[Wingdings]

Howdy Everyone,

I took FAR December 5 and failed valiantly with a 54. I had a credit for the exam and figured I’d give it a “shot” after progressing through about 40% of the UWorld Roger CPA Review course. I knew I wasn’t going to pass, I couldn’t push it back anymore, and thought it might help to just get some experience with the exam.

After this first attempt I buckled down began to take it seriously. I would wake up at 5 am and take a MCQ quiz (usually 10-15 questions), then I would take another quiz at lunch (again 10-15 questions, occasionally a SIM mixed in). In addition to the morning and afternoon quizzes I listened to Roger lectures to/from work which generally equated to about an hour a day some times more when commuting to clients. I’ll admit I never cracked my book, but then again I never did for undergrad or grad school it’s just not how I learn!

So all this said, I just retook FAR in April and got my score a few days ago….73 CRAP!

After taking it the second time I felt that I had a real shot to pass. The MCQ’s were exactly what I expected and I felt that I dominated that area with relative ease. I didn’t notice any increase in difficulty for the second testlet but it did take me about 15 minutes longer to complete than the first. The SIMs was where it was up in the air for me. I knocked out the research question easily and knew I had gotten it correct. The next two questions I felt ok about, The final 5 are where the wheels really came off. I’ve practiced DRS but never had luck on them and the exam experience was no different. The final 2 SIMs I rushed through due to a time crunch but did completely fill both out.

I knew I was weak in SIMs going into it but figured performing well on MCQ’s and knocking out the research question (which I can about 98% of the time) might sneak me by, not the case!

I got back my score breakdown and as expected my performance on MCQ’s was comparable and performance on SIMs was weaker.

Alllll of that venting leads me to my question: Are Roger MCQs sufficient to pass? I’ve started over the past few days using Ninja MCQ’s and have been ABSOLUTELY OBLITERATED my trending score is a 56%. The level of detail and difficulty of the Ninja MCQ’s is insane compared to Roger’s. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t make sweeping changes to my study routine since I was so close, but I can’t fail FAR for a 3rd time! Any input would be awesome! Thanks all!

 

 

[Jokr]

Well it sounds like you did fine on the MCQ, and it's more of an issue with the SIMs. I can't speak for Roger for FAR yet, as I'm studying for that now. I'm doing pretty terrible at them though lol However, I did MCQ for BEC and for AUD and they were comparable, to what I experienced on my Exams, if not tougher in some aspects.

But honestly, having done FAR twice using Roger, and seeing as you already have NINJA I would say stick to that, if not for the fact that it's at least a new set of questions for you completely. I think where it really is important is when you get a question wrong, whose explanations you find more helpful.

EDIT: Also, I'm pretty much the opposite of you, and never did practice problems in undergrad/ grad school (really never during my entire education lol) outside of books/ powerpoints. I always learn from a book, but then especially in my accounting classes, I noticed that despite following along well, once I got a problem half my time was spent figuring out what the hell I was even being asked.

It wasnt until I started studying for these exams that I needed a good balance between the two, but knocking out as many problems as you can and taking the time to understand why one answer is correct and the rest are wrong is honestly key. Especially for FAR, I'm seeing. I'm not sure how many MCQ you did in total, but I've started making a point to get through at least 80% of each sections MCQ (or Roger's ‘Targets') if not all of them, just for more exposure to the different ways question-types get asked.

[Wingdings]

Thanks Jokr!

FAR is definitely a monster! I appreciate the input! I'm going to be spending a bit more time addressing my weaknesses (BONDS!) and hammering out MCQs. I ended up doing about 2,500+ MCQs before taking FAR for the second time. I am the type that has to be beat over the head with my error about 100 times before I even begin to learn the concept, hence lots of MCQs lots of times over and over again.

The CPA exam is a unique test for sure and absolutely makes you work for whatever grade you earn. College is designed to pass, the CPA is not or at best it's 50/50.

My strategy this time around is Ninja MCQs until I throw up, back through critical areas of Roger lectures, back through some Roger MCQs, and finally to become at least semi proficient in highly tested SIM areas. DRS will be on every exam and I will happily take the lost points on that pointless exercise!

