[jimboace88]

I can’t help but feel hopeless every time I study my FAR material (using Becker, although I am sure I’d feel the same no matter which prep course I had).

I fall in the 60%-70% range as I do the multiple choice and supplemental questions, and on the simulations I range from nailing them to butchering them beyond belief.

For all the time I put in watching the lectures and making notecards, I really thought I would be doing much better and my morale and drive are suffering big time because of it. What are some good morale boosters people have tried when faced with the frustration of constantly screwing up the homework?

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[johnjohn1]

I am in the same boat. I am taking FAR in a week and I feel terrible about the material. I have been doing well on some of the questions and sections in Becker and then totally f'ing up some of the others. What I did and I think it helped is as I did a question I would write the number of the questions down on a pad, I would then put the answer and why I thought it was the answer. I did this for every question in a section I wasn't comfortable with. I then went over each question and saw what my thinking was versus what my thinking should be, for all the ones I got right and wrong. I would then write down on the pad why each answer was what it was. I think this really helped me visualize my thinking and why it was wrong or right.

What I'm doing is reviewing a section a day and then doing as many MCQ's as i can as well as doing the sims. I don't think you should get hung up on one section or one set of questions. As long as you realize where you are making mistakes and how you should be doing the problems I think you'll be fine.

[ExhaustedCPA]

For me, the Far exam wasn't very similar to the Becker material. I'm still in absolute shock that I passed. I check everyday to make sure my score hasn't changed lol

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[Anonymous]

FAR was easily the most difficult exam to study for. I too was averaging low 70s, but trust me in that by the time you finish the book, I guess everything starts to click together. I did a second pass thru the questions after I finished the book and was scoring a lot higher.

I feel Becker puts out more of the difficult questions, which in the end is good because come test day I feel the questions are generally a bit easier. Just keep at it. I know for sure I never got to a point where I finally felt comfortable in knowing the entire insanely sized book, but I passed.

[Anonymous]

I am barely breaking 50%'s. This material is killing me. I just hope when I get to go back through, it all clicks and makes sense. Some of the q's in F2 and F5 and brutal.

[Peanut]

CPAsomeday, when are you sitting for your FAR exam? I am sitting Jul 13t and I just broke into the 70's-barely. Getting nervous!

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Anonymous]

late august, but with work picking up, there is never enough time.

[johnjohn1]

I am in my final review for my test and I can tell you I've studied F2 over 34 hours and still don't fully get it. F2 and F5 are my two weakest areas and it's where I am trying to put in the most time. I don't think you should get hung up on two chapters. Once you go through all the material if you only have two out of nine chapters that you aren't comfortable with, that's pretty good.

The only thing I can tell you is spend boat loads of time on these two topics. That's what I am doing and it seems to be getting better. I am currently reviewing F5, so I feel your pain. Just keep at it, and it will be done in no time.

[Anonymous]

Saying that you are scoring in the “60's and 70's” MAY be misleading because the emphasis should be on understanding and applying the concepts.

[Anonymous]

No matter what section I'm studying, my scores on the practice MC questions are nearly always in the 50-60% range the first time through. It's hitting the material a second and third time through that makes all the difference for me. I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but the strategy: first time: understand; second time: memorize; third time: master, works pretty well for me.

[Anonymous]

Jim,

Don't worry too much about F2, it is very challenging. Just keep your head up. I would suggest being able to do JEs for reconciliations instead of the BASE formula. Even better than JE are T accts. I don't know why becker doesnt emphasize using T accts, their pass rates would be 99%!! If you need help just post I am taking my test on Wednesday, but I feel the more I help people online the more I retain. Well back to studying (oh and do the simulations they help you grasp the information in Becker)

[Anonymous]

clubcard,

I agree. That approach has worked for me on two other exams, but I didn't find the topics nearly as challenging as most of these. I have started writing out all the answer responses, because more efficiently by writing things down as opposed to just reading. This approach seems to be working a bit better, but is soooo time consuming.

[IwannaBaCPA]

I took FAR last window and passed with a 78 by some miracle…I know that is not a superstar score, but I am proud I passed!!

That being said, I felt the same way about the material and as many many others have said “Far is a mile long and an inch deep”. I too used Becker to prepare and had crammed so much in my head my brain was fried come test day! I had total amnesia once I started my exam and I still can't believe I passed. My advice is to learn as much as you can as well as you can and give it your best shot. You just never know!

One piece of advice I can give for test day that likely saved me is TIME MANAGEMENT! If you get stuck (happened to me over and over), mark the question and move on. Stick to a time schedule you have already determined before walking into the testing center. I left myself 1.5 hours for the SIMS and really needed it! If I had let myself waste time getting angry at the questions or myself, then I would not have had enough time for the SIMS and would surely have failed…

I wish you the best of luck!

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[F5 to Refresh]

I agree with most comments on here, but the two things that helped me most where the T accounts and Time Management…I too left 1.5 hours for the sims, and used every minute. Good luck.

AUD 79 Q4 2010 - NY
BEC 84 Q4 2010
REG 79 Q1 2011
FAR 86 Q2 2011 - Done

[Anonymous]

For FAR I was consistently scoring in the 60s up until about a week before my exam when I hit the 70s and even a few 80s. I felt like Becker prepared me very well for the multiple choice—I butchered the Sims and passed with an 80.

[ak311]

I'm on chapter 4, I'm getting in the 50-70 percent range on all sections from previous chapters, mostly 60s. Chapter 2 was definitely the hardest so far, I feel your pain. I'm saving 2 weeks for review before my exam, I hope this all clicks during that time.

FAR - F (2011), 5/16
AUD - F(2011)
BEC -
REG -

2nd attempt at this thing. Time to get serious.

[Author]

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