[Jj]

Hi everyone,
I started studying for FAR, taking notes on the first few chapters while using Becker self study. The thing is I don’t think taking notes is an effective strategy especially for FAR because there is so much detail and takes forever. I passed AUD and BEC by taking notes but Far is just too long. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’m thinking about watching the lectures, reading the book on my own, then doing the MCQ. Using Ninja MC for review the last week? just want to be done with this whole process.

[Wanna_B_TXCPA2014]

Do half of the homework problems (all odds or all evens) for each sub-section of a given chapter. Review your scores in reverse order concentrating on the lowest scores first, then after each review of the subsection do the other half of the problems

[Jj]

I like that. thanks.

[Ag12thman]

@Wanna_B_TXCPA2014 –

Do half of the homework problems (all odds or all evens) for each sub-section of a given chapter. Review your scores in reverse order concentrating on the lowest scores first, then after each review of the subsection do the other half of the problems

I'm not sure I follow this study protocol. In Becker homework, isn't the answer given immediately after you select an answer for any given MCQ? Or maybe you can set the questions to not be given until the completion of a specific homework session? Also, what is the reason for reviewing the scores and/or questions in reverse order? I'm not being critical at all; just wanting to understand this study methodology so that maybe I can incorporate it into my plan. Thanks!

FAR: July 2016

[Anonymous]

I wish I could give u better advice, but I can't… Know JE's inside and out, definitely know the mnemonics, govt/nfp are easy mcq's (know which fund to use), study govt/nfp sims hard, and do not neglect any chapter bc u will be tested on it. I'm having problems narrowing down my study methods as well. Taking notes is important for key areas and areas you struggle with. However, it became too cumbersome for me, so I just highlight away and take notes inside the Becker book to save time. Goodluck and study your *ss off my friend.

[.]

I gave up on notes also. Takes too much time for not enough payout. Same with lectures. I just read each lesson and did the MCQs and SIMs. I didn't get any part of it down pat. My knowledge of the topics was quite shaky. I just tried to get gist of the lesson and move on. Might want to write down certain tricky journal entries and tricky multi-step formulas. But don't do too much.

I would do 2 weeks of Ninja MCQ review for FAR. 1 week is not enough. This is where what you learned earlier will cement. This is much more useful than writing notes.

The problem with studying for the CPA exam is that you just don't get enough practice. And you can't use traditional study methods that you would use when taking a college course. It's just like crazy cramming over a long period. The good thing is you just have to be better than 50% of the people taking it.

FAR - June 2016 - 88
REG - July 2016 - 89
AUD - Aug 2016 - review phase currently
BEC - Sep 2016 -

Wiley CPA Excel & Ninja MCQ

[letsrun4it]

I felt like FAR was too much material to work your way through it gently. I just started doing MCQ by chapter and did like 1700 MCQ that way. Then did 3500 MCQ from all sections until exam day. Got a 76. My regret is not writing out the JE each time I did a problem that had a corresponding JE, seen a lot of people on here reccomend that. I didn't realize the sims were basically entirely JE. Learn from my mistake!

BEC: 85
REG: 74, 78
AUD: 86
FAR: October?

[bhunt815]

I studied FAR as one large subject, not as individual chapters. I went through all of the lectures and then started the MCQ's. I took notes one every question I got wrong, and some that I got right. After a couple weeks I started to see where my strengths and weaknesses were and I would then go back to individual sections where I was struggling and take more detailed notes from the book.

In the end, I probably had 100 legal-sized pages of notes that I would read over daily. It only took me 6 weeks to study this way while working full time and I passed first time out, but I don't know if this method would work for everyone.

FAR 04/11/2016 - 84
AUD 05/12/2016 - 79
BEC 07/06/2016 - 81
REG 08/29/2016

[Wanna_B_TXCPA2014]

@Ag12thman I got this method from the onsite Lead instructor for Becker here in Dallas. The premise of this method is doing half of the questions should expose you to a concept at least once. Your lowest scored section should be worked first because the low score indicates less of an understanding of that topic. You are attempting to build your understanding by focusing on your weakness first. I like this method because it forces you to focus. I felt overwhelmed when thinking about FAR in total. This method allows you tackle a large subject a piece at time.

