[NYCPA1]

I just took FAR and OMG was it the most brutal exam ever! There were a handful of questions I had to guess on. I also guessed on half the questions on one of the sims and barely had time to complete the second sim. Although, I am pretty confident with the essays. Has anyone ever felt this way after his/her exam and ended up passing?

REG - 88
AUD - 86
BEC - 77
FAR - 83

[sleepycpa]

My FAR exam was horrible. It seemed as though it tested me repeatedly on the 10% of the material I didn't have down. I rushed through the first 3 testlets, playing multiple guess on what I didnt know and then there was the sims….they were the most off the wall, random, fill in the blanks JE/ math problems. Guessed on those too. Thought for sure I got a 40. Passed with a 78. You just never know with these exams. Wait and See 🙂

AUD - 96
FAR - 78
BEC - 85
REG - Jan 26, 2010

[Anonymous]

I just took FAR too and I just can't understand whether it was alright or not!

I thought the MCs were reasonably alright.. It worried me though that they didnt seem to get harder yet soooo many were similar to those I had practiced from Beckers that I just cant imagine bombing it! So, basically, I have no clue what to expect!

The sims were alright but there just wasnt enough time to complete it all! I dont think I had much of a problem with the questions that were asked but managing my time well was definitely a challenge and I dont think I did that too well 🙁

[Kookie]

@deepananwani

I totally agree with your comment as well. I definitely felt like I could answer all of the questions–the problem comes to timing. I'm finding that a lot of us don't finish the FAR exam. Ideally–the exam needs to be 4hours and 30 minutes. But I think the time crunch is placed, intentionally. I think I did well on the written communication and probably 3 tabs. The other tabs…I just filled in stufff as my time ran out. Hopefully my 3 tabs + 2 written + 90 multiple choice questions will = 75!

[veena]

Hi everyone ,

As you all have given FAR exam it will be helpful for me if you guys can give me some suggestions in preparing for the exam and I also need some suggestions which materials will help me out. Right now I will be using Becker but can any other material will be helpful for me and if you guys can give some suggestions or tips in preparing the exam will be grateful for me .

Does the 2011 FAR is harder than compare to 2010 FAR?

Thank you in advance .

[Anonymous]

@Veena

Good Luck preparing for FAR! Here are a couple of things I would recommend you do:

1) Make notes! I made some really good notes for BEC and AUD and they really helped me out! I felt I didn't have time to do the same for FAR and I think that was my biggest mistake!

2) Spend time on governmental and not-for-profit.. Most people are so tired by the time they get to that material that they just skim over it but it is an important part of the exam so i would definitely recommend knowing it in detail. (Plus I think its really easy; the hard part is getting your mind to actually sit and do it!)

3) Solve as many MCQ's as possible! I found a lot of my exam questions to be similar to what i had solved before. Plus MCQ's help revise and re-iterate material that you've learned.

4) Pay special attention to journal entries! Some of the most obscure topics are tested so I would not recommend skipping anything! What seems un-important to us usually ends up being super important to them!

That's pretty much what I can think of now! Hope this helps! Good luck once again!!

[veena]

@ Deepananwani thank you for the suggestion and I try to cover all the topics you told me to do. And can you can tell me which material are you following for preparing FAR and All The Best for FAR.

But I am a bit confused as my NTS will expire in Feb and I thought of giving FAR exam in end of Feb but I didn't started the preparation as I got my material 2 days back and I am not sure weather I can complete the portion in the time period so I thought I will give the exam in 2nd week of April as I am in two minds I may not able to decide what to do ? If I take the exam in April then I need to apply for the NTS for FAR so do I need to wait for the expiration of the present NTS or can I apply for the NTS before my present NTS expires ?

Any suggestions would be appreciated and thank you in advance.

[Anonymous]

@Veena:

Thanks! I used Becker while preparing for FAR. I didn't think there was a single thing on the exam that was not covered by Beckers. However, many people have different experiences with this, so if you're looking for additional material I would recommend Wileys which usually has a lot more details than Beckers.

