In this SuperfastCPA podcast interview, you’ll hear how Bryce started passing his exams after making several changes to his study strategies, including doing shorter study sessions and taking more breaks.
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Episode Timestamps
- 00:00 Interview Video
- 00:33 Intro
- 03:08 Bryce Talks About How He Started Studying
- 05:08 How He Found Out About SuperfastCPA
- 05:55 Things That Clicked From the Free Webinar
- 07:35 How Learning the SuperfastCPA Methods Changed His Study Habits
- 12:05 The Difference Bryce Felt Studying the SuperfastCPA Way
- 13:43 Passed All Four in Six Months After Making the Switch
- 16:24 Got the Main Idea for Study Strategies Through the Podcasts and Free Webinar
- 18:11 The Difference Before and After SuperfastCPA
- 20:06 Bryce’s Note Taking Process for Learning
- 21:17 Bryce’s Method of Choosing Which Ones to Make Flashcards
- 23:56 How Bryce Would Treat Weekend to Study
- 26:41 Using SuperfastCPA Tools to Learn Topics and Having the Nights Off
- 29:55 Studying for a Shorter Amount Time is Much More Beneficial
- 30:43 How Bryce Dealt with the Sims After Switching to SuperfastCPA
- 34:06 Consistent Practice of MCQs Play A Huge Part of Understanding the Sims
- 37:16 Celebration After Passing the CPA Exams
- 38:20 The Most Beneficial Things Bryce Got From SuperfastCPA
- 42:07 Bryce’s Top Tips for People Still Struggling With the CPA Exams
- 44:08 Didn’t Have to Worry About the Progress in Becker Material
- 47:10 Outro
Interview Transcript
Bryce: And then from there is, I was like, okay, something needs to change, I was bummed, it was actually my wife who found SuperfastCPA. She was like, oh, you should just watch this webinar. And I was like kind of hesitant. I was like, oh, I don’t know. I was like, everyone tells me Becker is the best, so I feel like I should stick with that. And then, so no, I watched the, the webinar and I mean from there, everything just, kind of clicked and made sense study wise and yeah,
Intro
Nate: Welcome to another episode of the CPA exam experience podcast from SuperfastCPA. I’m Nate, and in today’s interview, you’re going to hear me talk with Bryce.
Nate: So in Bryce’s story, when he started the study process, he was putting in a lot of time, a lot of hard work. He was consistent every day. He felt good about when he would go through each lesson, but then it was when he got to the practice exam at the end, during his final review, he would realize he had forgotten a lot of what he had spent so much time studying.
Nate: And so he took a few sections and at that point, his wife had actually seen one of our YouTube ads talking about our free webinar training. And she told Bryce that he should watch it. He was skeptical. But as soon as he heard the idea of re-review on the webinar, where the idea that you spend a portion of your study time each day constantly re-reviewing all the topics you’ve been through previously. That idea instantly made sense to him and he got our program. And of course now he’s done with the CPA exams.
Nate: So before we get into the interview with Bryce and hear his full story, I want to mention two things. First, that free training that I just mentioned. If you were wondering about SuperfastCPA and the specifics of our study strategies. That is the best place for you to start.
Nate: So these are free one hour webinar trainings that we will walk through our six pillar study strategies. And the link to that will be down in the description of this episode.
Nate: The second thing is our free podcast giveaway. So each month we give away three pairs of Power Beat Pro headphones to three random listeners who have entered the giveaway. It’s just your name and email. And the link to that will be down in the description as well.
Nate: So with that out of the way, let’s get into the interview with Bryce.
Nate: Um, I saw that you had put your, you had put your name on the form last year.
Nate: Like the last time we did these in June and then we must have not had a time that worked or whatever. But on there you said you’ve now passed three in a row, so I’m guessing you’re now done.
Bryce: Yeah, yeah, I’m now done. So yeah, I passed the last one, I think it was in, I got my score back maybe in July. I think I took it end of June.
Bryce: So yeah, been done for, yeah, a little bit now. So it’s been nice.
Nate: Awesome.
Bryce: Nice to, nice to be done.
Nate: Yeah. All right. Um, so I guess before we, I mean, basically, you know, we’ll just kind of start from the beginning, talk through your whole process, how it all went and everything.
Bryce Talks About How He Started Studying
Nate: So, so yeah, let’s, uh, so going back to that little note you wrote, let’s just start there. So it said you failed your first two. So let’s just go back to that. So I’m guessing you did what everyone else did when you started, you just got a review course, started working on it, and how did things go when you started?
Bryce: Yeah, so yeah, I got a review course. I started with Becker and so I just kind of, I mean, they have like a, a program thing where you can map it out and it’s like, okay, how many hours a day are you gonna be studying? And then when do you wanna be done by? So I just kind of did that. And so I studied for FAR first, and so I think I would study between like 15 and 20 hours a week or something like that. And so it was mapping me out to take like three months to study, so I did that. I think I started studying in like July of 2021. I wrote down some dates here. Yeah, I started in July of 2021 and then studied for three months and then took it in September, end of September, I believe.
