[RoseMarie]

So I just walked out of FAR and I am at a loss on how to interpret my experience. This was my first time sitting for any portion of the CPA exam so based on everything I had seen I was expecting to struggle with time and possibly run out but I finished with over an hour left on the clock. This is my time breakdown:
MC1 – 22 mins
MC2 – 32 mins
TBS1 – 27 mins
(break – 9 mins)
TBS2 – 49 mins
TBS3 – 45 mins
Anyone else had a similar experience? If so, did you pass? I don’t know if I should take this as a good sign (like I just knew my shit) or a bad sign (like I missed intricacies of questions and missed stuff because of it) or if it really isn’t indicative at all.

[Cheeks Malone]

I usually averaged about 30 seconds to a minute on MCQs…I was done in about 30 minutes each time I did an MCQ testlet. I studied MCQs like crazy for all sections of the exam (I took 90% of MCQs available in Wiley for all 4 test parts).
I left FAR with about 45 minutes remaining, BEC with 5 minutes, AUD with 1.5 hours and REG with 1.5 hours (0 minutes the first time I took it and didn't pass). It all depends on how you take tests. I read quickly and thus finished quickly, however my girlfriend, who has passed the exams as well, always took the full amount of time provided for each test.
You just need to sit back, forget about this test process and move on to your next test/task. You will drive yourself crazy trying to analyze the testing process.

[chandler]

I did, it looks like you finished with about an hour and 5 minutes on the clock- I had one hour exactly left on FAR. I never really noticed a ton of correlation between time taken and score.
FAR- 1 hour early
REG- 1.5 hours early
BEC- ALL of the time used
AUD- 2.5 hours early
If you prepared well, I would not worry at all about walking out early. Likewise, if you prepared well I wouldn't worry if the next one takes you the whole time.

[RoseMarie]

I had never heard of anyone finishing with more than 10-15 minutes left so y'alls posts make me feel a little better at least. Won't know anything til 12/11 and I have to sit for BEC on 12/4 so gonna take the rest of the night off, hopefully get this anxiety over how I did outta my system (since it doesn't matter at this point anything, can't change anything) and try to start BEC tomorrow with a fresh mindset lol.

[Cheeks Malone]

@Rose Marie – best of luck, you can do this!

[irishA]

that sounds about right. I finished each of my exams with about 90-120 mins left on the clock. Some go faster than others, you never know.

[Steve K]

Doesn't necessarily mean anything good or bad. As others have said, sometimes you finish earlier and sometimes you take almost the whole time. I personally finished FAR first time around with about 1 hour left and ended u getting a 70. Although that was my fault because I didn't prepare as well as I should have.

[Sheri]

@Rose Marie – WOW! Good job on getting through it quickly! Would you please share what your techniques were to study? I've been studying FAR for literally 6-10 hours daily for over 6 weeks now and sit next week. I'm using Wiley and Ninja but I find it helpful to hear from others what they used and why it worked for them.
I struggle with Sims. Do you have any tips for getting through the test quickly on those? Without disclosing anything, was there anything you didn't feel prepared for?

I'm sure you can get BEC done before the window closes but if you haven't started studying yet, you might want to consider doing REG since there are changes coming to it in January '19.

Enjoy your night off! You deserve it! 😊

[RoseMarie]

Sunshine,
My NTS expires for BEC on Dec 15th so I have to do BEC, also with my work and grad classes I don't have enough time outside those obligations to study for REG in a month.

As far as how I studied for FAR, I learn best from audio and video stuff and don't learn much from reading or taking notes so I structured my studying around that. There are some things I am changing for the next round because I learned from some mistakes so here is my plan for BEC which is similar to what I did for FAR but better:

Watching all of the videos in Rogers at least once (I watched NFP, Government, Consolidations, and a few others twice since I never covered or didn't remember these topics from college)
After watching the videos, read the chapter to fill in details and help cement the concepts in my mind (doesn't work for me unless I already have a decent grasp on the concepts from videos)
Then MCQ on the topics covered for the day plus some from previous sections to keep everything fresh. Also SIMS and WC (divide total available by days til review phase so each is seen once before review)
Repeat until all material is covered.

In review phase:
Watch Roger cram videos
Continue doing MCQ and SIMS/WC daily (for FAR I aimed for 150 MCQ per day)
Any time doing questions, write down concepts of questions answered incorrectly.

Thats my basic plan. I won't have access to NINJA for this one as the month my mom paid for for my birthday expires in a few days but if I had that I would work in the videos from the plus series for trouble topics (like the Plus governmental video helped me more than rogers governmental videos)

[Tim]

I also had a little over an hour left after FAR, my first test. I had over 2 hours left on AUD. It just means you're a fast test taker. It also probably means you were well prepared and passed.

[Riyaad]

Sounds like you absolutely smashed FAR! I know for sure you passed.
I am sitting for FAR next month. Do you have any tips or advice?

[Author]

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