[Anonymous]

Took FAR today – after two months of studying I am just happy that test is over. Maybe those of you that have taken it and passed it can give me some positive feedback on what I hope was a pass today. I studied hard. I am not strong in these concepts as my experience has all been on the tax side. Some things I really struggled with and just had to move on from during preparation. At prometric I asked for my lucky exam station (#7) of the two exams I have taken at this station I have passed both and I figured I needed all the luck I could get.

I did not see much difference between the two testlets. The second one did have more lengthy problems, but I knew how to do them and felt pretty good overall. I am sure there were some I misread and some I guess incorrectly on but I don’t think you can avoid that. I hope that because I was so prepared both testlets didn’t seem bad rather than me missing so many on testlet 1 that I got another medium testlet.

The sims… holy crap. I am a fast test taker, I have finished the other exams with plenty of time. FAR is the only exam I felt time pressure in. 6 of my 8 sims were DRS and most were quite lengthy. I don’t often complain about these exams but I do think its a bit much to try to fit into the time allotted. Of the 8 sims, I feel like I got one 100% correct, I think I got the research question correct (at least the first 3 notations – maybe not the final sub paragraph – do they give partial credit on those?) and I felt like I got 70% of four sims and maybe 50% correct on the remaining two. I don’t think there were any that I completely bombed, but there were definitely items I didn’t dedicate the time I wanted to to figure them out.

I had to hurry through my last testlet of 3 sims and I finished with 3 minutes left, absolutely exhausted. I have poured everything I have into this section for the last 2 months and I honestly don’t know what I will do if I fail it. I don’t think I can study harder or retain more information. there is just so much stuff to know. I hope my experience and feelings line up with those that have passed. if not I will be picking myself up off the floor again and taking this thing again.

[pwhite8388]

Hey there,
I also took FAR today. I am usually a fast test-taker too. In high school and college I was always the first one done. I barely made it through the final TBS with 30 seconds to spare and had no time to check my work and I definitely got pieces wrong.. Some of the MCQs were really length and it took forever to work them out. In hindsight, I probably should have guessed on those.

I felt the same way about the sims. One I felt really good about and it balanced, one I bombed and the others were all so-so. I definitely got the codification look-up right. All my friends and co-workers asked me about the test today and all I could say was there's a 50/50 chance I passed. I honestly don't know how I did.

I think most people feel awful after taking it unless you are an expert at this stuff. Even if we failed, there is nothing we can do about it now. While I'm sure a retake would require some review, we also aren't going to forget everything we learned in a couple months.

This was my first CPA exam and now I'm not really sure how to proceed. I guess I should just start studying for Reg because that changes at year-end? I work full-time. It took me 3 months to study for FAR and I need to start picking up the pace on the others. If I fail I guess I should just re-study for it after my next test?

If it makes you feel any better, I probably studied 150 hours and there's a decent chance I didn't pass. I'm really curious how the weighting/curve works. I'm also never taking a morning exam again. I couldn't fall asleep till 1 last night because I was so anxious and I woke up at 6.

[Anonymous]

Definitely move on to reg. Don’t slow down.

[nshah1824]

so this may be a stupid question but I just started studying for the CPA exam in general and I'm a first time test taker. What is DRS? Are they the free response questions where its like one big m.c. question with the drop down options so you can still guess if you run out of time? Or is it the ones where it requires you to put the numbers in the blanks? Any study tips/guidance for how to study for FAR?

[rubberducky]

DRS are Document Review Simulations, basically they give you up to 10 different documents to use to either “review the work of a staff”, or use the information to fill in the blanks (like a normal sim, just with documents to look over).

In my opinion there is no way to prepare for SIMS. Looking back, even if I would have practiced SIMs more in my review, I would have performed the same anyway. The only reason to practice sims is to gain a better understanding of a topic itself, but the SIMS on the exam are wild and you just have to hope that you can get through it, or at least part of it.

I felt similarly to what others have said in this thread, so here's hoping for a pass for all

[Painted_Jeans]

OMG you guys I'm terrified :-((( I'm taking FAR on the 18th and I dont think I am ready.. I study every day, almost done with review course (wiley), plannig to get Ninja MCQ for the last two weeks before exam.. hope that helps to get damn 75!
Really hope you guys made it!!!

[CS]

For FAR I recommend getting through the MCQs as quickly as possible. Of the 4, I took FAR first, and FAR SIMs were by far and away the most extensive. I used Wiley for FAR also, and will say focus on the blueprint but don't get lost in the details. I dug in way too deep in my last couple of days of review and realized during the exam what a waste of time it was. Be strong on the blueprint topics, NFP/Gov't (don't get overwhelmed my some of WIley's details – some of it is over-the-top and unnecessary), and definitely be familiar and comfortable with journal entries, period.

FAR was the most “college”-studying for me. Besides trying to get through all the parts obviously, my main motivation after passing FAR was the fear of having to study it all over again.

Oh, and I didn't finish the test, my research was essentially blank (finally found the exact answer in the AL and as I started to key it in test timed out), left a huge SIM completely blank, and definitely guessed on the others, got an 81. Of all 4, I'm still most proud of that 81. Best of luck to you all.

[felixsphone]

I've taken FAR 3 times. 26. 62. and an 85! It is a lot of overwhelming material. From what it sounds like, you were well prepared. In my experience, I didn't feel great after either MCQ testlet and I was just trying to do my best on the SIMS.

I got lucky with a few SIMS as I had seen them before. I had NO clue on how to solve one. Looked it up on authoritative literature, boom. Implementation Guidance-55. Word for word explanation. One was actually the same SIM that I had in my practice leading up to it and another was from a previous exam that I remembered and one other one was similar to the AICPA practice problems. So I felt very fortunate with the selection. The rest, I just tried to read the instructions, sift through the documents, and answer the best of my ability. I always take the full 4 hours and take all the breaks. I paid $250. I'm getting my money's worth.

