[Anonymous]

Okay so I started studying for FAR with 5 weeks total to go through each chapter and then 2 weeks of review. My start date is not until September so I am studying for 8 hours a day.. 5-6 days a week..as if it was my full time job.

I am only able to get through 2 chapters a week after 2 weeks so far. My methods have been (Using Becker Self-Study):

1.) Watch 1-2 topics per lecture

2.) Skim through topic before MCQ

2.) Go through MCQ for corresponding lectures

3.) Take notes on ones I get wrong or guess at

4.) Repeat these steps for rest of the chapter

5.) Run through MCQ once more

6.) Walk-Through Simulations

7.) Progress Test if time permits

Any thoughts? Too much before a final review or am I just needing more time than most people? Kinda worried….

[TheGuyCPA]

I used Becker and I took like 4 months because I was working full-time so I only had about 2 hours a day after work, but I studied all day weekends. I think you need more time than 5 weeks. Becker does a good job with FAR though, I knew nearly almost every question on the exam and some questions on the sims were topics I had learned from like my first accounting courses in college. Governmental accounting is important though especially the JEs.

I wouldn't even do progress tests, you don't even know the answer until you're finished with the whole thing. It's just a waste of time.

FAR - 80
REG - 78
AUD - 88
BEC - 84

State of Illinois Licensed CPA as of September 2015

[paulerodriguez]

I'm also using Becker self-study. I just took FAR with only 3 weeks of studying, total of maybe 70 hours of studying. I work full time at a CPA firm and have a family, so not much time for studying. All I did was watch the videos and do the optional MCQ in each section, and then probably around 500 total MCQ from the progress test from all the sections.

I typed out notes and the general rule for each question I got wrong, and re-watched parts of the lectures until I fully understood the concepts. Never did any simulations.

Becker's MCQ are worded much more difficult than the actual exam. If you understand the concepts, and have a firm understanding of the flow of the income statement and balance sheet, you should do ok on the simulations.

Haven't seen my score on the test yet, so I can't say this method works for sure for the FAR exam. But I did the same thing when I took REG, probably did around 60 hours total of studying and half of those hours were the week before the test. Passed that test on the first try with an 80.

I'm a big advocate of cramming that knowledge in as fast as you can and then brain dumping it all over the exam!

But, good luck on the exam!

REG - 80 (10/20/2014)
FAR - 76 (05/29/2015)
AUD - 68,71,87 (05/09/2016)
BEC - 72,77 (02/01/2016)

Done!!!

[JS867_5309]

I don't think so. I took extra long studying for FAR (about 5 months). I think it's just the depth and range of the material. It's definitely double the other tests so it takes a lot longer to get the hang of.

Exam:I'm done 🙂 🙂 🙂
REG - 71 (2/22/14); 67 (4/3/14); 74 (8/29/15); 83 (2/29/16)!!!
BEC - 72 (5/24/14); 85 (1/3/15)!!!!
AUD - 72 (8/23/14); 76 (10/15/14)!!!
FAR - 77 (5/26/15)!!!

Started in 2013 using Kaplan and failed REG, REG, BEC, AUD. Switched to NINJA suite in Sept 2014 and passed AUD...then BEC...then FAR!
REG took 2 tries but I finally got it in too!
I'm a hard convert - Using NINJA method with NINJA video/book/notes/MCQ

Education: Check
Experience: 3 months left! I hit 4 years on May 30 🙂

[More_Coffee]

I've been doing 2 modules of Becker per week and it seems to work pretty well for me. I feel like 2 modules per week is a pretty decent pace… it generally takes me a whole day to do one module (I save my studying for the weekends), so I do one module Saturday and one module Sunday. Personally, I have a hard time studying during the week, because after work I just don't feel like doing anything. :/

Anyway, FAR just has more modules than the other sections, so naturally it will take a couple more weeks than the other sections to study for 🙂 Seems like you're doing fine. I plan on giving myself probably 2.5 months, 3 months tops, to study for it. I need to get that scheduled…

REG - 86 (4/11/15)
BEC - 92 (5/29/15)
AUD - 99 (7/23/15)
FAR - 89 (11/23/15) It's over!!!
>> Becker Self Study

[Anonymous]

thanks everyone makes me feel a little bit better. 7 weeks total with 40-45 hours a week better be enough. I make sure I understand the chapter completely before going on to the next one.

Best of luck everyone!

