[methodman]

Hey everyone,
I’m glad to have found this forum, it seems like there is a lot of good advice and knowledge on here.

I recently started studying for FAR around mid December and I’m scheduled to take the exam on February 27th. I am using Wiley CPA excel and plan to buy ninja MCQ for the last two weeks before the test date.

So far, my studying looks like this: Study Wiley CPA excel for 3-4 hours/day, I usually watch a short video, read the related text, and do the required MCQ for the section (usually ranges from 5-18 questions depending on how involved the lesson is). I don’t really review later on in the day, since I set the “exam date” on the software for two weeks before the actual date so I can review later. There are post section mcq’s that test for understanding, those are usually 1 hr sessions.

The way Wileycpaexcel breaks out the study plan, it seems like its gonna take me around/above 200 hrs to get through the material just once, without any review. Seems like I may be inefficient, but I’m not sure since I do feel like I’m getting a grasp of the material so far (just don’t know if it will stick considering a 2.5 month study period). I plan on doing the ninja MCQ on top of that.

So my question is:
– Should I be skipping videos and focusing on more MCQ’s instead?
-Am I wasting time? 200+ hrs is kind of the track I’m on so far
– Should I be reviewing the material “learned” everyday? Or is it more beneficial to go through everything, and then hit the problem areas and everything else again in the last two weeks?

Cliffs:
-OP is on track to study 200+hrs
-OP watches cpaexcel videos, reads, and does related mcq’s. Probably average of 30 mcq’s/day
-OP plans on going through every lesson once, then reviewing everything in the last 2 weeks
-Am I wasting time watching videos/ would it be more efficient to just read and hit more mcq’s even though I will lose a marginal amount of understanding?
-How many hours did you study?

[Anonymous]

I would watch the videos lectures. They give you the theory and the rationale behind many of the accounting rules. Also, I would purchase Ninja much earlier; I believe it's a 3 month subscription so better to have it the whole time your studying rather than just 2 weeks before the test. I think doing questions from Wiley and Ninja gives you a nice variety in questions being asked slightly different.

[mckan514w]

@methodman is this your first time with FAR? if so agree with @bondvillain watch the videos it gives you a great reference point / understanding of the foundations and definitely buy ninja earlier. Personally I would try and leave 3 weeks for review but thats just me I have an “old and slow” brain these days. GOOD LUCK!

and they ask me why I drink...

FAR- 61-next time I'll ask for lube instead of a calculator
REG-75- Never been so happy to see such a low grade
BEC- 8/11
AUD- 9/2

[mtaylo24]

Sounds pretty good. I would recommend 3 weeks for Ninja MCQ though instead of 2.

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[methodman]

Thanks for all the replies!

Yea, this is my first try at FAR and the CPA exam in general. Sounds like I'll be purchasing the ninja MCQ a little bit earlier. Glad to hear I am on the right track! It is a decent amount of work, so I just want to make sure I'm doin it right, you know?

Good luck to all of you also in the process of studying!

[Jdn9201]

Good luck preparing for your first exam OP. 🙂 Regarding your plan – it's hard to say because different things work for different people. I don't know what kind of background you have (how much work experience, specialty, etc.) but time spent depends on alot of factors. I saved FAR for my last exam, because I think as you go through this process there's a certain feel and pace that you develop that gives you an idea of whether you are getting it, lost, or somewhere in between. I took FAR in Feb 2016 and there's no way I could have done it for my first one because it is very overwhelming. I think you could cut out some time by either reading the chapters or watching the videos, depending on what method works better for you. Doing both on all chapters is overkill. I only read the couple chapters that I had trouble with. With your mcq's – don't focus on the number of them, but rather the quality of your learning from them. Doing 1000's of MCQ's is overrated. You have to understand WHY an answer is correct or not correct, and think about how the question could be asked differently. I think it's good that you've asked about how to be efficient because another downside of studying for a long amount of time is the longer your study window is, the more time you have to save at the end reviewing what you learned in the beginning. My plan for FAR was very unconventional – I did it from start to finish in 19 days, in about 75-80 hours of study time. One upside to doing it over a short period of time is I only had to review over 3-4 days instead of weeks because there wasn't enough time for me to forget, if that makes sense. Another way to save time – follow the AICPA content specific outline (make sure you are looking at the latest one), and prioritize your study time based on that. That will give you an idea as to the topics that are the most important to be strong in.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Author]

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