Is the Roger MCQ test bank really such an inferior tool for preparing for exams?

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  • #1562181
    HoldMyBeerCPA
    Participant

    As you all may know, there is a general consensus that the UWorld Roger CPA Review MCQ test bank is vastly inferior compared some of his competitors.

    I’m wondering why this would be the case if he’s “raised the bar” when it comes to his materials. I would assume that someone on the development team scours the internet for comments and acknowledges the fact that most candidates feel as if his test bank is not that great.

    I’ll be taking BEC on Wednesday on a Hail Mary attempt and primarily used his test bank and agree that most of it was not as difficult as the 500 or so NINJA MCQs, but they weren’t over the top easy.

    Perhaps it won’t be enough, and I’ve accepted that, but I’m curious to know if anyone who has used primarily Roger’s test bank for exams taken in this window can comment on the difficulty of the exam as compared to his test bank.

    -Turbo

     
    “ninja-cpa-review”/
     

    "FACT": The odds of consecutively passing all four sections of the CPA exam on the first try: 7%.

    Me: Hold my beer...

    FAR (April 2017): 75+

    BEC (May 2017): 75+

    AUD (July 2017): 75+

    REG (September 2017): 75+

    Roger + Ninja Audio/MCQ/Notes (BEC & REG)

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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  • #1562211
    shawn in VA
    Participant

    I purchased Roger – all 4 parts. I can speak from experience.

    Lectures- talks fast, a bit watered down, but definitely is entertaining and keeps your attention.
    Books- About the right amount of detail, no fluff, very well laid out.
    MCQ- very basic questions which enforce the concepts. The calculation type questions are easy to moderate. Some of his questions do not reference th book or his lectures so you have to guess or use common sense.

    The MCQs are simpler on Roger than the exam, so you may need to suplement with Ninja. I also have Wiley test bank and the questions are more difficult.

    AUD - 84
    BEC - 81
    FAR - NINJA in Training
    REG - 75
    AUD - 84

    BEC-  81

    REG-75

    FAR- TBD

    #1562254
    ultrarunner
    Participant

    I used Roger review + MCQs for my CPA exams (in the old format though). I passed AUD and BEC on a first try exclusively using Roger. It worked very well on BEC. WC was great. I simulated his writing style and got the stronger score. I can't say that it will work well in the new version. However, what you need right now is to build confidence and conquer the exam. Good luck on Wednesday!

    CPA/ MST/ Roger CPA Review

    FAR 72,67,79 (Roger+Wiley test bank)11/15
    AUD 80 (Roger)10/15
    BEC 80 (Roger)4/16
    REG 63,78 (Roger+Ninja MCQs)5/16

    #1562259
    Jdn9201
    Participant

    I realize people learn differently, but I don't agree with most of the criticism I've read about Roger. I purchased only his program for all 4 parts, and passed every exam on the first attempt. I took my last exam in February 2016, so I can't speak to his most recent updates however I found his questions to be at least as difficult (if not more so) than the actual exams. Typically, I would take 3 practice exams consisting of 90 MCQ's and 6 or 7 SIMs, and I found I scored a good 7-10 points lower on his practice exams than I did on the real exam. I will say the only downside to his program is if you need a lot of detail (for someone who has been out of school for a long time, or little exposure to an exam topic). For myself, I would rather have a big picture approach then dive deeper on my own if I'm having problems with a particular topic. I could see though if someone was very uncomfortable with a topic needing to supplement to get more detail.

    BEC - 88 8/29/15
    REG - 82 11/14/15
    AUD - 83 1/8/16
    FAR - 80 2/29/16

    #1562310
    Moeshow
    Participant

    I used Roger Review for all 4 parts and was able to pass the exam in a year. I'm not sure about his updates as well…since I pass before the 2017 changes. I agree with the @jdn9201 some topics aren't as detailed and that's the only issue that I had with him. But I am always one to say, “if you study, you'll pass.” But his MCQs weren't bad for preparing for the exam from my perspective.

    BEC - PASSED 2016
    FAR - PASSED 2016
    AUD - PASSED 2016
    REG - PASSED 2017

    Roger CPA review

    BEC 2/26/2016 81
    FAR 05/2016

    Purely Roger CPA Review, for now!

