[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

I am starting as an Auditor with PWC in September 2013, so luckily I have my materials (Becker) all paid for. I decided to take this huge break from grad school (quarter ended just before Thanksgiving, next one doesn’t start until Jan. 7) and knock out FAR. A little background on what my plans are…

AUD – FastPass June 2013 – Class starts right after my last quarter of grad school ends, so it fit perfectly into my schedule

REG – FastPass summer 2013 – Class starts right after AUD fastpass ends

FAR – Scheduled for 1/7/2013 – Huge break from school and a lot of material to cover so it fits nicely

BEC – Winter/Spring 2013 – Not really sure when I’m gonna study for this, probably weekends and spring break in March. Probably gonna semi-wing this part. Have a decent academic background in finance, etc.

My main reason for posting is to gather whatever tips or hints I can for studying with Becker. I’m not very good at staying focused on a lecture for 3 hours, so I might need to find a way to counter this somehow.

[mrwills12]

@ajelias

I think becker does a very good job of mixing things up so you can stay relatively focused. I mean the lectures on the book just let you know what are main portions to know and the tricks each chapter/section. I find that studying the MCQ are a way better teaching tool because they give you an explanation for why answers are right or wrong. Also I would not plan on just “winging” or “semi-winging” any exam, even BEC. I am sure there are a lot of people out there that would agree with me when i say each exam is hard, there are no easy exams. You have to put the time and dedicate yourself to studying to pass. Dont underestimate this process

FAR - 88 (Jul 2012)
AUD - 85 (Oct 2012)
BEC - 82 (Nov 2012)
REG - 92 (Jan 2013) DONE!

Using Becker Self Study 2012

[Anonymous]

I'm going to have to second that don't “semi-wing” any of these exams. Good Luck!

[FearTheBeard]

@ajelias

I agree with @mrwills12 that the best study tool is the MCQs. The lectures usually suck and I zone out after about 13 minutes while I ignorantly highlight the book and listen as Timmy G makes lame ass jokes. However, I disagree when Mr. Wills says there are no easy exams. FAR and REG were challenging, and BEC seems tough so far, but AUD was ridiculously easy, even if you don't have much auditing experience. But study hard for each test and you'll do fine.

[LittleMoe]

My first score on BEC shows what happens if you slack off on it. I found it difficult because it covers a lot of topics that seem to be thrown together with no rhyme or reason. I didn't find it to be particularly hard, just all over the place which made it difficult to focus on the important points. You will find groups on this board who found each test to be the hardest. It just depends on your background, your focus when studying, when you take it (burn out can be a problem), etc.

Overall, your study plan looks solid. Make sure you plan out each week. How much will you study, what will you work on each day and you should be good to go. These tests are all beasts in their own way. Just study hard and adapt through the process.

My study program didn't have lectures. I tune out lectures so I figured there was no point in dropping that kind of money on something I wouldn't be able to pay attention to. Since you are getting Becker free, definitely try out the lectures. They can be a really useful tool. However, I agree with the others that doing tons of MCQ's really seemed to lock everything in for me. Good luck!!

AUD 4/12/12 79
FAR 5/29/12 76
REG 8/2/12 82
BEC 8/30/12 72 Retake 10/18/12 76!!! DONE!!!!
ExamMatrix, Wiley Books, NINJA notes and audio
LICENSED ALABAMA CPA 11/30/12

[mrwills12]

@FearTheBeard

What i was trying to say about the exams not being easy was the fact that you shouldnt take one for granted and just wing it because every one says its the easy one of the 4. I was saying that the OP shouldnt underestimate any of the exams and that the OP should still put the time in and study… The more you study, the easier the test becomes…You have to agree with me on that. You probably didnt just study for a couple hours for a few weekends and then Hammering out 90+ on your exams. If you did wow, congrats, but for 99% of the people studying only for a couple hours for a a few weekends here or there wont get you passing scores and that has been proven

FAR - 88 (Jul 2012)
AUD - 85 (Oct 2012)
BEC - 82 (Nov 2012)
REG - 92 (Jan 2013) DONE!

Using Becker Self Study 2012

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that what one person may find ridiculously easy another may find extremely hard. Everyone here has their own perception of the difficulty of a particular exam. For me auditing was extremely hard but I passed FAR first try. Unfortunately because auditing was so hard for me I am having to take FAR again due to losing credit for it.

Don't underestimate any of these exams and study hard. Good luck and welcome to the forum!

[FearTheBeard]

@mrwills12

You're right, I don't think anyone should wing it on any test. I'm not gonna pretend I didn't study, because I studied my ass off. I was just giving my personal experience that AUD was easy and required much less time and effort. I studied like crazy for FAR — 180 hours+. For AUD, I studied about 80 hours. When I took FAR, there were lengthy & wordy problems that required numerous calculations, while on AUD, I didn't touch the calculator once during the entire test. Also, almost all of my MCQs on AUD were 1 or 2 lines. Like I said before, the OP should study hard for each test. I was just trying to note the difference between some sections as I experienced them.

[Author]

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