[shakir]

Hi all,

I have done all of the MCQs, watched all the lectures. My exam is in 10 days. what is the best way to review the material?

Keep in mind, I am overwhelming with the amount of material I studied and probably forgot some stuff.

Do I go over the book pretty quickly then bang out many MCQs or just go for MCQs and learn from them.

Thanks

[Neila]

I just took the FAR exam for the 2nd time. Everyone is different, but my biggest obstacle was time management and finishing the exam on time. During both of my attempts, I wasn't able to finish: the 1st time, I left six simulations blank, and the 2nd time, I left 2 blank, so I think the study plan below for the days/weeks right before the exam would have helped someone who is worried about being fast enough to finish on time, or actually even fast people too, if you use Becker:

1) In the book, skim only the bold words, the Pass Keys, and the stuff that they highlighted/underlined during the lectures (I think there are too many IFRS/GAAP information boxes; I think it's good enough to just go over the ones they made you underline/highlight in, but that's just my opinion; I do think reading all the regular Pass Keys will help though). For someone who is slow like me and gets easily distracted into taking extra notes or looking up stuff, this could take about 3 hours per chapter, but I think Becker thinks it should only take 30 minutes per chapter. During this step, you could also make flash cards (of important stuff that is hard to remember, like mneumonics, formulas, and journal entries) to use during Step 7 below. Read Step 7 right now so you know specifically what I recommend.

2) If you have made any flash cards or if you bought the Becker ones and you have time to go through them, then do so.

3) If you did the multiple choice questions after watching each lecture, then after you've watched the lecture and do multiple choice for Chapter 10, you've probably forgotten a lot of the stuff from earlier chapters, so I would do the multiple choice questions again (every single question whether you previously got it right or wrong, including the “optional” questions”), but this time, I would start with the multiple choice of the 1st chapter and go all the way to the 10th, but only do each question once during that round, and read the answer explanation whether you got the question right or wrong. If you have already answered all the questions correctly previously, then this time, mark/flag the ones you get wrong so that later, you can try them again. Then, after you do one round of questions from all the chapters, go back to Chapter 1 and do all the ones you got wrong or flagged during your last attempt; then go on to the 2nd chapter and so on. I just think it's better to do the incorrect questions after you've done a round of ALL the chapters, instead of just like doing the questions you got wrong for Chapter 1 right after doing the Chapter 1 questions because then it'll be too easy to remember the right answer. Continue doing rounds of all the ones you got incorrect until you have gotten them all correct.

4) If you haven't done any simulations, do them. I only did the sims from the 1st chapter but wish I had done more. If you're running short on time, then just read and understand the solutions. Oh and while I'm talking about sims, for the actual exam, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, meaning expect to get sims that bewilder you. During my first attempt of the actual exam, I was shocked by the sims and it just made me panic and forget everything. You could be lucky and some of the ones from Becker might show up, but you might be unlucky and get a lot of really long or confusing ones. The important thing is to leave enough time to do the sims since it is 40% of the score, stay calm, and just guess as best and as fast as you can. Oh and I have heard that it's better to enter 0's in the boxes of the sims when there is no answer for that box, or when you don't have enough time to enter an answer.

5) The time issue is why taking the Becker's 2 practice exams will help: you'll realize how much time you should budget for the sims and multiple choice testlets. I didn't take any practice exams and wish I had, but you also want to make sure you don't assume the actual exam will be like the ones Becker provides. I have heard that sims on the actual exam are more difficult than the sims in the Becker course, but I have also heard that sometimes sims from the Becker course show up on the actual exam. If I failed FAR again (won't find out until December 9th), then next time, I am definitely going to try to improve my speed on multiple choice questions so that I'm able to leave at least 1.5 hours for the simulations, …but that is just me; some people are fine getting all the sims done in an hour, …but Gleim recommends leaving at least 1.5 hours (Becker recommends 60-75 minutes, according to the 2012 book I have).

