[BRITTANY.CAMP]

Hello,

I have passed REG, but am having a terrible time even getting through the lectures and homework one time on FAR. I have been going through the material for several weeks now and am on F8. How are you people getting it done in 6 weeks? Tips on how to study with a 40 hr job and a two year old??

I am using Becker and I also have the Ninja MQ but haven’t had time to look at Ninja much.

[igelfand]

Others may have better advice, but all I know is find your moments. Wake up before the rest of your family and study. Have a lunch break? Study! Need a 10 minute mental break from work? Do a set of 10 NINJAMCQ. When the little one goes to bed, hit the books hard! I've managed to pass REG, AUD, and FAR with a full-time job, tax season, and a beautiful two-year old girl. It can be done!

[Quinacridone]

I had to just bite the bullet and study every night after work – sometimes sitting up till midnight and then getting up at 4:15 to be at work by 6:00 everyday. I also gave myself more than 6 weeks for FAR (10 weeks total). I did NOT want to repeat any test so I gave myself one year to do it all (wound up doing it faster than I thought I could). Flashcards, written summaries, and copied word docs of any missed MCQs were my main tools (because its easy to forget what you did in the first chapters by the time you get to the last chapters). I kept my materials with me always so I could fit in study time in all my down moments (i.e. waiting for meetings to start, lunch, etc.)

I did not have a two year old. That's another full time job in itself. I hope that you have a really good support system. My boyfriend took over all household chores while I did nothing but study every night for the seven months to get through it all.

REG - Nov 4, 2013: 88
FAR - Feb 27, 2014: 86
AUD - April 5, 2014: 91
BEC - May 6, 2014: 83

Florida CPA 24 July 2014
(Done in seven months - thank you Jesus!!)

[kujayhawks02]

I am pretty much in the same boat Brittany. Studying early in the morning works great for me and just like Igelfand said I study over my lunch break every day. I also would try and lock myself away from the family for 4-6 hours every Saturday and Sunday. I know it's crappy to spend the weekend like this, but I find that the Dave Ramsey saying applies to studying for the CPA exam as well, “You have to live like no one else, so that one day you can live like no one else.” Or at least that's what I have convinced myself to believe anyways.

FAR - 79
BEC - 72, 79
REG - 75
AUD - 84

[tpenick]

Here is the schedule I had for the months of April and May. Woke up at 4:00. Showered and commuted to work. Studied from 5:30-8. Tried to get 45 minutes in over lunch if I wasn't too busy. I worked til 6:30. Studied from 6:30-8:30. Commuted home. 9:30-10:15 try to have a semblance of family time. Then repeated the next day. Saturday I got up at 7 and studied til noon then spent the rest of the afternoon with my wife and son. Maybe doing some flash cards at night. Sunday, same thing. It SUCKS!!!! But I passed 2 exams in 8 weeks and I am now finished. It takes commitment to do it but it can be done. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You don't have to get it done in 6 weeks. Everyone is different. I have a 16 month old and I started this journey this January (first attempt was in 2011 where I quit after getting a 74 in BEC. Bad decision). Anyways, I used Becker, Wiley and NINJA Audio. With the amount of material FAR has, it's a challenge to listen to all the lectures, do every MCQ and SIM in 6 weeks. Even harder when you have a family and are working full time. This is what I did. I studied three to four hours a day. Would wake up every morning at 4:30 and study until about 6:30ish. This is when I was most productive and all I did was MCQ's. Remember it's not about quantity so I could be doing 10-15 mcq's in those two hours but I made sure I understood the concepts. During lunch hour, I would spend about 30 minutes listening to ninja audio and reading ninja notes. Sometimes I would slip in 5-10 mcqs during that time. I stayed at work after hours, between 5-7. I would continue doing MCQ's and taking notes. Before going to bed around 9:30ish, I would spend half and hour reading my notes or listening to Ninja Audio. I don't think I ever finished all the MCQ's for any given chapter using Becker. In fact out of all Becker chapters, I think I did only 2-3 SIMS. I am not saying skip on the SIMS, but if you comfortable with the topics, there is no point spending hours on SIM practice. During my final review (10 days), I spent most of my time doing MCQs from Wiley. I did 20 at a time for 3-4 topics. I kept doing this until all topics were covered. On weekends, I spent about 4 hours each day to do more MCQs.

I gave my self 2 and a half months to study for this but I did it because I was getting back into the game after a while, had not attempted FAR before and am not even a financial auditor. 10 weeks is a long time and I realized I got tired and disinterested at week 8.

Take one day at a time and you will be fine and don't compare how long it took others, everyone runs their own race.

