Posted: March 28 2009 at 2:09am | IP Logged

Welcome to AUD Study Plan Talk!

This is the place where you can put your AUD study plan in writing and put it in action.  Talk about your broad-range plans for tackling AUD as well as your nitty-gritty day-to-day study plans.  Compare and contrast with others about what works/worked for them and help each other "tweak" study plans accordingly.

Don't forget to check out the forum's area on Study Tools & Review Programs...that's the place where you can discuss, compare & contrast review programs, books and software.  You can find it here.
http://www.cpanet.com/cpa_forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=4

Good Luck with your Studies!
CPAnet

Posted: March 28 2009 at 2:38am | IP Logged

Here's something to help you brainstorm and possibly jumpstart your own study plan.  Don't forget to come back here and put your plan in writing! 

It's a visual Studying Methodology tool forum member cpasunj created for his BEC & REG study plan and you can find it here, especially check out the Routine Studying section.  It was great to see "visit CPAnet Forum" under Motivation!

Posted: March 28 2009 at 2:48am | IP Logged

Here are some ideas to hopefully get you started...

#1 from Dparkx81 here:

I used the Wiley book, read each section (Take Notes) and did the multiple choice questions. I do about 4-5 modules then go back and read the things I highlighted and use my notes to supplment them. I would do the multiple choice questions again. After I finish the book, I would do a final review and do the questions I got wrong or guessed and got right. Three sections and I never touched a practice simulation question and passed all three on the first try. If you know the multiple choice then you will do fine on the Sims. I believe you're wasting time if you practice the Sim since the sim questions on the test are nothing like what you practiced. This is what worked for me and hopefully can work for others.

#2 from rogercpa (also in link above):

cpadude22 wrote: thanks to all of you for your help.  another question.........how much time per week did you guys study?  I know everyone is different but i just want an estimate.  how long (eg couple months?  3 months?) did you guys study?  if possible, breakdown for each section please.  once again, thank you very much and good luck to all of you

The AICPA recommends 2 - 3 hours of self study (M/C + Sims) for each hour of lecture that you watch. Just going by our course lecture times, this works out as follows:

FAR - 96 hours
REG - 72 hours
AUD - 60 hours
BEC - 48 hours

Keep in mind that is just a minimum suggestion - I think previous posters really have the idea of "self study" down to a science! And I definitely recommend a previous poster's suggestion of sitting down and writing out your entire week - from waking up to going to bed, you need to account for each and every hour in your day (including TV time, nights out with friends, etc - although some of that should be put on the back burner until you pass!). Otherwise, it's just too easy to procrastinate.

Posted: March 28 2009 at 5:31am | IP Logged

So...what's your AUD Study Plan???

Start talking...

Posted: March 31 2009 at 8:47am | IP Logged

I am going to post something more detailed--hopefully breaking it down into days, but I have found this plan made me learn this more easily. Those of you who have listened to Becker's lectures have heard Peter Olinto say "Break it down piecemeal", and that is what I did.

Do a mini-section (a portion of each chapter) daily. You can knock it out in 2-3 hours a night. Read the chapter, make your OWN notes. Listen to the lecture. Make your OWN notes. Do homework (homework ONLY) for that particular section. UNDERSTAND why you missed what you did. I made a habit of not only reading the correct answers, but also the incorrect ones to make me understand why they were incorrect. This helps when there are two good answers and one is BETTER than the other one. Remember that each APPENDIX is a section, and I have never been sorry for going through those.

On Saturday, I did the Supplemental Questions for that chapter, following the rules above for understanding.

On Sunday, I did a progress test over that chapter. I did cumulative ones each Sunday. For example, next week would be Chapters 1-2.

I gave myself two full weeks to only review. I skimmed all the chapters for three days. Then I took a Simulated Exam a week before the exam. I reviewed what I missed. I spent two solid days on simulations. Take another Simulated Exam three days before the real exam. Anything closer to the real exam than this will only freak you out and ruin your confidence. Spend the couple of days before the exam only reviewing your notes Take the night OFF before the exam. Meditate, pray, take a long hot bath, rest your brain, go to sleep early.

I hope this helps you. I followed this to the letter on Audit, and scored a lot higher on what was supposed to be my weakest area. I started this plan with BEC.

This schedule should offer balance. A lot of us have other responsibilities, and this keeps you from getting too overloaded with too much information in too short a time frame. KEEP ON SCHEDULE for what you have to accomplish that day. When you have mastered the material for the day, then spend time with your family. I had a newborn baby starting out who is now a toddler, and this kept me from going completely insane with guilt and fatigue because I missed her so badly. If you are done for the night then: Go to bed early. Play with your kids. Spend time with your spouse. Hang out with your friends. Watch Lost. Do any of this because you stayed on schedule and you earned the time. The next section to master is for tomorrow's work.

Good luck to all of you! It feels SOOO good to be done! Email if you ever need anything!

-Retro

Posted: April 07 2009 at 10:12pm | IP Logged

I'm taking AUD on 4/25 as well. This time I'm studying harder because I don't want to spend money on another NTS or waste my time studying again to re-take AUD.

I'm using Yaeger HomeStudy which uses the Wiley books. My study plan is as follows:

1. Read Module in Wiley book and related Professional Standards Outlines in the back and make notes in the book (Highlights: yellow-my notes, pink underline-Yaeger notes, blue underline-Yaeger cram)
2. Watch Yaeger Home Study DVD for that Module and take notes in the book
3. Do all questions in Wiley book for that Module
4. Go over the answers to those questions and take notes on why the answer was right or wrong
5. Make a note of % of questions correct
6. Use Wiley Focus Notes like flashcards when away from home without Wiley book

After I finish all the Modules:

1. Review my notes in the Wiley book (only notes and text that are highlighted)
2. Do all questions in the Wiley book again (making sure % correct > 80%), including AICPA released questions and SIMs in the back of the book
3. Watch the Yaeger cram DVD
4. Do Wiley software questions if I have time

Looking at this study plan I created in Excel, I think it's very ambitious, but I am halfway through the material and I think I am retaining the material well and gaining confidence.

I hope this will help someone. I am one of those people who used to almost never study in school and get A's (high school, college, Honors, AP, didn't matter, I would always wing it), so the CPA Exam taught me a hard lesson. A few years ago, I had 3 parts passed and failed FAR, thereby losing all my credits. I had to start from scratch. Hopefully, I can get it over with in the next few months. Good luck everyone!