[Steph]

I am short on time, and I need to get this right on test day. I’m a dummy and AUD is on the line now. Currently working through Roger.

Plan:
1. Watch Roger lectures
2. Work through Roger MCQs, taking notes on what I missed
3. Read through NINJA notes (no time to rewrite them)
4. Work through NINJA MCQs until I get 100%, taking notes on what I missed
5. Memorize the 4 F/S’s, Notes to the F/S’s, and J/E’s
6. Day before my exam: compile all my handwritten notes on everything into a word doc and study it until my eyes bleed.

Note: I’m considering skipping working sims in Roger and NINJA in favor of doing #5. Thoughts?

REG: 60, RETAKE MAY 2016
FAR: AUG 2016
AUD: APR 2016
BEC: 68, RETAKE PENDING

[DoubleBogey]

Don't skip the sims. They can make or break you on exam day. If you're short on time I don't recommend watching EVERY lecture. I started out doing that and I was retaining less info and it took me forever to get through sections. I recommend watching lectures only when you have major flaws or area that involves complex calculations (ratios, bonds, pensions).
Before exam day, do as many MCQs as possible. You learn more doing MCQs and reading explanations and taking notes off of that than reading off a word doc. Also, the MCQs concentrate on more likely tested material.

[Recked]

I was not a book reader, so watching the lectures and doing the MCQs was my primary learning method.
Compiling notes into word.doc will take a lot longer than you think.

The day before, light notes, light reading, light video watching if you find it beneficial.
Keep everything light, no MCQs the day before. You need your brain the be as fresh as possible.

I was hit or miss on the SIMs before FAR. They were killer, but I am not sure any review course will prepare you for them.
I highly suggest the AICPA sample tests/SIMs during your final week or 2 week review.

Cumulative quizzes every Sunday to keep the old stuff fresh in your mind. That would be my #1 tip if I had to go back and do it again.

[Anonymous]

It's not a bad plan, but do a couple SIMs to get yourself familiarized with how you can approach them. I'm well aware of the fact that these SIMs are crapshoot, but just get used to the familiarity aspect of it.

With that being said, everyone has a different learning style and everyone will try to give you advice on how he/she did it. Personally, I just went through all the lecture videos, did the MCQs for each unit, then work through SIMs during the last 2 weeks of my review. During these review weeks, I mainly focused on learning from doing MCQs (i.e. understand why correct answer is correct and incorrect answer is incorrect, and take some time to comprehend the reasoning behind them).

Now, some people on this forum will disagree with my method, I pounded the Becker + Ninja MCQs like there is no tomorrow. Quality vs. Quantity – I don't really care what anyone says as long as you're actually being honest with yourself and learning from either hammering thousands of MCQs or just 10 MCQs at a time. It's entire up to you.

I hope this helps, and good luck with your studying!

[TC85]

I'm a hands-on learner so I retain more practicing Sims than mcq. Skip things that don't help much. For example, I skip audio bc I get too distracted to listen.

[Steph]

Thanks, guys!

I passed the previous 3 sections doing some of the above, albeit with scores in the 70s. I wanted to get some study hints to help me aim for a score in the 80s from those of you who managed it, so please keep the tweaks coming.

I think I'll work a few of the sims that pertain to learning the 4 financial statements and not bother with many more.

The word doc compilation of my notes is my way of “rewriting” everything I have written to review it all right before the exam. I'm blocking out that entire day to just write and memorize for 10-12 hours. Thoughts?

I need to pass. My husband has been very supportive through all this and he'll be so disappointed if I fail and have to retake TWO PARTS.

REG: 60, RETAKE MAY 2016
FAR: AUG 2016
AUD: APR 2016
BEC: 68, RETAKE PENDING

[jdub]

Don't skip sims altogether. I definitely put in more time on the MCQ than the sims, but I wouldn't completely skip them.

I also made flashcards as I went which helped, I used Becker, but if you don't have that kind of time does your study program have flashcards for purchase? (Becker does, which is why I ask).

Also as I rule, I do absolutely nothing at all the night before the exam. It's taxing enough so I need my brain to be fresh and well rested. But that's just me, and I was never a crammer in college either!

And I didn't really study the government section heavily. I did enough to get by, because I figured the majority of the questions were going to be over other concepts that relate to most businesses, not just a sector.

[Steph]

Everyone, I just don't feel like wasting precious time working through sims on topics I may never see on the exam. I am sitting in 18 days. I wanted to do a few on the 4 F/S's and perhaps some other topics mentioned in the updated FAR blueprint. I thought I would prepare for the sims by hitting journal entries and financial statements (especially cash flow) really hard.

Am I wrong in my reasoning?

I hate myself a little right now for putting myself in a situation where I need to triage my time like this.

REG: 60, RETAKE MAY 2016
FAR: AUG 2016
AUD: APR 2016
BEC: 68, RETAKE PENDING

[Recked]

You probably should have mentioned that you are sitting in 18 days in your first post.
FAR is like 40 hours of lectures alone. That's an easy week straight, and you will absolutely him the point of not retaining the information.

