[jeff]

NINJA Study Notes, Flashcards, and Audio: https://www.another71.com/products-page/

Wiley Software: https://www.another71.com/wiley-cpa-software/

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS) | Another71 | NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any suggestions when doing MCQs, either go topic by topic or do random quizes or maybe both? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Has anyone taken this in the last few days? What was your overall feeling. I've heard not to take FAR this window due to all the tax pros getting it out of the way before busy season really kicks in but, I saw a lot of passes for the first half of the window. Any info/motivational boost would be appreciated!

[katiekanton]

I don't know what kind of motivational boost I can give, but I did take it this week. Frankly, it was awful. Overall, it seemed easier to me than AUD was. I found the research answer within 15 seconds, true story. It was so easy I spent another 3 minutes making sure. I spent 10 minutes looking for my AUD research question so I couldn't believe it would be so easy.

On a scale of 1-10 of difficulty, with 1 being easy and 10 being very difficult, I would rank my sims:

Sim 1: 1

Sim 2: 2

Sim 3: 7

Sim 4: 8

Sim 5: 12

Sim 6: 37 <–hoping it was a pretest

I wasn't as ready as I would like to have been, but I don't think any further studying would have helped me with the answers I didn't know.

Two pieces of advice for those taking the exam in the next few months:

1. Your review material is not going to prepare you well enough for the IFRS stuff. In my opinion, our review materials are behind this curve. I don't think it matters because ALL the review materials are insufficient, so we're probably all missing the same questions, so don't stress over it.

2. Budget your time and stick to it. I'm smart, I was more prepared than most, I'm a natural test-taker, and I had to use ALL of my time. You never know what kind of sims you will get and how much time you'll need. It's not necessarily about knowing, but about being able to control the adrenaline freakout going on in your brain so you can access what you know.

Of course, I haven't gotten my score yet, so there's no way for me to know anything about how well I did. I could've failed. I'll let you know when I get my score. Also, don't read this post and others talking about what a bad experience people had and get discouraged. Use these type of posts to set your expectations. A huge part of this game is not psyching yourself out or freaking out at the curveballs that you WILL be thrown, and scoring worse than is reflective of your actual knowledge.

AUD - 88
FAR - 90
REG - 85
BEC - 88

[pass.or.die.trying]

katiekanton..

thanks for the advice… How long did you prepare for FAR? What did “your” FAR exam mostly consist of(i.e. Pension, Inventory etc…)?

[katiekanton]

I only prepared for 3.5 weeks. I was lazy (actually more like crazy busy) over the holidays and meant to start studying, but I just didn't. I don't work, so I spent all day every day on it. I mean literally, there were days I sat in this stupid computer chair for 15 hours. I ran out of time at the end, and ended up not doing MCQs on the last four chapters (Bisk has 20 for FAR). For those four, I watched the lectures, took copious notes, and memorized them. My NTS was expiring, so I knew the money was gone either way. I felt like if I had had 5 more days it would have been enough, but after taking the exam, I'm glad I went ahead and did it. I feel like I passed since the things I didn't know were things I don't think most people knew, and three of the sims I feel 100% on, and the one I feel 0% on was probably pretest. But you never really know until you see that score.

The non-disclosure rule prevents me from answering your question as detailed as “I had a sim on imputed interest on bonds” or anything like that (I just picked an example from my studying as an illustration, DON'T take that as an example of the difficulty of the sims or you'll be sadly disappointed), but I will tell you that your review material likely arranges the harder hit topics towards the end. In other words, I wouldn't spend so much time mastering bonds (chapter 6 in Bisk) that you run out of time to sufficiently review Governmental (Chapter 19) or NFP (Chapter 20). Does that make sense? I didn't know that until recently, and I wish I had known it for AUD. That's exactly what I did, by the way, I spent 3 days mastering bonds early on, and could've used two of those days on the four chapters I didn't get to do MCQs on at the end.

AUD - 88
FAR - 90
REG - 85
BEC - 88

[sriram2785ve]

Hi..i am sriram from India…took FAR today in LA..i have done pretty welll.was able to answer many questions rite..thanks to becker passmaster..helped me a lot !!! got BEC on Monday and REG on Friday…

[pass.or.die.trying]

Thanks katiekanton,, i was planning on sitting by the end of the month,, but considering how far behind i am in the Becker program, I'll be sitting during the next testing window.

[MinaRick]

Hey Guys, I have problem and need your opinion..

I only have the FAR part left, I passed the other three.. that's the good news…. The bad news is; two of them are expiring in May :S

I didn't study a word in like three months, and now got stuck with this expiry dates..

Will I give it a try this window. or just take the risk and get ready for taking the exam in May !!!

[katiekanton]

This is just my personal opinion, but there is no way I'd risk losing credit for two sections to save $300. Take it this window as late as you can, but TAKE IT. Any look at it since you took it before (if you have) will help you prepare for next window. I don't say this lightly as $300 is nothing to sneeze at, but when you put it up against having to pay for two more sections, plus what that would mean in time, there's absolutely no question about it. I would study like mad until I sit this month, and then study like mad until May. Again, that's just what I would do if it were me. YMMV. Plus, you never know, you might get lucky.

Oh, also, if it were me and I felt like I definitely failed this window, I would go home and go through my review materials and the Wiley test bank if you have it, look at every single MCQ and mark the ones that showed up. KNOW THOSE next time like the back of your hand. I'd also take care to memorize the sims before I left the exam. The stress of sitting can be like a giant eraser where you can walk out and not be able to recall anything. Take three minutes to go through the sims right before you walk out and memorize what they're asking for. Write it down or call yourself and leave yourself a voicemail the second you leave the testing center. People HAVE reported getting a repeat of a sim they saw in a previous sitting. I admit these are drastic measures but you're talking about the difference between having four parts and only having one part in one fell swoop.

Good luck!

AUD - 88
FAR - 90
REG - 85
BEC - 88

[Anonymous]

That was a complete disaster! I am so frustrated because I was only tested over 3 concepts. 3! out of all of the ones I spent my time focusing on I wasn't even asked a single question. I'm so irritated because I probably failed not because I didn't know the information. Becker prepared me well but because I didn't know the 3 topics the exam chose to test me on in super detail. The sims weren't so bad though. I actually think I got most of them right except for the pretest one which had to be pretest since it wasn't covered anywhere in any of my study materials. I literally felt better about my exam last time I took it and got a 66. I'm beyond frustrated right now. There were roughly 9-10 questions on each MC section that I was unsure of. I feel like I wasted all this time studying for nothing. This section completely sucks. Here's to waiting for doomsday Feb 22. But I probably won't get my score in Texas until the 24th or 27th. AHHHHH

Please someone out there give me a glimmer of hope and say they passed with a similar experience. I'm going crazy here.

[Anonymous]

Also, my testlets did not get harder. In fact I think they got easier. Is there any hope of passing if your testlets were all easy?

[hilly]

Hello,

I am currently studying for FAR using Becker and after reading all the comments I definately think that I should try the Wiley Test bank for FAR. However, its quite expensive. Please is anyone willing to give me access to their Wiley test bank so I can practice more MCQs and Sims for FAR before my exam on the 29th? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anyone there tonight?

[thechamp26]

I'm here “studying” for FAR. I'm a few days out and don't feel prepared one bit. Any advice???

[Anonymous]

Not to get you down but, good luck. There are so many topics you're expected to know and you'll get tested on 3 at max of them in complete depth. So, it's likely that, unless you have all the time in the world, and learn all the topics in depth, then you're really at the luck of the draw. So I wish you all the best but now all we can do is hope for a good curve.

[Author]

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