6) Becker recommends that you then just do progress tests. I do agree that this will probably help improve your speed, which is important, if you're worried at all about finishing the exam on time. I recommend that you do them only if you have extra time until 2 days before the exam. If you don't have time, don't worry about not being able to do this step.

7) The day right before the exam, you might want to memorize some hard-to-remember mneumonics, formulas, and journal entries. In my opinion, there are too many journal entries in the Becker book, and it would take too long to memorize all of them, but I would at least try to memorize the easier-to-remember ones and any that Becker made you highlight in yellow, …or if you're short on time, just understand why each debit and credit was made. Some good ones at the top of my head right now that I think would be good to memorize would be the journal entries for marketable securities, the allowance method (I would also memorize how to do problems related to percentage of sales, percentage of accounts receivable, and aging of receivables), write-offs of accounts receivable, and the basic ones for sales, purchases, leases, and bonds/notes.

8) Try to get a good night's sleep. I am bad at this because I'm a procrastinator. Don't procrastinate hehe. If you do feel that you don't have enough time to get a good night's sleep, caffeinated green tea (it has antioxidants) and hot chocolate made me feel pretty good on exam day (I got about 4.5 hours of sleep, which is a lot more than I usually get before an exam).

Oh and I read that eating about 12 walnut halves (about 25 grams) and drinking pomegranate juice every day help the brain, so you might want to get that stuff next time you grocery shop. Nuts are super healthy I think, and they make you feel full too 🙂

Okay well that is just my opinion of what you should consider doing. Hope it helps. Good luck!

[Neila]

I just took the FAR exam for the 2nd time. Everyone is different, but my biggest obstacle was time management and finishing the exam on time. During both of my attempts, I wasn't able to finish: the 1st time, I left six simulations blank, and the 2nd time, I left 2 blank, so I think the study plan below for the days/weeks right before the exam would have helped someone who is worried about being fast enough to finish on time, or actually even fast people too, if you use Becker:

1) In the book, skim only the bold words, the Pass Keys, and the stuff that they highlighted/underlined during the lectures (I think there are too many IFRS/GAAP information boxes; I think it's good enough to just go over the ones they made you underline/highlight in, but that's just my opinion; I do think reading all the regular Pass Keys will help though). For someone who is slow like me and gets easily distracted into taking extra notes or looking up stuff, this could take about 3 hours per chapter, but I think Becker thinks it should only take 30 minutes per chapter. During this step, you could also make flash cards (of important stuff that is hard to remember, like mneumonics, formulas, and journal entries) to use during Step 7 below. Read Step 7 right now so you know specifically what I recommend.

2) If you have made any flash cards or if you bought the Becker ones and you have time to go through them, then do so.

3) If you did the multiple choice questions after watching each lecture, then after you've watched the lecture and do multiple choice for Chapter 10, you've probably forgotten a lot of the stuff from earlier chapters, so I would do the multiple choice questions again (every single question whether you previously got it right or wrong, including the “optional” questions”), but this time, I would start with the multiple choice of the 1st chapter and go all the way to the 10th, but only do each question once during that round, and read the answer explanation whether you got the question right or wrong. If you have already answered all the questions correctly previously, then this time, mark/flag the ones you get wrong so that later, you can try them again. Then, after you do one round of questions from all the chapters, go back to Chapter 1 and do all the ones you got wrong or flagged during your last attempt; then go on to the 2nd chapter and so on. I just think it's better to do the incorrect questions after you've done a round of ALL the chapters, instead of just like doing the questions you got wrong for Chapter 1 right after doing the Chapter 1 questions because then it'll be too easy to remember the right answer. Continue doing rounds of all the ones you got incorrect until you have gotten them all correct.

4) If you haven't done any simulations, do them. I only did the sims from the 1st chapter but wish I had done more. If you're running short on time, then just read and understand the solutions. Oh and while I'm talking about sims, for the actual exam, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, meaning expect to get sims that bewilder you. During my first attempt of the actual exam, I was shocked by the sims and it just made me panic and forget everything. You could be lucky and some of the ones from Becker might show up, but you might be unlucky and get a lot of really long or confusing ones. The important thing is to leave enough time to do the sims since it is 40% of the score, stay calm, and just guess as best and as fast as you can. Oh and I have heard that it's better to enter 0's in the boxes of the sims when there is no answer for that box, or when you don't have enough time to enter an answer.

