is to read the section, take intensive notes, watch the video, and do the MCQs for that section only. I am not sure if I'm going to do Ninja MCQ throughout the entire study time or at the end. But in my extra time, I will be using Wiley Focus Notes since I find them quite helpful and reviewing my notes to keep the material fresh.

    "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

    FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
    AUD - 68, 79
    REG - 75
    BEC - 82

    Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

    I cannot believe I am done.

    #1523521
    Anonymous
    Participant

    Do you know if the Wiley focus notes are available for sale, separately?

    Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

    AUD Passed  78
    BEC Passed  79
    FAR Passed  77
    REG Passed 76

    I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

    #1523526
    RyonT
    Participant

    I'm in the same boat. The first time through, I just watched the Plus videos, did a ton of MCQ, and barely took notes which obviously wasn't enough. After taking 2 weeks off, my plan is to actually utilize CPAexcel, and take notes all while doing 20-40 mcq and reading a few pages of ninja notes after each study session. Then hit mcq until test day. I test on April 27th so I don't have a ton of time, but hopefully that does the trick. Good luck everyone.

    AUD - 79
    BEC - 85
    FAR - 85
    REG - 83
    Licensed CPA (MI)

    CPAexcel & Ninja

    AUD 69, 73, 79

    BEC 67, 69, 73, 85

    FAR 85

    REG 83

     

    #1523532
    Scared-cpa
    Participant

    Yep, here's the link to Focus Notes.

    How do you all manage the time it takes to read/take notes/watch videos/do questions over that topic? I can get through it in a modest fashion if I don't take extensive notes, but that obviously isn't working for me so I need a different approach. Writing it out by hand takes me such a long time! However, I tried typing out notes and that didn't do anything for me either. If I could devote 8 hours a day to the program, time wouldn't be a problem. But that's not possible.

    "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

    FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
    AUD - 68, 79
    REG - 75
    BEC - 82

    Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

    I cannot believe I am done.

    #1523593
    industryCPA
    Participant

    I'm obviously not the best person to give advice considering I also just failed AUD, but since you use Wiley, do you use the slides? If time is an issue for you, the slides have the major concepts that you could focus on rather than reading the study text and watching the videos. Just an idea to consider!

    AUD - 72
    BEC - 75
    FAR - 82
    REG - 80
    It will all be worth it...hopefully
    #1523619
    Scared-cpa
    Participant

    I've never looked at the slides. Usually, if I am in a time crunch I just watch the videos but I find that piece of information in the text are left out of videos but still tested in the section questions. So this suggests to me that it is wiser to read the text. It usually doesn't take me more than 10 or 15 minutes to read the text per section, but there are usually 5-10 sections assigned each day, plus the time to take notes and do the questions. I can easily spend 6 hours a day on studying.

    "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

    FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
    AUD - 68, 79
    REG - 75
    BEC - 82

    Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

    I cannot believe I am done.

    #1523626
    Anonymous
    Participant

    Thanks for the link.

    I have a renewed focus as I do not intend on retaking this section again. I will be waking up 1 hr before I need to begin getting ready for work to get a headstart on writing my 12 pgs of notes per day. Also, I'm back to brown-bagging my lunch so that I can dedicate my entire lunch hour to watching the videos on fast speed. After I get off work, I set aside time to spend with my family (usually 2 hours) and then after my kids and husband head to bed, I'll be reading the book and finishing my notes if I hadn't already done so for the day. TBH, I've even thought about actually taking my two 15 mins breaks during work so that I can read my notes while walking outside–the weather is starting to get warm/hot.

    Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

    AUD Passed  78
    BEC Passed  79
    FAR Passed  77
    REG Passed 76

    I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 95 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.