[cpa1234]

I am set to retake FAR in a couple weeks!

A little background:
I got a 60 in Q3, which obviously means I need to bring up that score quite a lot. I think I know 4 topics that were a bit weak for me that I did see quite a bit on the exam. AND, there was a sim that I probably could have gotten if I had just looked at those notes during my review day before the exam (but I made the stupid choice not to). Those “heavily tested topic(s)” were clearly a major portion of the exam, but in my score review I was actually stronger in that category than average. Finally, I had probably an hour & a half left on the clock. I had that much time left when I took BEC and I passed that, so I wasn’t concerned by going too fast. Usually for me I either know it or I don’t, so I breeze through exams, but that also means I may not catch stupid errors either. I plan to use the full time this go around. But, I have little motivation for reviewing especially since I’ll start studying for audit right after. I studied for 2 months for FAR in the summer doing a couple modules a day which also could have been why I failed because I basically forgot everything I did in the early days and felt like I was re-learning it during my review week.

What did some of you do for a quick review before a retake for FAR? Just looking for some tips from people who re-took a failed exam after a couple weeks of review and passed! Thanks!

[M123]

Becker was not doing it for me. Their explanations were very Becker-like – so if I didn't understand something – rereading it didn't help. I felt desperate.

I researched CPA notes and fell upon Ninja. The Ninja Notes and about 1200 MCQ in Ninja put me over the edge – it was enough. I was at a place where I was playing with fire trying to study “just enough”. I was not an acct major and am focused on tax so it was a huge hurdle. I think I went from 59 to 77. The key was that I looked at the data that Ninja produced – ie – looking for that learning spike. IE, I let my results guide me.

[PNS2CLT]

Practicing nothing but MCQ (and some SIM) would be the most effective two week review, but a 60 might suggest you're further away from a 75 than you think. Ultimately, depends on how much time you're putting into your review over the next two weeks.

[SallyCPA]

Did you notice your MCQ get harder?

[cpa1234]

I felt the second half of MCQ was slightly harder but honestly it was some of the sims that I thought were really tough. I considered ditching Becker for the review and looking at Ninja notes instead. I’ve been reading my notes which I took after ever module so I don’t know if I see a point in reading the book again. And the sims in Becker seemed far off from the real ones and I already did them so it doesn’t seem productive to do them again.

Maybe Ninja is my way to go!

[Anonymous]

@eventualcpa11
Have you completed all the Skills & MCQ that Becker has? I feel that is really helping me understand my weaknesses and I'm able to click the lecture button if I need to re-read. I'm taking brief notes on the MCQs that I'm getting wrong. I'll read back over them the day before the exam.

My story on FAR is that I had an end of 3Q exam date but hadn't finished the last 2.5 chapters of Becker. My husband & decided I would go ahead, take the exam and continue to study for an October date. I made a 62 without even touching 2.5 chapters of Becker or having a overall review day…. Now I'm finishing the chapters and going back through the skills & MCQs.

I hope you get your Pass on the next round!

[PNS2CLT]

IMO, you should focus on FAR and not think about AUD — a 60 says you're further from passing than you think, and knowing FAR well will reduce your study time on AUD while exponentially increasing the chances you pass on your first attempt. Ninja notes are excellent for a review but if you're deficient in the content they won't help. Ninja MCQ is excellent but similar content is in Becker – might as well use it, you or somebody else paid $3K for it after all.

Review programs don't have access to TBS (sims) and since there can be an infinite number of TBS on hundreds of topics, it isn't shocking the TBS seemed foreign to you. But if you know the content & calculations, really it shouldn't be an issue. Personally, I only work practice TBS in areas I'm deficient – my time is better spent on the MCQ.

[cpa1234]

Thank you for all the tips! My first hurdle is probably finding the motivation to study while working! Good luck to anyone still studying as well!

[Author]

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