[Anonymous]

Is this a normal feeling? Exam on 5/31 and I am no where near comfortable with this exam. I’ve been studying for the last 9 weeks and I don’t feel like I know a thing…

Is this normal? What are your tips for this monstrous exam???

[Sandra]

Just keep plugging away at it. If there are areas you don't know focus on those, but don't forgot the stuff you do know. I haven't taken FAR but I am taking it just a few days after you. I haven't even started studying so you are WAY ahead of me.

[Mrs 300]

I agree w/ Sandra. 10 days before the exam, I think I cried every few hours because I felt so overwhelmed. Then I told myself that I needed to get it together and do my best. Someone else said this: read your notes, do multiple choice, make notes, do flashcards (if you have them), rinse and repeat.

I know it sounds simple, but it's all you can do. I swear the last 2 days before the exam (this past weekend) I was having epiphanies like you would not believe. Things will start to click.

For the other 3 parts, I never felt the way that I did with FAR. You just have to keep plugging away like Sandra said.

Good luck and may the power of the CPA Gods be with you!

REG - 80 (Becker only)
BEC - 76 (Becker only)
AUD - 71, 76 (Becker only)
FAR - 65, 74, 81! (Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja notes & Audio)

CPA Class of 2012 🙂

[maaroufrn]

yes…I have my exam on 05/24 and I am panicking and soo tired. I would be studying all night until I am so tired and sleepy and really need to sleep and when I go to bed I won't be able to stop thinking about every single concept and formula and JE that I need to study more. Because of that in the last 4 days I would force myself to sleep but can't before 4:30 or 5 AM

right now I am at least temporarily relieved that I only have 3 more days of this misery. The way I am doing it is reading the chapters and writing lots and lots of notes while I am doing the MCQ. Also after every chapter I would write down all of the formulas and JE for that chapter. That way when I am reviewing I only need to go through the notes and I find it very helpful, but time consuming. Another thing is that I would mark the questions that I did not get right so that I can make sure to review them again and see if I still get them wrong the second time.

With the fact that you only have a few days, i would suggest reading or writing all the formulas and JEs and do as many MCQs as you can. Review the big important things like pensions, leases, governmental accounting. Also if you are doing Becker they have a comparison between IFRS and GAAP in the end of each chapter, it would be helpful to read through those as well. Good luck

AUD July 2013
BEC August 2013
REG TBD
FAR TBD

Using Becker, Ninja audio, and Wiley test bank.

[misanthrope87]

Repetition is key. It's a normal feeling. I'm feeling like that. 🙁

B 2/12 87
A 11/11 90
R 8/11 86
F 5/12 88

[Mr. Happy]

I'm taking FAR on 5/31, and I know how you feel. I've been studying 4-5 hrs a day for 4 weeks and I'm also feeling overwhelmed. I just keeping plugging away, while trying to squash my feelings of doubt.

[goodluck2everyone]

Glad to know I'm not the only one overwhelmed lol

Yeah this test is a beast but I'm noticing that I'm getting more and more of them right as I go along

repititiousness is the key

BEC- 80
REG- 68, 71, July
AUD- 61 , 84
FAR- -- 75 🙂

[LittleMoe]

Totally with you. I started studying 4/17 and got bogged down in the material. I feel way behind but the more I study, the more things start to click. Just hoping I get a LOT more of those clicks over the next week!!! Sounds like there are a lot of us feeling the same way!

AUD 4/12/12 79
FAR 5/29/12 76
REG 8/2/12 82
BEC 8/30/12 72 Retake 10/18/12 76!!! DONE!!!!
ExamMatrix, Wiley Books, NINJA notes and audio
LICENSED ALABAMA CPA 11/30/12

[Anonymous]

Haven't read all the other comments so my apologies if this has already been mentioned… the CPA exam is just as much about mental toughness as it is knowing the material. You have already passed 2 parts, so you know these exams are passable for you. I felt terrible going into FAR even after studying for 4 months! It's impossible to know everything or feel completely prepared. When I was taking the exam, I wanted to just leave about halfway through… I was certain I was failing. But instead I decided to stay and just do my best, and am certainly glad I did. Just think about how good you will feel next week to get FAR behind you!

[Mrs 300]

Apbandj is 100% correct. This exam is a MENTAL MARATHON. I agree that I almost walked out 1/2 way through the exam! My second testlet was so ridiculous that I was about to flip off the screen! But I didn't give up and kept plugging away and I really felt like even though I didn't know everything, I have a fighting chance at a passing score.

Your attitude the days leading up to the exam and the day of the exam should be confidence. Focus on what you KNOW. You need to show the examiners what you know. They don't care about what you don't know. And just remember that you earn points on this test – they are not subtracted from 100. That helped me a lot with FAR. The FAR beast brings out the worst in people!!!

