[jess3]

I’ve taken AUD 3 times now and failed once again….. I’ve been in a depression mode since I THOUGHT i was putting all my time and effort into studying. I just started studying for FAR because I’ve heard that FAR helps AUD. I’ve set my exam date for July 9, since I’m not doing anything EXCEPT studying. (doing 2-3 sections a week.) My goal is to pass at least FAR and AUD before August, because I have a job offer that will start in August. Can someone provide me any studying tips or plans they had for FAR and possibly AUD?? I’ve been doing Becker and got Ninja notes for both sections.. I feel like i’m not meant to be a CPA seeing a lot of my friends pass without any hardship. 🙁

[ShmeePA]

Hey Jess! I'm in the same boat. I have taken BEC and AUD and failed them each once. I felt prepared and my friends didn't seem to have an issue. One thing that's important to remember is the difficulty of this exam. There's a reason the passing rates are below 50% and it's even tougher to pass on the first try! Just know you are not alone and you will succeed.

BEC-84
FAR-86
AUD-87
REG-79

[Uhartsoccer21]

Jess — My advice would be to take advantage of the whole testing window and maybe spend more time preparing. Even if you cram you should use a solid two weeks to review especially just to get your first exam under your belt. I just graduated last December and started working Full-time and passed REG and FAR during tax season. I would take advantage of getting a lot of studying done before you start working with all that free-time but don't really need to rush. I actually feel that having a busy schedule and studying while working Full-time helps me out a lot.. I just have to spend a little bit longer to study for each section. So far i've prbly spent around 2 months studying per section, but that's just me. But definitely study enough so that your comfortable with all the material.. if you can't answer SIMS in Becker without looking in your book then your not going to be able to come test time.

My first exam I got a 65 on AUD.. then I realized I had to accept having no life for the next couple months and really got focused. I think your there but may be underestimating the amount of time you should put in. If your friends say they passed with out trying or working hard, there lying!!

A - 89 10/23/2014
R - 90 2/27/2014
F - 75 5/25/2014
B - 83 8/28/2014

[nolifecpa]

story of my life…

i wasn't meant to be a cpa, i just worked damn hard for it. if you're putting in 100% and still coming up short it might be time to switch materials. i tried becker twice (self study and inclass) but it just wasn't for me

FAR advice: know journal entries inside and out. everytime you do a mcq, know the journal entry for it

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[Quinacridone]

Best advice you could get for FAR Is in the post above. EVERY time you do a MCQ, KNOW the journal entry. It will solidify the material for you and you'll be prepared for anything they throw at you.

REG - Nov 4, 2013: 88
FAR - Feb 27, 2014: 86
AUD - April 5, 2014: 91
BEC - May 6, 2014: 83

Florida CPA 24 July 2014
(Done in seven months - thank you Jesus!!)

[rjdub28]

I failed AUD twice and just got my passing score. I have Becker, had Wiley (now expired), and the 10 Point Combo, but that still wasn't cutting it for me. For round 3, I bought the NINJA MCQ and I think this is what pulled me through. The questions are very thorough and I like the adaptive learning. Also, I did every single SIM in Becker and NINJA MCQ, and ones that I didn't score well on, I did again. SIMS are my weakest area, so that's why I hit those so hard, but it seemed to work. Good luck and don't give up 🙂 we can do this!!

A - 67, 64, 92!!
R - 61, 75!
B - 80!
F - 68, 78!! DONE!

[jess3]

thanks everyone for encouraging me!!! It helped a lot. 🙂

[fuzyfro89]

Only quitters don't succeed.

Have you modified your study approach?

[jess3]

Yeah, I've ditched becker lectures. I'm reading a section and then doing MCQs. I feel like I should change the exam date because I'm only on F2…..

[Anonymous]

You can do this! Don't give up! I focused on the topics listed in the Ninja Notes and worked as many MCQs over ALL sections as I could. I wrote fact nuggets in the white spaces of my Ninja Notes as I went along. I didn't waste time reading the text in the study guides and only went back to the study guides (I used Gleim and Wiley) for clarification as needed.

Keep working hard and you will conquer AUD. Good luck to you!

PS: Eat right – get some exercise/fresh air – get enough sleep.

[kplummer517]

Jess hang in there, focus yourself, change study habbits. You can do this! I feel like I keep failing and failing as well. But it is obviously something I'm just doing “half @ss” So now I'm trying something different and hoping it will get me over the 75 hump!! We can do this!

AUD - Passed - 82 (10/1/13), Expires 4/1/2015 (57,62,64)
BEC - Passed - 77 (7/14/14) (53,67,70,74) Half way to CPA!!!!
REG - Passed - 81 (8/23/14) (68) 3 down 1 to go!!
FAR - Passed - 75 (11/11/14) I'm DONE!!!!!

Illinois Canidate

[zieba]

Actually, the best way to NOT quit, is to post on A71 about you thinking about quitting. Instead of answering only to your conscience, you now have the whole A71 crew to answer to as well.

AUD - 75*, 88 done 5/14! (*exp)
BEC - 74 , 77
REG - 65 , 76 (10 point combooo!!)
FAR - 69 , 75

Dr: perseverance
Dr: intelligence
Dr: luck
. Cr: . advisory score

[AGI]

I find nothing related between FAR (passed) and AUD (currently studying). Perhaps because I have no clue on JE?

I never focus super hard on JE. I kinda know the basic. But if you tell me to write the exact JE for every question, I will die.

I feel like FAR is 200% math related, if you are good in math, you will master it in a short time. Personally, I am very sharp in FAR math. I also had a short internship couple years ago as a bookkeeper (but it didn't help on my JE skill)…

I would say what make me pass FAR is knowing the formulas. I had a lot of difficult questions on math problems (the ones that everyone hate.) I think if you manage to know most of the math problems you should be fine. Oh.. I didn't focus on the ratio that much. I focus on installments and those “every test like to have ones”.

Another important thing is timing. If you manage to run through your problem fast enough, you will be able to do a second round on every question. If you had extra time, you can also do your math backward and find the answers. (Instead of looking from the question and calculate the answer, plug in your answers (from ABCD choice) into the formula and find the one that match the question). I was able to do a second run on all questions (MC and sim) and still have 40 minutes left. I also took a break for about 15 min in the middle for food, drink and restroom. I left the test room with 2 min left on the clock, so I must have read the sim at least 2 more time within the 40 minute leftover, trying to do the question forward and backward to make sure it kinda make sense. Event if the answers are wrong, as long as the math kinda make sense they will give you points.

New York - NYC
Passed CPA Exam (11/2014)
In search for a position in NYC that will fulfills the license requirement.

[Anonymous]

Some of the simulations I had when practicing for the exam was to reverse some JE. FAR helps in that regard because the candidate needs to know the original JE on their mind before he should even consider an approach to reverse it. FAR and BEC helped with the financial analysis ratios.

You shouldn't be too intimidated by not diving deep into FAR before attempting AUD. There really wasn't much overlap. Just know that the CPA exam does have a ton of material that overlaps over sections. Knowing those overlaps are useful, but not critical to passing.

[Author]

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