[Anonymous]

Hi there,

FAR is really intense but it keeps me motivated because I’m refreshing memory of old concepts.

I read a very interesting comment: study in short or spread your time for long time?

What are your ideas?

For the guys who have passed it, what suggest?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I firmly believe studying for a short amount of time is more beneficial than being spread out over months for two reasons.

1. You are more prone to forget things you studied months ago, even if you do progress tests here and there.

2. You are more likely to blow off studying for the exam because it is MONTHS away. If you have a short term studying plan in place (short term as in 4-5 weeks) then you can not blow anything off if you want to make time for review.

[J]

Agreed, but it obviously depends on the person (like many things). I really don't see the benefit of spreading out studying over a longer period of time but I also can't study for eight hours a day like some people do and compress everything into two weeks. I studied 3 weeks for BEC and 6 weeks for FAR, and I'm currently projecting 6 weeks for REG and 5 for AUD.

My advice would be to write down a schedule and stick to it as closely as possible. I don't mean hour to hour (I don't see the benefit of counting studying hours), but rather write every module or chapter of your review course and/or study guide, and the day that you're going to be covering it. In your case, plan it over the course of 4 weeks and make sure you leave a few days at the end for schedule changes/contingencies, and then go for it. I know some people will disagree but if you have the time and attention span and are really focused, there's not a section for which you can't adequately prepare in 4 weeks.

[jsmithsae]

I just passed FAR with approx 7 weeks of study. Four or five week might be cutting it a tad bit short, but i would never study 4 months to take an exam. The odds of being able to recall minute details after that period of time are slim to none. I would say do whatever you are most comfortable with or what your course materials suggest for timing.

I'm sure you will see this all over the boards, but i will reiterate…do as many MCQ's as you can, then do them all again! It is not uncommon to see the people that are passing the exams to have done 1500-3000 MCQ's for each part.

Good Luck!

BEC-75!
AUD-84!
REG-78!
FAR-83!
Ethics-Passed!
Experience-Got that too

Used Becker 2013 Self-Study & NINJA 10pt Combo Lite(AUD)

[wobrie4]

I did about 3.5 months of FAR studying. For me, slow playing works. For others, it doesn't. If you do slow play it, you have to do a LOT of progress tests as you go along.

On My Way to a CPA...

FAR- 83 (12/02/12) (Try #1...by some miracle)
BEC- 80 (2/23/13) (Try #1... by some miracle)
AUD- 77 (05/04/13) (Try #1... by some miracle)
REG- 79 (08/03/13)(Try #1... by some miracle)

[Getting a CPA]

My wife (she's in law school) claims that if you understand something, rather than memorize it, you won't forget it months down the line. I disagree. I also think that, no matter what people say, there is a lot of information in the CPA exam that we just have to hold to memory and take at face value, rather than understand it…

So I think I have actually wasted time studying FAR for months, when I should have condensed to 3 months max. I find memory to be a big problem when stretching out these exams.

I haven't taken any parts yet, so just my two pennies…

[Anonymous]

I took one test at a time. I scheduled my test near the last day of the testing window so that I could have all of the time I needed to study. For each test I studied intensely for 6 weeks and left 2 weeks for review. In total I studied 8 weeks for each test. Write down your notes which I think helps you remember. I did the multiple choice questions several times. I don't think that you can do the questions twice and get it. Repetition is the key to passing.

[Author]

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