Posts tagged: Low MCQ Grades

Taking FAR Next Week

August 22, 2012, by No comments yet

Written By Guest Blogger Christine L.

A week ago I was feeling discouraged about the endless hours of deferring gains on leases and hedging my foreign currency transactions. Then this week, I decided that if I was not absolutely ready for the exam now, that at least I would be ready in a few days. I registered to take the exam next Tuesday, sat down and took the four-hour practice exam on the Gleim site, and passed it with a respectable margin of safety.

I have spent way more time studying for FAR than I did for AUD. When I started AUD, my scores were pretty decent. When I finished my scores were well within passing range. However, it was my first CPA exam and I worried. As the days went by, while I waited for my score report to show up, I convinced myself that disaster awaited. When I opened that e-mail with the magic word “PASS” inside, I got all excited, felt dumb about worrying so much, then reminded myself that I had three more exams to work on.

I felt pretty confident when I started studying for FAR. I stayed pretty focused until the weekend when I finished the last of the twenty study units, took a long look at my scores, and decided that they needed to be higher before I stepped into the local testing center. I sat down and looked at my test scores, noted which ones I wanted to improve, made some time calculations, and went for it.

I still have almost four days to study. I have stopped taking general quizzes and am now taking quizzes that draw from a selection of the many subtopics that make up the twenty study units. I’m also revisiting some of the simulations and finding out that I actually have learned something from all that reviewing and practice.

I’m feeling pretty good about where I am. My simulations look good. I passed the practice exam with a decent margin of safety. My test session scores are up over 75%, and I’ve still got time to revisit my weak points. Tuesday afternoon I’ll walk into the exam center and I’ll be prepared.

 

 

FAR: Pension Studying

August 21, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Anne R.

I am now halfway through Study Unit 12 (only eight more to go – over halfway!), and last night I learned about pensions the hard way. Tell me if you can relate. I read the first six pages of the study unit, and about halfway through, I realized I was completely lost. However, I kept reading and skimming the examples. With about one page to go, I realized I hadn’t learned anything and wasn’t focused. Back to page 1! I spent about 90 minutes on this one section – there is a lot to memorize! And it contains a lot of terms I am unfamiliar with. I used Google and an old accounting textbook to help out a little more. I hated spending that much time on one tiny section, but in the end I could answer the questions correctly – and that was a good feeling. I went from thinking “I hope I don’t get any pension questions on the exam” to “I hope I get a lot of pension questions because I understand it!”

 

I think the biggest mistake CPA candidates make is moving on to new material without taking the time to fully master the old material. I’ve already done this with a few study units in FAR, thinking that I will learn it better during my review time. But now I will be taking my exam soon; I need to learn Study Units 12-20 in case I run out of time to review. I am trying to finish these 8 study units in 7 days, which is a stretch, but hopefully I can stay focused! If I can make that happen, then I will have 5 days to review.

 

 

Work/Life Balance and the CPA Exam

August 16, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Oprah M.

For the next couple of weeks I will be focusing on keeping a good work/life balance. About 3-4 times a week I exercise, run, or jog. It helps me get through my day. I try not to base my whole life around studying. I’m determined to keep exercising, but most of everything else falls by the wayside. Normally, I clean the house, fix dinner during the week, and just relax–not anymore. Sitting for the CPA exam is really a life-changing experience. I’m so used to moving around and doing things; studying constantly is teaching me how to concentrate and to be disciplined for this one goal. I often get motivation from reading about others who are going through, or went through, similar issues and are not finished. At work, our fiscal year is ending, so working late is required. Hopefully, this won’t last longer than 2-3 weeks. Time is not my friend.

I’ve been trying to work through as many multiple-choice questions for each section. This is more time consuming, but it’s good to answer as many multiple-choice questions as possible. The more questions you answer, the better you get at understanding the information. Gleim has a set of multiple-choice questions for each study unit. One thing I like about Gleim’s multiple-choice questions is that even if you’ve answered the question before, the next time you see the question the answer choices are likely to be in a different order. For example, the first time around the answer is letter C, the second time the answer could be letter A. So you can’t memorize the position of an answer.

This week, I will work on Study Units 5 through 7. My goal is to sit for the exam by August 31. Let’s all stay motivated.

 

 

Sometimes The Obvious Thing Is True

August 16, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Christine L.

I came to a revelation today; I’m my own worst enemy. That’s not much of a revelation really. I worry about everything. I work too hard. Sometimes I just panic. But that’s standard fare; it doesn’t qualify as a revelation.

