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Surgent CPA Review + NINJA: How to Smash Any CPA Exam (5 Steps)

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Step 1. Nail the Concepts (Surgent Lectures)

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Nail the Concepts with your Surgent CPA lectures. Start reading the NINJA Notes & listening to the NINJA Audio: Time: 2.5 Weeks.

Fire up your Surgent course and Nail the Concepts with your Surgent CPA video lectures or NINJA Sparring sessions (if studying for a retake). If self-study is more your thing, then read the NINJA Book instead. Time: 2.5 Weeks

If something isn't making sense in your Surgent lectures, attend a live NINJA Sparring session and ask questions, or watch a reply from a past sparring session on that topic.

Start listening to your NINJA Audio. Never drive to work without it on. You can listen to fun things when you're a CPA. Let that motivate you. 🙂

If your commute is 1-hour round trip, then that's 1 hour of NINJA Audio per day (and that's for the commute alone … if you can work and listen to the NINJA Audio, even better.)

Start reading the NINJA Notes in your downtime, especially at work. It's OK if you haven't studied the section before. It will start clicking the third time through, regardless of where you are in your prep.

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Step 2. Intense Notes (Surgent Notes)

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Take Intense Notes over your Surgent CPA Review course lectures.

Take Intense Notes over your Surgent CPA lectures.

First Time?

Retake?

15th Retake?

It doesn't matter.

Take Intense Notes while watching your Surgent CPA Review lectures.

Struggling to take notes? That's OK. You can fall back on the NINJA Notes and rewrite those later.

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Step 3. Non-Stop MCQ (NINJA MCQ)

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Non-Stop NINJA MCQ & Take Notes. Time: 2.5 Weeks

Non-Stop MCQ – Surgent CPA Test Bank or NINJA MCQ. & Take Notes. Time: 2.5 Weeks

If this is your first time taking this exam, then do Non-Stop MCQ with your Surgent Software, and then in the review phase (A – All Comes Together), switch to NINJA MCQ and work backward, beginning with your weakest topic.

If this is a retake OR you've found yourself memorizing your Surgent CPA Review questions, switch 100% over to NINJA MCQ for this phase. When it comes time for the SIMS, switch back and forth according to which software you like better.

Again … if this is your first time taking this exam, use your Surgent CPA Test Bank questions for N (Non-Stop MCQ) and NINJA MCQ for A (All Comes Together) as you review.

If this is your first time taking this exam and you're memorizing the test bank questions (which is bad because it causes false confidence … you're scoring in the 90s, but on exam day, you score a 65 and can't figure out why), then switch over to NINJA MCQ 100% for both (N) and (A).

Simulations – First time or retake alike: switch back and forth between your Surgent CPA Test Bank and NINJA MCQ. Depending on which of the Surgent CPA Review courses you have (Pro or Premium), you may also have a supplemental Surgent CPA test bank.

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Step 4. Just Rewrite (NINJA Notes)

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Rewrite Your NINJA Notes. Time: 1 Week

Rewrite Your Surgent CPA Notes or NINJA Notes. Time: 1 Week

We know you took killer notes over your Surgent CPA lectures … re-write those 😀

If taking notes wasn't in the cards this time, and you did your best, we suggest you re-write the NINJA Notes.

(Listen, we get it – re-writing notes sounds incredibly boring. Do you know what else is boring? Re-studying for a failed exam. Just Do It.)

Rewriting your notes seems tedious (it is), but the investment is highly worth it.

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Step 5. All Comes Together (NINJA CRAM)

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All Comes Together in a Final Review.

Watch NINJA CRAM or the Surgent Final Review. Time: 1 Week

If you're using your Surgent CPA Test Bank in the Non-Stop MCQ phase, this is where you switch over to NINJA MCQ (if you've already switched, then keep using it here as well).

Note: If you use NINJA for Nail the Concepts, then use the Surgent Final Review instead of the NINJA CRAM to benefit from two looks at the material.

Start with your weakest topics first and work backward. You can let the software feed you questions, but since you're in a final review phase, I recommend doing topic-specific mini-testlets and really drill down.

Do a set of 20 over your weakest area. If you're weak in several areas, choose the one that most keeps you awake at night.

Now is also a good time to hammer away at your NINJA Flashcards.

The one you DREAD seeing on exam day.

If you hit in the low 70s (70-75), move on to your next weakest area.

You don't go for mastery here because you have a lot of ground to cover quickly for your review. It's better to get all of the topics into the 70s and then come back and hit them again vs. getting a few into the 80s/90s and running out of time before you can get to the rest.

For instance, if you're taking Financial Accounting and Reporting and your weak area is Bonds, do 20-question mini-testlets until you score in the 70s (which may take 3 or 4 sets) and then move on to your next-weakest area, which might be Leases.

Repeat this with Leases, and then move on to the next one – which might be Governmental Accounting, etc.

As you head into your exam – hammer MCQ and read the NINJA Notes every spare millisecond you have.

(Note – if you have 5 minutes to spare – DON'T spend it on Facebook…knock out two pages of NINJA Notes instead).

Everywhere you go – car, gym, sitting at your desk at work, it's NINJA Audio, NINJA Audio, and … you guessed it, NINJA Audio.

(I get it – the content is boring, and my voice won't be confused with Morgan Freeman anytime soon, but hit Play anyway. You can listen to your Spotify Playlist of 90s Pop Hits AFTER your exam).

NINJA MCQ … NINJA Notes … NINJA Audio on repeat...even up to the minute you leave your vehicle and head into Prometric.

What if the extra 3 minutes of some nuance of Corporate Taxation was the difference between a 74 and a 75 on exam day?

Walk through those Prometric doors confidently and barf out all of that knowledge in your head.

THEN … sleep for 3 days.

You've earned it.

Total Study Time: 4 to 7 weeks using your NINJA Study Planner.