[mikeyrockz]

So my ultimate goal was, and still is I guess, to hopefully knock out all the exams before the changes. I passed FAR and BEC on my first attempts. Didn’t work out for AUD though. Felt good going into the exam, was trending at 83% in Ninja I believe. Exam was a curve ball though and I knew walking out it was unlikely I passed. Got a 71 this morning.

I just started studying REG on Monday on Chapter 2 right now, using Roger. The way I have my study schedule setup I should be able to take REG around Feb 13ish, about 7 weeks for the roger stuff then 2 weeks of NinjaMCQ. Which would give me about 2-3 weeks that I can review AUD afterwards assuming it’ll be possible for me to get a seat near the close of the testing window. Depending on how long it takes my application to get approved and all that. I’m in CA, can take forever sometimes.

I currently have REG scheduled for March 10, I just picked the latest date when I got my NTS so I could reschedule it later once I figured out how much I was going to need to study. Anyway long story longer, would you just continue on with REG for now then try to squeeze in AUD at the end for a retake? Or shoot for AUD retake first then try to get REG in at the end?

I guess my only concern is a 71 isn’t too far off and I really felt like the exam was just one of those curve ball exams where they hit you with a bunch of little things that didn’t get touched on too much during review. I don’t want to forget everything. Then again I also want to make sure I get a REG attempt in at least before the exam changes.

First time in this situation so just wanted some input.

[aaronmo]

I guess I'd look at it like you probably got unlucky with audit, and you have a lot of the material down. I'd spend a week of HARD review and retake as soon as possible as priority over REG.

[smoothiezguy]

@Mikeyrockz – I'm in the *exact* same spot as you. I passed BEC and FAR first try, and just found out today that I didn't pass AUD – got 71 also. When I took the test I felt like I was doing just under passing, turns out my impression of how I did was spot on. I too have started studying for REG already. I figure that I'm going to work as hard as I can to take REG at least a week or two before the end of Q1 testing window and then review AUD and take it again right at the end of the testing window.
I've heard that REG is going to have more changes in the 2017 release than AUD, so that's why I'm placing greater priority on it than retaking AUD at this point.

CMA - 430
BEC - 83
FAR - ?
AUD -
REG -

[nolan7120]

Retake Audit and then go to Regulation. I just passed Audit on my 2nd attempt and can say for sure I would not have had to study as hard or as much if I wouldn't have waited 4 months before diving back in. The longer you wait, the more you'll have to restudy and the more time you'll waste. Just pulling numbers out of my butt here, but if you were going to spend 60-70 hours studying for the retake AFTER Regulation you could probably get by with 40-50 hours if you go right back at Audit. These numbers are arbitrary but they do exemplify a valuable point.

Move REG as late as you can in the first quarter and take AUD early in the first quarter.

FAR (6/9/16) - 81

[mikeyrockz]

@smoothiezguy that's crazy. Well hopefully we're able to knock these two out in the next window! Yeah I'm leaning towards sticking with REG for now I guess and I'll just have to see how the prometric centers are looking once I get my NTS to schedule another AUD exam. Then either break from REG for a week or so to retake AUD or try to get AUD in at the end. Tough spot to be in, don't want to forget everything but also want to make sure I can squeeze in both exams. Having to wait a few weeks to get the NTS causes more problems as well.

@nolan7120 yeah that's what I want to do. Having to wait so long to get my NTS is a pain in the ass because if I knew I could get a spot early in January I'd do that. I'm thinking I'll just keep up with REG for now until I get my NTS and see what days are available and I'll have to choose what to do from there. I already have REG scheduled for March 10, the last day of the window so that gives me some flexibility.

Thanks for the responses everyone! Actually talking it out really helped.

[nolan7120]

Leave REG scheduled for 3/10. I'd pick your AUD book back up tomorrow and conquer that beast first. Get that NTS asap and pick your date. Two weeks seems like a long time to wait. You should be able to land a spot hopefully within the first 2 weeks of January. Two months to study for REG is plenty. 6 weeks also should be more than enough time, depending on your circumstances of course. 4 weeks is definitely doable.

I passed FAR in 5 weeks, BEC in 4, AUD I failed while giving myself 4 weeks to study, the AUD retake I spent 80-90 hours over 7-8 days (almost 4 months after failing the 1st time) which earned me the 79, and REG I'll give myself a solid 6 weeks for. I do work part-time (20 hours a week) and have a little girl I take care of 50% of the time. So that's where I was at to give you an idea.