I’ve been reviewing FAR pretty much full-time for ten days now, and I still haven’t registered for the exam. Ten days is not exactly a record, but every day between now and the September counts if I’m to succeed with my plan to pass all four parts of the exam in four months. I have a good understanding of the principles, but there are a lot of little details and exceptions (memorizing long lists is not my strong point). After I finished the study units, I sat down with my CPA Review: Financial book and my highlighter and read all the knowledge outlines again and marked up everything.

Now I’m taking additional quizzes. I reviewed my scores in the test prep software and decided that my best strategy would be to practice everything. My scores weren’t quite high enough to give me the margin of safety I want, so I’m setting the software to show me only questions I’ve never seen before. I want to challenge myself and practice all those highlighted details.

Now we get to the revelation. The majority of my mistakes aren’t real mistakes; it’s me getting confused or forgetting something obvious. It really does help, and my scores do go up, when I calm down and remember to carefully read the questions first.

I’m still optimistic about getting all four exams done in four months, although I have fallen behind on my original schedule. But I’m going to work hard this week, put in a solid 30 hours of studying, then reassess the situation. Hopefully, in the next week or so, I’ll be celebrating having taken FAR and be one step further on my way to being a new CPA.

 

CPA Exam Studying Is My Life

August 16, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Anne R.

Even though I was on vacation last week, I managed to put a lot of hours into studying for the CPA Exam. I am finished with Study Unit 9 now, which is only one study unit behind where I wanted to be. I am aiming to take the exam in two weeks, which means I have a lot to do in the next few days! I have several completely free days between now and then, so I plan to do two sections on those days. I have no plans for the next two weeks except a little bit of part-time work and some major library time.

I am still struggling with the material. I am worried about this exam because my quiz grades are fairly low; I am only averaging 70%, which is below passing. The study unit on PPE was easier for me, but the other four were difficult! I really need to focus on studying interest rates and discounted cash flows; this subject has always been confusing for me. I stopped answering questions even though I had low scores because I was starting to remember all the answers. In a few days I am going to go back and review the study units where I received low scores and answer more questions.

I would like to complete Study Units 10 through 15 in the next five days. Then I will complete Study Units 16 through 20 in the four days after that. This will leave me five days to review. I have not scheduled my test yet, but there are still many available spots at my testing center, so I’m not worried. I recommend allowing more time to study, but because I am leaving the country and I procrastinated, this is what I have to do! Moral of the story: stop procrastinating, you will thank yourself later.

 

CPA Exam Studying Woes: It’s So Hot, All You Can Do Is Study

August 14, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Oprah M.

Really, what else can you do with all this heat? This has been my most effective time to study. I spent this past weekend at my kitchen table studying, taking breaks to step outside and coming back in for air. My kids have a small pool that kept them occupied most of the day. Oh, and I did get a movie in on Friday night, which was enjoyable.

My focus this week is to continue to get through AUD sections, but not so fast that I don’t understand the concept. I seem to be able to do well on True/False questions, but multiple-choice questions are more difficult. In the Gleim AUD online course, you take a multiple-choice test before reading any of the material to see what you may already know. This week I got a 100% on the first set of multiple-choice questions after I browsed the material. Talk about being surprised; maybe this AUD stuff is actually starting to sink in. I was very excited, but a little too excited. I got a 60% for the second round of multiple-choice questions. Now, for questions I answer incorrectly, I write down the key parts of the question and answer in my notes. As I review my notes, those multiple-choice questions that are “not so straightforward” get a little easier to understand.

Multiple-choice questions on the CPA Exam aren’t always straightforward. Especially those questions that use words like “Least” or “Likely”. So for a particular question, all the answers could apply, but you have to choose the “least important” or “most likely” answer. This is where you can get better with building your educated-guessing skills. After you continue to go through more and more multiple-choice questions, you begin to pick out these key words to help you better understand the questions. So for now, my best advice is to slow down your reading in order to comprehend each question.

My goal is to complete 3-4 sections this week. Let’s see how I do next week.

 

 

Studying Five Sections A Week For AUD

July 25, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Cameron W.

I’ve been reading the Gleim blog and thought it would be fun to share with those who know exactly what kind of pressure I’m under. I’m currently a Masters In Accounting student at Valdosta State University. I am trying to finish all the CPA sections to help my chances of getting hired by the time I graduate in December. In the spring, for my Advanced Auditing course, we used Gleim for our tests and final, so I decided to use the Gleim software full-time. My goal is to take two sections every window (I’ll be done by November) and PASS ON THE 1st TRY!

 

I’ve been studying five sections a week for AUD and had two weeks scheduled for review. I reviewed last week after taking the practice exam, which I failed miserably (nowhere close to the 70 range). I noticed that my problems were that I either didn’t know the information, didn’t read every single answer choice available, or couldn’t remember that particular subject. When I went back to focus on my weak areas, I found out that by reading the study unit and taking the quizzes, everything came back, which showed me that I had to figure out a way to retain the material. Needless to say, my confidence was shaken.

