[Mouzam Ali]

Hi,

For everyone who have already appeared or are going to appear for FAR exam in near future post April 17 changes, please share your exam experience here. It would be of great help.

How did you feel overall regarding MCQ & TBS sections ? And how did the 15 mins break work out ?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

BEC - 80 (6/9/15) - Roger+Becker
AUD - 69,61 - Roger
REG - 4/3/16
FAR - *****

Running out of 18 months soon.
Pursuing CPA since 2012. Started giving exams only in 2014 Q4.
Used Becker earlier now switched to Roger CPA Review.

[jc1103]

Hey y'all!

I just took FAR today, April 10th at noon. First time test-taker here. Used Becker and Becker covered absolutely everything I saw.

Overall, it wasn't too bad. Not what I expected for sure.

The MCQs were no more than 33 each. The first one was actually pretty straightforward and easy. The second one was a bit more difficult in that it went more towards application and had more calculation problems (which I struggle with). I didn't have time to doublecheck my answers so that is what I'm worried about.

Then the three testlets were for SIMs. I heard that the exam was harder now and the SIMs were going to be long and complicated with lots of stuff for you to sort through. I kinda pictured sitting in a hot testing room where the computer screen was dim and I was taking the test on Windows 95. But actually, the Prometric I went to had great accommodations and I felt very comfortable. The SIMs were not crushingly difficult, in fact, I got one that shocked me with how simple it was. It was crazy simple and I triple-checked that problem to make sure that I didn't miss anything.

The second SIMS testlet was harder but it actually wasn't as bad as I thought. There was only one question that had a bunch of resource documents to sort through and even then they kinda made it obvious what you should look for and what you should not look for. The hardest question was the one where I wasn't quite sure what they were asking me and by the time I got to the final sims I felt really drained.

Overall, I don't know how I did but I can tell you that

a.) There are more SIMS but it looks like they have some that seem really simple to kind of even it out (or maybe I just bombed and got easy SIMs haha).

b.) Becker did an excellent job preparing me for the exam because every single thing on there was in the book. SOme of the questions were even similar.

c.) BRING EARPLUGS! When I took them out I could hear a guy coughing and sneezing hahaha.

d.) If I could go back, I'd do more Ninja and Becker MCQs but I already studied the best that I could before the exam….

So I guess we'll just see what happens in August! (so bummed we don't find out till August :/)

Also, Roger CPA outlined a time strategy that REALLY helped me! I had 2 and a hours left for the SIMS which were really, really helpful.

Testlet 1 – 45 mins
Testlet 2 – 45 mins
Testlet 3 – 30 mins
Break
Testlet 4 – 60 mins
Testlet 5 – 60 ,mins

I ended the exam three minutes early and had time to double check my SIMs! Before I started, I wrote down the time checkpoints (so the first batch of MCQs was from 4 to 3:15). It helped me not panic as much during the exam XD.

[IwannabeaCPA2017]

Oh god. As I'm reading this Im really hoping No more DRS. I have had at least 1 every time I have taken it and I suck at those. Last time I had 2. God, please just give me regular SIMS. I wanna be done. Good luck all.

[Wannafree]

@Jc103 ,did you use Becker's 2017 or old Becker's guide (15) ? What % of calculations MCQ were there in T1 ? How was research question ?

[mtaylo24]

@jc1103 How many sims did you work in Becker and did the sims on the actual test compare?

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[jc1103]

@WannaFree

I used Becker's 2017 software and book. Everything I saw on FAR was covered in Becker. They weren't the areas I devoted the most time to but Becker did a good job of preparing me for it. To make sure that I didn't miss anything though, I studied and used the Blueprints and highlighted everything that I took notes on or did a question about and there was not area that was unhighlighted by the end of my study session.

% of calc questions, the second testlet definitely had more and it went into more of the traditionally harder topics. The research question was extremely easy and it took me less than 5 mins to find the codification.

