[S14]

I am studying for FAR now and I am aiming to take the exam at the end of February. It is my first part, and I am studying full-time until then. I am two days in to studying, and I don’t feel like my study plan is solid. I am using Becker, and have only gotten through M2 of Chapter 1. Basically, I have been writing down the annotated notes, then watching the lectures, and then re-writing notes before practicing skills and MC. I was wondering what advice anyone had for studying that would be better. I would appreciate it so much!

[pakff]

Everyone learns differently, so I can only describe my own experience studying for FAR. I tried taking notes, but I figured its a complete waste of time, unless you really struggle remembering a specific concept. Listen to lectures and pause it to re-read the complicated concepts. Focus more on MCQs and take your notes from the questions you get wrong if necessary. Retake the MCQ until you get a close to perfect score. Do the progress test after each chapter so you don't forget the material entirely. Once you're done with all chapters, go back and re-do all the Skill Practices and MCQs. Take Mock Exam 1. Go back to your weak modules and practice practice practice. Take Mock Exam 2. Repeat. Finally, take your last Mock Exam 2-3 days before the actual exam. And DON'T skip any sections.

[Steven K]

Just going to reiterate what Pakff said. Everyone learns differently so you have to figure out what works for you. Both Pakff and I got very similar scores on FAR but I can tell you our study strategy was vastly different.
For me, I found that watching the lectures was a complete waste of time and that I actually learned from taking notes. So below is the exact study strategy I used to get an 81.

FAR has 10 Becker Chapters. 2 chapters per week + 1 week for review = 6 weeks study time (I did this while doing a Masters Program).
I would pull up the Becker annotated book, open up my Becker book, and then open up a padfolio. I would read (not skim) the Becker book, make my own highlights of what I thought were the important concepts, and then just compare my highlights to the Becker book. I also wrote down all the things I found important/highlighted. In essence, I reserved 3 days for each chapter, Day 1+2 I would read the chapter and take notes. Day 3 I would skim the chapter and make flash cards of the important concepts. I would also do one “Progress test” containing 30 MCQ's specifically for that chapter only. (So basically before I got into review week I only did a total of 300 MCQ's)
By the time I finished the 10 chapters, I had approximately 20 sheets (or 40 pages) of condensed notes. In my last week, I reviewed my notes/flashcards and drilled NINJA MCQ's. I'm talking like 300 per day until my brain hurt. The day before the exam, I didn't do any MCQ's however, would take maybe 1 hour to just go throught the SIMS in BECKER. I wouldn't do them but rather just look at the answer keys.

Again, this is just what worked for me and may not work for you. Personally, I found that if I can do well on MCQ's, then doing well on the SIMS will come with that. I passed both FAR and AUD using the same strategy and am not prepping for REG with it. So for me, it seems to be working.

[felixsphone]

Don't study

Instead, define the work and do the work. Don't skip days. Take breaks. Don't talk to people about the CPA exam unless they took the CPA exam. They generally don't care.

Hit. it. hard; in the final 2 weeks.

In essence, be deliberate with your time and take care of yourself.

[Author]

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