 

This week, my counselor reset all my quizzes to 0 and told me to approach it, not from the perspective of “I remember looking at this question, but I can’t remember how to work it!” but from the perspective of “Hey, you know this stuff and have put in the time.” That advice really helped. As I began to take the individual sections, I could feel my confidence rising. This worked best for me because it showed me that I do know some things, and I just needed to refresh my mind on some concepts. I know that Internal Control is my main weak area, but I feel like everything else can be fine tuned enough for me to do well on Friday as long as I review (which I will). I’ve been studying all day and now have the confidence I need to pass. I will definitely let you guys know how it goes and thanks for all the study tips and encouragement!

 

Final Review for AUD for Guest Blogger John E.

July 5, 2012, by No comments yet

Written By Guest Blogger John E.

Hello everyone. Week four is finally here. By Tuesday, I will have finished my preliminary review of all twenty study units from the Gleim AUD textbook. Over four weeks, that is an average of five study units completed each week. I must also add that I took roughly four days off for a weekend getaway and the occasional day off. I don’t think I could bear studying 3-4 hours each day for seven days a week. For weeks five and six, I will be completing a final comprehensive review of everything I have covered since day one.

 

I have neglected to schedule the AUD section. I will have to jump on that this week as soon as possible. I am hoping to sit for the exam by the second week of July. My scores are looking strong (ranging 70-90). I have started using the book a little more than normal to help me out with the fundamental concepts in audit. My strategy thus far hasn’t been about reading the AUD book cover to cover. My regiment has consisted of going through each study unit and taking as many multiple-choice exams as possible. I prefer to study multiple-choice questions in test mode, since it most closely simulates the exam. I am taking as many practice exams as possible at twenty questions each. Once I score a minimum of 75% or better, I move on to the next study unit. After completing each practice exam, I review each question and answer regardless of whether I answered correctly or incorrectly. I pay close attention to the answers provided by the Gleim Test Prep software.

 

I will check back soon. Happy studies!

 

Panera – Studying for AUD

June 7, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written by Guest Blogger David G.

I am sitting in a Panera Bread restaurant studying Audit. I have been through the entire book nearly twice now and feel like I know the material pretty well. I took some time off to visit family last week and fell behind a little, but it was worth it. I am getting the minimum 75 score or above on my multiple-choice and T/F tests that I take online with Gleim, so my confidence level is increasing. I am going to undertake going through the book again and making notes on one to two sheets of paper for each study unit. Gleim recommends this, and they also suggest that you use these notes when studying before the exam.

 

I have made flash cards from material in the Gleim book for most of the study units and I try to review them when I get a chance. It is still tough to find time to study. I suggest that anyone who has met the requirements to take the CPA exam should do so as soon as possible. Never put it off. Having children and grandchildren makes it difficult to find time to get it done, but it is possible. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been extremely busy with my last semester in school. I am taking the last two classes for the Master of Accountancy and I am doing so in the short “A” semester at the University of North Florida. So, both classes only last six weeks, which doesn’t leave much time for anything else. Also, my oldest son is graduating high school on Friday!

 

AUD Exam Tomorrow!

June 5, 2012, by No comments yet

Written By Guest Blogger Christine L. on 5/30/12

Tomorrow afternoon I take AUD, my first section of the CPA exam. I finished the last study unit and the last simulation in the book, and then I sat down and took a Gleim practice exam.

I passed the mock exam, with a decent margin of safety. It was a very strange feeling. I’d been working especially hard for the past week or so to make up for a few “lost” days in the middle of May, with my goal being to finish with a few extra days to review. I was pretty frazzled after all those long days. I was actually grateful for the long holiday weekend because everyone was out of town. I was able to lock myself in my apartment and think about nothing but audits of issuers, audits of non-issuers, audits of governmental bodies, compliance audits, and the occasional report that provides less assurance than a full audit. That was more fun than it sounds—I kept dreaming of my future career in accounting.

Then, of course, it hit me. I passed the practice exam. I actually might pass the exam even if I don’t spend these last few hours studying like crazy.

Nobody really warned me about this. I know there are many people who start off with good intentions and end up not spending the recommended 130-140 hours on their preparation. Some do just fine, some learn the hard way that 130 hours sometimes means 130 hours. I lost track of exactly how many hours I was spending a long time ago, but I know it’s north of 140. Yes, folks, I am now one of those rare candidates who could not resist the temptation to over-prepare. And of course I can’t quit now—I have time left to listen to the whole audio series, re-read the knowledge transfer outlines, and take a few more quizzes.

Well, in twenty-four hours it will all be over—until I start another section of course. Wish me luck, and I’ll wish some back to you.