Roger has roughly 1800 MCQs if I remember correctly.
I would try to do 100 MCQs a day for the next 17 days.
Never repeat a question. If you finish all the Roger MCQs move on to Ninja MCQs.

How far along are you right now? 14 days from exam date should be the start of your final review. I was 10 or 11 days out when I started the final review and felt rushed.

[Ndom1]

My signature doesn’t say it, but I recently passed with an 86 first try.

My study prep was the same as the 3 other exams.

1) Watch all lectures and do related multiple choice questions after each lecture topic.

2) Go to the AICPA website and take the practice exam. (You will be surprised how similar the AICPA practice SIMS are to some SIM’s on the actual exam)

3) Cram multiple choice questions over and over again using Wiley (what I used to study with, in your case Roger) and cpa-review-for-free website (I did every question for each section on the site). I also crammed SIMs. I probably did at least 150 practice SIMs. I feel doing the practice SIMS really helped me.

4) Go back and re-watch lectures for sections I was struggling with.

5) Take all practice exams Wiley offered.

I did at least 2,500 MCQ’s and 150 practice SIM’s overall and watched each lecture at least once for FAR. I found taking notes was a HUGE time waster for me. So I didn’t take notes, just tried to retain as much as possible.

Good Luck.

[PDiddy2000]

@Ndom1

I've been doing nonstop Wiley MCQs with a few sims sprinkled in since last saturday. They are no joke. I've came close to picking up my laptop and slinging it across the room a few times this week. Glad to hear you had success using them.

[Steph]

@Recked, it's not an ideal situation, I know. Loathing myself right now.

1. I will be working through Roger lectures and his IPQs for the next 10 days.
2. Then I'll be working NINJA MCQ until I'm trending 100% plus throwing in sims here and there for 7 days
3. The last day I was going to read through/compile my notes and perhaps take the AICPA practice exam(s) as Ndom1 suggested.

It's a suicide mission I know. I'm looking at 10-14 hr study days up until the end.

I got up to Section 18 (of 33) the last time I tried studying for FAR a few months ago, so at least it's not all new.

Any further suggestions from y'all is greatly appreciated.

REG: 60, RETAKE MAY 2016
FAR: AUG 2016
AUD: APR 2016
BEC: 68, RETAKE PENDING

[Kel]

Hi Steph,

I think the biggest thing for you right now is to try your best not to get overwhelmed with the amount of material and just keep your head down and get through it with the best understanding possible.

I studied all of FAR in 4 weeks (while working in public accounting) and had 1 day of Final Review.

In the 4 weeks leading up to my 1 day of Final Review I:
1) Watched each Roger lecture (excluding TBS & DRS lectures) and took detailed notes including the related entries necessary for each lesson
2) Did ALL MCQ's on Roger
3) Created Flash cards for Mnemonics/Vocab/Concepts I wasn't familiar with and carried them with me everywhere

More specifically in the last 2 days before my exam I studied the NFP and Government Accounting Chapters and ensured I was comfortable with the material (This is IMPORTANT)
The blueprints state that these 2 topics can make up anywhere between 16-24% of the test. I figured that studying these the day before my final review would result in the concepts being fresh in my mind going into the test. I was glad I did this 🙂

For my Final Review day, I woke up and immediately did Becker's Mock Exam #1 and scored an 81. The one thing I felt that this exam did not portray accurately was the time it takes to do the TBS. Becker TBS would ask for 1 entry to a problem whereas the test might ask you to book the adjusting entry for 5 different scenarios covering the same topic. I used the results from this test to determine what I needed to review the most and studied the remainder of the day rereading my notes and hammering out MCQs.

I personally did not study a single TBS, but that may not work for everyone. I think if you find yourself struggling with MCQ's of a certain section it is probably worth it to watch the TBS lecture with Roger and do a problem with him.

Time management is key (as i'm sure you already know). Try your best to go into the TBSs with 2 hours and 30-40mins left. I started my first TBS with 2:40 left on the clock and finished the test with 4 mins left.

I ended up passing with a 90! I hope this helps you. Good luck!

[Steph]

@Kel thanks for taking the time to lay out your strategy for success! I wrote down some of your suggestions. I've been skipping the IPQ and Sim lectures as well to speed things up, but excellent suggestion regarding going back and working the TBS's for the IPQ's I didn't score well on. I will add this to my study plan.

Yes, going to hit NFP and Govt HARD. It's the last couple sections of Roger's lessons (almost like the man knows this should be fresh before we go and sit).

Time has not been an issue for me for the other 3 sections, but who the hell knows now that they've thrown an extra 2 simulations into the mix.

Thank you so much to everyone who is responding. I really appreciate hearing about your strategies. I'm a little less of a basket case now.

All told, I will be getting in minimum 200 hours of hyper-focused studying. Is that too little time to give me a good shot?

REG: 60, RETAKE MAY 2016
FAR: AUG 2016
AUD: APR 2016
BEC: 68, RETAKE PENDING

[Author]

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