Bryce: Or actually, no. I took it beginning of October and then, yeah, failed it. I got a 72 and I was like, oh, super disappointed, obviously, because I was close. And so, yeah so when I signed up for the exams too, I signed up. I still don’t really understand what I did, but I signed up for all of them at once and so it wouldn’t let me, it wouldn’t let me like retake FAR.
Bryce: I had to go on and take the next one and then, so yeah, so then from there I studied for audit. Next, same thing, studied for like two and a half months. Um, yeah, like 15 to 20 hours a week. And then, um, yeah, same thing. Got a 72, failed it.
How He Found Out About SuperfastCPA
Bryce: And then from there is, I was like, okay, something needs to change, I was bummed, it was actually my wife who found SuperfastCPA. She was like, oh, you should just watch this webinar. And I was like kind of hesitant. I was like, oh, I don’t know. I was like, everyone tells me Becker is the best, so I feel like I should stick with that. And then, so no, I watched the, the webinar and I mean from there, everything just, Kind of clicked and made sense study wise and yeah, I mean, we can go more into depth about that, but.
Nate: That’s funny. I’ve talked, I’ve talked to people where, um, like their mom or something saw one of our ads somehow and like sent it, you know, to their kid who was studying and then they, anyways. That’s funny your wife found it. Um, yeah.
Things That Clicked From the Free Webinar
Nate: So, okay, so you, you watched the free webinar. Do you remember specifically any of the ideas or strategies where you were like, okay, that’s, that makes sense compared to what I’ve been doing.
Bryce: Yeah, I mean for me, I think the biggest thing that I was struggling with is I would just study all the material and I would get to the end, like when it was time to take the, the practice test, and I’d just be like, crap. I mean, I don’t remember any of this stuff, you know? I mean, I remember it but like, I know I can’t, like, yeah.
Bryce: I can’t remember how to do it, so I feel like, I don’t know. I feel like you talked about kind of like zoning in on the stuff that’s most important. I feel like with Becker, they kind of give you all this information and you’re forced to synthesize it, and like remember what you need to. Whereas, yeah, with SuperfastCPA, I think what kind of clicked for me is okay, like, quality over quantity. You know, like I don’t need to know everything. I just need to know things well and understand them. And I feel like before I was just trying to like memorize everything and then regurgitate it in taking the exams.
Nate: Yeah.
Bryce: Whereas I feel like, yeah, you kind of talked about actually learning the concepts and applying them, which worked a lot better for me. And I think, yeah. Another thing too is just the constant review, like the everyday review, like that was huge for me as opposed to getting to the end and trying to recall it, which didn’t work.
Nate: Yeah.
How Learning the SuperfastCPA Methods Changed His Study Habits
Nate: Um, well, yeah, so I want to ask or talk more about the re-review, but for the sake of people listening to this, could you, that first part where, um, you said like the big difference, that first big difference kind of trying to understand the material and, um, basically what I want, what I want you to explain is practically speaking, how did that change in your daily study sessions?
Nate: Um, you know, from what you were doing in Becker before to then studying more effectively, what did that actually look like?
Bryce: So like, day to day, basically, like how my studying changed?
Nate: Yeah, like, um, like when you’re sitting in front of your, or you’re gonna use the MCQs, you know, to learn from a topic versus whatever you were doing in Becker, which I’m guessing was watching the lecture, reading the chapter, then doing the questions.
Nate: Um, like your actual strategy when you’re sitting there studying, like what, what changed to make things stick better, I guess.
Bryce: Yeah. So yeah, I think before, yeah, what I was doing is I would, I mean, I’d just watch the videos and then I would go through, I mean, each module has like the video, the questions, the sims, and so I’d just go through all of that.
Bryce: Like, yeah, I’d watch the video, then I’d do the questions, and then I try and do the sims. Whereas, yeah, after I would, with Superfast, I would read, so I would go to the module. Like the module that was in Becker, I’d find that in the reading. And obviously it was a lot more condensed material. It wasn’t, I don’t know.
Nate: You mean in our review notes?
Bryce: Yeah, yeah, in the review notes.
Nate: Okay. Okay.
Bryce: Yeah. So instead of, I don’t know, in some cases watching a 30 minute video or however long it would be, I’d have like a page that I’d have to read that would be the material, way more synthesized, way more understandable. And then from there, I’d try the multiple choice questions and then I would learn from those.
Bryce: Obviously, I, I would always use the note cards. I’d write what I missed consistently on a note card, and then for me, when I started studying with SuperfastCPA, I actually didn’t do any of the sims anymore. I would just focus solely on the multiple choice and learning the concepts. And so, yeah, I feel like overall the huge difference wasn’t trying, instead of trying to take everything that they were teaching me in the video or in their super long chapters and trying to regurgitate that onto a multiple choice question.
Bryce: I feel like the review notes were kind of taking those concepts that you really needed to understand and learn, and then once I understood ’em and learned them, then I could apply ’em to the questions.