If you think about it, all the chapter titles are keywords. These keywords have various meanings and different steps to calculate and solve. This study method is helping to drill down to the lowest level of understanding. Like for leases and bonds, this method forced me to go the book write notes in my own words and explain the concept with my own story. I kept messing up on interest payable, interest expense, and carrying amount. After I indentified these were my issues, then I had to determine do I not understand the word definition, how to setup the problem, and how I was going to pay attention to the interest period. I made a plan to address those deficiencies, then after that I created a 1 page doc for that chapter so that at 30,000 ft I had a visual cue at glance.

For me, once I learned how to compartmentalize with FAR I passed it. Took me 6 GD times, but I did it and this was one of the methods I used.

[Jj]

thanks everyone

[Anonymous]

Best strategy for me (very effective):

1. Watch the video lecture and type notes on all the key points (I use a split screen – video on left & take notes on right, while watching)
2. Read my notes when video is over
3. Take quiz (complete all MCQ's and TBS, if any)
4. Review all explanations (even the ones I got correct, to verify the explanation corresponds with my understanding)
5. If the lesson contains any JE's I don't know by heart, I add them to my Excel file named “Important JE's” and write a descriptor next to it to help me remember.

Example of what I did for bonds:

1/1/11
dr. Cash 93,720
dr. Discount 6,280 – contra-liability
cr. Bond Payable 100,000

1/1/11 BS (non-current liability)
Bond Payable 100,000
Discount (6,280) – contra-liability
Net bond Liability 93,720 – present value amount (discount “REDUCES NET BOND LIA”)

I also created an amortization table of the example problem while the professor explained it in the lecture.
I made sure I knew how to calculate the premium/discount, the “cash interest” paid, the interest expense, etc.
I also made sure I did problems with bonds sold in the middle of the year with accrued interest, etc.

My point is, if the topic is historically known to be highly tested on the exam, notes are FCKING important!
You need them to review when you get through all the material.
The bulk of most topics on the CPA exam can be fit into a few sentences (10 sentences max) so I didn't find it that time consuming (unless you're wasting your time on the nitty gritty stuff)
Overall, I recommend spending the majority of your time doing the problems and really understanding them.

Also, spend a full day grinding only NFP/Gov't MCQ's. This is a must as it only really takes a day to understand about 80% of the problems and it accounts for about 20% of your total score.

TIP: I think a majority of people saying notes are a waste of time “hand-write” their notes. I think this is poor use of time and very inefficient since you need to go through 50 pages of chicken scratch to find your notes on Leases, etc.

Cheers.

[rlarivee01]

I tried to follow the NINJA framework, and for me, it wasn't as effective. Jeff planned it the way it is for a reason, so I believe it works for many, but there's room to be flexible.

I've found that starting by reading the book did not help, because nothing clicks. Same for notes. Once I went through all the MCQ, the book began to become clearer. I was still not able to get through all of it, but the material I did read was absorbed easier.

This is my plan for the next time around (I should be studying now, for reasons, I'll begin after new years)

-Again, go through all the MCQ first, to get an idea of what will be asked/expected to know.
-Recognize the topics I am certain about, so I can spend less time on them.
-Go through trouble questions and make a note on what trips me up the most.
-Read about every aspect of those particular topics, using NINJA book, notes, MCQ explanations, etc, and write detailed notes
-Back to non-stop MCQ. Maybe making time to re-write some notes.

I guess that would be pronounced the same: NINNJA..

Non-stop MCQ
Intense Notes
Nail the Concepts
Non-stop MCQ
Just Re-write it
All comes together

That duplicates the work, but I think it will help me more, and I will only be working 18 hours a week. I might mix in some NINJA Plus lectures for FAR and REG, but basically that's my plan. Wish me luck!

[Jdn9201]

People study differently, but detailed note-taking for every chapter is too time consuming. I was a huge note-taker in college, and I took very few notes while studying for FAR. The only time I did was for the two chapters that I struggled with – bonds, and cash flow statements. The problem with detailed notes for FAR is it's too easy to get lost in the minute details. In some ways, the volume of material for FAR is a blessing in disguise, because it's flat out impossible for them to test you on every single thing – you can't do it with 90 MCQ's and 7 word problems. What helped me in guiding what I studied and how long was the content specific outline – Roger had it in the book, or it's on the AICPA website. I tried to think about FAR as if I was flying above it at 10,000 feet – at a high level, what would still be important? It's too easy to become overwhelmed if you start thinking you have to remember everything.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Author]

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