Sarah is a NINJA CPA Blogger.
I sat for my AUD retake on the first day of the testing window. Overall, I thought it went better than the first time but it’s hard leaving there with any real sense of what your score might be.
When I got to work that morning and before I could even make it to my office, I got the first dreaded question, “how did it go?” I replied “better than last time, but other than that, who knows.”
The other CPA in the office was in the break room and was just smiling. As we walked to our offices, he said, that didn’t take long.
It seems like the first half of the day back following a test is filled with people wanting to know how it went. It’s great that they care enough to ask but in a few hours, I’m tired of the question.
It’s also amusing that no one understands how it can take so long to grade a test. I wish I had a better answer for that one.
Like I said though, I thought it went better than the first time. I felt like I really understood the concepts and the material this time. When I took AUD the first time, I was also sitting for my first exam. I didn’t really have a clue what to expect or how to study.
I am using NINJA Notes and Wiley along with my study videos. The first time around, I watched all the videos but just skimmed the study text section because I assumed it was just a do over of the audio…it’s not. There’s a lot of material that is covered in the text that the audio doesn’t touch.
I also was more worried about getting all my sections to green, meaning a score of 90% or better, than I was about understanding the material. I didn’t really use Wiley much because I forgot about it until the last week or so and, when I did answer questions, I didn’t do well on them. I learned as much from the defeat as I did from anything else.
I sat for BEC next and changed my plan altogether. I watched all the videos and took notes, I then read through all the study text, and did all the MCQs in my software and in Wiley. I then split the bulk of my review time in the software and answering Wiley.
I made sure I had seen every possible question each program had to offer at least once before I sat for BEC. I was more comfortable with the material and it showed when I received my score.
For the AUD retake, I watched all the new videos from my software because of the clarity project; I then read every bit of study text and took notes while reading it. I proceeded to do every question in their program and then moved to Wiley.
I spent the final two weeks in Wiley and started my review by pulling up single section, individually, and answering every question in that section. Some were easy with around 50 questions, some were more time consuming with almost 300 but I did each question, in each section.
I then spent the last week answering blocks of 90 questions. I think the key to why this works for me is that I answer the question in practice mode so the answer is displayed right away. If I’m unsure of a question and get it right, I don’t have to try to remember which one it was.
Through BEC and this retake of AUD, I answered every single question in practice mode. I would highly suggest that you try this method. I read about it from another blogger on Another 71, tried it, and have been doing it every sense.
Once you’ve taken an exam, you know how it’s setup, you know how the testlets work, and you know about watching the time. Taking in exam or test mode just doesn’t seem like it offers any kind of advantage to know right then whether you answer was right or wrong and know why it was right and wrong.
I’m taking the rest of the week off from studying after my exam to enjoy some much-needed downtime. I’ll get back to studying this week when I begin tackling the beast, FAR. I have my exam scheduled for 8/26 so there’s no time to waste.
Till next time NINJAs …