5) The time issue is why taking the Becker's 2 practice exams will help: you'll realize how much time you should budget for the sims and multiple choice testlets. I didn't take any practice exams and wish I had, but you also want to make sure you don't assume the actual exam will be like the ones Becker provides. I have heard that sims on the actual exam are more difficult than the sims in the Becker course, but I have also heard that sometimes sims from the Becker course show up on the actual exam. If I failed FAR again (won't find out until December 9th), then next time, I am definitely going to try to improve my speed on multiple choice questions so that I'm able to leave at least 1.5 hours for the simulations, …but that is just me; some people are fine getting all the sims done in an hour, …but Gleim recommends leaving at least 1.5 hours (Becker recommends 60-75 minutes, according to the 2012 book I have).

6) Becker recommends that you then just do progress tests. I do agree that this will probably help improve your speed, which is important, if you're worried at all about finishing the exam on time. I recommend that you do them only if you have extra time until 2 days before the exam. If you don't have time, don't worry about not being able to do this step.

7) The day right before the exam, you might want to memorize some hard-to-remember mneumonics, formulas, and journal entries. In my opinion, there are too many journal entries in the Becker book, and it would take too long to memorize all of them, but I would at least try to memorize the easier-to-remember ones and any that Becker made you highlight in yellow, …or if you're short on time, just understand why each debit and credit was made. Some good ones at the top of my head right now that I think would be good to memorize would be the journal entries for marketable securities, the allowance method (I would also memorize how to do problems related to percentage of sales, percentage of accounts receivable, and aging of receivables), write-offs of accounts receivable, and the basic ones for sales, purchases, leases, and bonds/notes.

8) Try to get a good night's sleep. I am bad at this because I'm a procrastinator. Don't procrastinate hehe. If you do feel that you don't have enough time to get a good night's sleep, caffeinated green tea (it has antioxidants) and hot chocolate made me feel pretty good on exam day (I got about 4.5 hours of sleep, which is a lot more than I usually get before an exam).

Oh and I read that eating about 12 walnut halves (about 25 grams) and drinking pomegranate juice every day help the brain, so you might want to get that stuff next time you grocery shop. Nuts are super healthy I think, and they make you feel full too 🙂

Okay well that is just my opinion of what you should consider doing. Hope it helps. Good luck!

[Neowarcloud]

I'd say the single best thing you can do are progress exams with questions from every area of the exam. I like Becker's style of MCQs because they prepare you for the structure of the questions you will likely see, so you can recognize that structure and feel more comfortable getting through them quickly come exam day. Try to find areas that you struggle with and spend some time there…

Spend some time looking at the sims, take the AICPA sample exam – only 5 questions and 2 sims….

Know this, you're not going to go in there and know everything and that is okay.

Remember to take some time relax, breathe and sleep…

REG 8/12 - passed 79
BEC 7/13 - passed 84
AUD 8/13 - passed 83
FAR 11/13 - Passed 83

Now off to a new county...

[Neowarcloud]

I'd say the single best thing you can do are progress exams with questions from every area of the exam. I like Becker's style of MCQs because they prepare you for the structure of the questions you will likely see, so you can recognize that structure and feel more comfortable getting through them quickly come exam day. Try to find areas that you struggle with and spend some time there…

Spend some time looking at the sims, take the AICPA sample exam – only 5 questions and 2 sims….

Know this, you're not going to go in there and know everything and that is okay.

Remember to take some time relax, breathe and sleep…

REG 8/12 - passed 79
BEC 7/13 - passed 84
AUD 8/13 - passed 83
FAR 11/13 - Passed 83

Now off to a new county...

[Anonymous]

My exam is on Monday.