Good luck!

FAR (6/9/16) - 81

[futurecpa]

@nolan7120 How long would you spend on AUD retake? I'm in a similar position as mikeyrockz. I got a 74 on audit today. Took it last week. I felt great going in, great coming out so clearly i'm missing something. I also have a far retake. Got a 71 and a 73 on far. I would love to get both in by march 10. I work full time big 4 just to give some perspective on timing.

I spent about 3 weeks on FAR, 10 days on AUD. For FAR, I know the sims are what got me as I had no idea how to do any of them, insanely obscure.

BEC 4/22/16- 82
REG 5/19/16
FAR 7/7/16
AUD 8/3/16

Becker Fastpass

[caotran]

I'm on the same boat with you all. I passed FAR and BEC at first try and just got the score last night that I failed AUD at 72. I already scheduled taking REG on 2/17 and plan to retake AUD on 1/9 which is 3 weeks from today. I probably spend 40-50 hours for this retake while working full time at Big 4.

[Anonymous]

I'm in a similar position. Just failed Aud with a 71 – not happy. Plan on hitting Aud hard for next 2-3 weeks and retaking Aud early January. Goodluck to everyone!

[nolan7120]

@futurecpa,

Whatever you do, don't do what I did lol. 90 hours in 8 days was extremely stressful and rough on the body as well.

You just took AUD so i would stick with that. Set FAR up for as close to 3/10 as possible and try to take AUD by mid-January.

3 weeks for FAR and 10 days for AUD is not much prep time. Sure, some people can do it, but more often than not they usually fail. I think your being employed in the industry already is why you were able to come so close with so little time.

Since you're working full-time, I would either start right now or directly after Christmas on studying for the AUD retake. Put in at least 50-60 hours or whatever you feel comfortable with. To be honest, I've never felt good once coming out of any of my CPA tests. I'm not sure what your materials are but the Wiley Focus notes are friggin awesome. I used the Wiley book, and also had Ninja notes. Not to knock the Ninja notes, but the Focus Notes are much better. There were several questions I had on the exam where I could mentally conjure up the slide and specific bullet point to lead me to the correct answer.

Anytime I had a question about independence and needed more insight I just glanced at the AICPA Guide to Independence in Plain English. Independence is one of those tricky topics because there are so many exceptions and rules. It kicked my ass the first time around and the 2nd time around I was barely tested on it. Go figure.

FAR is a tricky beast because that is one test where it's easy to overstudy for. I was using Yaeger lectures (FAR, AUD and BEC) and right at the beginning of FAR Phil says, “Don't do any questions unless I tell you to do them!” I think this holds true for FAR, but not for BEC or AUD. Then again, they are assigning a greater % of the overall questions in BEC and AUD compared to FAR and that must be due simply to the massive amount of material in FAR. For example, I compared the amount of assigned questions from bonds for Yaeger to Becker (yes, I had both). Yaeger only had 26, and Becker and 52 or 55. What Becker wanted was overkill for FAR. So, for FAR try to stick to the more mainstream topics you know you'll get tested on and try to avoid the odds and ends which will just tie you up and confuse you. That worked for me and FAR was my best score.

I also haven't been able to finish any test yet. For FAR, I had one SIM left which I was fairly confident was the pre-test one. For AUD, I think I just clicked a bunch of random stuff on my last SIM before time ran out. I failed that time. For BEC, I ALMOST finished. I was halfway through my final sentence on the last written communication and time ended. My dumb ass did the FAR one second when i should've done it 3rd because it was almost for sure the pre-test one. With AUD retake, I saved what I thought was the pre-test SIM for last and just clicked some random things on there until time ended. You can almost guarantee they're not going to give you two multiple page SIMs and have them both count. At least that is what I think.

Sorry for the long post. You didn't ask for all that info lol. The sooner you get back at it, the better off you'll be come test day. That's what it all boils down to. Good luck!

FAR (6/9/16) - 81

[nolan7120]

@Ashley,

That sounds like a good plan. Just don't let the holidays screw you up and have it be 1/1/17 (with a hangover) with only 7 days to study.

FAR (6/9/16) - 81

[Anonymous]

Great advice from nolan7120. Pretty much sums up my thoughts for my Aud retake in early January. Just going to hit it hard for about 2 1/2 weeks and reinforce the main points, other material, etc. Just hoping for a 75! Also, not having an exam take BANG on the keyboard for over an hour should help. And, maybe the AICPA will have better pass rate she in Q1 of 2017!

[Author]

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