Bryce: Instead of trying.
Nate: Gotcha.
Bryce: Okay, memorize everything and then try and apply what I just learned and memorized to the question that was actually, okay, learning them a lot, the simpler concept and then applying it to the question, if that makes sense.
Nate: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I totally know what you mean. I just wanted, you know, for people that listen to this.
Bryce: Yeah.
Nate: Um, there’s kind of like two context that your review course gives you, like the presentation context, which is the video lecture and the text, and you get everything.
Nate: And like you said, then you’re left to kind of, okay. How does this still, even though I read this and watched the video, how does this actually apply to these questions? Cuz they’re two very different things. And then if you go straight into the questions, you’re just kind of learning in, you’re learning the topic in question context, which of course is the only thing that matters on exam day, so.
Bryce: Exactly.
Nate: Yeah.
Bryce: Yeah. Yeah, and I think, yeah, exactly like you said, like. I think that was a huge thing, learning it in the question context, like how they’re gonna ask it, and then, yeah, it’s a lot more familiar, obviously, and it’s a lot easier to understand instead of taking it from their language and then trying to, trying to translate it into question language, you know?
Nate: Yeah.
The Difference Bryce Felt Studying the SuperfastCPA Way
Nate: And so, once you started studying like that, did that process click for you faster? Like did you just start within a week or two, feel like, okay, this is different. I can tell I’m this is working.
Bryce: Definitely, yeah. I think, I mean, so yeah, I started applying like all the strategies that you teach. So yeah, I mean, I’d read the review notes and then I would do the multiple choice questions and then, yeah, anything I was consistently missing I’d kind of write it down on the note card to review later.
Bryce: And then I would also do like the 30 question review every night of all the, all the subjects that I’ve studied up to that point. And so, yeah, for me that was like the big difference maker, like the big click where I was like, okay, like I’m getting my stuff now, you know, because I was studying it consistently instead of just, you know, studying it for the day and then not hitting it again until.
Nate: Yeah.
Bryce: My practice exam, you know? And so yeah, I think I definitely started to see a difference in that way and I was getting scoring a lot better on the multiple choice.
Bryce: Um, I mean, I was scoring a lot better on the 30 question quizzes and so yeah, I feel like it was a pretty quick click for me as far as seeing a difference in, in my performance.
Nate: Yeah. That’s awesome.
Passed All Four in Six Months After Making the Switch
Nate: And uh, so your note said, failed the first two, switched to SuperfastCPA, passed three in a row, hopefully four, but again, that was like a year ago, which now you’ve already passed the four.
Nate: So from that switch you just started passing sections.
Bryce: Yeah, so, so yeah, I think, yeah, I wrote down some dates, so I started, I think my order for SuperfastCPA was on January 12th, 2022. Okay. And so that was the day after I got my audit score back. And so yeah, I had failed the two. And then I think probably that later, the next, I started studying.
Bryce: And like I said, I had, I had scheduled all four exams at once, so I had to move on to the next one. And so I started studying for REG at that point. And then, so yeah, I took REG and I took it on February 26th and so passed that one. And then from there, took BEC, it looks like on April 4th, and then passed that one, and then took audit on May 16th.
Bryce: And passed that one, and then the last one FAR was on June 27th and then, yeah, passed that one. And then, so yeah, I mean, from beginning to end it was, was less than, it was less than six months, you know, and whereas before I was studying like three months for, for FAR. Two and a half months for audit. Like I think I was, I mean, I was studying like between six, six weeks.
Bryce: Four to six weeks for, for most of the exams. I just lost you. Yeah, I mean, beginning to end, oh, I can hear is less than six months and that was the entire time I had spent studying for the first two exams that I failed, you know?
Nate: Yeah. That’s awesome.
Nate: You, uh, you crushed your exams and you went four for four it sounds like after switching.
Bryce: I did, yeah. Yeah.
Nate: That’s awesome.
Bryce: Yeah. Took the two switched and then yeah, went four for four and less than probably, almost five months.
Bryce: Less than six months.
Nate: Yeah. That’s really cool. Um, Well, yeah. Good job by your wife. That’s, uh, yeah, that was huge, it sounds like.
Bryce: Yeah, she, she definitely likes to, to take the, take the glory for that one that she found SuperfastCPA, but.
Nate: That is funny.
Bryce: I’m fine to give it to her because, yeah, it definitely, definitely worked out better for me in the, in the long run.
Nate: Yeah.
Got the Main Idea for Study Strategies Through the Podcasts and Free Webinar
Nate: Um, so it sounds like, so you had our PRO course too, not just the study tools, like you had the series of videos that walks through the study strategies. Is that right?
Bryce: So, no, I don’t think I did have the PRO course I had, so I had the, the notes, the app, and then the audio notes.
Nate: Okay. So the strategy side is just whatever you got from the free training and you just.