[Anonymous]

Honestly 7 weeks full time is complete overkill. You could easily move your exam up. The important thing is to set a strict schedule, and if you are not able to get through all the MCQ for a chapter, don't sweat it MOVE ON tgen when you are doing progress tests over and over during your review stage, you will cover it then. Ppl tend to get stuck on certain chapters and then not leave enough time for later chapters or, even worse, their review period which is the most critical part. Whatever you do make sure you time your exams so you take REG & FAR B4 you start working, you'll thank me later

[jschrei2]

I spent eight weeks, approx. 20 hours per week. I would not recommend going any longer than eight weeks.

FAR- 88
REG- 88
AUD- 93
BEC-86

[golfball7773]

I don't feel good so this will be blunt: stop with the damn progress tests!!!!! You don't learn anything other than if you are scoring well or not…..Just do study mode so you can learn from your mistake right away

Plus if you don't score well on a progress test, then you get discouraged…..

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Anonymous]

What are the progress tests? I mean, I am using Becker, and I see the link in each module, but I haven't done one yet. Are they just the homework problems, but without the answers immediately visible? Do they repeat the homework problems, or are they new? Does the progress test have questions from all of the modules up to that point (like, the progress test in module 3 has questions from 1, 2, and 3)? If so, you would know the beginning modules really really well, but not so much with the last modules. Do the questions from one progress test repeat in other progress tests?

Tell me all you know!

[vvSPAZvv]

@bet10

The progress tests are what you make them. You can do all of the chapters up until where you are at, or pick and chose what your comprehensive test is on. They repeat homework MCQs (including the optional ones). At the end of the test, you can see your % correct from each section to better gauge how you did.

FAR - 76! 10/15; (65) 7/15
BEC - 82! 11/15; (74) 8/15
AUD - 01/16
REG - TBA

[sar_rah]

Hey I'm actually doing exactly what you're doing, just 2 weeks ahead of you! I think its a perfect amount of time. I get through 2 a week and make sure I thoroughly understand the topics and make sure to write down my weaknesses in each part to randomly review those along the way. I took a day between chapter 5 and started chapter 6 to go back and review everything from the first 5 chapters. I recommend doing that! Yes it will take a day away from your final review, but it will help you assess how much you've actually retained and then help keep things fresh. I think it will pay of in the end! Good luck! Also be away that the govt/nfp chapters are a little bit longer. I just got to chapter 8 today, and its 80 freakin pages! I think I'm going to budget 4-4.5 days for chapters 8-9 each since its such a high percentage of the test and I have NO experience on this subject matter. I think 1.5 weeks should be okay to review even.

AUD: 98
REG: 91
BEC: 86
FAR: 83

DONE DONE DONE and DONE all on the first try! It IS possible, just keep on studying!

[Tscape16]

Eight hours a day is too much. You're going to get a lot more out of 2.5 hours in the morning and 2.5 hours in the later afternoon. Anything over three hours at a time is going to be counter-productive in the long-run. Becker says it takes 13-15 hours per Chapter; however, I think I may have spent, at the most, 12 hours on one and that was Cash-flows because that was a weak-spot for me in college. Otherwise, 10 was the average (3 hour lecture, 4-5 hours homework, 1.5-2 hours simulations).

Theoretically, you should be doing like four a week with that schedule; however, the burn-out will catch up to you quick. It's probably taking longer because your brain is getting tired. This isn't easy stuff!

FAR - 90 ✔
BEC - 86 ✔
REG - 82 ✔
AUD - 92 ✔
ETHICS - Passed

*Licensed CPA

[paulerodriguez]

I posted earlier about how I studied for FAR, but wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it did. I passed with a 76, with only 3 weeks and a total of 70ish hours of studying. In case you wanted to know, here's how I did it:

1) watched all the Becker lectures

2) only did each sections optional homework questions

3) did not do any simulations – focus on learning concepts is a better use of time

4) did sets of 10 mcq from the progress test from only one section at a time, focus on the concepts you get wrong, continue working on a section until you consistently get 8 out of 10 right

5) memorize the mnemonics that Pete and Tim give you, you will use them during test time!

This may sound bad, but you're not studying to learn accounting, you're studying to pass the exam. Cram it and brain dump it!

REG - 80 (10/20/2014)
FAR - 76 (05/29/2015)
AUD - 68,71,87 (05/09/2016)
BEC - 72,77 (02/01/2016)

Done!!!

[Author]

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