[mjbey1s]

Hello everyone,

I just took FAR for the second time this past Friday, and here is my experience. Last time I took it in October, I literally watched the time expire as I was still working on a Simulation. On this retake, I probably only marked 3-4 questions per testlet, and even felt good about those.

On the SIMS, I really think that I got the majority of them right. There were 2 SIMS I know I got 100% on (one being the research), and on the others, I think I got the majority of the points if not at least 50-60% of the points. I scored a 68 on my last take, and it was due to very low scores on NFP and Gov’t. On this test, I think I killed the NFP and Gov’t with the exception of 1 question that I know I got wrong.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and passed? This is my last test if I pass and it will mean that I won’t have to worry about the 4/1/17 changes. Praying every day that I passed. If I failed, then I honestly don’t know what I could have done differently. I was not really surprised by any MC questions, and even though the SIMS were difficult, I still think they were doable and I did decent on them.

[CPA so close, so far away]

Don't freak out. Just relax. Wait patiently (hard to do) for your exam score, and in the meantime, do not even try to guess how you did. What's done is done. You will know soon enough, and who knows, you could get a 90 or higher. It sounds like you were pretty prepared and did well. Just think of all the people on this forum that have posted they couldn't even finish some of the sims and scored above a 75. Sounds like you are on your way to a CPA.

[mjbey1s]

@CPA so close, so far away,

Thank you for the kind words. I really feel good about this one, but that has happened before, and I have still failed. I just want to be done with this disaster, and i studied so much, I think i did enough to pass. Especially because I walked out knowing i failed last time and still got a 68.

If I don't pass this test with at least a 75, then I can honestly say that I have no idea what a 75 represents. There isn't a thing I could have done differently in my studying, and I wouldn't know where to go from here if I did fail. I can honestly say I think i deserve to pass and I will be praying i did….

[Noche]

Relax and go do something fun for the next couple weeks! I think you did fine.

I thought I was 100% sure I failed when I took FAR, because I marked 30-40% of the questions on all three testlets! Although the simulations, I thought I got them at least 80-90% correct.

You seem like you are in a better position than I was. Good luck!

REG 80 [07/27/2015]
BEC 84 [11/25/2015]
AUD XX [02/01/2016]
FAR XX [05/30/2016]

[Scared-cpa]

@mjbey1s Given that you have passed all three other sections, I think your opinion is a pretty good gauge on whether you passed or not. You sound like you did well from what you're telling us. The good thing is that you said you feel like you did everything you could have for this exam – you put everything on the table, which is all you could ask for. You did your very best, pass or fail, so there is no reason to beat yourself up whether you passed or failed. You completed the other three sections, so I'm sure you will finish this section in time, as well. Good luck. I pray you passed 🙂

On another note, I notice your first score on FAR was similar to my own. Do you have any tips or tricks that made you feel more confident this time around? Since FAR is the only section I have taken so far, and only taken it once, it can be discouraging to get a fail right off the bat. But your scores show me that one low score doesn't mean you are incapable of passing these. You're living proof! Do you have any advice that you could share with me? I'm so needing a pass this time for a confidence boost.

[mjbey1s]

@scared_cpa,

I would be glad to help. Please also know that this is not my first round o taking these exams. I took them right out of college back in 2012 and couldn't seem to pass a single section.

I started in November of 2015, passed BEC and REG on the first try with the scores you see below, and failed AUD twice with a 73 before I passed with an 83.

My first piece of advice is this: “You have to want to pass this best more than you want to breathe”. This may sound silly, but throughout this process, I have relied upon many motivational videos to get me over the “mental hump”. I truly believe that if you put in the time and effort, anyone can pass this exam. I think it is more mental/discipline than academic capability.

As far as how I think I went from a 68 to a “passing score”, here was my strategy:

1) I literally re-read the entire FAR book for Becker and took hundreds of my own pages of notes. After doing each section, I did all of the multiple choice and SIMS.

2) After doing this for all 10 chapters in Becker, I took my over 100 pages of notes and took graph paper and made about 21 pages (front only) of little bullet points from my 100 pages of notes that I thought were the most important things from each chapter. Some of the chapters only had 1 page, some had between 3-5.

3) Then I got Ninja MC for FAR and did every single question. I literally did this by doing sets of 30 mixed in from every chapter until I had attempted every question at least once. (I ended up with over 3000 attempts on questions in Ninja MC)

4) Then each day, I would re-read the graph paper notes I had made, and switch between doing sets of 30 of Becker and Ninja MC questions. I probably averaged between 150-200 questions per day.

5) The last week before my exam I took off the entire week and re-read over every single Becker simulation for all 10 chapters. Sounds like a lot and people say it doesn't do any good to study SIMS, but I totally disagree.