Also, regarding the date you take your exam. Jeff recommends 6-8 weeks @ 20 hours of studying per week. I'm not sure what your work schedule looks like, but if you think you can put in 20 hours a week, I think you should take FAR in Feb. Jeff says that they will ease into the new material introduced in 2011 so taking the exam in the first testing window is a good idea since they probably wont go all out with overloaded questions on IFRS. Also, in this way you won't lose your NTS 🙂

(And about the expiration. I'm not sure if you can apply while you have a valid NTS but I do know that since you have already been approved by your board, your new NTS will not take more than a week to come. So, even if you apply in March after your current NTS expires, you will get it soon enough to schedule your exam in April)

[veena]

@Deepanawani thank you for the suggestion but I am still in a confusion when to write the exam (i.e in Feb or in next testing window April) but I just want to know from your reply you just mentioned that it will be good if I write the exam in Feb as they won't go with the overloaded questions in IFRS but does it means that they may/can ask questions on IFRS from April onwards or they will ask from next testing window ?

And can you suggest me which topic will be best to start preparing for FAR ?

Thank you in advance and All The Best.

BEC – Waiting for the results

[Anonymous]

@Veena

They will ask IFRS related questions in both windows (all windows in 2011 and onward). Jeff believes that they will be less in the Jan-Feb window and will probably not be too much in detail. However, IFRS will be fair game at any point of 2011 so you will have to be well prepared for it.

Where to start studying? I personally followed the Becker book chapter by chapter just because a lot of the material is inter-related and sometimes to understand one chapter you need to have understood the concepts in a previous chapter.

Good Luck studying! Put in a good amount of time and you should be fine 🙂

[2010Please]

Wow deepananwani, I wish I would have had your exam…I had several things not in becker. One was a specific question on a depreciation method. I almost laughed out loud when the question came up because becker truly covered a ton of depreciation methods and did a good job of it…but the aicpa pulled one out of their hat not covered in becker on me…I couldn't hardly believe it (and I studied the ones in the appendix too). Consider yourself lucky, my friend…I wasn't as lucky. 😉

AUD 92, REG 85, BEC 90, FAR 85
Ethics 100
Obtained License 7/11/11 🙂

[veena]

@ Deepananwani

I don't know when I will be going to give the exam as I am still deciding but I have a rough plan to prepare for FAR.

1. Going to follow the Becker's material.

2. Study at least 10 to 11 hr's per day.

3. Complete the whole portion in 1 1/2 month time period and give a final review and try to figure out the weaker sections and then follow the Wiely's material for the weaker sections and again give the Final review and try work out on as many MCQ's as possible before going for the exam.

As this plan is for both (Feb as well as April) but if you think that this doesn't work then I will be great full if you can help me out with this . Thank you in advance

[Anonymous]

@2010Please: Yes, I have to admit that I genuinely felt that my exam was extremely “fair” as compared to other horror stories I read about out here. However, it was hard to manage my time and in case I don't pass, I wont even be able to blame it on having a brutal and unfair exam!

I'm taking REG next. Any word of advice on what material I should use and how I should go about studying for it?

@Veena: You really seem to be a very hard-worker! With the plan that you have, I'm sure you will do exceedingly well on all the exams! Just try taking regular progress tests/ solving Beckers homework MCQs to keep track on your progress and you will be fine! 🙂

[2010Please]

@Deepa Nanwani – I used Becker and was happy with it overall for REG. I did have a simulation that was on a topic that was really downplayed in Becker though. Otherwise, my MCQ (with the exception of what was likely pretest questions) were pretty much a breeze for me based on my Becker review (and I had a fantastic tax teacher a few years ago too – gotta give him credit – so tax really was just a review for me). The simulation I had wasn't an unfair simulation though – but for some reason, Becker had downplayed that subject area, and I didn't look any further. I remember thinking when I read the one or two paragraphs in Becker on the topic, “Wow, I would have thought this would be important because I remember this being heavily covered in my tax class.” But, I didn't dig any deeper, and just my luck, I got a simulation on it and couldn't remember the proper treatment from the tax classes a few years back. 🙂 But, even with bombing that simulation, I ended up with an 85 – so no complaints in the end.

My FAR experience – a different animal…I was so disappointed by how unlike Becker's review it turned out to be for me (some questions were similar, but the majority were not), and I used Becker and covered the material thoroughly. And to be fair to Becker, I also listened to lectures from Yaeger for an extra boost – had really planned to get this out of the way in 2010. I think sometimes, you just get a bad test – no way to prepare for that – just study hard and pray for a good exam. 😉

AUD 92, REG 85, BEC 90, FAR 85
Ethics 100
Obtained License 7/11/11 🙂

[veena]

@ Deepa Nanwani thank you for the advice and All the Best for REG and don't worry you'll get a nice score in FAR too.

[Author]

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