[fwesley]

Statistically I thought I wouldn’t pass. Not only didn’t I pass I got a 65! Which for me I’m SHOCKED. This was supposed to be my “easy” one. And there were no areas during where I thought “I have no idea what this question is asking.” I felt alright coming out but I had done 3,000 questions!

Rogers course, Wiley test bank. 100% of lectures complete, got 100% on quizzes before moving on, 100% of simulations completed with an average score of 92%, 92% of Wiley MCQs and 100% of Wiley simulations.

Studied 50-60 hours a week from 9/01 to 11/21. HOW IN THE HECK DID I DO THAT POORLY?

I am at a loss on where to begin. I have BEC scheduled on 1/30–do I push it out to April 1st or try for February 28? And do FAR on 1/31? Or other way around? Do I start with lectures, and MCQs and SIMS? At 60 hours a week it took me 3 months I’m not sure what to do. Most of my friends who didn’t pass didn’t study as much as me. I’m so disappointed. I don’t know my weak areas I didn’t feel like I had too many during the test. My low score indicates the things I thought I knew — clearly I didn’t. Don’t you wish you could see the final results graded?? 🙂

HELP guys!

FAR: 65 (still drying my tears) 2nd attempt: 7/2016
BEC: 81 5/2016 (WOO FIRST PASS!)
REG: 5/2016
AUD: 8/2016

[Anonymous]

@fwesley I would take FAR again as soon as possible as you still remember it. Read the book again and updates. As you read them, you might remember some of them was in your actual exam.

[jasoncancio]

Ouch.

[CPA Slayer]

I would retake FAR. Depending on the type of learner you are, you should know which study method works if you took other exams and passed them. I personally do the M/C until I cannot take it anymore. Anytime I get an answer wrong, I write down why, and then review those explanations at the end of the day. I always found writing it down helped me retain it better.

FAR - 84
REG - 86
AUD - 90
BEC - 88

KO the test in 5 months even though I am a dummy!

Through God all things can happen!

"But, in our defense, accountants aren't really boring people.
We just get excited over boring things."

[MOAC]

If I was you I would take FAR ASAP. I know you might be gutted but that's okay. Sometimes it's not your day. While Studying and doing mcqs I feel sometimes it's not my day. My all educated guesses go wrong and I misread/misinterpret the questions. I think you should read questions very carefully. I have taken FAR twice unfortunately, despite passing first time. I realized simulations is where you fail. It might be different for you but many people say they don't do well in simulation tasks. I think they key for simulations is to have good concept in following areas
CFS for non-profit, government and regular one.
Diluted EPS
Adjusting JE
Small topics like retirement obligation, Contingencies, Troubled debt shooting, etc.

I used Becker both times and I feel Becker is very good when it comes to FAR.

FAR May 2012 81 (lost credit, didn't sit for other sections.)
FAR 86 Aug 2015
AUD 85 Nov 2015
BEC 84 Dec 2015
REG 78 Mar 2016

Passed ALL sections in first attempt!!

[kenster7773]

There are serious issues with your study techniques. You studied for longer than anyone I have ever heard of and still failed. Therefore, you are doing it all wrong. You are cookbooking. You need to quiz yourself using flashcards and WRITE OUT the answers to problems you miss. Grab yourself a binder and fill it with your own notes and explanations. Possibly consider looking online for more full explanations of concepts you do not understand. You can and will do much better when you focus on conceptual understanding, not just application. You might be missing the forest for the trees. As others have stated, you want to be concise and effective in your studying. You will be okay. You just have to dust yourself off, get mad, and go do it better this time. Use it as fuel to fire your success! IF it was easy everyone would do it.

AUD - 95 (89 1st time - expired)
BEC - 85 (1st time)
REG - 87 (1st time)
FAR - 82 (1st time)

[K.K.]

@fwesley, I felt the exact same way you did. My first time around I didn't study the way I should have, but the second time I really put in work and only improved 7 points. I, myself, will be taking the advice @Kenster7773 stated. I don't think I did enough writing or understanding concepts. I was passing all of my quizzes on Ninja with 80-100 every time. I'm planning to take this exam in 4 weeks.

FAR-58,65,70,75!!!!!!

[EuroAddict]

Were you learning the material or just learning the answer? I find myself sometimes reading just a first sentence and knowing the answer b/c I have just the answer memorized.

-----------------------------
BEC - 77, 03/2015 (first try)
FAR - 79, 05/2015 (second try)
REG - 83, 12/2015 (first try)
AUD - 84, 03/2015 (first try)

I got 99 problems but the CPA ain't one.

[Anonymous]

Read the questions very carefully in the exam. Many times I have seen “gotcha!” type questions that you really have to be on point for.

The worst part of this exam is that you can walk out of the exam feeling certain you failed, and then you pass , and vice versa. It is truly crushing and I have been in your shoes more than once.

You should take this exam in early February. Don't try to ‘brush up' on your studies, you'll need to start from scratch. I think the retake exam tends to be harder, so get ready. Also, I've heard other people study for 8 weeks per exam but I've always tried to push the studying into 5-6 weeks maximum.