REG - 80 (Becker only)
BEC - 76 (Becker only)
AUD - 71, 76 (Becker only)
FAR - 65, 74, 81! (Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja notes & Audio)

CPA Class of 2012 🙂

[Anonymous]

I haven't taken FAR yet, so my advice is not tried and tested yet. But I'm compiling my notes now…. my plan is to make a “cpa exam wall” in my cubicle at work, and to have the pages of notes tacked allll l over this dedicated wall of my cube. Every 30 minutes or so, ill look at my wall for a few minutes, really concentrating on understanding the material, almost as if you're teaching the material to someone else. This idea for a note wall or whatever you want to call it came to me in a dream, so it'll either look like I'm insane or will hopefully help.

In addition to my note-wallpaper, ill look at other copies (obviously I'm going to rewrite them multiple tmes) of my notes before bed, while eating breakfast in the morning, etc. This, and 1000's of multiple choice questions and dozens of sims will hopefully be enough.

[lynseyklly]

@deepbreath – I did the “note wall” you describe for AUD. I would type up all the mnemonics and different calculations, etc., print them out and taped them all the way across the cube wall I face. That way they were above my computer screen, so instead of occasionally staring into space I now stared at my study aids. I found it helpful, glad I'm not the only one surrounding myself with CPA crap.

AUD 85 (2/22/12)
FAR 81 (5/10/12)
BEC 7/13/12
REG 10/1/12

using Becker

[mdrobbin]

It is completely normal, if not expected, to feel overwhelmed when you are only a week or so away from the FAR exam. I was feeling like no matter what I did, I could never be prepared for the exam due to the volume of material.

Good news, we are all in this boat together. Maybe a very select few walk in completely confident and nail the test, but the rest of us walk in just hoping we can regurgitate whatever few items we have crammed into our brains in the prior weeks.

My suggestion, don't get down on yourself after the exam. I was CERTAIN I failed and literally felt sick to my stomach walking out of the testing center and I have never felt like that after an exam in my life. Long story short, I passed with an 82 (feeling overwhelmed going in, overwhelmed during, and terrified after).

Just remember, it's normal to feel overwhelmed with FAR. Keep your head up and just keep plugging away. If you're committed, you will get it done. If it takes more than one try, so be it. Don't let FAR beat you!

FAR - 2012 - PASSED (YAEGER)
AUD - 2012 - PASSED (YAEGER + NINJA NOTES)
BEC - 2012 - PASSED (YAEGER + NINJA NOTES)
REG - 2013 - PASSED (YAEGER + NINJA NOTES + NINJA AUDIO)

ETHICS - 2013 - PASSED

DONE!!! Thank you A71 for all the support! Hiya!!!

[Anonymous]

9 weeks is way too long a span IMO.

Regardless, for the last 10 days of studying instead of looking at every minute detail of each lecture, you need to review each section/lecture. With the exception of my AUD studying experience, I felt overwhelmed each and every exam when I reached two weeks away. The reviews always put it all together for me and gave me so many ‘ahhh' moments. Those reviews should make the volume of material feel much less. Once I was done studying, I always said to myself there really wasn't as much material as I originally thought.

[kmwgrace]

GAH. I'm going through the Sims for FAR 1 in Becker and I think I got about 50% – 60% correct. And I have 9 more chapters to go… thankfully I'm better in the governmental stuff but weak on the financial stuff. It's just so danged nit-picky. About to start on my FAR 2 review this afternoon, hope it goes better.

~ Kate... MTX!
CPA exam on hold while I homeschool my 6 year old!

[renditt]

I know where you are coming from. I took the exam last week and 2 weeks before taking it, I felt pretty bad.

The key for me is breaking down the exam into manageable pieces. FAR has 10 chapters (at least in my Becker material) and every chapter has probably 3-4 critical things you have to know. I learned them doing 2 things:

– Do plenty of MCs. MCs I got wrong I print out for review later.

– Summarize every chapter on not more than 2-3 pages.

At the end I had a binder with my chapter summaries (total maybe 30 pages for everything) and a ton of questions I got wrong. I the last week, work trough the questions you got wrong and keep reading your summaries. Ultimately it will click.

Also importantly, go easy the last day of the exam. Try reading maybe 1 or 2 key concepts in detail but the point is to be fresh when you take the exam. 4 hours is tough and you don't want to be exhausted going into it.

good luck!

BEC - 2/25/12 - 90
FAR - 5/18/12 - 87
AUD - 8/4/12 - 94
REG - 11/27/12 - 91 - done!

[Author]

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