So now what….after failing FAR…

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  • #167857
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    So, I failed FAR with a 71. I am not sure how to study now. This is my last section. I used Yaeger and thought I had a really thorough understanding of the material. Any suggestions for a new study approach? Should I try another program?

    My previous experience with other programs. I passed AUD and BEC with Yaeger and REG with Becker.

    I would like to retake toward the end of April. Please offer any suggestions….

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  • #330301
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I used Becker but I've known people to pass with Wiley. Here's what I did. I have a different perspective on studying. It worked well for me so I'll share it since I've never heard this style from anybody else.

    1. Go through all the lectures back to back. Make enough notes and higlighting that you shouldn't need to go back to the lectures (unless your more successful audible learning, I'm not).

    2. Re-read the book all the way through after you've done the lectures.

    3. Print out the MCQ's so that you can make notes and highlights on the actual questions. Read the question, don't look at the answer options. Try to get the answer without looking at the answers provided. If it takes you more than 2 minutes, just read the answer descriptions and read all of them. When I first started studying, I tried to get every answer right and that's not the point. The Becker MCQ's are meant to help recall and supply additional fact nuggets that weren't explicit in the text. I'm guessing Yaegar is the same way. And if you're taking more than 2 minutes to recall, then you need to work on re-reading which would be provided by reading the answer descriptions. Mark the ones that are you giving you trouble and go back to them several times. Make additional notes and highlights on the questions so you can remember what gave you trouble last time and highlight particular phrases and fact nuggets from the answer descriptions.

    4. If you feel you need extra practice, try Wiley's software. Wiley has great questions and a lot of them repeat from Becker so I'm sure it's the same from Yaegar, so you get a mix repitition and new information. CPAExcel also gets a lot of good reviews, although I've never used it. But by the end, I was able to do all the questions from memory without looking at the answer choices.

    Once I went through all the material, I used Jeff's NINJA guide and reviewed it for atleast a half hour every day to build up my recall. For example, when you get to the Pensions section in FAR, Jeff provides the high level stuff you must know, but a bunch of other things about pensions should be going through your head at the same time (like doing the actual calculations).

    I passed all my sections with only a week of 8am – 8pm studying for each exam (with the exception of FAR because I couldn't get to 8 and 9). And the only way I was able to do that was not spending hours racking my brain on a questions where the answer descriptions and making your own notes are a lot more valuable.

    #330302
    jjm1181
    Participant

    I really like Becker Final Review. I would credit that book and those short lectures to me passing FAR.

    B 79
    A 75
    R 78
    F 85

    #330303
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I just passed FAR on my second try. I neither watched lectures nor read the book. I went straight to the questions in the Wiley book. I took notes in excel until I made it through the book. I reviewed my notes on my lunch breaks. Then I used the test bank and added to my notes, including doing print screens and pasting into excel the questions I thought would be good to review. Then a week before the test I went through those notes really well including those problematic questions. I marked in red everything I thought I should review the day before the exam. The main difference b/w this time and last time was that my notes were in excel and thus a lot easier to keep organized and much easier to review. This worked really well for me.

    #330304
    Zizoty
    Participant

    I'm with albinodragon. Don't bother with the CRAM or lectures again. Just redo all the MCQs( no SIMS) in Wiley test bank until you score a 70% or higher. Take note in MS Word for those problems that you missed. Use the option ” have not seen” or “problems you missed” after your first round at the MCQs. If money is not tight, I would buy the 2012 Wiley test bank so you get all the updated material. Make sure you rewrite or read your notes multiple time because there's no point in taking notes if you don't use it. GOOD LUCK.

    AUD - 83 Feb11
    REG - 75 May11
    BEC - 73 July11 84 Oct11
    FAR - 63 Aug11 76 Feb12 I'M DONE!!!!!

    #330305
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I'm with bluecello on this one – I actually thought I did better on this part than any other I've taken. This was the first time I actually felt that I nailed the SIMS. Boy was I disappointed. Thanks everyone for your comments – I have to wait for the results to see where I went wrong. I'm so lost right now.

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