[Anonymous]

Hi all!

I am preparing for FAR and am having some concerns about running out of time during the exam. I am using Becker and am finding that the computational questions take a lot of time. Is the exam mostly computations, like the homework?

For those who have taken the exam, what did you think about the time constraints on the exam? What was your plan for the exam (ex. 1 hour per testlet, etc.)?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I'm taking the exam tomorrow so I'll let you know.

So far my plan is

4:00 – 3:15 1st teslet

3:15 – 2:30 2nd teslet

2:30 – 1:45 3rd teslet

1:45 – 0 TBS

[Minimorty]

@cash – If you do well on the first testlet, the 2nd testlet might take an extra 15 mins. Dont let that rattle you. 1.5 hours on sims should be sufficient. Just grind out as many points as you can on the sims. If you dont know and the answer is a number, then enter 0. The difference between a 74 and a 75 is sometimes one or two extra zeros. good luck.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice Mini. I'll definitely keep the 0's in mind.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Mini – you should allow yourself at least 90 minutes for SIMS. Here's how I approached the SIMS (copied and pasted from another thread)…

My strategy for SIMS was to start with the research question. I allowed myself 10 minutes and luckily it only took me about 5 to find it. I figured those are easy points. Then I went through the other 6 questions and answered everything that gave you a list to choose from. You have a higher probability of getting those right because you aren't just totally guessing. Then I did the calculations for the SIMS starting with the easiest ones. I am glad I used this approach b/c I ran out of time. So the questions I left blank were most likely ones I wouldn't have gotten correct in the first place. This approach may be too much jumping around for some, but it worked for me.

[katiekanton]

@apbandj

Valuable tips. How much total time did you leave yourself for sims?

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

[Anonymous]

katie – I allowed 90 minutes, but it ended up being more like 85 minutes due to the difficulty checking back in we were discussing in another thread 😉 I probably could have done 1 or 2 more calculations in that extra time, but luckily it didn't matter anyways.

[mds86]

I left 59 minutes for my SIMS and it was no where near enough. 1.5 hours to be safe for sure. Though, looking back, I felt that I went through my MCQs at a reasonable rate, though I suppose I was rather relaxed.

IMO, instead of doing the research question first, start going through the easiest SIM questions first and then, when you get down to your last half hour, hit the research question, if it's taking you more than 10 mins, move on I say. Then come back (if you have time). The clock ticks SO fast when you're rumbling through the SIMS.

AUD - 64, 75
BEC - 67, 75
REG - 33, 58, 76
FAR - 41, 73, 84
DONE.

Tip: If you don't feel like you're studying hard, you'll probably fail. Study harder.

[Author]

Replies