[justkeepswimming23]

People have been saying and I’ve read that for FAR you just gradually start to understand later but at what point!? I am currently halfway through the book and lectures and none of this stuff sticks. I don’t do too well on the homework but I use it as a learning experience. However, by the next day or next few days I start to forget.

At what point does this stuff I guess magically click?

FAR: 78
REG: 74, 75
AUD:
BEC:

[DZagt]

You're just going to have to keep swimming

[PleaseDontDeleteThanks]

I've taken it twice now, and still haven't gotten it yet. It's the other three tests combined, as far as the amount of information. Just keep pushing through. Good luck

FAR 72, 89
BEC 80
REG 90
AUD 79

[Conquer]

The key is to divide up each section into sub-section. For each sub-section, watch lecture or read, take notes, review notes, do homework. During each morning or lunch break, do MCQs on the sub-sections/sections that you have completed so far. After work, start studying new material.

This will help you retain what you've learned so far and continually add on to your knowledge.

[MaLoTu]

Go through the material once, the second time through everything will start to coalesce. Try to make notes and formulas that help reinforce what you learned.

[TheHoundThatRides]

Why would learning new material make earlier stuff click? I mean, yeah it's true for a few things. (Roger talked about intricate IFRS details and Fair Value Option in his first chapter and I struggled to follow until I saw the concepts demonstrated in further lessons.) But you can't NOT grasp bonds and hope it'll somehow be easier to come back to after you've struggled through a bunch of other material too. If it's heavily tested material, do MCQ solely on that topic and don't move on until you get a 75% on the topic or close to it. If it's lightly tested, at the very least be able to understand the basic principles behind the lesson.

When you sit down the day after, first do MCQ on what you learned the day before and anything else you want to refresh. This reinforces it in your long term memory. You WILL forget how to do stuff if you barely grasp it one day and don't look at it again for a week.

BEC - 78 (August 2015)
FAR - 80 (November 2015)
AUD - 73, 67. (Ok I gotta confess I was even more lazy this time around)
REG - August 27th, 2016

[MaLoTu]

Hound- was that a question to me?

If yes, I think going through once and getting exposure to all the material helps. Some of the topics compound on each other so you are actually learning the same stuff but applying it to different topics. However, the second time you go through the material it begins to click and it is partially because you have worked with a lot of the same concepts in several different scenarios throughout the material.

[TheHoundThatRides]

@MaLoTu

My question was at OP. If the plan is to go through the material twice that's fine. I would just alter my advice for the second run through.

BEC - 78 (August 2015)
FAR - 80 (November 2015)
AUD - 73, 67. (Ok I gotta confess I was even more lazy this time around)
REG - August 27th, 2016

[Claudia408]

I'm studying FAR now and topics are more complex and lengthy so I'm going very slow and I can really only manage about 60 questions a day at most. I try to score at least 60s and 70s before I move on to the next topic just so I can get some foundation of understanding about it. I'm hoping when I do circle back it wont't take too long to get a better understanding and hopefully can score more like 70s and 80s.

BEC - 75 (3x)
AUD - 78 (3x)
REG - 67, 66, Aug 1
FAR - 54, Sept 8

[Spartans92]

I think its about repetition for these exams. There are so much material being covered in FAR but if you do it a few times you should be able to understand the concept and calculations. I am also struggling the first time around but as long as you are close like you get the calculations for the most part just missing some (ex: missing times 1/2 or forget to subtract dividends etc) I would say those mistakes could be fix easily. You mentioned you are halfway through the book, I would probably slow down and redo the problems you are having issues with (not immediately because you could just be memorizing) but do it after a day or 2.

BEC- PASS

[EuroAddict]

FAR is a beast to get through. You really have to understand the first few chapters b/c the other chapters sort of flow back into it ie realized/unrealized gains and how they effect the I/S or B/S.

Write the stuff down you don't get. Re write it to. That helps it sink it. I was also never able to do a ton of MCQ's at once when practicing FAR b/c beckers is pretty heavy on calculations.

-----------------------------
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.

[Kemi22]

@Swimming: the more MCQ you do, the better the chance of stuff sticking. You will always have ‘ahh, that's what I should have done' moments when you do MCQ and believe me I have gone over FAR stuff many times enough to know that the key is to attempt as many MCQ as you possibly can.

When I started, I did MCQ and looked at my notes to get clues when I couldn't answer without notes (of course sometimes I still failed the MCQ even with my notes in front of me). When you go over and over and over again, you will start to rely less and less on your notes. That's the point where you'll realize stuff had been sticking all along without you ‘knowing'. 🙂

I started off just like you, in 2010, wondering if I would ever know enough to have a chance at passing. After passing 3 partsI gave up because I was too scared of FAR to try to understand it. But in April 2015 I started again and I am at the point where I know that with enough MCQ and practice, I can do it. So, just keep on, you will get it eventually, but it will take hundreds of MCQ.

Also, if it's any encouragement, sometimes you don't know stuff has been sticking but you get to the exam, see a question, and then you remember what you had studied about it.

Good luck! Don't drown like I did in 2010! 🙂

2010:
BEC: 74, 71, 74, 75
AUD: 71, 74, 83
REG: 71, 76
FAR: (I quit) 34, 45

2015:
BEC: 79
AUD: 78
REG: 67, 76
FAR: 56 (trial run), 74, 74, 74, 80!
Thank God. Your prayers are always answered! Do not give up. Thank you St. Joseph Cupertino.

[Spartans92]

EuroAddict since you mentioned I/S and B/S those financials do give me a hard time too LOL. especially consolidations how its presented in the financials and all the disclosures. I heard from others that ninja is more concept/theory so hopefully that will help solidify that area for me.

BEC- PASS

[EuroAddict]

Ninja Q's are more “worded” and Beckers are more calculations. They are a good balance to each other.

-----------------------------
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]

It was my experience while studying FAR that many topics don't “stick” right out of the gate. I've used only CPAexcel, and the study materials are extremely detailed and in-depth. I think as long as you are grasping the general concepts and main takeaway from each section, you are doing just fine. Once you get about halfway through the material, start grinding out a supplemental test bank outside of your review course for the topics you have completed. I used Wiley's test bank that came with the CPAexcel package I bought, and while a few questions were similar to ones in the review course, it allowed me to refresh my memory and actually APPLY the knowledge. It wasn't until I understood how to work certain types of problems did things begin to “click”.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

[justkeepswimming23]

Thank you sooooo much to everyone on your replies. You guys have some really good points. I read these forums sometimes and I've seen a lot of your names pop up before. You guys are somewhat famous and the fact that you commented on my post kinda makes me wanna cry (maybe im actually just crying about FAR, who knows).

Thanks again! I'm gonna rock out and do several multiple choice questions.

@Kemi – How did you study for your REG retake and for how long?

FAR: 78
REG: 74, 75
AUD:
BEC:

[Author]

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