@mtaylo24

Haha, I worked on all the SIMS in Becker. The SIMs on the exam were lengthier than the ones on Becker but there wasn't too much of a difference complexity-wise. There's just more material to sort through on the actual exam and you have to have a way of looking for information that's relevant which means really understanding the material. The SIMS helped me get a big-picture view of the material and reinforce my knowledge but there's no real way to prepare for the SIMS other than just knowing your stuff and having a balanced knowledge.

I realized that I could've studied more efficiently so instead of prioritizing doing tons of MCQs like others suggested, I would've let the information really soak in. That would've helped a lot.

[Wannafree]

@jc1103 Thank you for sharing your experience.

[hwasup7]

@jc1103,

hey I took it on the 10th as well, but i found the research question extremely difficult, in fact it is still bugging me! Im just curious if we were given the same question…

[jc1103]

@hwasup7

We probably had different research questions! Why was yours difficult? I read mine at least twice to make sure I got those easy points and what I found in the codification fit what the question was asking for. I also got another extremely easy SIM that actually scares me because there's no way it could've been that simple…

Blah. Maybe you just did better on the MCQs or the first SIMs so you got a harder testlet. I don't know. We don't find out until August so I'm doing my best to move on and not worry hahaha. D:

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for sharing. I take the test May 30th, and from I read here…. I got a lot of studying to do.
Please keep the posts coming !

[SallyCPA]

How is everyone studying adjusting journal entries? Becker has one small section on it but from what I hear the new exam is mostly journal entries/adjusting journal entries…

[Anonymous]

@jc1103 Thank you for sharing your experience in such detail! It sounds like you had an overall positive experience, especially as a first-time tester! Wishing you all the luck 🙂 Just curious if the AL is available on all three testlets of the SIMs or just for the research question?

@SallyCPA Becker has adjusting journal entries throughout the chapters here and there, but this website has been super helpful on a lot of different topics for me:

https://www.accountingcoach.com/adjusting-entries/explanation

Hope this helps!

[tvpaul]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGzW-AI8jMc

Helped me with adjusting entries!

[SallyCPA]

Thank you @tvpaul and @curlygirl1213!!

[Jmanderson21]

@jc1103

Hey!

Thank you so much for your feedback. I had some questions. I am also taking my first section (FAR) hopefully on May 31st after I get my NTS ill know. Anyways, I had Becker paid for through PwC and was trying to find the best way to study. Here are my questions:

1. Did you go through each module in each chapter in this order? 1 Lectures 2 Skills 3 MCQs?
2. Did you actually read the book and listen to the lectures? Because I am finding it very hard to get through all of the material in the time they suggest it should take.
3. How often did you do Progress tests and did you also struggle at the end of each module with some MCQs at first?
4. Do you have any tips on how to efficiently study so that I am not wasting too much time and did you buy the final review from Becker? If so is it worth it?

Sorry for all of these, I am someone who struggles with studying because I have to take a lot of time in order to understand it and feel like I'm studying 8 hours a day when the amount of modules I get through should probably take 4.

Thank you so much!!

[Jmanderson21]

@jc1103

Hey There!

Thank you so much for your feedback. I had some questions. I am also taking my first section (FAR) hopefully on May 31st after I get my NTS ill know. Anyways, I had Becker paid for through PwC and was trying to find the best way to study. Here are my questions:

1. Did you go through each module in each chapter in this order? 1 Lectures 2 Skills 3 MCQs?
2. Did you actually read the book and listen to the lectures? Because I am finding it very hard to get through all of the material in the time they suggest it should take.
3. How often did you do Progress tests and did you also struggle at the end of each module with some MCQs at first?
4. Do you have any tips on how to efficiently study so that I am not wasting too much time and did you buy the final review from Becker? If so is it worth it?

Sorry for all of these, I am someone who struggles with studying because I have to take a lot of time in order to understand it and feel like I'm studying 8 hours a day when the amount of modules I get through should probably take 4.

Thank you so much!!

[Author]

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