[vvSPAZvv]

Hi all,

New to the forum (and the CPA exam). I just graduated a week and a half ago and am currently on F2 in my Becker self-study review. I am just not grasping the concepts it seems. I am going through the MCQs after watching the lectures and taking notes, but I feel like they are throwing questions at me that I don’t even know where to begin. Just as I think I grasped a concept, a word changes in the problem and throws me off.

I know this is the CPA exam and to expect anything and everything, but….

Can anyone offer some insight? Should I keep practicing with MCQs? I plan to take the exam in July and am extremely nervous, as I have never been a superb cumulative test-taker.

FAR - 76! 10/15; (65) 7/15
BEC - 82! 11/15; (74) 8/15
AUD - 01/16
REG - TBA

[Montiel68]

@Spaz. I think I'll do what Vern suggested, and just work a few questions (10-15) from previous chapters since I don't have the flash cards. Then I'll do F1-F5 & more questions….Hmm I think F3 is easier than F2, in the sense that there are 5 main topics, so you won't feel as lost as with F2 where there were so many small details to learn.

FAR- Passed
AUD- **F,F,F,** Retake TBD
REG- Passed
BEC- Passed

[josh81808]

I remember struggling with F2 a lot also, but the important thing is to just keep moving and to not get discouraged. As people have been saying, the material gets easier for a bit afterwards until you hit bonds, leases, and pensions. My experience with FAR especially was that the review course was much harder and in depth and the actual exam. The exam tests mainly the core concepts and fundamental rules so if you can nail that material as best you can and then pick up anything else you can possibly remember, you'll be fine.

Good luck!

REG 79 1/15
BEC 82 2/15
FAR 84 4/15
AUD 78 5/15

Using Becker Self-study

[vvSPAZvv]

@josh81808 Thanks for the encouragement! I see you used/are using Becker self-study as well. I hope my exam experience is similar to yours in that the Becker questions were less straight-forward. Some of their fact patterns are out of this world haha.

I am working on F3 right now and I must say it is much more manageable. While intermediate accounting prepared me well for bonds (I hope), leases and pensions will be relatively new. I am not looking forward to it lol.

FAR - 76! 10/15; (65) 7/15
BEC - 82! 11/15; (74) 8/15
AUD - 01/16
REG - TBA

[Sbirge24]

I need opinions.

I lost track of my NTS date expiration and realized I had 2 weeks to prepare for FAR.

I sat for it today and overall I felt the test was pretty easy. I maybe questioned myself on 14 questions on the MC but since I had very little time to prepare, I was not able to use my time well and gave myself very little time with the SIMS.

I had 7 sims and I was able to get something down for every question except the research task question. I actually had to guess on majority of 1 sim and maybe completed one in total. I had a lot of journal entries, but because of my time constraints for studying, I wasn't able to insert all my debits and credits. The examiners will be able to see that my journal entry accounts was on the right track and my knowledge of the material is there but did not have enough time finish all the questions.

But my question is….if I did well on MC and wasn't able to put in a solid effort on SIMS but had something down for majority of them except 1, what do you think my chances are passing under the circumstances?

I know that is a difficult guess because exams are so unpredictable but I was curious. I notice some people here said they was able to put answers down for half of the SIMS before but was still able to pass. If I have to take it again no problem but I am at the finish line so I was hoping to have a little luck on my side for this one. TIRED OF STUDYING LOL

AUD 86

BEC 77

REG 79

FAR (June 9 Score Release)

[von2015]

@vvSOAZvv I would say that I knew 90-95% of the material for my retake (got 83). The first time around I knew about 70-80% and I still managed to pull off a 71. This is why I like doing the MCQs first before diving into the text in detail. If a certain topic kept appearing in the MCQs, then it is a must-know topic. For topics that are discussed in 1-2 pages or just seem to be over-the-top detail, I would usually skip them if they do not appear in the MCQs. This is how I weed out what is least important to know and prioritize my studies that way. And nope, the test can’t test you everything! On the flip side, I know I’ve been tested on stuff that are somewhat not emphasized in the book either =/ So just a judgment call on your part to decide how much to skim versus what to know in depth.

I think Becker’s MCQs in general will prepare you well for the exam. I’ve always scored stronger on the MCQs on the real thing. For the most part, I would do all the easy and medium difficulty Becker questions. The wordier, longer/harder problems I would skim or skip, because exam questions will not be that wordy from my experience. But key point in doing MCQs is to really get down the concept, and I mean inside and out for FAR. Just keep on doing MCQs to build your knowledge and instill those concepts into your head. It doesn’t matter how much you do unless you actually get the idea behind them.

And I feel like a few MCQs will always catch you off-guard on any of the exams. But they may be pre-test questions 🙂 haha. But for the most part, I think the exam MCQs are reasonable. None of the topics were foreign or out of nowhere.

[str6116]

In line with what you guys are saying: nothing gets me more frustrated than some of those Becker MCQ's with a ridiculous fact pattern and/or confusing table. I liked the one in F3 (though there were like 3 of them that just asked different things) that gave a B/S, I/S, and like 6 bullet points of info haha. Def. does help to just read what it's asking of you first so you know where to focus so you don't burn too much time, the questions for that one weren't even too hard really.

F3 isn't as bad as F2, but it's a bit strange going over some of these topics (consolidations/intercompany transactions) that I remember learning kinda differently in my advanced accounting class. I think the CAR IN BIG thing is pretty helpful though, I started getting used to it after a few MCQ's. But I wish I still had my notes from my class for the intercompany transaction stuff. I understand the concept of the eliminations but fishing for some of those numbers is a bit tricky.

FAR-82 (7/27/15)
AUD-74 (8/31/15), 92 (1/4/16)
REG-65 (10/28/15), 70 (6/9/16), 80 (7/18/16)
BEC-86 (11/28/15)

DONE

...and that's all the people need to know.

[vvSPAZvv]

I just finished F3 and boy was it 20x better than F2. I think it is because I have a stronger base from my advanced accounting classes than my intermediate classes. CAR IN BIG definitely is helpful as you mentioned, @str6116.

The homework was pretty simple. The inter-company transaction MCQs threw me a curve or two, but nothing too awful. The SIMs were delightful. Boy do I hope to get an F3 SIM on my exam.

Alas, on to F4!

FAR - 76! 10/15; (65) 7/15
BEC - 82! 11/15; (74) 8/15
AUD - 01/16
REG - TBA

[vvSPAZvv]

Thanks @von2015 for your advice. I appreciate it. I am fearful tat I will get the exam with less wordy questions and panic because I am so used to Becker's format.

I am just antsy to finish studying FAR and take the exam. I'm really trying my hardest so I don't have to take this baby twice!!

FAR - 76! 10/15; (65) 7/15
BEC - 82! 11/15; (74) 8/15
AUD - 01/16
REG - TBA

[Author]

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