Nate: I mean, the thing is we basically cover most of it in that free training. Um, So, I mean, a lot of people say that, but that’s, and I think that’s where all the strategies came from then. Right?
Bryce: Right. Yeah. And I think I watched like several of your videos on YouTube too, where you cover like the final review and stuff.
Bryce: So I used.
Nate: Gotcha.
Bryce: Used those strategies as well. And then, yeah, I think just other things that I picked up from podcasts and emails that you’d send out and stuff.
Nate: That’s right. Okay. So when you were in the study process, you were listening to some of these other interviews then?
Bryce: Yeah. Yeah, I’d listened to ’em.
Bryce: I probably listened to a couple a week at work just to, for some extra motivation.
Nate: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and we talk a lot about the strategies in those interviews. So.
Bryce: Yeah.
Nate: I think, uh, I mean, we tell new customers to like, listen to these interviews, these past interviews, because they’re, when you’re learning this process, they’re almost just as valuable as like the PRO course videos themselves or almost a replacement for the PRO course videos.
Nate: So, um, let’s see. I had a few things I was gonna ask you, so, okay.
The Difference Before and After SuperfastCPA
Nate: When you were studying for the first two, um, when you first started, how much time, I mean, you mentioned this 15 to 20 hours a week, so were you just going to work and then trying to study in the evenings type thing?
Bryce: So I would, I would try and do it before work.
Bryce: Okay. Because, yeah, it was tough for me to study after work, so I’d usually, I’d try and do. I’d probably do two. I’d wake up at like five in the morning and study, and so I’d try and do like two, two to three hours in the morning. And then usually like an hour or two at night. And so that, I mean, yeah, that would vary depending on, on the day.
Bryce: But yeah, I was probably putting, trying to put in like four, four hours a day, um, before, and then when I switched over to Superfast, I would still put in a good amount of time. I’d probably do one and a half to two hours in the morning, and then I’d do like an hour at night. So, overall I’d probably do an hour, to an hour and a half less with Superfast.
Nate: Okay.
Bryce: Um, but I mean, I was also trying to take the exams pretty fast, so yeah, I kind of tried to cram it in. But yeah, my, I’d study in the morning, probably about two hours, and then yeah, I’d study in the evening, do my 30 question review and then note cards at night. That was with Superfast. Beforehand, I just, when I was just doing Becker, I’d just go through same thing, studying the modules, watching videos, doing multiple choice, doing the sims, and then depending on the day, whether the modules were long or short, I’d try and get through one to three of ’em, depending on how long they were.
Nate: Gotcha. Okay.
Bryce’s Note Taking Process for Learning
Nate: And so the flashcards thing you adopted after, um, watching our training and.
Bryce: Yeah.
Nate: Did you use, uh, like a digital, like, man, what is it, BrainScape or a Quizlet, or did you just make physical flashcards?
Bryce: So I would actually do the physical flashcards for me, like the act of writing it, was a big thing for me and that was just a way that I actually like, learned a lot in college is just like, I was a big hard like handwritten note card person. So for me that was, that was the way to go was just the handwritten note cards. And then, yeah, I’d just pile ’em up with new concepts and then I’d either, most nights I’d just try and skim through the ones that I had, and then probably a couple times a week I’d have my wife quiz me on ’em. Just so, I mean, I was explaining it out loud.
Nate: Yep.
Bryce: Which, I mean, worked a lot better, but sometimes it would just be easier to, to do it on my own as opposed to having to have her help me.
Nate: Yeah.
Bryce’s Method of Choosing Which Ones to Make Flashcards
Nate: Um, And so again, for the benefit of people that will listen to this, what was your actual, like when you went to make flashcards?
Nate: It sounds like you saved that for the sets of 30 re-review questions, which is what I tell people to do. Um, and how would you decide, okay, this needs to be made a flashcard versus spending too much time making flashcards. How would you kind of choose what you made flashcards on?
Bryce: Um, I would just kind of track it in my mind, like whether it was a concept that I wasn’t understanding or something that I was consistently missing.
Bryce: Mm-hmm. I mean, looking back now, it probably would’ve been smart to like. I don’t know, keep track of it somehow where I was like, okay, I missed this type of question. Maybe I should keep track if I missed it again. But yeah, for me, I just kind of kept track of it in my head where I was like, okay, I know I missed this one before and I still don’t really understand it, so it’s something that I, that I need to make a flashcard for.
Bryce: And then, yeah, the other thing that I’d look at too is obviously when I miss a question on the 30 question, multiple choice. I’d look at the answers. And so if it was something where I’m, where I just missed something easy and I knew I wouldn’t miss it again, wouldn’t necessarily be worth making a note card for.
Bryce: But yeah, if it was something where I was looking at the answer and I still wasn’t getting it, that was something I definitely write down and keep a note card for.
Nate: Yeah, no, I mean, I think that’s the perfect explanation. I mean, you just kind of know, like, again, those sets of 30 every few days of doing that, you’re gonna see questions from pretty much everything.
