[Jaimcpa]

Hello!

I have a few questions for all of you!

First, here is a little information regarding my situation/background:

I am signed up for the Becker FastPass course starting in May. I will also be finishing up my MAcc as well. I currently work at a small CPA CFO firm and have been there for about 2 years. Recently, I have accepted an offer from a national firm that will be starting me in the fall of 2013 (Audit).

I have placed a link to a picture of my CPA study schedule below:

https://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b580/jaimcpa/CPAPlan_zpsebdd9d79.png

I am pretty disciplined when it comes to this stuff, and my significant other is on board with all of this.

So, here are my questions!

1. Would you feel this schedule is impossible? If so, why (looking for other peoples perspective intentionally)?

2. Do you know of others who have tried something similar (3 or 4 in one test window) and succeeded? With Becker?

Thanks everyone!

Edit: Picture seems small :(. I can read it, just hoping you all can too. Sorry!

FAR- 73, 10/07/2013
REG- 8/31/2013
AUD- TBD
BEC- TBD

MAcc
Main: Becker Self-Study 2013. Supplements: Ninja / Wiley TB / CPAExcel (Bought before I received an offer).

[Jaimcpa]

Anyone!

FAR- 73, 10/07/2013
REG- 8/31/2013
AUD- TBD
BEC- TBD

MAcc
Main: Becker Self-Study 2013. Supplements: Ninja / Wiley TB / CPAExcel (Bought before I received an offer).

[Anonymous]

Can't read the photo very well, but if you're good at FAR, study at least 100 hours, if you need to play catchup because you didn't apply yourself in CORP I & II (and maybe III) in school seems like everyone suggests 200 hours.

Seems like people can pass with little studying, some can't pass with loads of study time. It depends on how well you retain what you learn.

I'm going for my next three this coming window and I'm a little overwhelmed. I took 2 months for audit & the test seemed easy. Half the time & FAR is twice as big….

I have Becker 2011 and Wiley test bank. For AUD, I was comfortable with every type of MCQ and scoring 80% percent in most sections, some higher and one or two sections lower (SSAE). If I can feel this way before my exam I'm certain I'll pass FAR. If I'm uncomfortable with it, I'll fail. But for AUD, it wasn't until the last few days that I re-did every single Wiley MCQ & really was sure of the material.

To get 200 hours in three weeks, you need to effectively (not just surf another71) study 10 hours per day, 7 days per week. Then 1 week of review. Drink coffee & ignore family/lady friends. Don't worry about your social life, since we are all accountants we don't actually have one so quit falsely bolstering your ego jk!

I'm focusing on the book for FAR & REG, but I think for AUD & BEC it's best to just do MCQs as nothing is super comprehensive and the MCQ answers are sufficient to obtain a good understanding of the whole concept being tested.

[MustPass1988]

Actually, I do know of one person who passed all 4 sections in one window. He is really really smart so it wasn't really that surprising. I guess, just be prepared for your life to suck but why not try? I mean, if all else fails, you end up finishing them in the next windw.

AUD: PASSED [81]; Expired, retaking August 23rd
BEC: PASSED [83]; Expired, retaking July 11th
REG: PASSED [83]
FAR: FAILED [64]; Retaking May 23rd

[sdgh1826]

Have a bit of flexibility. There are days when my target study hours are 3 but I end up doing only 2 hours. On one day I would target 6 hours but end up doing 8. There are topics where you'll spend more time on.

Focus on quality hours. Just like excercise, a 1 mile run is not equal to a 1 mile slow walk. Many of us say that we studied an X amount of time, but really, half of the time we could just be wandering. So just target a number of hours and be flexible, unexpected things come up.

Becker 2012, NINJA notes

[Jaimcpa]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

For those of you who could not see the image this is what the hour distribution looks like:

FAR-132 Hours

AUD-95 hours

REG-141 Hours

BEC-89 Hours

Preliminary Testing Dates:

FAR-5/31/13

AUD-7/1/13

REG-7/7/13

BEC-7/20/13

Now I might be allocating more time than I need since I will be fresh out of the MAcc, but I'd rather error on the side of studying too much than too little. I did count some slack into those numbers and I plan for them to be quality hours.

If anyone is interested in actually being able to see this schedule I can re-post a better picture.

I'm just glad I didn't see “are you nuts” anywhere in here.

Thanks again!

FAR- 73, 10/07/2013
REG- 8/31/2013
AUD- TBD
BEC- TBD

MAcc
Main: Becker Self-Study 2013. Supplements: Ninja / Wiley TB / CPAExcel (Bought before I received an offer).

[Anonymous]

Are you nuts? Kidding 🙂

I am impressed with your discipline, and plenty of people can pass all four parts in one window. Just be sure to build in some flexibility for anything unexpected (like illness or personal matters). Being recently out of school should help you a lot. I have not seen some of this material in 6-7 years, and while I vaguely remember most of the topics, it is taking time to refresh myself with the details. I would also suggest supplementing your Becker materials with some others – such as the Wiley books or test bank – so that you can have a wider variety of questions.

Good luck!

[jelly]

Question: Do you already have an NTS and ready to schedule a date? Or is your MBA degree part of the education requirements needed for the initial application and first NTS? The whole initial application process can be pretty slow, in addition to getting the final transcripts from school sent out.

Couldn't pass again!

[Jaimcpa]

I have my NTS ready to go for FAR and AUD. I haven't used it yet as I want to be absolutely sure these will be my dates.

@Clayton

I have CPAExcel (purchased prior to getting an offer) that I have been using as I will not touch the Becker materials until the fastpass starts (everyone has been telling me this). I finished CPAExcel's FAR section and will be starting the AUD section (feel guilty if I don't use this stuff). I will also be purchasing the complete Ninja 10 point package (all sections) on Wednesday, mainly for the CHEAP overall Wiley Testbank price and the mp3 audios for the road.

Once I have the Wiley Testbank, it will be my direct supplement for becker and I will only use CPAExcel if for some reason I still can't grasp something.

Its been hard studying for this stuff while finishing my Master's. I finished CPAExcel's FAR section but I KNOW they were not quality hours. This fastpass program should do the trick for me, especially since I will only be working 12 hours a week + no school. I'm very lucky to have this opportunity.

FAR- 73, 10/07/2013
REG- 8/31/2013
AUD- TBD
BEC- TBD

MAcc
Main: Becker Self-Study 2013. Supplements: Ninja / Wiley TB / CPAExcel (Bought before I received an offer).

[Author]

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