2021 Spring Exam 6 Advice

Many candidates would like some advice on the following topics while they await their current Exam results.

Please feel free to ask additional questions, but let’s avoid bringing up specific syllabus topics for the time being.

  • Suggestions/insights on various Study Guides
  • Recommended paper to read first (sequence can be done later). (For the moment, please avoid specifying any particular chapter/section for texts that have multiple chapters/sections.)
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Hi, while waiting for exam 5 results I want to start going through the source material for 6 to get a jump start on the spring assuming I pass 5.

I was wondering if there is a good “order” to the material or a recommended order for going through it. There is a lot!

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I’d start with COPFLR. It and Odimirok are the largest sources of material by syllabus percentage, and COPFLR is definitely the easier read imo.

I’d also point out that the changes mentioned way back in February here are actually taking place effective this coming spring. The CAS site hasn’t updated the source PDFs yet, so definitely don’t start with the ones being replaced…

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Thanks for the heads up about the changes. I definitely missed that!

I’ve heard good things about BattleActs and I am intrigued by a seminar system that isn’t based on videos.

Any comments on pros and cons?
Would it stand alone or would you recommend supplementing with another product?
(I don’t count the source as a separate product.)

I personally don’t really get much out of the way that the battleacts wiki articles are structured. I preferred reading through CF for the actual material (making my own anagrams/memory tricks etc is more helpful for me). The organization of problems and the interaction with exam questions on battleacts is unprecedentedly fantastic, however. Buying both is also expensive. Fortunately, I’ve been taking this exam for a really long time now so have had exposure to both separately.

Hey all, I’m planning to sit for 6 in the spring but could alternatively sit for MAS-II. My instinct is that 6 is a better exam for quarantine, since I’d rather be reading and doing flashcards at home than grinding calculations, but I’m curious how others feel. (Also waiting on results from 5, but leaning towards a pass)

Also I just did OC2 and the accounting VEE this summer, so those are relatively fresh in my head, which may help for 6 as well.

I would agree. Exam 6 is definitely memorization heavy and is boring IMO but very much so a “grind it out exam” which sounds like it might be better in your circumstances. While I’ll never have to take MAS II, I generally advise my colleagues to wait as long as possible to take that exam just because it’s still so new.

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Started studying for this using TIA. It is definitely a lot to memorize.
Hoping to finish first pass by mid feb

Mid February seems pretty aggressive. I’m hoping by end of February to clear a first pass, leaves march for a second pass/detailed notes and April for past exams.

I started mid December. Which section are you at on TIA?
This is a different beast.

Are you guys doing anything to retain material better?

I’m almost done with Section A – I just got TIA recently. I did read through COPLR already prior to getting TIA.

I’m actually liking the beta version if TIA (the TIA/study website they just launched) for the new way they are doing flashcards. I’m trying to go through my the inbox in their daily during downtime. It’s been helpful to relook at the key points from the readings to help me retain them.

The material isn’t hard in my opinion just so much to remember.

I ended up getting two different study guides (TIA and BattleActs) so to retain material I’ve been doing 2-3 passes of the top 6 sections alternating between the two sources. My plan is to focus on 6 sections at a time like this and just keep exposing myself to the material in different ways (videos, readings, flashcards, practice questions)

I think if I only did one full pass straight through I wouldn’t retain much at all but that’s probably because I’m unfortunately a very passive studier early on (especially while waiting for results on exam 5). Also since the material is so dry, I find jumping around to keep me slightly more engaged rather than doing one section at a time. We’ll see how this strategy pans out.

I’ve been reading the source while waiting on the Fall results to be released and was thinking about getting battle acts once I get my results.

What’s your take on battle acts so far?

I’m personally a fan. I haven’t actually done any of the quizzes yet which are apparently one of the best features. But for a first pass they make the material way more approachable I think.

I got TIA as a second manual because I also like having videos, and I’ve heard that BA can skimp on details (which is not always a bad thing).

How is the source treating you? I’ve heard it’s a struggle to get through and not really worth reading everything?

Are you guys doing all the practice questions at the end of each chapter/section?
How are you guys going through the material as a first pass?

That’s great to hear! I think I’ll end up checking it out as well.

I agree with what you’ve heard on the source material. It’s so very dry and dense that taking notes from it is tough because I feel like I’m basically just rewriting the entire source.

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Does anyone have prior Exam 6 in excel/google-sheet format for practicing that they can share?