[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.

[Jmanderson21]

Also sorry if i posted like 8 times. It hasn't showed up as me posting till now. New to this site.

[WhathaveIgottenmyselfinto]

Just came back from taking FAR. This was my first CPA test so I wasn't sure what to expect. I studied using Wiley and used Ninja towards the end.

The first testlet was pretty straightforward without anything being too complicated. Half were calculations (some very minor) and the other were more theory based. The second testlet was much harder. I agree with jc1103 that the second testlet was much more application based and had multistep solutions.

The Sims were harder then what I expected. All of them had multiple resource documents attached to pull information from and use for your solutions. One research problem and one DRS. DRS was the easiest out of the sims.

My biggest takeaway from this was going into the test with a gameplan on time. I know exactly where I was at all points during the test. If I have to retake it I would possibly give less time for MCQ and guess instead of wasting too much time if I wasn't sure. Sims take way longer then expected. I used the same idea of 45, 45, 30, 60, 60.

[Wannafree]

Can anyone give me some explanation/example of application ?This is the “application based ” .This application based is mentioned in CSO too.Same words mentioned in Gliem too.I understand instinctively but trying to understand it as this is the core of the new format.
I would appreciate any lead or explanation or example.I am familiar with sample test and you may refer any example from there or any other url.
@WhathaveIgottenmyselfinto , thanks for sharing .I understand multi step example like testing the impairment (1st step )and then calculating impairment (second step ).Am I right ? How long it took for you to find out the research code ? Was the research asked in 3rd testlet ? No worry just it will give good boost if it is asked in beginning and one can solve it in limited time.

[Anthony]

My experience of the exam that I've posted at the FAR study group:

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/far-study-group-april-may-2017/page/14/#post-1532511

[jc1103]

@curlygirl1213 I don't remember if the AL were available unfortunately :/ Thanks for the kind thoughts! I wish you the best of luck as well! Let's do this haha 😀

@Jmanderson21 Good luck on FAR! Hey I got Becker through PwC too :D.

1. Did you go through each module in each chapter in this order? 1 Lectures 2 Skills 3 MCQs?

My first time through I just read each chapter and did the MCQs. Then I did a final review two weeks prior where I took handwritten notes of each chapter. The thing with me is that if I write too many notes I tend to just glaze over them and not retain a lot of information so I only jot down the journal entries, the Pass Keys and the charts they have. For instance, the in the Financial Instruments section where they describe the different journal entries for the Equity method and the cost method was really helpful. Then as I re-reviewed and did more questions, I jot down a note in my notes so that I could read it over later. The day before the exam, I reviewed all the notes I wrote and also rewrote some of Ninja's as well for the topics I really struggled on.

I went through each module and because I was afraid that I might miss something, I highlighted each thing that I worked on in the Blueprints and that gave me assurance that I wouldn't have any surprises on the exam. And it looks like I was right because I don't remember seeing anything that wasn't covered in Becker.

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.

Yea, the study schedule they provide at first said to do F1 and F2 in just one week which imo is crazy! F1 is so full of information that I just don't think it would be possible to really do that and really remember the information. I stopped listening to the lectures and instead I'd just read the book and write my own notes. I'd also fast forward on the videos to see the red notes they had on there. Peter Olinto's lectures are hilarious and I don't get bored listening to him but Tim Gearty can be a bit… ehhh…

I'm taking AUD now and one thing I'm doing that I find has helped me retain information better is watching the Skills Practice videos and taking notes.

3. How often did you do Progress tests and did you also struggle at the end of each module with some MCQs at first?

I did progress tests about once a week. Actually, I found that there were a ton of repeat questions which was frustrating. That's why I'm glad I bought Ninja MCQs although I didn't utilize them as much as I should've. If I could go back, I would do the progress tests less because getting high percentages gave me a false sense of confidence because I was just remembering the answers.

The MCQs can be a pain because they're really detailed and Becker likes to make them tricky. I wouldn't go through all of them in one sitting! I stopped doing that at some point and just split them up in 2s or 3s. What REALLY helped was when I would actually do the easy questions first and save the hardest ones for last. I did this in my college courses and started scoring higher on my exams too. I think it's because doing the hardest ones first (for me) can be kind of draining.

Every time you get a question wrong, don't get frustrated but just read through the answer and maybe go back and highlight the section in the book that talks about it or make a note in your notes.

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?

I hope the ones above help! They're all that I wish I would've known before I started studying. The first week I studied FAR, there was massive information overload and I did not study efficiently at all.
I did not purchase the Becker final review but I think the Ninja MCQ is sufficient. I did all the Becker sims in my final review but when I took the exam, I realized that there's no real way to prepare for them because everything I thought the SIMS were going to be on (and studied the most for) turned out to be different.

When you do your final review or you're doing your sims, keep an eye out for the ones that say AICPA adapted because those can give you a good idea of the format of the actual SIMs. The SIMs on the exam aren't complex, they're just more tedious and have more information. But the only way you can really prepare for those is knowing your stuff so however you study, don't rely too much on numbers or trends but just focus your best on retaining the information.

Now that I think about it, the DRS I had was a bit difficult but it looked exactly the same as the Becker DRS. The documents they provided weren't filled with junk information like I thought they would be but they were pretty straight-forward and similar to Becker.

[Jmanderson21]

@jc1103
Thank you so much for the help! You don't know how much I needed that advice!!

