Studying for FAR

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #189200
    Mg621831
    Member

    I’m currently studying for the FAR section of the exam and have exactly 3 weeks until my test date. I’m able to devote 35-45 hours a week as I’m currently not working. Anyhow, I’m only halfway through the material and finding that it’s taking a long time for me to get through a chapter. It took me about 3 weeks to get through half of the book and so i’m estimating it will take another 3 weeks for the remainder half. Considering how much time I have, I think i’m a little slow at this. Anyhow, now that I’ve completed F5, I feel like i’ve already forgotten what I learned on F1 and F2. So not sure what my approach should be, continuing through to F10 then do a comprehensive review (at least I will have touched on all the material). Or stop where I’m at and do a mini-comprehensive review knowing that I may not make it through to the end of the material. Any suggestions?!

    FAR - 77 (Nov 8 2014)
    BEC - 76 (Nov 29 2014)
    AUD - (Jan 6, 2015)
    REG - (Feb 14 2015)

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #612225
    Zuly
    Participant

    I am currently studying for FAR as well, exam on 10/20. My best advice from people that have passed the CPA exam is to do 30 MCQs daily on the material that you have previously learned so you won't forget anything. Do it in study mode so you have the answer right away and read why the answer was right or wrong. As you go through the MCQs you'll see where your weak points are and what you'll need to review more as you go along. So keep studying your new material, do MCQs on your new material and also dedicate 30-45 minutes daily to the “overall” 30 MCQs and that should help you retain more of the information. From my own experience it's helped a lot…hope that translates to the exam. Hope that helps! Good luck.

    FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
    AUD - (04/30/15) 86
    BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
    REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

    #612226
    Mg621831
    Member

    Thanks that does sound like a good plan!

    FAR - 77 (Nov 8 2014)
    BEC - 76 (Nov 29 2014)
    AUD - (Jan 6, 2015)
    REG - (Feb 14 2015)

    #612227
    Tripp11
    Member

    When I would finish a chapter and do the MC questions, I would prepare handwritten notes on questions/areas I struggled with. These notes would also include the important areas of memorization the instructors stressed to memorize. Then, every few days, I would take time to go back through and review/memorize these sheets. When it came time to do my final review, I had all of these sheets memorized, word for word – and I retained this info when taking the exam.

    Work as many MC questions as you possibly can, and keep reading your notes. You'll do fine.

    AUD - 93
    BEC - 80
    REG - 86
    FAR - 83

    #612228
    Iggy1985
    Member

    the last two weeks before FAR all I did was do MCQs on all topics for like 10 hrs a day, starting and ending with weakest areas, and made sure I was understanding the concepts.. worked for me

    FAR - 89 (8/19/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Books from School, Ninja Audio/Notes
    AUD - 92 (10/14/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Ninja Audio
    BEC - 82 (5/8/15) Mostly Ninja MCQ, sprinkles of Becker lectures and Ninja Audio
    REG - (8/14/15)

    #612229
    Juliemiddle
    Member

    You definitely need to make it through all your material. Whatever you do, don't skip stuff b/c you're short on time. Reschedule your exam to a few weeks later, if you have to.

    I personally need about 2 wks. of review, after I've made it through all the material (I work full-time, study part time…that might be just 1 week of review for you).

    AUD: 84 - Oct. 2013
    BEC: 83 - Feb. 2014
    REG: 91 - May, 2014
    FAR: 68, 96 - Oct. 2014...DONE

    CPAExcel, Ninja Audio (all sections)

    #612230
    Michael
    Participant

    *bump* do you ever feel like there is to much material. I feel like i need to go through the material soooo many times before i start to understand it where i see some people get through the lecutres and questions once and they pass.

    REG - 63,74,70,81!!!
    FAR - 44,73, 81!!!!
    AUD - 51,81!
    BEC - 73,77!!

    3 years later and I'm officially done. Never give up no matter what!

    #612231
    Rocky123
    Member

    @Michael

    We are taking FAR on the same date! Four weeks to go!!

    It does take a while to get through the material. Everything is so math intensive. Plus I've been out of college for a while. Haven't seen this material in over 15 years.

    The tallest oak in the forest was once just a little nut that held its ground.

    AUD-PASS
    BEC-PASS
    REG-PASS
    FAR-PASS

    Rocky123, CPA

    #612232
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    In the beginning, it felt like too much material to me, but by the time I had finished the book, it all seemed to come together into more manageable pieces. My mental checklist of topics, for lack of a better to way put it, was:

    1. reporting requirements

    2. revenue recognition and basic JEs

    3. business combinations/consolidations

    4. A/R, inventory, and depreciation

    5. leases & bonds

    6. pensions

    7. equity

    8. governmental/NFP

    I was solid on 5,6, & 7 because I work in insurance, and my job deals more with investment accounting and time value of money concepts, whereas 2, 3, 4, and 8 were things I hadn't really dealt with since college, so I did most of my MCQs on those.

    I really think relentless MCQs is the way to go, but you have to be very disciplined about reviewing the answers and making sure you understand why the right answer is the right answer. It's tempting, as you're going through the questions, to just not read the explanations on questions you got right, but if you were even somewhat unsure about the answer, you really need to be reading the solutions, and I would write down notes about problem-solving steps as you come across pieces that you are missing.

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