Nate: Um, and you just kind of know yourself since you’ve been doing that every day. Okay. Yeah. I keep missing this kind of a question. I mean, that’s exactly how I did it. I didn’t like try to track certain topics in a spreadsheet or anything. It was just okay. I know. These LIFO, uh, dollar value LIFO things.
Bryce: Oh yeah.
Nate: Confuse me endlessly. So I’m gonna make some flashcards on how this actually works finally. So yeah, that’s exactly how I did it.
Bryce: I think I had a flashcard on that exact, that exact topic.
Nate: Yeah, it’s probably, it’s that, that’s like, when I think of FAR, that’s the topic that just still to this day, like I’m not sure how it works.
Nate: Um, let’s see.
How Bryce Would Treat Weekend to Study
Nate: Oh, so how about on the weekends? Would you study any differently? Put in more time? Just how are the weekends different, if at all?
Bryce: Um, weekends I would, I’d probably put in an extra hour on Saturdays and, and I probably do a normal day on Sunday. Um, but yeah, I kind of treat it like a normal day.
Bryce: Um, cuz for me, I’d get to a certain point where like, I feel like around three hours was kind of my cap, where it was like, okay, like my return on what I’m studying isn’t necessarily worth it anymore. I think I would get more going outside and going surfing or doing something fun as opposed to trying to, to force more studies.
Bryce: So, yeah, for me, like I think. Around three hours was like that cap for me. So I, I try and do a little more on Saturday just to make the week a little bit easier, but. Yeah, I wouldn’t go crazy. I wouldn’t like, oh, I’m gonna study eight hours today because I don’t have work. You know? No, it was definitely, definitely more of a, a normal study day.
Bryce: And then just trying to add a little bit on.
Nate: I mean, that’s, that’s the nice thing about when you get your, uh, your study strategies nailed down. You just kind of, I mean, you just can get so much more done effectively in like, half the time. Really?
Bryce: Yeah.
Nate: And, uh, and you, you know, you were just passing sections, so you just kind of knew you had it, you had this figured out.
Nate: So yeah, you can just kind of do whatever. Don’t need to study eight hours on any day.
Bryce: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I feel like. Yeah, once I had studied for the first exam using Superfast, like you said, like I feel like I had like my schedule down. Like, okay, yeah, I do my, my studying in the morning and then I do my review at night and then I’m good to go.
Bryce: You know? I know that works. So as long as I get through all the content and before the exam, like I know I’m gonna be fine. And so yeah, it was definitely a lot less overwhelming. Like seeing that, okay, I have this review or these review notes that are maybe a hundred pages that I have to get through in these six weeks instead of looking at a book that’s this thick, you know, and thinking I have to get through that.
Bryce: And so yeah, definitely a lot more efficiency I would say.
Nate: Yeah. Um, man. I had a really good question. Let’s see, what was it?
Using SuperfastCPA Tools to Learn Topics and Having the Nights Off
Nate: Um, so your, so your process was, you would be, well because like you said, you had scheduled all four exams. So your first, your first exam when you switched to our strategies and using our study tools, um, was like a, a clean start on that section, right? It was REG, yeah. Yeah. It wasn’t a retake.
Bryce: Yeah, it was a clean start.
Bryce: So yeah, clean start on REG, clean start on BEC and then second time on audit. And second time on FAR.
Nate: Okay. And so your process was you would sit down, let’s say you were gonna study corporate tax. Um, so you would read that portion of our notes and then do the planting the seeds thing with the Becker questions.
Nate: That was basically the, your main morning session?
Bryce: Yeah, exactly. So yeah, I’d, I’d look at the module and Becker, and then, yeah, I’d find that section in the review notes. I’d read that section in the review notes, and then I’d go straight to multiple choice questions. And then, yeah, depending on how long it was, then I’d do the same with.
Bryce: With another module, you know, I’d find that section in the review notes, read it, and then do the multiple choice questions. And then throughout the day I would listen to the review notes. I use those a lot. Um.
Nate: Okay.
Bryce: Driving to and from work. And then I would try and take like two to three breaks during the day at work where I’d just go outside, walk around, and I’d just listen to what I had read that morning and then, again, driving home from work.
Bryce: So I mean, I’d probably listen to what I had read in the morning, maybe five times throughout the day, and so I’m getting that constant repetition. And then I also used the app a ton as well. I mean, like you talked about, instead of picking up my phone, going on Instagram or going on ESPN or whatever.
Nate: Yeah.
Bryce: I would click to, I, tried to get in the habit of just going into that app and doing, doing those five question quizzes. And then, so yeah, that would kind of be my study schedule throughout the day at work. And then, yeah, when I’d come home, I’d do that 30 question review of all that I had studied up to that point.
Bryce: And then I’d do a little bit of review of note cards, and that would be, that would be my study day. And then I’d have, you know, a good portion of the, the night left.
Nate: That’s awesome. Yeah, and I, I think that’s, that’s a big key on, on its own is to, you’ve nailed your studying for the day and it’s, it doesn’t have to be that like you go to work and then study all night, and that’s your whole life for six to eight months cuz that’s pretty, uh, miserable and unsustainable.
