My Yeager preparation

I bought Yaeger CPA Review Videos for REG and FAR Exam preparation. Well I already have Becker study material and downloaded Gleim test preparation software. Going with Yeager was a last minute decision. I must say Phil Yeager doesn't disappointed me nor does Cindy.


A good convenience with Yeager DVDs is, you can play them on your DVD player, relax on your couch and scribble all the notes. I used Wiley text books before but they never were my favorite. But surprisingly they sounded better when some one else is pointing out, what's in the material, what to read and which questions to do? Well it's not about reducing the burden but it's about the ease of preparation. By the way I love the jokes and smiles of Cindy and Yeager. They sound some how genuine.


The quality of paper in Wiley's CPA Review books is not impressive and their print ink even dissolves in the highlighter wetness. Make sure you buy good quality high lighters which don't bleed ink, otherwise that ink can soak and bloat on the other side. Keep away from those four color pens for one dollar stuff. Wiley's got great authors and also good cost accountants.  Though I am not impressed with the quality of their print ink and paper, I appreciate the quality of their content a lot and also the cost of their books.

I would like to give some advice on how to get little organized in your Yeager CPA Review preparation. First buy good files and file all those handouts along with the printouts of the contents of DVD and the important problems. Yeager CPA Review gives web links to their students for printing out those handouts.

    * Contents of DVD s showing the number of parts in each module, Hrs..Etc..
    * The minimum number of problems we should do...

It is important to take printouts of these files too. File them in the end and highlight each question when it is completed when you are watching videos. And do the rest of the problems and highlight them too as you complete them.


Take printouts of all the latest forms (those required not all of them) from IRS website and file them in a separate file. And finally file the notes and worked out problems in another file. If you buy a bigger file then you can file them all in one.


If possible Index your Wiley book before you start your study so that each time they want us to turn pages you don't have to search every time. Of course you can use book marks but from my experience, Indexing was helpful.


While you are watching those DVDs,  pause the video where ever you find it confusing, rewind it and go through it again. Pause it to read the text from the text book and do the problems or to note down a point. I took two hours for a one hour lecture to clearly understand what he is teaching. It's my way to follow and understand a lecture. What I am saying is it's just not watching, it is understanding and also properly noting down and working out the questions. Don't rush to feed on Phil Yeager's time before you brain storm.

Last but not the least PLAN AHEAD. Allot time and understand how much time is required for your preparation. They have more than 30 hours of videos and also decide yourself  how much extra time you need for each hour of lecture. Write a plan and stick to your plan. I am saying it again. Put this on paper. I repeat  PLAN ON PAPER. and  EXECUTE YOUR PLAN.


I also downloaded Wiley's audio review. Anita Fellar is a good reader and her voice is also good. But all she does is reading text from Wiley's text book. She continued reading even when her voice cracked at times. And I don't understand why Wiley sells an outdated audio? And why audible.com thinks a CPA Audio Review as 'Pride and Prejudice'. Guys you need to trash them every 6 months. It's not a classic. There is no comparison between other CPA Review's audios and Wiley's. Wiley thinks reading text from its text book is Audio review!! I would call it an abridged audio book and nothing else. If this is what you are expecting, you can buy the audio. I am not saying it doesn't help at all. It is helpful to revise in certain way. And they don't need a CPA to do the reading. Please Wiley wake up!!. I used Kaplan Audio for Auditing and BEC and I have Gleim Audio for REG now. And their approach is they revise the topics and ask questions which I feel is far better than reading from a text book.

Hope this helps ...
My best wishes for your preparation..

Gleim Ethics

Today I am reading Ethics from Gleim. I signed up for the free trail of Gleim CPA Review and in the trail they provided one chapter for free. They also provided audio/video presentation, True/False Study Questions,   Knowledge Transfer Outline, Multiple-Choice Quiz, Simulation & Performance Reports. I downloaded their Test Prep Software and working out MCQ's from them.

You can also signup for Gleim CPA Review for free here

Head in Sand..

I want to write today about a very common thing that happens with me. I am not ashamed to accept it, I freak out / panic / get anxious / get scared... I want to admit my weak points and I want to work on them. Why I choose to picture myself as a Ostrich in Sand is, this weak point of me is the central theme behind my failures. If a thought comes to my mind that some chapter or subject is difficult or If I started to think myself as weak.. It starts. Though right now I could analyze myself and observe me consciously as a second person and try to reason, for many months I suffered. I am not saying , I am the queen now and I conquered it but I am aware of it now.

As  I got conscious of my behavior, I observed that I tend to avoid confronting things, I fear. As and when I start to prepare or start doing MCQ's or any topic which I am afraid of, for any strange reason, I procrastinate , I spend hours browsing, watching videos, worrying about my family members, cry or do anything to avoid facing books. I am not saying each one of  you can behave like me. But those of you who procrastinate may need to look deeper into your behavior on why you behave like that. Whether it is fear or disinterest or any other problem. You must try to understand why you are wasting your time and why you are not concentrating.

Though studying and analyzing yourself may also seem easy to you but the real effort lies in accepting your problem and not to consider your weaknesses as Himalayas and If they really are, then knowing how to tackle your problem and diverting your monkey mind to enjoy your goals is important. If you don't know how to tackle your problems, please consider taking help of your friends, family members, relatives or some professionals. Don't feel bad about it. What's important is helping ourselves to reach our goals. Everything follows.

Results Madness

I don't understand why we have to wait so long to see our scores. My exam was on 13th July and my scores were out on Aug 27 th. I am supposed to appear for Reg on Aug 28th but I was so tense with my result that I couldn't concentrate well on this exam and finally I postponed it. Well I am not  blaming NASBA for my bad preparation but If I received my pass result a month back that would have certainly boosted my preparation.

Multiple choice questions are machine valued and it's just one simulation per paper that is graded. I know there might be a problem that didn't help NASBA to quicken the process but still I am mad that I waited this long and it disturbed my preparation. I request NASBA to please help students to get quicker results.

It felt even miserable to think, what if I waited this long to hear I failed. God I wish all students prepare well and pass. It felt depressing to see the fail words last time. I don't want to see them again. I don't want any body to have that fate.

NASBA I really respect you but I still want to say, I am not happy with waiting for scores .

Don't Read ! Ask !

Earlier in my preparation I used to sit and read and read and read...
When I am trying to answer the questions now , I find some questions confusing . It only means I didn't grasp that particular point. Memorizing is all together different , but if we don't understand what we are reading it will not give any kind of remembrance and it will not help us to answer the questions.

I find it useful to ask questions about each and every topic I am reading. For example if I am reading internal control, Instead of reading traditionally I ask myself what is internal control? Take the title and make it a question and ask your self what is it? And if you cannot answer it properly then read the topic and then ask your self the same question.
When you are reading for the first time this increases your enthusiasm and if it is second time it helps to revise.

Perform

I am adding a new word to my philosophy which was the only one I missed. We need to perform well to pass. I know if we do all the other things Read Understand Revise Retain Practice we will perform well. But training ourselves in exam conditions is also very important. I wrote many small exams but didn't wrote a practice exam. I know sometimes it may be just coincidence that our badly performed simulation picked out but still I decided to train myself for the worst. 
Again saying : I won't sleep till I become a CPA.