[Mole351]

I had a thought that wanted to see what the consensus is here regarding my strategy of maximizing the 18 month window.

I’ll preface by saying I work full time and have a family with little ones at home so taking more than one section per window is most likely out of the question (or moreso preparing for more than one section)

That said – I don’t feel good about my first section (FAR) I just took. My original strategy was if I fail to take again next while the info is still fresh. BUT…in thinking a little further maybe it would be better use of the 18 months to take at the end instead? The thought being it wouldn’t take as long to prepare as I wouldn’t be doing it from “scratch” like I did these past few months. Sure, I would forget a lot of it but I’d think it would come back to me a lot faster as well and wouldn’t have to do the grueling process all over again but just refresh and really focus on weak areas.

With that I would have 2 of the “grueling” prep processes out of the way before the clock starts ticking (FAR and the next section would take to start the clock). I say this as I’ve really got to maximize the amount of time as with one test per quarter I can only afford so many failures…

Thoughts? Seem like a wise strategy, or would the general advice be to stick with FAR as it’s really fresh in my head? I feel like I’m close on FAR and know the material…just need to focus on a couple of areas and JE’s/SIM’s…

FAR - 87 (5/15)
AUD - 93 (8/15)
REG - 86 (2/16)
BEC - 87 (5/16)

[Zuly]

@Mole351 I was in the same position as you with FAR back in November when I found out I failed. If you just took FAR then you should be receiving your score shortly…hopefully you passed! You never know with these tests. Anyways, if you do pass then great and move on to your next section. If you failed, study for FAR again ASAP but treat it as if it was your first time. I don't think you should leave FAR for last because it is the biggest and hardest section so you really want that monster out of the way before the 18 month clock starts ticking. Also, you'll be surprised how much you will forget in 6 months to a year. I took FAR back in February and studied it for close to 7 months between the first time and re-take and if you ask me a question now I probably will get it wrong…the material for the most part flies out of your brain. Same with Audit that I just took. Granted the basic information or concepts will remain but not those minute details that you need to pass. My recommendation is to take it again and this time take the time to go over J/Es and any other weaknesses you had and of course your strengths as well. I studied for close to 8 weeks for my re-take and did all that and I passed with a 79…I felt even more prepared for the re-take but I felt the test was so much harder than the first. Good luck and I hope you report back good news on June 9th. 🙂

FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
AUD - (04/30/15) 86
BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

[golfball7773]

No and since I have had an afternoon beer (test yesterday), I will probably be blunt.

FAR is considered the hardest due to the huge amount of material and to forget those details 18 months later is going to be terrible. and a retake isn't 4 points that you need to make up but it is 75 points. Most ppl dedicate 6-8 weeks for FAR and they should for a retake.

With that being said, I would not save the “beast” for last. If I had to start over, I would keep going after FAR.

However, when are you taking your next exam and what section?

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[CPA2BinCA]

@Mole 351 — What materials did you use to prepare for FAR?

AUD - Done
FAR - Done
BEC - Done
REG - TBD

[Mole351]

Thanks for the feedback all. I used yaeger and ninja MCQ's to prep. Honestly started in January and took until now to feel ready (originally planned to take the test in April but felt far from ready so pushed it back). Going forward I have a much more efficient plan of attack regarding study/prep though…could probably have done what I did in half the time knowing what I know now…and will be better for the remaining sections (plus the fact they're all “shorter”

As of now the plan is to take audit probably in late August. If I failed FAR I can't take until late July at the earliest as I will be doing quarter close and Q filing activities for my job (really can't figure why the “off” month isn't the month many accountants are doing their quarterly work but that's another subject). That will probably push audit to Q4.

FAR - 87 (5/15)
AUD - 93 (8/15)
REG - 86 (2/16)
BEC - 87 (5/16)

[golfball7773]

Why take AUD in late August? take it early July….unless you never taken a college course….how do you learn?