Bryce: Yeah.
Nate: And getting to have a decent amount of your evening be normal and take a complete break from work and study just makes it a lot more. I mean just a lot easier through the process, like whatever you wanna call it. Right?
Studying for a Shorter Amount Time is Much More Beneficial
Bryce: Yeah, definitely.
Bryce: And yeah, I think it’s definitely quality over quantity. Like for me, breaks were like a huge thing, you know, like going out and going for a run or going for a surf, like making sure I got that and in the day, like made my studying and my understanding of things. So much more as opposed to just, okay, like I’m only gonna study today and that’s all I’m gonna do.
Bryce: Like, no, I feel like studying for a short amount of time or a shorter amount of time and then making it a quality study was a lot more beneficial than just trying to cram everything in.
Nate: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, Okay.
How Bryce Dealt with the Sims After Switching to SuperfastCPA
Nate: And then you mentioned, uh, sims, you really kind of just laid off the sims. Would you look through some in your final review at all, or how did you deal with sims at all?
Nate: Or a little bit? Or I guess just what did you do for sims after switching, uh, to our strategies?
Bryce: So, so yeah, in, in my day to day, I wouldn’t do sims at all. Um, I’d just solely focus on the multiple choice, and I felt like, yeah, my understanding of concepts like just kind of got solidified through, through doing multiple choice and doing note cards and things like that.
Bryce: And so, yeah, I really wouldn’t study any sims until I do like the full, um, practice exam. So that would be like the first time I’d, I’d do a sim. And I feel like, I mean, I did pretty well on the sims comparatively on, on my exams. And I think, I mean, I think that just came from the understanding of the concepts, you know?
Nate: Yeah.
Bryce: Um, so I mean, that worked for me. I’m not sure if that, that would work for everyone. But yeah, for me I just kind of focused on the multiple choice, focused on, um, my understanding of the concepts. Um, I think another thing is I kind of just in practicing sims, I feel like they took up a lot of time and so I felt kind of like my time was better well spent, yeah, trying to learn the concept and try, instead of trying to, you know, solidify or condense all the information in the sim and try and understand it or try and answer it. But yeah, I mean obviously you gotta do that in the exam, but I think that also just comes with an understanding of the concept because you never know what sim you’re gonna get anyway, you know?
Nate: Yeah, exactly. And that’s a good point. That’s, uh, well, I think I say that in emails a lot. Um, I have like this email I use a lot, like every month that we send it out at least once. That’s about the sims and the three keys to the sims and none of ’em, none of those three steps is really doing a ton of practice sims.
Nate: Like I think the biggest thing is a deep understanding, like of the concepts, like you said. And that comes from that repeat exposure of hitting the 80-20 of all the topics using the, uh, review notes and audios a lot, and then the sets of 30 each day helps solidify that. And then really on exam day, the number one thing you can do is leave yourself as much time as possible to just kind of sit there and deal with the exhibits. It just takes, takes a while for each of those sims that are like that to open the different exhibits a few times, see what’s in there. You have to kind of like spend 20 minutes getting a handle on the sim before you can even start figuring it out. And that just takes time. So that goes back to being quick on the MCQs.
Consistent Practice of MCQs Play A Huge Part of Understanding the Sims
Bryce: Yeah. Yeah, like you said. Yeah. I think that’s definitely a huge part of it. Yeah. Being, I mean, the better you are, the multiple choice questions, the quicker you can get to the sims. And that comes through, you know, studying the multiple choice and practicing those. And then, yeah, I think another thing too that you kind of mentioned earlier is that in doing a lot of multiple choice, you kinda learn what they’re asking for or looking for.
Bryce: And so I think that applies to like the sims as well. Like if I see that it’s a certain type of question. I kind of know maybe what they’re gonna be, what they’re gonna be asking because of the, the constant repetition that I had done on that topic and the multiple choice, you know? And so, yeah, I mean, I think.
Bryce: Yeah, just understanding the topic and how the questions are asked benefit as well with the sims for sure.
Nate: Yeah, that is interesting. I, you know, the more people I do these interviews in batches, so like the last two weeks have done a ton of these, like two or three a day. And so, um, talking to a lot of people who have just recently passed or either way were successful on the exams and that’s, uh, that’s a very common thing that they just, the sims were not, you just didn’t spend that much time on the Sims.
Nate: Um, yeah. And then some people, when they write me, they send me an email and they’re really struggling, I still, I kind of tell ’em, well, if you scored, you know, below like a 60, I would be doing MCQs and sims every day. But man, I don’t know. Doing these interviews makes me wonder if, if that should just be more of a.
Nate: Anyways, go ahead.
Bryce: I feel like it’s just kind of like a shot in the dark, what you’re gonna get with the sims anyway.
Nate: Mm-hmm.