It really just comes down to preparation, execution, and sometimes luck. My third time studying for FAR I just did MCQ's on topic specific areas, reviewed some lectures, listened to Roger CPA while doing Squats, Deadlifts, and Bench, and I had a document of MCQ explanations that I would read and try to see how I could be creative in applying FAR in every day life.
-The notes I took on the MCQ were me just explaining the question out loud. What topics do I recognize, What topics do I not understand, How can I simplify this, What Math Error did I make, What extra words changes the entire question.

Then I just tried to practice my Basic Exam strategies and put the time pressure on myself:
–How long for each section, what am I going to do if I get stuck
–Take the mini breaks or not
–Cover up the answers
–Eliminate 2
–Rationalize the next 2 why/why not.
–Focus on the stem question and root words
–Try to relax. Believe and be confident.
–Stop thinking about your Ex. It has zero value right now.

I tried to always think about the concepts and how they could apply. You really have to be a nerd about this stuff.
Example: bought a bike at the bike shop and then sold my old one on consignment. Next thing you know I'm thinking about Inventory and the Consignment rules and NRV/Lower of Cost or Market. It wasn't a perfect analogy. It wasn't a perfect explanation. But the next time I had a MCQ about it, I start thinking back to my bike and I can remember just a little more.

I just don't think it's ever worth it to fixate on one topic of any section. Just gotta move on, cover the spread. Preparing for the exams reminds of me gold mining. There's so much noise with all the text. Your textbooks are really just dictionaries. Take the time to sift through questions that are worth your time and use the textbooks to help you find the gold.

If you are taking the exam at the end of the quarter, it might be best just to wait. Everyone has a different point of view.

I keep trying to remind myself about all of these tips and strategies. Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone – – Good luck!

[Madhav]

As per my experience, you can pass any of these exams if you get AICPA heavily questions right and did okaish in other problems especially sims. I passed all my exams with not so confident feeling in sims. One time completely bombed Audit where i thought i could be scoring in 90s or even perfect score. So you never know with these exams. I wish everyone good luck.

[LeAnn]

I took it yesterday, and yes, it’s a BEAST. I studied my tail off for 11 weeks and don’t want to ever have to take this one again. My experience was very similar to yours. The first testlet was fairly easy and I only marked two questions to circle back to. The second testlet was more difficult in that computations were required for almost every question and a deeper knowledge of the concept was necessary. I marked 3 questions to go back to in this one and could narrow the answer down to 2 choices. Since NFP and GOV aren’t marked as analysis (sims), they are tested heavily in MCQs in order to reach the 5-15% level of exam content (basic common sense if you know how to read the blueprints so I don’t think I’m divulging specific exam info here). Mine were definitely at the high end of the percentage (I actually kept count as I went since so many people have commented about it and was SHOCKED by how many there were for those two topics alone)
The sims…yeah. They sucked. It was a mental marathon for sure. I budgeted 20 minutes per sim and that worked out really well. I was not rushed for time since I made it through the MCQs pretty quickly. Per testlet my time worked out to the following: 40-40-40-60-60. The research question was in the last testlet so I had almost 30 minutes for each of the other 2 sims. I am almost positive the last sim was a pretest. The AICPA blueprints did not show that topic to be tested at the analysis level AND it was a really odd question. However, there was another topic that was not checked as analysis but showed up in a sim. Even in Becker, Pete says you won’t get a sim on this topic because it would take too long. Yeah, well it happened but I muddled through it.
I think what threw me off a bit in the sims was how comprehensive they are. I expected this to some extent but not to this level. The blueprints show what topics will be tested at the analysis level but I wasn’t mentally prepared for them to be tested ALL AT ONCE in the same sim. You basically need to be able to perform close to every topic checked as analysis in EVERY sim. The sims in Becker were okay but they really only focused on one topic each. It’s hard to explain without divulging too much info (confidentially agreeements when you take the exam). I guess the best advice for sim prep is to know how every type of transaction affects the financial statements. This is mentioned multiple times in the Becker review course so it’s not a big secret but take it seriously.
Now to wait for the score release on September 11th… On to AUD next.

[Anonymous]

The more removed from test day get the more I am second guessing myself.Did I put zeroes in blanks that the instructions told me to leave blank? I honestly don’t remember. I don’t remember all of the sims even after just a few days. I walked out feeling pretty good but now I have had time to second guess myself. Thought I got research right but now I think I chose the wrong sub paragraph so that counts out one whole sim. Bottom line is I won’t know until September and nothing I can do will change it. I put in the time and I hope that I make the mark.

[rubberducky]

@4matic,

Does it mark the whole research question incorrect if you get the subparagraph wrong? Becker gives partial credit credit, so I assumed that the real exam did as well. On another note, one of my SIMs didn't specify whether to leave zeros or blanks, so to be safe I entered zeros. Only to see on the next testlet, a very similarly formatted SIM which specified to leave them blank. Now I'm worried all over again, ha

[DoubleBogey]

@4matic @Rubberducky
The farther removed you are from the exam, the less of it you remember. It just builds doubt in your mind. Just trust that you were sharp and paid good attention on the actual exam and try to put it out of your mind until score releases. Easier said than done, but you'll drive yourself mad questioning this for months at a time. After my exams, I never look at the notes again to see if I did anything stupid on the exam. At that point it's done and I just wait. Like when Rafiki hits Simba in the head and says “It's in the past!” That's how I try to look at it. Hope this helps

[Author]

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