[allusuc]

I took FAR using Rogers and ninja. I personally think I would’ve done fine just using Rogers. Make sure u don’t memorize the answer but memorize how to get to the answer.

Then the sims will help you for all the JE that u need to know. Just my opinion though. Best of luck to you!

[12tang]

I passed BEC with Roger, it was enough for that. I do feel like Roger MCQ's were a little weak for me for AUD. I had the opposite score result for AUD, I was comparable in SIMS and weaker at MCQ's with a overall 72. I'm going to supplement with Ninja for now on. In the past when I was at this, I nailed FAR the first time with Becker. I think Becker has more difficult MCQ's than Roger. I never study SIMS either. I feel like if you understand the topics through the text, lectures and MCQ's, then you should be able to do the SIMs no problem.. I've passed FAR, BEC and scored comparable with AUD on SIMS without studying them. However, I do think doing the full practice exams given by the AICPA is invaluable. I saw very similar SIMS as far as structure goes, on the actual exam.

Using Becker self-study
FAR: (82) 175 hours - 1st attempt
BEC: (XX)
AUD: (69) 45hrs of study - 1st attempt
REG: (XX)

[Victorm]

I scored 92 on FAR just using Roger. However, on MCQs I did 400 MCQs from Gleim book which I borrowed from a friend of mine. This was just to make sure I was sufficiently prepared on all topics. Only for Govt, I thought Gleim had a few which I was not aware of but rest was pretty good.

[Victorm]

I scored 92 on FAR just using Roger. However, on MCQs I did 400 MCQs from Gleim book which I borrowed from a friend of mine. This was just to make sure I was sufficiently prepared on all topics. Only for Govt, I thought Gleim had a few which I was not aware of but rest was pretty good.

[Captain Awesome]

To answer your question–YES! Roger's MCQ's are too weak and also too similar. There doesn't seem to be enough nuance or twists in the questions to replicate the actual exam. At least that was my experience.

The first time I took FAR I felt completely unprepared once the exam started as I had not seen anything like the questions they were asking. I felt much better about the sims. Same experience during my second FAR test. Third retry I used Ninja and felt very confident after the MCQ section, but then the sims killed me royally.

I started using Ninja exclusively and passed AUD first time out and finally passed BEC. So I prefer Ninja over Roger, though Roger's lectures were helpful.

[LittleTimmy]

I only did about 200 to 300 Roger MCQs for FAR, and was able to pass with a 78. I have never studied/attempted any SIMS at home.

1st FAR Score: 25 (I only glanced at the first 10 chapters (of 31 total chapters) of the Roger book and watched the videos for those 10 chapters and attempted ZERO MCQs at home)
2nd FAR Score: 53 (I read half the Roger book, watched half of the Roger videos, attempted ZERO MCQs at home)

To Pass with a 78, I watched 80% of the Roger videos, read 90% of the Roger book, attempted about 10 or 15 MCQs for each chapter, for a total of about 300 or so MCQs, never looked at any SIMs.

The ROGER video lectures have just about been enough for me to pass FAR, AUD, and BEC… however, they haven't worked for REG for me.

[TommyL]

I passed all 4 using just Roger (Except Reg which I did an extra 100-200 Ninja MCQs just in case). My tip is that knowing why an answer is correct is not enough, you need to know why the other answers are wrong.

[El]

I passed FAR with Rodger. Didn't use any other review courses. I felt the MCQs on Roger were more difficult than the actual exam. Looks like you are not going to find a consensus yes or no for this question.

[Jimmy Dugan]

ROGER HAS THE SAME TEST BANK AS EVERYONE ELSE. THE QUESTIONS ARE THE SAME AS WILEY. THE SAME AS BECKER. THE SAME AS NINJA.

THEY ARE ALL THE SAME.

[Hank Scorpio]

Use Roger and supplement with Ninja. The MCQ aren't too weak. Once I went from focusing on the MCQ to focusing on topics, I started to pass.

FAR - 10/3/16
BEC - 69 - 10/31/16
AUD - November 2016
REG - December 2016

[Author]

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