[Jmanderson21]

Wow thank you so much! this helps more than you could know!

@jc1103

[ageis0101]

jc1103 – sounds like we have a similar experience. I took the exam yesterday (14th) in the morning, and used Becker exclusively to prepare. I had every intention to buy the ninja mcq, but didn't have the time to really utilize it.

To give another perspective that might re-enforce quite a bit…

Compared to what I read on here, my study times were pretty light. I work full time, am married and have 3 kids that are heavily involved with sports. I did make sacrifices and miss quite a bit, but really it was manageable. I do NOT want to do it again, and always remember what works for one doesn't translate to the next but..

I took Becker live classes, including the live final review. I got a lot out of it – though I hear a lot of the instructors are not so great. There were 10 4 hour classes, where we went through one Becker module per class, 2 per week.

M/W: 6-10pm class, (hour drive home…) then 11-midnight review and organize.
T/TH: 9-12a study / do MC, SIMs, jot down notes. Every time I got a question wrong, I wrote down the explanation. Not the whole thing, just why I got it wrong. Maybe I skimmed past a key word, started at the wrong date, etc.

F: Typically light day, might review, but not much. I tried to keep family time in there too.

Sat/Sun: realistically, maybe 4 hours per day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I started studying 43 days before test day.

Anytime I was driving, walking my dogs, etc – I was listening to the Becker lectures (not overly effective but I did pick up some tidbits here and there…) and RogerCPA/Wiley/Miles, whatever from Youtube. I figured if I got one more question right, it was worth it over listening to my normal podcast/music.

The Saturday before the exam I did the Becker Final Review, which was a good cram course – I didn't get as much from it as I would have liked being sick. I got extremely sick last Thursday (a week before my test) and am still getting over it, so my final week of studying was pretty weak – but at this point I was just looking at the correct solutions, reading over the solutions given by Becker for the SIMs to make sure I could connect how we got from the question to the answer. I didn't use much time actually working them. The only items I really spent any amount of time reviewing in the final week were things I thought “if there's a SIM on this… I'm screwed”.

To the exam – my timing per testlet was (almost exactly): 45, 45, 30, 60, 60.

I reviewed the morning of, because of course my dog threw up everywhere early in the morning and I couldn't go back to sleep. It ended up being useless and I was tired, but a redline later and I was up and going. And then when I got to prometric, things were running behind so I sat for over an hour forgetting everything I reviewed 🙂

I think the Becker MCQ's were great for me for studying, and if I gave it another go, I'd make those more of a priority. I do agree that there were way too many recycled MCQ's in the Becker software, though. I felt great after my first testlet. My second one was pretty tough, but nothing unmanageable. I was able to get down to an answer I was comfortable with on all but a handful. I even felt good after my first SIM testlet.

I had 2:03 left at break-time, which ended up being perfect. I had a tough time with the 4th and 5th testlets and am glad I had an hour each. I finished with 10 minutes remaining and went back and reviewed my work. I feel pretty confident, but I know there have been many-a-post of people who thought they failed, who passed, and who swore they passed, who failed. Anxious for August…

That was my first exam experience and am off to Audit next, following the exact same schedule. Except this time I have less than 30 days.

[Anonymous]

i agree with you. Maybe we should work together to email the NASBA to have this change. We need two monitors.

[Anonymous]

@jc1103 and @ageis0101, first of all, thanks for sharing your experience. I have feeling both of you passed FAR for sure.

I applied BEC and FAR in Jan and passed BEC in March. Originally I planned to take FAR on 5/22, but I postponed it. English is my second language, and it usually takes me much longer time to read. Now I am thinking whether I am going to be ready in 70 days for my FAR exam. I really want to have some suggestions from you all, especially the ones have taken the new format exam. Here are some of my background:

English is my second language. I started my undergraduate in Accounting in 2013, and Spring 2017 is my second semester of the MACC. I have kept 4.0 GPA for my undergraduate and graduate. I will take 2 classes in the coming summer.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I have two questions:

1. Seems like they are sims in several testlets now. How many sims are in each testlet?

2. How much time (in hours preferably) did you devote to studying?

[mihaelakolev]

I am sitting here re-living my FAR exam experience, and still don't know what to make of it.

I feel like the exam was not overly hard, and this is making me super anxious, as last time I had that feeling I failed :/

The sims made me think I was at work. Lots of info to go through and analyze. Once that part was done, it was not hard to complete the tables.

I don't know. August cannot come fast enough.
Now onto REG.

[ageis0101]

@another81 — 70 days is probably fine; I wouldn't extend it any more than necessary. I think it's possible to over-study / take too long. I can't relate to the language barrier, so it's hard for me to give any advice there. I can't even say for sure I passed, so any of my advice should be given with a grain of salt.

I would find the earliest date I'm at somewhat comfortable with and push myself to get through the material. There is no perfect way and it seems no one is ever fully confident. I thought going into it I understudied based on what I read from the forums but I wasn't going to reschedule my exam. Being my first one, I figured if nothing else it would be a learning experience. I do feel confident in how I performed and did study for 43 days. It sounds like with recent coursework, assuming you're really putting forth the efforts, you probably are already a leg up on many in this forum who have been out of school for some time.

Whatever you do, good luck

[Wannafree]

@Mihaela , how many SIMs you could do ? IS research question is asked in testlet 3 ,4 or 5 ? Compared to last exam how difficult were SIM ?

[Author]

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