[Wannafree]

Hi Gurus
I have read conflicting opinion about which subject is considered toughest.Someone says FAR someone says REG but going by statistics AUD has lowest score and so many people are stuck at 71-74 .Why AUD is not labeled as toughest ?
I am asking this question to make plan for my AUD exam which I somehow felt easy.

[arjonesumhb]

Audit was definitely the hardest for me. I think it depends on where your background is, I am a tax person so to me, Regulations was not bad.

[Wannafree]

@neaux2135 ,your comment gives me great hope for FAR .In Regulation I had to really dig dipper lots of topics but problems were not that tough rather some were so easy that I had to confirm it twice or thrice if I have not overlooked something in problem.If that's what you mean about FAR then I ma happy.In that context I now understand AUD is tricky but less materials to dig.I would appreciate if you could give some more about FAR section exam experience compared to review material .
Thanks again neaux2135

[Wannafree]

Excuse me for my typos ,I can't edit.

[Anonymous]

Everyone will be different but I don't necessarily think FAR has “easier” questions. It has less calculation questions than REG but since you need to know so much more material it can be tough if your test has a billion questions on one topic.

I also think that REG is easier to study for because there is a clear cut strategy you can employ. This will probably only make sense if you use Becker, but you have to put extra effort into chapters 1-4(tax) because you know there will be sims on them. Chapter 5(ethics) is easy and is worth 20% of the exam and is a huge portion of the multiple choice. And you can expect many multiple choice questions from chapters 6-8(business law) since those will most likely not be simulations.

Meanwhile with FAR you really have no idea what they will test you on. They might test you on a million Govt/NFP M/C or they'll throw none of them at you and give you a bunch of IFRS questions(from what I have heard). Simulation questions could literally be on anything. The amount of information you must shove in your brain and not forget on test day is ridiculous. For REG it felt a little bit more manageable.

I felt equally prepared for both REG and FAR. Ironically I also got 83 on both REG and FAR first try and when I came out of REG I felt like there was a decent chance I would pass. When I came out of FAR I felt like there was a 90% certainty that I failed. I felt awful.

Pound for pound the material in REG is harder but in terms of the actual exam I think FAR is harder. Which kind of makes sense considering its a 4+ hour exam compared to the 3+ hour exam of REG with both being comparable in difficulty.

[Wannafree]

Thanks Crislo2007 ,When I am studying FAR , by the time I reach chapter 7 ,chapter 1-4 seems vaporized .How did you manage that? As you cleared FAR in first attempt I am eager to know your tips on FAR.

[Anonymous]

I would start doing Progress Tests with multiple chapters combined. I think that's the best way of getting used to having to retain all the information at once. I did lectures + homework for chapters 1-9 first time around and then did homework a second time. Then I focused on 8-9 for a while doing progress tests because people said this was heavily tested. Then I would go back and do chapters I felt weak with and do progress tests with those chapters. So for example I found chapters 5 and 6 to be difficult so I reviewed that and did progress tests with 5 and then 6 and then progress tests with 5+6. And then slowly add in chapters 1-4 and 7. I left chapter 10 last. Only did the lectures + homework once for that chapter. I will say that I wouldn't skip this chapter since I was tested on this so go over it all once but focus on 1-9.

I would also try to practice journal entries as much as you can as I got sims that required journal entries for almost every single one…and I felt like I didn't do well on them even though somehow I got stronger.

Good luck. If you can pass BEC and REG you can pass FAR! It really is a grind to study for it though.

[Wannafree]

Thanks a lot chrislo2007 .I will follow this strategy , sounds logical to me.

[sulaiman]

You rarely see someone get in FAR or REG over 95, but audit, you always see it. Sometimes you see someone having in all three sections in 78-82 areas but in audit you see him with over 90. I don't think this is true for other sections at least from what I saw, so that tells something.

I think part of the low passing rate in audit is that many of CPA takers are working in audit field so they would underestimate the difficulty of the exam by not studying as hard as other sections or not practice enough homework while FAR and REG, everyone feels scared before taking them. With BEC, I think since if you are not taking cpa exams, you wouldn't have an idea of what this is or what contains, so every CPA takers have to see the material and have idea of what it is before taking the exam.

Also, one significant issue is that audit can be really boring and so less time your mind really studying, even if you think you're putting enough time to study

[ImmoKnight]

I have a few thoughts on this:

I believe the biggest reason that AUD pass rates are where they are is because of the people taking the exam whom are ESL (English as a second language). The exam is nuanced in that a single word can alter the question dramatically and change the answer as a result. For those that are ESL, they would have a much more difficult time with such an exam because they need would need to understand what to look for so that they can get the answer correctly. Not saying all people that are ESL, but it would explain the lower pass rates given the material being shorter than FAR and REG.

FAR and REG are brutal beasts, because of the sheer amount of material that can tested. You are basically playing dice on topics because it's nearly impossible for every topic to be touched upon, and thus you are simply hoping your stronger topics are more heavily tested during this exam. The vast formulas that can be asked of you makes these exams quite difficult to approach with confidence.

BEC has so many different topics that aren't connected at all. The only positive of BEC is that there is less material in total, which could be a negative if you are lacking an understanding in any one area because you are more likely to see it. BEC stresses a more thorough understanding because you are likely to encounter every topic a little bit if not more. The other positive is the lack of SIMS. Not having to study SIMS freed up a lot of my time.

On the topic of SIMS. I believe this forums popular opinion on it is backwards. I think testing for SIMS is better than testing for MCQ (Not saying skip MCQ, but it should be done in addition to MCQ). If you understand SIMS and understand the topic of the SIM to the point of being able to get 80 – 85% then you will be able to answer MCQ related to that topic. SIMS test at a higher level of understanding than a multiple choice question. That's my opinion at least.

AUD: 85 (3/8/16)
FAR: 77 (6/7/16)
BEC: ??? (9/7/16)
REG: ???

[Anonymous]

Good luck, Nath. You can do it!

[Over_It]

Not even in the same ballpark for me. AUD was 10x's easier. Not that REG was hard, just more material and more memorization.

[Wannafree]

@chrislo2007 your advise was good , it's working ,feeling going on right track.Thank you.

[Author]

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