I did this for exactly 60 days. The last 3-5 days, I really tried to hone in on Gov't and NFP as they were my low scores on the first go-around. I think that I nailed them this time around. A lot of the things i did probably sound crazy and even borderline insane, but I did this strategy when I came back and took AUD for the 3rd time and gained 10 points on my score.

If you have any other questions, I would be happy to help.

[mjbey1s]

I will also say that when I was about to start studying to re-take FAR, I read a testimonial from Jeff about his experience when taking the exam. He struggled just as many of us have during the process. He had one quote that I would like to share with everyone because it really hit home with me. I typed this out in a Word document, printed it off, and taped it all over my house, in my car, and on my computer screen at work. It goes a little something like this:

“If you're struggling, keep moving forward – no matter what. Three years from now when you have the letters ‘CPA' after your name, these monetary setback will be a distant memory. If you quit – it could very well haunt you the rest of your professional life.

As the father of three young boys, I could not look them in the eye and tell them to never quit if I myself had thrown in the towel and walked away from the CPA exam. For me, it wasn't just a test of my accounting knowledge. . . it was a test of my character.”

I don't have kids yet, but these were some very powerful words for me. I was very close to quitting this exam with only one left. I had decided that life was too short and I didn't care I only had one left. But what would that have said about my character? After reading this, I made a decision right there that I would not quit no matter what. Even if I fail FAR and I lose credit for another exam. I truly believe it is now a test of my character. And I refuse at this point to let my character be called into question. I will not let this exam beat me…

[Scared-cpa]

Thanks so much! That does sound like an intensive plan but sometimes that's the only plan that works! Were you working full-time while doing this?

My first go around with FAR (started studying in August 2016 and sat Nov 14, 2016), I was in my first semester of grad school so I experienced a learning curve with both school and this exam. I read the Wiley book (about 1,000 pages for FAR), took notes, did the MCQ and SIMS for each section in Wiley and then did WTB the last week before my exam. I was averaging around 69% and I was quite upset with myself. I knew I wasn't studying SIMS like I should because I hated them, my scores were low for them, I was sucking it up on JE, and all of this wacked my confidence so I chose to ignore it instead of fix it. I personally feel that the sims are the main reason I failed.

I was “comparable” to passing candidates in Framework and Standards & Gov't, “stronger” in specific transactions & NFP, and “weaker” in financial statement accounts. Overall I was comparable in MCQ and weaker in sims. I was lucky if I got more than 30% of the sims right. I know I have to study the sims more this time around.

I just finished all of the MCQs in Ninja and am trending 77%, averaging 70%. Is this good or bad? I have 400 and some questions I haven't gotten right yet to push me into review stage so that's what I am working on now as well as sims. What percentage would you say I should shoot for when working the sims? Ninja is all I have used for my retake so I'm worried if it has been enough to get me from a 67 to 75. It seems doubtful when compared to your restudy technique.

Edit: I must have been typing my response when you made your last post. That quote is very true. It would be a shame to get this far and just give up. There is absolutely no reason you can't pass this exam and I will be delighted for you once you have those three letters after your name. You have obviously worked long and hard for this and you deserve every bit of congratulations and enjoyment from it that you desire! You've earned it!

[mjbey1s]

@scared_cpa,

I was working full-time while doing this, but took off the last week before the exam. I was putting in between 4-6 hours per day, while working 40 hours per week. I got up early before work to study, studied during lunch, and went right home and study for a couple more hours.

As for your Ninja progress, I also shoot for at least a trending score of 85%. I was at 86% when I went into my exam. I am not saying that you cannot pass with ONLY Ninja, I am just saying that it did not and would not have worked for me. Ninja is a great product and I wouldn't be where I am today without it, but for me, it had to be a supplement to Becker. The simulations in Becker are closer to the exam and the Ninja ones confused me a little so i only did Becker SIMS. Regardless of what you do, you definitely need to be trending a little higher, and if not, make sure you understand why you are getting things wrong and take notes over those mistakes.

My true recommendation would be to go buy something to supplement the Ninja MC to get you a bank of simulations to do. Whether that is Becker, Gleim, or Wiley, they are all pretty expensive.

[hasy]

I didn't read the posts above. But I felt SOMEWHAT similar as you, though maybe not as confident. I literally left the test thinking how else could I have restudied for this exam. Then I passed. You got this!!

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

-

BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[Scared-cpa]

I have WTB so I can utilize it for MCQs and sims. Did you hit review stage when trending 86%? Every couple sets of questions I go up a few percentage points, so I imagine at this rate I should be around 85% once I hit review.

[mjbey1s]

I was at 84% when I hit the review stage

[Wannafree]

@hasy just wanted your feedback on Rogers for AUD and FAR.I have been using Beckers but off late started reading Rogers.Seems very good to me but not sure how good it prepare you for exam.Your input would be appreciated.

[Author]

Replies