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My Gleim CMA Experience When Going Through Part 1

my gleim cma experienceAmani is one of our CMA exam bloggers. She writes for us every Tuesday.

I am currently using Gleim CMA’s printed version, as I always prefer to put in my notes and underline what seems important to me. I also printed the summary they provide for each unit, and the audio version of the book, although I’m not a big fan of it and I don’t use it much.

Gleim CMA Book by Study Unit

In studying some people like to focus more on subjects with higher weights, but for me I wanted to put in equal effort while focusing mostly on the weak parts not the weights. The following is an overview of the material:

  • Units 1-2-3: Financial reporting and measurement 15%
  • Units 4-5-6-7: Cost accounting 20%
  • Units 8-9: Budgeting 30%
  • Units 10-11: Performance Valuation 20%
  • Units 12-13: Internal Control 15%

I started with the same order of the units: I finished the first 3 units which were brief reviews of accounting principles and the presentation of the financial statements. It took almost two weeks for me (keep in mind that I study daily after work 3 hours).

Then I jumped ahead to the budgeting part because it represents 30% of the CMA and one of my favorite subjects, followed by costing units which were relatively easy, except for unit 5 in which I struggled a bit.

Unit 10 was easy to go through simple calculations and couple of ideas, but you need to summarize all the formulas in it to have a better grip of it. Later I finished unit 11, it was simple to understand so it didn’t take me much time.

Currently I’m studying units 12 and 13. Although they are not difficult, I’m not great in memorizing definitions. Also, not having practiced internal controls and audit functions or even some of the information technology mentioned in those units, I find it harder to study than I originally thought. Therefore, I decided to go over them more than once or even twice.

Gleim CMA’s book as a whole is not complicated and doesn’t take much time to finish. Each unit ranges from 3-7 days including the end-of-unit questions.

But the difficult part is the online tests: the first ones I didn’t score more than 60-70%; which made me frustrated and I thought my study was not enough so I went back and studied the units again. That wasn’t helpful, as I only scored better in the theoretical subjects. Still with practice I got higher marks, I’m now at almost 75% average and I plan to raise it up a notch.

In conclusion the material by itself is not enough for you to pass, you must practice questions and essays, as many as you can, its a true saying practice makes perfect (almost to be exact).

From Stephanie

Amani I can’t agree with you more on the experience. I had the exact feeling myself when I went through Gleim CMA Part 1 myself. I thought it was a breeze until I hit the practice questions, and boy, it was frustrating! As you said, things get better each time I worked on the questions. It was a great feeling to know I was slowly but surly improving.

About the Author Amani

Hello, I am from Jordan and a recent graduate. I have passed Part 1 on my first try after 4 months of studying. I accepted a teaching position for a CMA review course and therefore have to postpone my Part 2 to 2016.

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21 comments
CMA student says May 6, 2015

Gleim is one review course with naxinum number of practice questions compared to other review courses. Is Gleim test bank insufficient still? 🙁

Reply
    indar lal says May 6, 2015

    Why in your printed version there is answer below mcqs ? Answer sheet should be not on same page of questions .
    Why is it so ?

    Reply
      Amani says May 7, 2015

      Hello Indar lal,
      in the printed books there is questions at the end of each unit with the answers right next to each question, its better this way so you can directly know what is the answer and its justification.
      in the online version of the book, the questions are already included in the test bank.

      Reply
    Amani says May 7, 2015

    Dear CMA student,
    As i believe, using Gleim test bank along with the IMA retired questions should be enough, dont distract yourself with many test banks.

    Reply
      Stephanie Ng says May 7, 2015

      Totally agree with Amani! Stephanie

      Reply
      Martin says January 19, 2018

      Where can I find IMA retired questions…

      Reply
        Meghan D says August 8, 2018

        CMA review courses have retired questions from the IMA. They are included in the review provider’s test banks. Learn more about CMA review providers here: https://ipassthecmaexam.com/cma-review-course/

        Reply
Mallik says May 7, 2015

Hi Amani:

Thanks for your suggestion. Where can I find IMA retired questions please.

Reply
    Amani says May 7, 2015

    Dear Mallik, When you become a member of the IMA you will be able to download them for both parts from your profile under the Learning Center tab.

    Reply
      Mallik says May 8, 2015

      Hi Amani

      Sorry bothering you. I couldn’t find retired questions of IMA. I am registered IMA member. If you get chance, at your convenience, can you pl send path to locate the questions.

      Thanks.

      Reply
CMA Student says May 8, 2015

Thank you so much Amani & Stephanie

Reply
    Mallik says May 8, 2015

    Dear Amani

    When u r planning to take Part 1 exam !

    Reply
      Stephanie Ng says May 8, 2015

      In fact Amani has taken Part 1 in Feb (and passed!)
      I am featuring her story a few months late because I have too many bloggers at the same time 🙂

      Reply
SM says May 10, 2015

Dear Amani and Stephanie,

Thank you both for this wonderful blog and related inputs especially IMA’s link to retired questions. I am currently using Gleim printed version book. It would be great if you can advise me on the study options stated below so that I can make my exam study planner accordingly.
Option 1 Are the questions given at back of each study unit in the Gleim book including practice of CMA retired questions- 293 questions for Part1 and 321 questions for Part2 sufficient for our Exam preparation?
Option 2 we need to study the whole set of Gleim online questions alone- 1990 questions for Part1 and 1704 questions for Part2 ?

Coming to essays- The Gleim online essays or Sample essays in IMA site

Reply
    Amani says May 11, 2015

    Dear,
    For option one it depends on your knowledge level, if you believe you are proficient with the topics then i would say yes, but for most people its not enough, they refer to other testbanks.

    Option two, also depends, when you reach a level where you think you are ready to sit for the exam, or score at least 75% in tests, then you shouldn’t study the whole testbank, and the opposite is true.

    As for the essays, the IMA essays is a must study to be able to understand how the perfect solution is written, studying complementary essays from gelim online, or the end of chapter essays is never a bad thing.

    Regards,

    Reply
SM says May 11, 2015

Dear Amani,
Thanks a lot for your detailed response 🙂 Hope this page serves help to other CMA students as well 🙂

Reply
Feras says June 14, 2015

Hello Anani !
How long time do you think I need to study part 1?

Reply
    Amani says June 16, 2015

    Hello Feras,
    part one took from me 4 months to study, because i work and Arabic is my first language, and i have only 2 years of experience in accounting, you should know your abilities and knowledge, but i recommend at least 3 months of studying daily 3-4 hours.
    Contact me if you need more help.

    Reply
trilok says December 21, 2015

Are all gleim cma product valid for 18 months including the test bank please help me

Reply
    Stephanie Ng says December 29, 2015

    Yes, that’s right Trilok. Stephanie

    Reply
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