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Skynet]

I guess I'm one of the few Crazy ones for leaving FAR last. LOL!

[Mole351]

Can't take anything in early July.because of work…won't have time to properly prep. With my schedule it's difficult for me to regularly find more than 2 hours a day/night so not sure if I'd be ready by then anyway….figure I need about a month of going through the material and then another month hammering out MCQ's and reviewing. By then it's late July at earliest and I'm into another month-end close and then vacation…puts me into late August. Honestly I don't know that I could be ready in late July anyway with the late days/nights throughout the month for the q-close/filing stuff anyway. Leaves very little extra time.

FAR - 87 (5/15)
AUD - 93 (8/15)
REG - 86 (2/16)
BEC - 87 (5/16)

[Mole351]

Not trying to find excuses…just that the optimal time to take these are the last months of the testing windows.

FAR - 87 (5/15)
AUD - 93 (8/15)
REG - 86 (2/16)
BEC - 87 (5/16)

[CPA2BinCA]

I hear you about being busy with work deadlines and what not. You might surprise yourself and become more efficient with your time when you don't have a lot of time to study.

I dont know if this will but I found the Detailed Report under the Progress Report tab in the Ninja mcq to be very helpful in explaining my weak areas.

After doing few sets of mcqs, I copied all the information from the Detailed Summary view and put it into excel. i used conditional formatting to highlight areas where my average and trending scores were below a certain % (i started with 40%). Then I made a copy of the tab and label it ‘V2'. After some review, I would do a few more sets of mcqs, copy the resulting Detailed Report and dump it into the ‘V2' tab. I would keep doing this throughout my review process and kept dumping subsequent versions of the Detail Report into newer ‘V#' tabs. I hope this makes sense.

After every testing session, I would compare the newest data with that of the previous tab. It was just an additional analysis that allowed me to see if my understanding of a particular topic improved – evidenced when my average score improved, and if it didnt', I would target that topic specifically in my next session.

When you have a long period of time to study, it might be hard to see if you are really progressing because its easy to memorize answers by just doing mcq's. Doing the extra analysis above made me focus less on the percentages and more on improving my knowledge by key topics. I would notice the highlights disappearing in some areas because I got better on the subject matter and some stayed red for awhile. For those, I had to step away from the mcq's and go through the review material in more depth before I could improve my score on the mcqs. Also, if I started scoring better overall on one of the main categories, this extra analysis helped me check if I improved on one of the more heavily tested subtopics in that category or if the score improved because of my performance in a less significant sub topic. I used the number of questions in the subtopics to rank them by significance.

I hope the above does not sound like a lot of work, because it really isn't. I found it very easy to do given the current format of the Detailed Report in the Ninja Mcq.

AUD - Done
FAR - Done
BEC - Done
REG - TBD

[Missy]

IF you need to retake an exam (hopefully you won't need to) you are always retaking it friom scratch. If you studied 150 hours and end up with a 74, count on 150+ hours for a retake. There is really no such thing as needing x more points, you will always need 75 more points.

That said, if you feel FAR is an exam you're likely to take multiple times get it out of the way first. You don't want to be running down the clock and lose credit for another section if you end up having to face FAR 2 or more times.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[lab2008]

skynet – just letting you know I'm also one of the crazy ones leaving the traditional advice and leaving FAR for last. freaking out now! took it yesterday!

3 out of 4 passed and sitting for FAR on May 31. Will lose credit for Audit if I don't pass FAR by Aug 4. I love leases and bonds.

[mrgriff21]

I feel like this is all psychological. I honestly don't think it matters what order you take them.

If you take FAR first and let's say for the sake of argument you fail three times in a row. That might be enough to break your spirit and quit altogether.

But if you take FAR last and pass the other three, maybe you have that extra motivation to do everything you possibly can to make sure you pass since it's the last one.

A - 84
R - 81
B - 77
F - 81

[Author]

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