[Andrew]

Hey everyone,

I am going to be graduating this year with my 150 credits and am trying to think if there is a certain strategy of what order to take the tests. Although deemed the toughest, my gut feeling is saying to study full-time for 2.5-3 months and take FAR right away.

Is there a particular order you all like, and if so, why did you like it?
Also, with using Becker Materials, how well do they prepare you for the exam (were there still curveballs on the test)?

Any/All input or advice would be great! Thank you!!

[Juice23]

3 months of study time is FAR too long.

[Andrew]

Well that's good to hear haha, since I haven't used Becker at all yet and don't know what is included in their study materials, how long would it take to work through the materials they have, such as lectures, learning modules, mcq's, etc?

[Juice23]

Let's draw out your ‘curveball' analogy. No matter how much you prepare there will be curveballs on the exam. But we're not talking about knuckleballs, which you cannot prepare for. You can hit a curveball with practice, so the point is to be able to identify a curveball when it comes and know how to hit it well.

So, practice practice practice.

[Juice23]

I don't use becker, but as a rule of thumb i plan to restudy anything that I haven't touched in 2 months. This is pretty subjective, but it works for me. And studying more than 2 months for a single thing can cause serious burnout in my experience.

I also spend much less time on the lectures than the materials suggest, and I devote a majority of my time to MCQs/SIMS. I find the practice makes me a better test taker and, as I mentioned above, it helps me spot the curveballs without issue.

[Anonymous]

I agree that 3 months of full-time studying is too much. However, I am currently studying 20 hours a week, with 1 Becker chapter per week, and I left myself exactly 12 weeks-10 to go through material and 2.5 to go through the review process. I am nervous I won't feel prepared… 🙁

[Juice23]

Hold on a second – what do you guys consider “full-time studying”? ‘Cause I have a full-time job, full-time kids, and a full-time wife…So full-time studying for me is like 2-3 hours of studying as many nights a week as I possibly can, listening to Ninja Audio on my commute, and then a few full days before the exam.

Also, this is subjective, but I certainly don't feel obligated to spend as much time on sections that I feel good about. Yes, I study them, but when I feel comfortable with the material I move on and spend more time on problem areas. An arbitrary “1 chapter per week” amount can be detrimental if you don't qualify it a bit…

[Andrew]

Full time for me will be roughly 25-30 hours of study per week. I do not start full-time work in public accounting until August, so I am solely trying to knock out as much of the CPA that I can before I begin work

[Juice23]

Others should chime in here, because I'm definitely on a different study schedule (and stage in life) than you, but if I had that kind of time I feel like I would be fine with 6-8 weeks prep.

[Tim]

I would suggest 10 weeks to go through all the material with 2 weeks to drill MCQ's and go over any topics you are weaker in. Shorter study timeframes are for people still in school or recent grads without jobs/families, IMO.

[Superdude3000]

I'd recommend REG, FAR, AUD, BEC or FAR, AUD, BEC, REG. I took mine REG, BEC, AUD, FAR and still did great. I'd only recommend studying for longer than 2 months if you have a review or cram course. I spent 4 months on REG and 3 months on FAR but I had a cram course for each section so had a great refresher the last month before my exams. You start to forget things past 8-10 weeks.

[RO]

I took FAR, AUD, REG, and BEC in that order, and I would recommend that as well. FAR covered a lot of topics but was a good foundation for other tests, imo. I studied 7 weeks for FAR, 5 for AUD, 7 for REG and 5 for BEC. I've been out of school for over 15 years and started taking accounting classes couple years ago. My job if finance heavy, so a lot of accounting was new to me. I am a good student, but not a strong test taker, so I was extremely happy to pass all of them on my first try!

My study schedule and tips below:
– I commute on the train so I did a lot of my videos and note taking and end of chapter MCQs on my 2 hour r/t commute. I'd go home and study another 2 hours.
– I did not study more than 5 hours a day on the weekends.
– I needed one day of sanity so I did allow myself to take Sat or Sunday off if or when I needed them.
– I took good notes and tried to understand concepts, but did not dive into them until my review session closer to my test
– On the weekends, I reviewed all my notes and pounded out about 100 cumulative MCQs that I've already gone through
– I got videos, notes, and MCQ out of the way the first few weeks and always left 1.5-2 weeks before the test for reviews, MCQ and SIMS
– During the last 1.5-2 weeks, I took note of the questions I missed and why I got them wrong. I labeled these “quick notes”

I only used Wiley's Silver Package and its test bank. I didn't use its test bank until my last 1.5-2 weeks. I honestly think leaving the last 2 weeks for the review sessions helped me pass the exam. I was skeptical about pounding MCQ to prepare me for my exams, but it helped me a lot! I started noticing patterns of type of questions I missed and studying how questions were asked were key, too!

Good luck!

[NA474]

Take the hardest section first, trust me. Get that out of the way. I know people say not to but that was the best thing that I ever did.

FAR (seriously, knock this one down first. the worst one!)
BEC (The 2017 section supposedly became the new REG by adding simulations. See which is worse but if I was stuck taking the 2017 test I would take this after FAR)
REG
AUD (this was the easiest for me but many people have difficulty)

FAR-5/31 -PASS
REG-7/29 (TBD)
AUD TBD
BEC TBD

[Ana]

in complete agreement with NA474. would give anything to have tased FAR first.

[waffle_house]

Here is a big study tip…don't write word for word everything you read in the book or video. Instead write what you understand and reread and fill in the blanks.

[CPA2BEE]

I took the exams before the 2017 changes but I would still seriously recommend FAR first. The order I took them, and I would do this same order again, is: FAR, AUD, BEC, REG. People have different reasons for different orders but this one made sense to me. FAR seemed the hardest (and was), BEC was for sure easier than AUD, and I'm a tax guy so it made sense to take REG last. Thats my reasoning and it worked for me, I'm sure it is different person-to-person.

I failed the two exams that I tried using Becker only. I supplemented with Ninja MCQs and started passing with that – but from what I understand you cannot just buy the MCQs anymore and you have to get the whole package or something.

Honestly, I started passing when I quit reading every word of the books and taking notes on everything. I even quit practicing SIMS. All I would do is just hammer out MCQs over and over and over until I couldn't take it anymore. I would do 200-300 a day, more on weekends. This was way easier for me to study this way and it was more effective. What worked for me may not work for others, but it could be worth a try if you are struggling.

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

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

[Author]

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