[Anonymous]

anyone out there past 45 who is now taking the exam. ? I am finding it very difficult to get back into the swing of studying especially for FAR since I am in Tax not Audit. I got a 68 first time around this past November. Unfortunately other issues got in my way until now and it is like studying from scratch again…

Any helpful hints ?

[Excel14]

@CPAorNot:

Full timer here too. Work adds to the dilemma, but I find I don't learn these topics well, with the rapid pace these review courses have you working at. Sadly, I have found myself guessing a lot on the NINJA questions, merely because the material studied back in June has gone.

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[Anonymous]

@CPAorNot

omg your definitely not the only one!!! I'm using Becker and I average about the same percentage as you. Takes me about 5-7 minutes to answer each question! Don't worry about the percentage just focus on learning from it. It is really frustrating and I do hope the exam isn't all like this. It takes me about 4ish hours to do homework problems because I write out the Q&A and try to learn from my mistakes. And I always use the book as an aid when doing them. It helps when your trying to learn. I also forget a lot of the stuff I've done in the earlier chapters. So I have to make sure I allocated enough review time to back and look at topics. Just remember they can't test on every topic! Start with your weakest topic…try to understand the logic behind the answer. Nobody ever goes into the far exam prepared and you have to come to terms with the fact that you will not know everything 100%…some things you will forget etc. Just study as hard as you can 🙂 and know your not in this alone.

[Anonymous]

Took FAR this past Wed on top of tax season. Didn't study nearly as much as I should have given busy season /kids / etc.

Disappointed in myself for not having that motivation even with tax season and summer…

Having been out of school for over 20 years, I am searching for the best way to study for this exam.

Going forward I plan to only do the MCQs damn the review book. That could have been my problem. I wasted too much time reviewing theory in the chapters.

The MCQs on the actual exam are so much easier than Becker problems. Becker problems are helpful in answering the SIMS.

[Author]

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