[Anonymous]

I’ve been studying for FAR for about 4 months now. I just cannot seem to get comfortable with all of the material at once.

With AUD and BEC there was a point I would reach where I would average 90%+ on all of the homework questions, and that just doesn’t seem to be happening with FAR.

There is so much material that when I take the time to really learn the concepts well for a few sections, when I go back to other sections that I previously felt comfortable with, I am just forgetting things and wind up averaging in the 60’s on MC questions.

It’s really starting to get discouraging and I’m not sure what to do differently. My exam is on Nov 2.

Can anyone please share some wisdom/advice? I was on such a high being half way done with CPA, now I’ve lost that good feeling.

[Whopper Warrior]

as you progress, whether it be by section, or by testlets, I belive you work, and can not cram for 4 to 5 hours a day, do not skip a 30 question review test of all questions, even sections you have not hit yet. put the timer on 1 minute per question, but ideally you should be done in 15 to 20. glance over the ones you got wrong, and call it a day. this will help retain more info, then doing 3 sections and then a review. also it gives you exposure to upcoming chapters assuming you havent gone through each one.

I used Becker so I did 10, I think, 30 question reviews. if you have the time, bump it to 50. did this for all my tests and did not lead me astray.

ALL 4 parts passed summer 13
Ethics October 13
Experience (waiting)

Becker Only

[Whopper Warrior]

as you progress, whether it be by section, or by testlets, I belive you work, and can not cram for 4 to 5 hours a day, do not skip a 30 question review test of all questions, even sections you have not hit yet. put the timer on 1 minute per question, but ideally you should be done in 15 to 20. glance over the ones you got wrong, and call it a day. this will help retain more info, then doing 3 sections and then a review. also it gives you exposure to upcoming chapters assuming you havent gone through each one.

I used Becker so I did 10, I think, 30 question reviews. if you have the time, bump it to 50. did this for all my tests and did not lead me astray.

ALL 4 parts passed summer 13
Ethics October 13
Experience (waiting)

Becker Only

[nbad311]

How many hours are you studying a week? I feel the same way with FAR, in that it takes me a long time (longer than any of the other sections) to get consistently good in each chapter. But it comes…. slowwwwwwwly. FAR is so big that I feel like each week you need to spend equal amount of hours learning the new stuff as you are re-studying the stuff you learned previously: 10 hours in a new chapter / 10 hours dedicated solely to material you “already know” (because you will forget!)

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[nbad311]

How many hours are you studying a week? I feel the same way with FAR, in that it takes me a long time (longer than any of the other sections) to get consistently good in each chapter. But it comes…. slowwwwwwwly. FAR is so big that I feel like each week you need to spend equal amount of hours learning the new stuff as you are re-studying the stuff you learned previously: 10 hours in a new chapter / 10 hours dedicated solely to material you “already know” (because you will forget!)

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[Anonymous]

@nbad311 – I study about 25 – 30 hours per week. I do work full time and it has been my busy season last few months.

I just hate feeling really comfortable with a topic, then after review of a few more sections I come back to it and it's like starting from square one.

[Anonymous]

@nbad311 – I study about 25 – 30 hours per week. I do work full time and it has been my busy season last few months.

I just hate feeling really comfortable with a topic, then after review of a few more sections I come back to it and it's like starting from square one.

[nbad311]

That definitely seems like enough hours per week…… any specific topics you struggle with?

If you find yourself getting extremely frustrated in a certain block of MCQs or in a topic, stop and move on to something else for a while. I find my studying gets rather counter-productive if I miss a bunch of Qs, get mad, and then start clicking answers just to see the explanations.

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[nbad311]

That definitely seems like enough hours per week…… any specific topics you struggle with?

If you find yourself getting extremely frustrated in a certain block of MCQs or in a topic, stop and move on to something else for a while. I find my studying gets rather counter-productive if I miss a bunch of Qs, get mad, and then start clicking answers just to see the explanations.

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[Anonymous]

@nbad311 – Thats the frustrating part. By this time with AUD & BEC, the clouds had parted and everything made sense.

With this section, I can understand everything, just not all at the same time. Something keeps falling off. I guess I need to hit multiple sections per day.

[Anonymous]

@nbad311 – Thats the frustrating part. By this time with AUD & BEC, the clouds had parted and everything made sense.

With this section, I can understand everything, just not all at the same time. Something keeps falling off. I guess I need to hit multiple sections per day.

[titine]

I personally think that one of the reasons is you take your time too long. I dragged it for 3.5 months when I first took it last year and I forgot most of the things when I did my review. For my second time, which was in August this year, I studied using NINJA way and also used NINJA note for a bit more than 2 months.

If you didn't take note, I highly recommend buying it from Jeff. I read the note when I was on the bus and kept doing it until few hours before the exam. It's very condensed with all important concepts that you need to remember so it helped a lot (at least to me). Another thing that I did to save time for more questions was I didn't really do any actual calculation when I practiced the MCQ. I just pictured in my head how to solve it and then checked the answers. I thought it would prevent me to memorize the answers instead of the way how to solve it (but then I only had time to do them once lol).

FAR is really overwhelming but don't get discouraged. If a lazy ass like me can pass it, I'm sure you can too!

[titine]

I personally think that one of the reasons is you take your time too long. I dragged it for 3.5 months when I first took it last year and I forgot most of the things when I did my review. For my second time, which was in August this year, I studied using NINJA way and also used NINJA note for a bit more than 2 months.

If you didn't take note, I highly recommend buying it from Jeff. I read the note when I was on the bus and kept doing it until few hours before the exam. It's very condensed with all important concepts that you need to remember so it helped a lot (at least to me). Another thing that I did to save time for more questions was I didn't really do any actual calculation when I practiced the MCQ. I just pictured in my head how to solve it and then checked the answers. I thought it would prevent me to memorize the answers instead of the way how to solve it (but then I only had time to do them once lol).

FAR is really overwhelming but don't get discouraged. If a lazy ass like me can pass it, I'm sure you can too!

[Anonymous]

acg5000- I think it's the curse of the third test. I experienced the same thing with Audit where the material just would not sink in. Keep doing tons of practice tests where the topics are mixed together. If you keep getting lost in the details, take a step back to make sure you are understanding the concepts. Buying the Ninja notes may help you. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

acg5000- I think it's the curse of the third test. I experienced the same thing with Audit where the material just would not sink in. Keep doing tons of practice tests where the topics are mixed together. If you keep getting lost in the details, take a step back to make sure you are understanding the concepts. Buying the Ninja notes may help you. Good luck!

[lauriemarie5]

I studied like crazy for 3 months for FAR and I can agree with the fact that that was too long. I was forgetting things and becoming increasingly more frustrated as the days went by. It was a horrific experience and I ended up not passing. I know I can pass the exam, I was just too overwhelmed the first time as this was also my first exam as well.

I decided that after I test for AUD next week I will take the wknd off and jump back into FAR. I purchased the NINJA Notes and Audio for FAR because I am willing to do whatever I have to to pass this exam on the 2nd time around.

Don't be discouraged! Trust me I was devastated throughout the process and after I found out I didn't pass but I picked myself up by the boot straps and decided to give it another go!

If all else fails, start to youtube topics you are weak on, they may help clarify things better.

Best of luck!

REG: 80 (11/13/15)
FAR: APR 2016
BEC
AUD

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." - Winston Churchill

[Author]

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