Bryce: So, yeah, I feel like it’s tough to, tough to study for them. Like, yeah. Like I said, I almost feel like your overall understanding of certain topics and being able to, I don’t know, kind of project or guess what they’re gonna be asking. About on a certain topic is like more beneficial than, yeah, practicing a bunch of sims and then hoping for something similar to one that you studied, you know?
Nate: Yeah. Yeah. I, that’s true. Um, yeah, definitely. It’s, yeah, past the point of, you know, you have to do a few practice sims to just see what the format is because you know, you could, if you never did ’em at all then you get one that has a bunch of the fields where you have to at least put a zero, you know, you would like miss the whole thing, anyways.
Nate: You gotta do enough to be familiar with the format. But yeah.
Bryce: I think that’s true.
Nate: I think that’s right. Other than that, the time spent just grinding practice sims for practice specifically on sims is could be a complete waste.
Nate: If you don’t see any of those same sims on exam day, or at least your time would’ve been better spent doing more MCQs or just re-review in some form. Mm-hmm. Okay. Well, um, we have kind of gone through everything. I think.
Celebration After Passing the CPA Exams
Nate: So did you guys do anything after, uh, crushing your exams that quick or just being done in general?
Nate: Did you guys do anything big to celebrate?
Bryce: So, yeah, we actually, well, it’s kind of like a combo. Combo celebration because yeah, we both graduated in like those covid years, so me and my wife wanted to do, like, we wanted to do a graduation trip, and so I ended up getting pushed back because of covid and stuff and ended up working out with when I, um, passed my CPA exams as well.
Bryce: So we went on a trip to Europe for a couple weeks. So it was a, a good celebration for graduation and CPA.
Nate: Yeah. Oh, that’s really cool. Yeah. You mean your masters then? Yeah. Yeah. So being done and being able to leave on your big trip and not having to, there’s like a, there’s like a three month high after passing your exams.
Nate: At least that’s how it was for me. So that’s pretty cool.
Bryce: Definitely.
Nate: Awesome.
The Most Beneficial Things Bryce Got From SuperfastCPA
Nate: Um, so, oh, let me ask you this. What. So you got our study tools. Um, maybe like, and I know you kind of covered this, but what were the, what were like the top one or two things that were the most helpful about adding SuperfastCPA to your routine?
Nate: Or whether it was our study tools or the strategies, what would you say were like the top two things?
Bryce: Um, I would say the biggest thing for me was, I guess it’s twofold. I think it was, well, I don’t know. I feel like it was all beneficial, but yeah. The thing that sticks out to me is like the strategy of having a consistent review every day.
Bryce: Like that’s something that just clicked for me from the time you said it. It’s just like. Duh. Like, I need to be reviewing these, these topics on a daily basis. You know, like.
Nate: Yeah.
Bryce: I need to be studying consistently what I’ve studied up to this point instead of just, you know, trying to get through all the material and then at the end trying to remember it all.
Bryce: So I feel like for me that was a huge thing, just the consistent review. And then I feel like that would just give me a huge confidence boost as well, because like, I would be getting tested on what I’d studied up to that point. So if I was consistently hitting, you know, around a passing score, then that would give me, you know, some confidence each and every day.
Bryce: You know, like, okay, like I can do this, you know, like I’m getting around a 75 on on these, you know, like, and this is what I’ve studied up to that point. And then you just keep adding on, keep adding on. And so yeah, I feel like that for me was super helpful. And then, I guess just kind of condensing it into one word.
Bryce: I think just the efficiency was huge for me of SuperfastCPA. The efficiency of how condensed and helpful, you know, the study notes are like, yeah, it’s probably a third of the size of the Becker books, you know, and it has all the information that you need to, to be successful. So yeah, that efficiency and then, listening to those notes, and then, I mean, the app as well, I feel like they all kind of just work together in tandem to be an efficient way to, to nail down, nail down the topics and, and really understand them.
Bryce: And like I said before, instead of, you know, trying to memorize things and regurgitate it, but actually, you know, quality over quantity, learning the, the material.
Nate: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. Um, I mean, I agree obviously the, the study tools that are just, they’re exactly what I wish I would’ve had.
Nate: That’s, you know, yeah. You hear that story with so many businesses, like, when I was doing this, I wish I would’ve had this and this, but like, yeah, the study tools are. I had audio notes. They were like 40 hours long. I think they were just, the audios taken from the video lectures, so they were hard to get through even once.
Nate: So it was just another mountain of information to deal with. Um, the, I had focus notes from Wiley, but they were just like PDFs, so I had to pinch and zoom on my phone. Just really annoying. And then, uh, you know, the quizzes, they just include full strength questions, so you’d be. I don’t know, on the go at the office in the hallway and this whole in income statement comes up and just like, geez, I can’t, how am I supposed to do this on my phone?
Bryce: Yeah.
Nate: So.
Bryce: For sure.. And yeah, instead you’re breaking it down into a more bite sized piece, but you’re still learning the, the topic, you know?
Nate: Yeah. Okay. Well, I don’t want to take it much more of your time.
