[samanthajmontgomery]

Ok so I’m brand new to this site, and blogging in general. I took AUD this fall and got a 65 (I know thats not very good) and just took FAR without much more hope. Something has GOT to change. I live in a rural area and don’t have access to live Becker courses so I have the at home version. Any advice on what I should do to turn this thing around? I’m not sure what to do next?Should I study then schedule? Schedule then study? Any advice/help would be great. Thanx

[jeff]

samantha – How hard did you study?

[samanthajmontgomery]

Well on a scale of 1-10 probably about a 6-7, I recently graduated college and was not the type that had to do TONS of studying for finals and stuff like some of my friends even though I had a 3.8 GPA graduating. I know this exam is different then most but I think I'm sort of struggling with what to do now that I know I NEED to ramp up my studying. I don't think I have bad study habits, I think I just don't have any. I also am not sure which section to approach next/retake and how I should go about scheduling it again (right away or wait until I study more) or what? I live in a rural area and don't have anyone at my firm that has taken an exam in the past 5+ years or anyone I know locally taking it to get with to study. Any advice?

[Anonymous]

@samantha,

How many hours is a ‘6-7' ?

[samanthajmontgomery]

Sorry, I just realized you measure “studying” by hours on the blog, probably like 10-20 hours, I just sort of skimmed the lectures and book, I know it probably wasn't the best but that's why I want to make a change and I'm looking for some advice as to how to form a study plan that's going to be efficient, effective and of course work. Every time I sat down to study I just felt sort of lost about how to use the materials (ie book, lectures, questions, practice tests). I also never got real established with a schedule probably pretty serious mistakes, but like I said I want to commit to something I just don't really know where to start?

[Anonymous]

@samantha,

First, I would form a study plan. You should probably be looking at 80+ hours over the course of four weeks to give yourself a decent shot for each section. There are many other candidates that do much more than this for FAR.

I did not utilize online study methods. I read each chapter of the Bisk book and did each multiple choice question and skimmed each simulation. Take good notes as you go and review the previous chapter's notes after you knock out three our four more.

For review, I would recommend Yeager's CRAM DVD course. I think it does a very good job going over the information to prepare you for the test.

With or without the CRAM course, you should review your notes and review multiple choice questions before the exam. Also, I would look over your writting skills on those tests with a written portion (10% of the score).

[samanthajmontgomery]

Well I haven't found out about the FAR yet, but the writting skills for my AUD were a 90 which was “stronger” than the average, just the other stuff wasn't as good (obviously). How did you go about scheduling your 80+ hours over 4 weeks? Evenings? Weekends? What seems to work best?

[Anonymous]

I work full-time at an accounting firm. So, I could not do too much during week days. I usually did 2 hours each week night, 6 hours on Saturday, and 4 hours on Sunday.

This doesn't leave much family time, though. I just kept telling myself it was the best thing I could do for my family. I did catch some flack for this study schedule by some relatives!

[samanthajmontgomery]

Ok, yeah I work full time too and tax season is coming up, but I really think I just need to soldier through because I don't think just making excuses is good, ex: I'm always busy at work, I always have other stuff I want to do etc. So when you sat down to study how did you begin, read the chapter, watch the lecture, work questions?

[Anonymous]

I didn't have any lectures. I read every page and then answered the questions. If you have the lecture cds, I would recommend that you watch those first, then skim the book where you were confused, and then answer questions.

[samanthajmontgomery]

ok so after you went through each and every page of the book did you take the questions as you read along each chapter or at the end? Also, if you were in my shoes, would you schedule another exam, or complete the study materials then schedule and review? Thanks for all your help BTW.

[Anonymous]

I did it both ways. Sometimes I waited until I completed the whole chapter and sometimes I answered them as I went. I think its your preference.

I would have to schedule my exam and then study. I could not make myself study if I didn't have the exam scheduled. That's just me, though.

[Anonymous]

Ok, I signed in here just to reply to this. I used Becker at home, and I passed 3 parts on my first try, and I am waiting on my score for the part I re-took. I watched the lectures first. I would start with the Chapter 1 lecture- it takes you through through the book, tells you what to highlight, etc. Then, answer the questions associated with that chapter in the Homework section of the dvd. Do this for each chapter until you have been through all of the chapters. Then take the 100 question practice exam, which is called the Simulated exam on the Passmaster CD. The results of this exam will give you a chapter-by-chapter breakdown so you can know which ones you are weaker on. Once you go back and study those, I would take the Final Exam in the Becker software.

You can do it! I was just like you in college….didn't have to study much. But I knew this test was different, so I've made the effort. GL to you! You can do it!

Kim

AUD- 85

FAR- 80

REG- 79

BEC- 72, (11/24- results pending)

[Anonymous]

As someone else who works full time, (also at an accounting firm) is to really PLAN my studies. Its great to tell someone to watch the lectures, etc.

For me, before I started each section, I totaled up the number of lecture hours, and total questions in my software for that section (example. AUD has 1755 question in the Gleim software). I then kept track of how much lecture time I had left to complete, and how many questions I had done.

I planned to have all lectures completed at least 2 weeks prior to my exam date, as well at least 80% of all MC completed. I then spent the remaining 2 weeks, doing 100 random MC every day the last two weeks, and then reading the section/chapter in a book afterwards that day where I felt I was weak.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I work full-time at a Big 4 accounting firm, and I have 2 kids. But, you can watch the lectures in small pieces at a time. Becker lectures are broken up into topics for each chapter. My goal was to always make it through a lecture and the questions for that lecture in 1 week. THere is no lecture longer than 3.5 hours, except there may be one in FAR that is 4 hours. So, aim to one lecture and the questions associated with that in a week. 1.5-2 hours every evening should get you there. Then use the weekend to review/finish up the questions.

[Anonymous]

I personally have had better luck just reading through the book line by line and taking notes. Then I go through and answer all of the questions for the section. I think it all depends on how you learn. I ended up wasting a lot of time on the lectures because I simply do not learn that way. I always had to read to understand in college as well. But even so, I still put in 150+ hours for most exams. Good luck!

[Author]

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