[Tia]

Congrats to those who passed their exam. To those who didn’t – dont give up…..
I would love to know how you (Becker users) prepared for FAR. This is my first part and I am scheduled for Aug 24th.

 

 

FAR 83
AUD 87
REG 82
BEC score pending

[GoodbyeSummer]

I'm using Becker Self-Study and my study methods were kind of all over the place. It was my first section so I didn't have a set way to study that I knew would work. I kept thinking of what I thought were more efficient study methods and trying them out. I'll spare you the details of all my phases and give you overall tips on what I find to be helpful (these may or may not work for you). First, I went through the lecture, then read the chapter, then worked the problems. While going through the problems I took notes on the ones that I got wrong (and the ones I got right by guessing). For the bonds/leases and governmental chapter I sat there and took notes on the entire chapter as part of my after-lecture reading because they were more difficult for me. I didn't do this for every chapter. Though I think it would have been very helpful, I was short on time. I gave myself 6 weeks to study full-time and 2 weeks before my exam date I found myself with 6 chapters to go. I strongly feel that I learned the most important things by really listening to the lecture and then reading the chapter because they drill what's important in the lecture and in the homework (which at that point is the 3rd time I'm seeing the important information). It got me an 83 so it worked out great for me. I took the same approach with Audit 2 weeks later and I didn't even look at the last 2 chapters! I ran out of time. I just looked at the flashcards for those 2 chapters 10 min before walking into Prometric and I ended up with an 86. I don't recommend that at all. Use your time wisely! But I really think it's all about retaining the most important and stressed concepts. Don't get too hung up on details. And when you take it, make sure to leave lots of time for the sims and use the heck out of the authoritative literature. Good luck!

FAR 7/5/12 83
AUD 7/20/12 86
BEC 8/6/12 74; retake 11/20/12 76
REG 11/5/12 74; retake 1/3/13 77! DONE! 🙂

Used Becker Self-Study

[joe35y]

I listened to the lectures once.

Then I did the HW questions and marked every question I got wrong

Then I printed out all the HW questions I got wrong and made packets and studied the questions until I had a good understanding of the questions.

Study journal entries and memorize formulas.

REG - 79
FAR - 81
BEC - 84
Aud - 85

I'm a CPA!

[Anonymous]

Write down all journal entries that you come across in the material and understand how transactions flow through the financial statements. Also, practice SIMS! As much as people say don't bother because the SIMS you get on the exam are nothing like the practice SIMS, I found it helpful to become familiar with how they can test your knowledge of the material in so many different ways. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I kind of got lazy studying for FAR. I had about 5 weeks total to study and found myself with about 3 lessons to go in the last week, which left 2 whole days for review. Yikes. So don't do that, lol. I watched the lecture first, section by section. At the end of the section, I did that section's homework problems. I found that watching 4 straight hours of lecture and then trying to do 200 questions just didn't work well for me, so I split it up. I thought the progress tests were immensely helpful because they help you remember previous material. I had so little time to review that I didn't do either of the final exams and just read through the book one more time. Some people find it more helpful to redo homework questions and I can see why that is, but for me it was better to reread. I never redid the SIMS. When I went in to take the exam, I sat down and immediately wrote down T-accounts they pointed out in Becker and I also wrote down the consolidation picture thing that they used. I knew that when the pressure was on, I wouldn't be able to remember those things. CPAEms was right about the journal entries! Know them for everything that you can! And also don't forget to use the authoritative literature for the SIMS. They turned out to be very very helpful since certain topics have example journal entries and whatnot.

Something I learned from this board is that everyone studies differently. You'll see people like me who go through everything once and do fine while other people go through everything 3-4 times and that's what they need. Some people take and rewrite notes and find it helpful. So it is kind of about finding something that works for you and the way you learn best.

Sorry so long. Good luck 🙂

[Anonymous]

My strategy for FAR didn't vary too much from my strategy for the other three. Sure the volume of material was significant, but the same formula will typically work for each section:

1) Watch the lecture and underline/highlight in your book (I would watch each lecture in “pieces” as it's broken up in the book; so if lecture 8 on governmental was broken up into 3 pieces, I would tackle each piece of lecture 8 one at a time) 2) Spend 30-45min studying /rereading each “piece” of the lecture 3) Do the corresponding HW questions for each “piece” of each lecture 4) Work the sims 5) Reread each “piece” one more time 6) Flip through the flashcards

It's obviously important to not move on to new material until you feel comfortable (not necessarily exam ready) with the material you have just been introduced to. Also, this is why I break up each lecture up into pieces- to make it easier to master smaller amounts of info more quickly.

Hope this helps at least one person haha!!

[Tia]

I appreciate the various inputs…

Basically I've been watching the lectures and doing the mcq then sims; however, I have been doing chapter by chapter. I will take your advice and do topic by topic going forward.

Thanks guys

FAR 83
AUD 87
REG 82
BEC score pending

[OneTime]

Just my two cents…..

I would definitely approach FAR with the mentality that you want to master every topic.

I used Becker, and I would watch a lecture, take notes on the lecture, then attack the multiple choice. On exam day, I did not find any surprises and I was well prepared to answer every question.

F...... 94..... 7/3/2012
R...... 89.... 8/1/2012
B...... 93.....8/23/2012
A...... 11/3/2012

NY CPA Journey

[Author]

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