Bryce’s Top Tips for People Still Struggling With the CPA Exams
Nate: Uh, the last question I always ask, that’s very similar to what I just asked, but in general, what would be your top two or three tips to people that are, let’s say, struggling with their study process?
Nate: How to become more efficient? Or just the main things you would advise them to change?
Bryce: Um, yeah, I think, I think I wrote, I looked at this one and wrote down three things, but yeah, I think first is just consistency. Like get on your schedule, like learn what’s working for you and then just, just keep doing that.
Bryce: And I mean, for me it was. I mean, what we talked about. Doing, doing my study in the morning, using the review notes, using the audio notes in the app throughout the day, and then doing my 30 question review at night and using the note card and all that. And so yeah, I think consistency, getting that down and just being consistent with it throughout the study process.
Bryce: And then, just dedication as well. Like just kind of making the decision like, hey, for the next six months, you know, like, I’m gonna go to the app instead of going to ESPN or going to to Instagram. You know, I’m gonna, I’m gonna make that, I’m gonna dedicate myself to doing that. And I mean, so yeah, those kind of two things I guess go hand in hand.
Bryce: Consistency and dedication. And then, yeah, I think the third thing would just be. Yeah, like efficiency and, you know, finding, finding that sweet spot where you’re getting enough, you’re getting what you need to outta your study, but you’re not kind of taking it to a point where it’s not efficient anymore.
Bryce: And then, yeah, I mean, yeah, kinda like I said, just figuring out what works for you and being, being as efficient as possible and, and applying those study tools.
Nate: Yeah. Awesome.
Didn’t Have to Worry About the Progress in Becker Material
Nate: Sorry, I have one, I have one more question. This is what I was thinking of earlier.
Bryce: No worries.
Nate: Um, so after you switch to our strategies for REG, you know, and one thing that when you’re just using Becker and you don’t, you know, you don’t know any better or any review course, the, uh, what you’re trying to do is like, turn everything green in your dashboard, you know, mark off everything at a hundred percent.
Nate: Um, and it’s obviously very possible to do that and still not be learning that much. So after switching to this, did you just not worry about what your like progress percentage was in Becker or did you still try to like get that filled out for every lesson?
Bryce: So that’s funny that you asked that. So I’m like a very, I like having like a checklist and checking things off, like whether that’s at work, like things that I need to do or things in my daily life. So I, I did like seeing everything green, so I would just, I would just click to the end of the video so it would turn green and then.
Nate: That’s so true.
Bryce: I would, yeah, I’d like, click through the sims and make them turn green. Just so yeah, I was moving forward with, with my progress. But no, I wouldn’t watch the videos there. I wouldn’t, um, do the sims, but I would, I would make them green so I could see.
Nate: Yeah.
Bryce: See the progress because yeah, otherwise that. I don’t know if that’s like an accountant thing or if that’s just a me thing, but yeah, I wouldn’t like seeing like not full progress as I was moving through the, the modules.
Nate: That’s funny. That’s, uh, and that’s, that’s also just a good, uh, I don’t know, a good example of how you can have everything checked off, you know? And, and like I said, not have learned really anything cuz you can just click to the end of the video. It’s just this arbitrary like software trigger, you know that, anyways.
Nate: That’s funny. My Wiley dashboard was like a nightmare. It just showed red everywhere and, um, yeah. Cause I, I, yeah cuz I was just doing everything manually, going through questions till I felt like, okay, I got this lesson but hadn’t scored, you know? Anyways, I am glad your wife found us. You, you just crushed the exams, which is awesome to hear. I’m glad it, uh, was helpful for you and, uh, yeah. Congrats on being done, Bryce.
Bryce: Thanks. Well, yeah, I appreciate you creating, you know, SuperfastCPA and creating these study tools and, you know, yeah.
Bryce: When I listened to the like webinar, it kind of just spoke to me and I was like, you know, like, yeah, why, why didn’t this exist? Like, I’m so glad I found this and so, yeah. I mean, I appreciate you thinking outside the box and creating something that works a lot better for, for, I would say it works a lot better for most people.
Bryce: It definitely works a lot better for me. So yeah, I appreciate you creating this.
Nate: Yeah, that’s awesome to hear. So thank you.
Outro
Nate: So that was the interview with Bryce. I hope you found that very helpful and informative and motivating. And if you did, please take a second share this interview or the podcast in general with anyone else you know, who’s also working on their CPA exams.
Nate: These interviews as a whole are incredibly helpful to listen to as you go through your own study process, these interviews are filled with tips and strategies and motivational stories, hearing how people overcame the biggest obstacles they were struggling with, how they figured those out, why they realized this was a mistake or that was a mistake and what they did differently.
Nate: The other thing that would really help out is if you would take a second, find the podcast in the podcast app, where you listen to these specifically apple podcasts, leave a rating and review. So the other CPA candidates can find these in the rankings.
Nate: So thank you for watching or listening, and we’ll see when the next episode.