My goal is to re-write all the journal entries in my book for all the chapters. I want to have a good, solid understanding of the J/E's because I will need those on the sims for sure.

I plan to focus heavily on government and NFP journal entries because I got killed on my last test on these. I also need to focus very heavily on equity transactions…treasury stock transactions, property dividends, etc. Gross method and net methods for inventory and receivables, bank reconciliations.

I want to focus on consolidations and pensions as well because those seem like fodder for sims.

This weekend is all about sims, sims, sims and journal entries. Focusing too much on MCQ questions and neglecting sims was my downfall during my last exam. I don't want to be surprised this time and since and individual sim is worth so much more than an individual MCQ, it doens't seem to be the best use of my time to work on perfecting MCQ scores at the expense of the sims.

[Anonymous]

My exam is on Monday.

My goal is to re-write all the journal entries in my book for all the chapters. I want to have a good, solid understanding of the J/E's because I will need those on the sims for sure.

I plan to focus heavily on government and NFP journal entries because I got killed on my last test on these. I also need to focus very heavily on equity transactions…treasury stock transactions, property dividends, etc. Gross method and net methods for inventory and receivables, bank reconciliations.

I want to focus on consolidations and pensions as well because those seem like fodder for sims.

This weekend is all about sims, sims, sims and journal entries. Focusing too much on MCQ questions and neglecting sims was my downfall during my last exam. I don't want to be surprised this time and since and individual sim is worth so much more than an individual MCQ, it doens't seem to be the best use of my time to work on perfecting MCQ scores at the expense of the sims.

[shakir]

Thanks all for your help. I figured that I will go thru each chapter Quickly then re-do all of the MCQs. my god is material is heavy and definitely no one can know everything in it. Well, not me, but I'm trying my best.

Exam is on Wednesday. gd luck to everyone

[shakir]

Thanks all for your help. I figured that I will go thru each chapter Quickly then re-do all of the MCQs. my god is material is heavy and definitely no one can know everything in it. Well, not me, but I'm trying my best.

Exam is on Wednesday. gd luck to everyone

[Anonymous]

I did all the journal entries in my book…I thought that was really helpful and hopefully I will fly through them on the sims. I posted some government and not for profit links on some other threads. I would suggest that you write out those J/Es–there was a lot of Gov and NFP of questions on my last exam.

My goal tomorrow is to only spend 30-35 minutes on each of the MCQ sections. I can't let myself get hung up on agonizing over 2-3 on each section that I don't know cold and wasting time. Time is one of the most important thing on the sims, I think. I like to have plenty of time to think and react without panic.

[Anonymous]

I did all the journal entries in my book…I thought that was really helpful and hopefully I will fly through them on the sims. I posted some government and not for profit links on some other threads. I would suggest that you write out those J/Es–there was a lot of Gov and NFP of questions on my last exam.

My goal tomorrow is to only spend 30-35 minutes on each of the MCQ sections. I can't let myself get hung up on agonizing over 2-3 on each section that I don't know cold and wasting time. Time is one of the most important thing on the sims, I think. I like to have plenty of time to think and react without panic.

[Anonymous]

This is a very interesting information.

I just found Wiley books (2012-2013) in the library: one volume with the 4 parts (only theory) and the other volume witht he 4 parts (only questions and sims).

I definitely took them because my own books (Im studying now for FAR) have my notes and I found these very very helpful to only practice questions and sims!

Besides, that in the regular books you have to go page by page to find the questions and responses, which bothers me.

I'm pretty sure this will help me a lot!

[Anonymous]

This is a very interesting information.

I just found Wiley books (2012-2013) in the library: one volume with the 4 parts (only theory) and the other volume witht he 4 parts (only questions and sims).

I definitely took them because my own books (Im studying now for FAR) have my notes and I found these very very helpful to only practice questions and sims!

Besides, that in the regular books you have to go page by page to find the questions and responses, which bothers me.

I'm pretty sure this will help me a lot!

[Author]

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