2 questions…FAR and BEC!

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  • June 6, 2015 at 4:54 pm #194564
    sar_rah
    Participant

    Hello everyone,

    This is my first post. I am new to this site and the lovely world of the CPA exam. I have 2 questions for all you experienced test takers regarding FAR and BEC.

    1) Far is my first test I am sitting for and I will be taking it in the first week of July. I am finishing chapter 7 today (Becker), and will then be getting into the parts I am most scared of….govt/nfp! I am so far not feeling terrible, and have been reviewing past chapters along the way a little bit. I am scared for the govt/nfp chapters though since they are considerable longer and I have ZERO background in either of the topics. I have been spending about 3-3.5 days on each chapter so far, going through the lecture notes, doing all the hw/sims, and then reviewing everything over in a method that I think has really been working for me. Should I expect to take more time on the govt & nfp chapters? I don’t know if I should since they are longer, or if it will take too much time away from my final review! I originally wanted to have 2 weeks to review EVERYTHING beforehand and do my practice exams, but do you think 1 week is enough? Does anyone have advice or a method of attack to do a final review? what to focus on? reading or mcq? Please share, any/all advice is welcome!

    2) The amount of time I have put into FAR, makes me feel like BEC will be a breeze (well….considering) Just the fact that it is about half the material. I plan on studying for about 2-3 weeks in July, but not as intensively as I am for far. Right now I am putting in about 6-7 hours a day. For BEC I plan on about 4. However, after those few weeks of studying I am going on a 2 week trip to Europe where I will NOT be studying at ALL! Once I come back and recouperate I plan on review everything and for another 2 weeks or so and then sitting at the end of August. My question I guess is will it be enough time? I know its about 4-5 weeks in total, but I’m worried that the gap in the middle will throw me off. What is your advice/plan of attack for BEC? I was also wondering if it is more conceptual or computational?

    Thank you everyone for reading this and I appreciate any additional tips as well. Good luck and happy studying to everyone!

    FAR-7/1/15

    BEC-8/31/15

    AUD: 98
    REG: 91
    BEC: 86
    FAR: 83

    DONE DONE DONE and DONE all on the first try! It IS possible, just keep on studying!

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  • June 6, 2015 at 7:30 pm #670486
    EuroAddict
    Participant

    Each test and section is diff for all of us. I had some experience in govt/nfp so I felt ok with those chapters. It really isn't as bad as you think. The hardest part is going from govt funds to govt wide reconciliation.

    BEC: Taking 2 weeks off for me at least would kill me. I'd have to go over every thing again. I find that if you aren't looking at it daily you will forget a lot of the material. Don't take BEC lightly. I actually got a higher score on FAR than I did BEC.

    -----------------------------
    BEC - 77, 03/2015 (first try)
    FAR - 79, 05/2015 (second try)
    REG - 83, 12/2015 (first try)
    AUD - 84, 03/2015 (first try)

    I got 99 problems but the CPA ain't one.

    June 7, 2015 at 10:58 pm #670487
    Tscape16
    Participant

    If you have been covering and remembering the material in a fashion you believe is working, you'll have no problems on Governmental/NFP. The teaching method is the same and as long as you keep the same focus/strategy, you'll be fine. I would not suggest taking any time off if you're ahead. You'll be amazed how much you lose in a week, let alone two.

    I would not have the mind-set BEC is a “breeze”. I also scored lower on BEC than FAR. BEC has so many diverse topics that aren't inter-related besides the fact they are on the BEC exam together, so in some realms, it is harder. It only has a pass rate a couple of percentage points higher than the others, which is why it got that unfortunate reputation that ends up catching a lot of CPA hopefuls off guard. My BEC exam experience was a lot more strenuous than my FAR (exam factors and external factors at the testing center) and my scores reflect that.

    FAR - 90 ✔
    BEC - 86 ✔
    REG - 82 ✔
    AUD - 92 ✔
    ETHICS - Passed

    *Licensed CPA

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