[BRITTANY.CAMP]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I like to get my sleep! But I'm going to make the attempt to get up a little earlier before work and study some. And try to review some before bed. My little one is not one to go to sleep early. She usually goes to bed when we do. Maybe with a new house and her a new bedroom, she can start sleeping in her own bed. Wish me luck with that!

Just have to remind myself how much it will payoff!

Good luck to all of you!

[mla1169]

You'll have to be creative. The audio is a moms best friend. I'd listen while I was folding laundry and while I was doing yard work. You can read your material to your little one occasionally, two nights a week without “brown bear, brown bear” won't do much damage. You might have to let her watch a bit more Wiggles (or whatever toddlers enjoy these days) so you can sneak in some studying or enlist a young teen to play with her while you study. It's hard but can be done.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[UHC2005]

I use Jeff's ELL Plan.

Late Night, Early Morn, and Lots of Caffeine

I don't really take a lunch at work, so I listen to the Ninja Audio most of the day

Using Ninja MCQ, NINJA Notes, Audio, Flashcards and BLITZ, and 2014 Wiley Text

FAR - (61,63)
AUD - (68)

Keep Calm and RTMFQ

Accountant, what is best in life? To crush your MCQs, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their SIMS!

[Anonymous]

i study when i have idle time at work and when i get home

not a morning person

[jopa16]

Bless you all that are able to do this with a full time job and kids. I couldn't even imagine it. This test is hard enough already!

REG 2/26/14 - 90
BEC 4/08/14 - 92
FAR 5/31/14 - 90
AUD 7/09/14 -

[Java230]

I have a full time job and child. I studied when ever posssible (bathroom, dinner table, driving, all breaks at work, and afterwork as much as possible), my husband was nice to me so he watched our toddler while I put in some study hours, i struggled with actually studying because when things start happening I just wanted to attend to my child instead of multiple choice questions, i was distracted alot. What should take 1hr took me 4 hours, easily. I could do 60 multipe choice in about 4 hours since I couldnt stop taking care of my kid. What helped me is to ask my boss for out of town audit jobs, so I got a week (here and there) out of town so at night i pulled all nighter studying. If you have an option of traveling out of town, it is a great way to get quite time and put in some hours. I also fly alot so airplanes are a great place to study.

Licensed WA CPA 2/2015
Government Auditor Since 2007

[Java230]

In response to mla1169, I admit that my child has gotten SO much smarter in my year of studying. Not only do I use her to try to explain material, teaching a subject really helps you actually learn the topics. But she also sees me writing and making notes so she started rewriting all of her books. as well. Then she started copying my Becker books, now she can read chapter books (with no pictures) and she likes us to give her multiple choice questions on the books she reads (she reads and answers the questions completely independently of us). She is my favorite study budy. She is not kindergarten yet.

Licensed WA CPA 2/2015
Government Auditor Since 2007

[Mamabear]

Unfortunately I have to to give up time with my 3 kids and a lot of sleep to get this done with a full time job and children. If you have a significant other they really need to be on board with your study plan. Stay at work late a few days a week and let your spouse be on parent duty while you study. If your child goes to bed late you can study during your break and 2 hours after work every night and still get home to spend an hour or two with your child before you all go to bed and make sure you get a decent study session on the weekend while your spouse watches your child. It's not ideal, but it's better to make sacrifices now than to draw this out for long periods of time. I studied for 3 months for each test though. I don't know how people do it in 6 weeks.

CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
BEC (08/10/13) 80
AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
FAR (04/12/14) 81
REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

[taxman89]

i am worthless early morning so i usually do MCqs during lunch our and then just stay at work after work for about 2/2.5 hrs then usually do a combined 10 hrs on the weekend

Aud-75 3x I knew i never liked you
Bec-77 1x being in the bubble is stressful
Reg-82 4x its not me its you...and no we cant be friends
Far-78 1x easiest section

[impska]

I work full time in public accounting. I put myself on a 1 year schedule starting January. So, one exam every three months. I passed my second exam on May 31 (so a little early – at the 5 month mark).

Frankly, three months per exam is too much for me. I got a 94 on REG and a 92 on BEC – I was way over-prepared.

I decided to put FAR on a 10 week schedule (one week per chapter). My study schedule is a few hours on Friday, all day Sat and all day Sun. I try to study at least an hour a night on weekdays, but it frequently doesn't happen.

Because it's been slow at work, I'm actually way ahead of my 10 week FAR schedule.

I'm thinking about taking a week off work with PTO prior to AUD and just knocking it out.

That's how I'm doing it. It's not very creative. It's just about putting yourself on a schedule and keeping it. I don't have kids, so hopefully you have someone who can take care of the toddler during your study time and help you get this done.

REG - 94
BEC - 92
FAR - 92
AUD - 99

[Author]

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