[K.K.]

@EuroAddict

A little bit of both. I would work through the problems even if I knew the answer and if I didn't get the right answer I would review.

@6silvermoonbeams

I believe most of my problem came with careful reading. I studied 2-3 months for my 1st retake. The material is still fresh, but I'm starting from the beginning. I'm hoping the 10 days I'm off work for Christmas break really help me get prepared for an exam Mid Jan.

FAR-58,65,70,75!!!!!!

[MOAC]

Don't forget to read the score review. It would give you a good idea where you lacked.

FAR May 2012 81 (lost credit, didn't sit for other sections.)
FAR 86 Aug 2015
AUD 85 Nov 2015
BEC 84 Dec 2015
REG 78 Mar 2016

Passed ALL sections in first attempt!!

[CPA2BEE]

First off, FAR is not the “easy” one. That thing is a beast. But I know how you feel, I studied for 4 months for my first attempt and came out with a 68. The same thing recently happened with AUD (probably closer to 150 hrs for that exam). I'm currently re-studying for AUD and am staying calm because I have experience and success so far with retakes.

Here is my advice – start all over and read/practice ALL of the material all over again. You already have a strong foundation of the material and will see how you process the information and retain it differently the second time through. When I restudied FAR, I was learning all kinds of new things on areas I thought I had “nailed down” the first time. You will be shocked at how much more you can really learn.

At the end of the day, a 65 really isn't that bad and is totally within striking range for a pass next time. If you're not gonna pass it hurts much less to score in the mid-upper 60s than it does to score 70-74, TRUST ME. But start fresh, stay positive, and knock this thing out next time.

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[Jdn9201]

Retake FAR after about a month of studying. Just think you are way closer than you were after your 1st attempt. Also, I like the others believe something is seriously wrong with your study routine. I've passed BEC and REG, and I spent 50-60 hrs in total for each exam. There is no way you can be efficient and have good memory recall spending that much time over that long of a time period. Before you start studying again, I'd take MCQ's on each section individually so you can see where your weak points are. For your weak points, review lectures and take your own notes. When you go back to the MCQ's, focus on knowing WHY an answer is right or wrong. Otherwise, you're just memorizing question answers which gives you nothing to apply to questions with a similar concept. Good luck!

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

[MOAC]

Totally Agree with CPA2BEE,'s this point, “When I restudied FAR, I was learning all kinds of new things on areas I thought I had “nailed down” the first time. You will be shocked at how much more you can really learn.” This is even true for revisions.

FAR May 2012 81 (lost credit, didn't sit for other sections.)
FAR 86 Aug 2015
AUD 85 Nov 2015
BEC 84 Dec 2015
REG 78 Mar 2016

Passed ALL sections in first attempt!!

[confusedcandidate]

Holy cow, did you ACTUALLY study for 500 hours? That's insane. A few thoughts:

1. FAR has been my “easy” one too. Yes, it is huge, the questions and concepts are difficult, and you have to really understand your financials. But there are no secrets or surprises – you know exactly what is going to be on it, you can learn how to do it all, and you know where you are strong and weak, and what you need to brush up on. It is very “pure” in that sense.

2. That being said, you have to respect it. I think it is pretty clear you are studying “wrong” somehow. They will tell you your weak areas so maybe it'll turn out you only have to brush up one particular area. Focus on that area for your retake.

3. Did you freeze during the exam? You invested so much in it that you might have panicked. Try not to psych yourself out so bad, because it is only a stupid test that people like to freak out about. It really isn't that hard if you understand the material, prepare, and do your best.

4. How much time did you use? I had extra time on Far and Reg when I finished my Sims so I used it to go through the provided IRC line by line. I'm pretty sure that increased my score a few crucial points.

5. Back to the whole 500 hours thing. How is it possible to study 50-60 hours a week? That's comparable to the amount of hours I work during busy season and it isn't easy to do that. Are you really seriously studying that hard during that time? Are you being inefficient, dozing off, mucking around online? If you really focus you might be able to cut that in half. I studied for a little under 200 hours for Far, Reg, and Bec and passed all three first try. I was diligent, read the material, did tons of mcqs, took detailed notes whenever I missed questions, and understood why I got the wrong answer.

If I were you I would take a few days to relax and catch up on all the life you missed the last ten weeks. Then wait for the Board's analysis of your performance so you can see what you did wrong, and then change up your strategy a bit.

Weekends are meaningless to a CPA candidate

[AlexCPA]

How are you all doing so well on the MCQ and getting such low scores? Did you feel blindsided on the test? Or did you feel you knew the answers and still got them wrong? Reading these type of posts is discouraging for someone who hasn't taken the test yet. Maybe you answered the MCQ too fast without careful reading the question. There are always those little minute details that I tend to miss that will through off the whole question.

FAR - 89
AUD - 88
REG - TBD
BEC - TBD

Using Becker and Ninja MCQ

[Author]

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