    #1562329
    mckan514w
    Participant

    I was also a Rogers user- I don't necessarily think his MCQ's were/are easier / inferior, just for me personally I didn't think they reflect the actual exam questions as well as say Ninja's MCQ's. Like @jdn9201 said, however, I think a lot of it really does depend on your learning style. I am definitely a “more is better” type person and found that Roger's approach of hitting on the big picture items didn't work all that well for me because I needed to delve deeper into the topics to really “get them”. I honestly do not think I ever would have passed FAR had I not made the move to Gleim- which gave me waaaay too much information, but in my particular case, it was what I needed.

    And they ask me why I drink

    BEC 71, 82
    AUD 75
    REG 75
    FAR 61, 69, 83

    and they ask me why I drink...

    FAR- 61-next time I'll ask for lube instead of a calculator
    REG-75- Never been so happy to see such a low grade
    BEC- 8/11
    AUD- 9/2

    #1562842
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I'd say that Roger's questions are more than adequate for FAR and AUD. Would definitely recommend. I'm studying for BEC right now but I'm using Gleim's textbook because it looks way more complete than Roger's.

    The whole “If you study you will pass” thing, I don't know. I didn't pass FAR the first time and it wasn't for lack of studying. LOL All the vendors have their own taglines – Gleim's is/was “The Gold Standard in CPA Review Prep – Millions of Passed Exams” or something like that. And, I think all the vendors say “88% pass rate on the first time”, which is laughably false.
    Performance on these exams is so entirely subjective. You can study your ass off and get a super-hard set of questions, while the person sitting next to you in Prometric studied far less and got an easier batch of questions and passed.

    My advice to anyone would be this – whichever test bank or review course you pick, the main thing you should be focusing on is the highly-tested things that the review course tells you are highly-tested, like government/nonprofit for FAR or internal control for AUD. Study those until you can't study them any more, and work every practice question on them and then go back and review the practice questions and make sure you learn from your errors. Unless you are a genius who never forgets anything that they learn, this is probably the best way to do it.

    #1562857
    hasy
    Participant

    I would concur for that FAR and AUD. His questions should be more than enough. HOWEVER, I always found supplementing with an additional test bank (one that is as cheap as NINJA completely worth it). To this day, I don't regret purchasing Roger.

    AUD - 83
    BEC - 80
    FAR - 83
    REG - 78
    BEC - 80 (Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB)

    FAR - 72; 83 (Roger + NINJA MCQ)

    AUD - 83 (Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB)

    REG - 52; 78 (Roger + NINJA MCQ)

    Ethics - 68, 96 (how I dislike you)
    -
    This forum is more addictive than drugs. Still returning after licensure.

    Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

    -

    BEC 80 (10/23/15)
    FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
    REG 52 (4/28/15)
    AUD (9/9/16)

    Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

    #1562859
    HoldMyBeerCPA
    Participant

    I only gave myself four weeks to study for BEC, so I couldn't go as hard as I did with the NINJA MCQs as I did with FAR (I did all but 100 NINJA MCQs for FAR and 350 or so Roger MCQs. This time around I did all the Roger MCQs for BEC and only 525 or so NINJA MCQs).

    I also did a practice exam using the Roger software and scored an 86. I know that should be taken with a grain of salt, but I'm hoping that my hail mary was enough to squeak by.

    "FACT": The odds of consecutively passing all four sections of the CPA exam on the first try: 7%.

    Me: Hold my beer...

    FAR (April 2017): 75+

    BEC (May 2017): 75+

    AUD (July 2017): 75+

    REG (September 2017): 75+

    Roger + Ninja Audio/MCQ/Notes (BEC & REG)

    #1562898
    Eskypades
    Participant

    Hi everyone,

    I've just started studying FAR with the Roger CPA Review course. This is my first exam and, being that I'm almost 40 (!!) with a full time job and 5 kids, I'm more than a little nervous and intimidated by the exams. But I'm determined to study and pass these things. I'm giving myself what I hope is enough study time before taking FAR at the beginning of September.

    What supplemental test bank would you recommend in addition to Roger's? I'm finding that I get the material a lot better by working through the MCQs after each lesson. I also recognize that I'll need all the practice and help I can get. How are the NINJA test banks compared to say, Wiley or Gleim?

    Thanks in advance!

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