[nerfherder]

I have been using CPA Excel since March to study for FAR. It’s been three months and I’ve just now gotten into the second book. My testing window ends at the first of September, so I have three months to go. I seem to take about 3x to 4x as long to complete each section as the “average”. Has anyone else used this program and taken this long? I am thinking about switching to another review or just quitting altogether. The only thing giving me any confidence right now is the fact I passed AUD with an 83…

[golfball7773]

6 months is way too long to study for any section. The most use should take is 8 weeks….otherwise you start forgetting what you learned in week 1 or in your case month 1.

What is your style of learning? I have CPAexcel but only use it when I need extra help to nail a concept, otherwise I just pound MCQ's

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Anonymous]

I'm using CPAExcel for FAR and started in March(mid) like you. I thought May was too soon so will be taking the exam July 11th. I agree there's way too much material to cover. My approach has been to read the lectures but really focus on topics I feel have a better chance of being tested. When really confused, I'll watch the videos. I'm on my second time through the material but supplemented with NINJA notes, Audio and MCQs, I'm just reviewing my notes, doing the sims, practice problems and supplemental problems. Like Golfball said, the best way to learn the material is by doing a ton of MCQs and NINJA is really helping.

[golfball7773]

That is how I learn but others may have a different learning style (visual, auditory, hands-on, combination of all)

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[alboreland]

CPA Excel was great for me with AUD. I bought it for FAR and found it overwhelming as every small topic gets the same level of detail as the larger ones. I switched to Ninja and it helped me.

[dbennet6]

I took FAR twice and only passed with a 76 but…When I 1st started studying for FAR using CPA Excel I would watch the videos, go through the slides then do the questions…By the time I got to the questions I Iost focus so I just cut out the videos and focus on the slides and MC's. For the first test I had a month so I decided to try to get through 7 or 11+ sections per day, sometimes just dredging through it. The second time around I just reviewed the slides and took notes for everything, just the basics to know whats actually going on and waited until I went through with the note taking to take the time to just work on multiple choice in the test bank.

But yes, way too much detail to get bogged down on in CPA Excel and I found the questions in the sections harder than the test bank and the CPA Excel test bank harder than the actual test.

FAR - 74, 76!!!!(5/15/15)
AUD - 68,71, 73, 92!!!!(1/11/16)
REG - 68, 71, 78!!(2/22/16)
BEC - 75!!(10/2/15)

[lavendersky]

I honestly don't recommend using cpaexcel for FAR b/c it is way too overwhelming. CPAexcel gives you 2 books! that is crazy, I feel like I'll never be able to finish if I use that. I'm using Becker but I only use cpaexcel when I'm stuck on a certain topic in becker. I personally think cpaexcel is just too in depth and they cover some mini topics that you barely see on the exam.

But again, that is just my opinion. Maybe you have different learning styles and is suitable for you. Good luck!

FAR- PASSED
AUD- PASSED
REG- PASSED
BEC-

You got to do what you have to do!

[okcpa2015]

Using CPAExcel for FAR and studying about 10 weeks, I passed it the first time.

I do agree that you can't drag out studying for the exam too long, but you should already be doing review quizzes at least weekly for everything you've learned to keep it fresh.

The smaller lessons are really helpful in my opinion because if you miss an exam question there is a very specific lesson on that subject matter. I didn't watch the lectures unless I really struggled with the topic.

Let me know if you have any other questions about my process. Would be glad to help.

FAR - 91
REG - 88
AUD - 98
BEC - 88

[spartancpa15]

I did FAR with CPAexcel in 7 weeks. I think it's true that the study text goes into a little too much detail in some places, but I think it definitely prepared me well. I didn't watch any of the lectures, I just read the study text and worked the MCQ and sims until I understood them.

okcpa2015 is definitely right about doing weekly review quizzes. There is so much information that you need to keep up on it constantly.

FAR - Aug '14 - 90
AUD - Jan '15 - 91
REG - May '15 - 93
BEC - July '15 - 85

Used CPAexcel exclusively
Master of Science in Accounting (focus in Tax) May '15

[jbisdamon]

Honestly, you're way over studying Id say. It should never take that long. The one thing I had to realize when I was taking the exams was that you can't know it all. You just cant. If you try to you'll never get done because you'll study so long your tests expire.. I (unfortunately) only had 2.5 weeks to study for FAR. I did the best I could and nailed down everything major and hit the less major stuff some along the way. I would say 4 weeks is enough for any of the exams. My advice would be that over studying can be just as bad as not studying enough. Just my two cents. Good luck!

BEC - 76 7/22/14
AUD - 84 8/30/14
REG - 75 10/16/14
FAR - 87 11/24/14

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

So I've been studying for FAR for about 3 weeks now and I am already close to 100 hours of study time. I plan on taking FAR in August so that will leave me about 10 weeks for studying. My process has been to read and highlight the textbook and then do questions in exam mode. For the most part I have done decently well on the past exam problems, and for the ones I got wrong I would make sure I understood the explanation before moving to the next one. Also, usually everyday I do one or two EQ tutoring exams with 30 questions on all the topics I have covered so far so keep refreshing the old exam questions from prior lessons. As I know there is an extensive amount of information for FAR especially in the Wiley books (1,000+) pages, is there any thing/advice that I should be doing in order to decrease my amount of study time. Or should I say are there topics that I should skip over and just focus on the main topics that are usually testes on the actual exam? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[CPA50]

Hi austinwe,

I have taken FAR 4 times now, and I have to say that each one was COMPLETELY different. A topic that was heavily tested on one exam was skipped on another. Study EVERYTHING because you never know what you're going to get. There is a huge amount of material, but keep going and don't shortcut.

AUD 88 (expired), 80 retake
FAR 64,69,67,73,67,73,73,73, August 3
REG 75 (expired) September 7
BEC 72, 77

The adventure continues...

[Anonymous]

Thank you @CPA50. Do you think that I am spending too much time though on the little topics? Should I try to get through the material faster rather than trying to understand everything within the Study Text?

[ZCPA2]

I stopped using CPA Excel for this very reason. I wish I could get my $1400 back.

Link: Current CPAexcel Discount Codes

[Author]

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