I really appreciate all the help people offer on this forum. It is a great source to get answers and to vent when frustrated with study.

I just wish we would all remember, very one studies a different way. It is great to give your opinion on how you study - you don't have to agree with other people's ways they study. But please don't "bash" them just because you don't agree.

I sure if I told how I studied, and I have given indications other places on the forum. People scratch their heads and say "Man, they are not spending their time wisely"  Lucky for me, they have kept those comments to themselves. I have a hard enough task before me to pass the CPA - I need encouragement not someone tell me I'm doing it wrong.

If it was an answer to a problem - by all means - give the correct answer - but when it comes to preferences and opinions - please don't put down someone else's way of doing something. We all do things differently. We are all adults - we can decided if it will work for us or not - we don't need someone yelling to the whole forum that how we study is a waste of time. All that does is cause energy that could be used for study to go to defending how one's opinion works for them.  Just my 2 cents.

Becker tells you to memorize the standard audit report, an unqualified, and I think one more (maybe special report?), besides giving you nmumonics on the structure (which I found odd).  But I agree that knowing the structures is key. 

I could see where having memorized them will help me in a communication tab also.  If nothing else, just for confidence.  I do not want to be wasting precious time trying to write an explanatory paragraph, or a scope paragraph, fretting I might miss one of the important little gems that are part of it (and its worth at least 5 points).  I want to be able to bang it out and move on to the next tab, where undoubtedly I will find something meaningful to fret about. 

I feel like the wording of the standard report should be known, like "in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United Stated of America" at the end of the report versus the beginning "auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America".

Also knowing the difference between say the scope paragraph and explanatory paragraph.

CPA's in our office said "back in the day when we hand-wrote the test" they would ask them to write out the standard report. I think this was partially because it was something to write an essay on and easy to grade. You either knew it or you didnt. Now a days with the computer based exam, I think it has changed the nature of what they want us to know.

My followup was a genuine and robust explanation, fully substantiated with specific examples and logical rationale as to how to be more efficient in "learning" the material to be more efficient with studying and effective on the exam - it inherently pointed out the problems with flat out memorization, which every point was supported logically speaking.

Moreover, to remind that we're adults insults everyone, because as an adult and a professional ... you should be seeking the feedback on how you're being inefficient or ineffective, let alone denying it and hoping they'll just keep it to themselves so as to maintain a mirage of preparedness.  What's more, there's a fundamental difference between baseless unconditional "encouragement" and constructive criticism - because someone who doesn't help identify what's wrong, being aware of it but not to telling you, AND further encourages you to keep going down that path is really just undermining your success while insulting your intelligence. 

Trying to compare it to soliciting a "right-wrong" answer for a particular problem is irrelevant, because you're correct that studying is subjective and a matter of opinion and dependent on the candidate - but fact of the matter is there are in fact "better" ways to prepare and approach the CPA exam which is why review courses exist, to balance (1) efficiency in how you study with (2) efficacy during actual performance - - - just like in real life risk assessment during an audit.  For all of that to be somehow overlooked, and boiled down to a mere "bashing" is in itself pointless "bashing".

I'm confident that when you do sit for Audit (or try review questions) to see how the concept is approached, you'll quickly recall this and realize that understanding the key framework (structure) and underlying concepts I mentioned originally is critical, as opposed to flat memorization of the reports.

Looking through all the rubbish and fighting... I DO agree with qdmcgraw on his original assessment with memorizing as apposed to learning. It is a more indepth reasoning of what I was saying earlier. So kudos to a back-up, cause before him, i was teamed up on, so I just gave it up! :)