+1 on the JE. As I was writing my notes, I wrote down JE's for all the lessons that had such material.
FAR was my first exam as well and thankfully I passed it by what feels like the skin of my teeth. I wasn't confident walking out of Prometric whatsoever because I had seriously crammed NFP and Gov in the days leading up to my exam when I should have been strictly reviewing.
Although overall I think CPAexcel prepared me really well based on what I saw on my exam, those 227 FAR lessons are craaaaazy long and there is a real danger of forgetting material you've seen earlier if you take too long to go through the material or don't review as you go along. The study plan that you can set up in the software should definitely be taken with a HUGE grain of salt because the times they use to populate that severely underestimate how long it will actually take you the first time. This is something I wish I had known earlier. I would have budgeted my time more wisely and I would have gone through the material quicker and left more time for review. I also wouldn't have bothered with the PQ's and I would have forced myself not try to master everything before moving on to the next lesson. Sometimes it's best to get broad understanding of the concept or process for solving before actually doing a deeper dive with the MCQ's drills. Study smart and efficiently.
As far as re-studying, I would re-read your notes and keep track of items you didn't feel good about going into the exam, lessons where you don't remember a whole lot about, and items that you saw on the exam that gave you that sinking feeling. Those would be your weak areas. Re-reading the notes is a good overall refresher on all the material and the items you've tracked will be the basis of what you'll need to restudy. I'm not sure how you learn best, so the restudying could be watching the videos, reading the book, or re-writing your notes. It goes without saying that you'll need to start fresh on the MCQ's as if you never did them. You don't have get 11 more points. You're starting at 0 and gotta get up to at least 75.
When I started my review, I started doing some of the MCQ's in the program and then decided to purchase Ninja MCQ's. I gotta tell you that I preferred Ninja MCQ's a whole lot more. I like the interface a lot more, the ability to easily choose the categories I want to take questions on, and the ability to see a progress report as well as a detailed progress report to really focus on what the program is indicating is your weak area. During my studying, I felt awesome on bonds. But when I started on MCQ's, I wasn't doing so hot and knew I needed to turn it around. Let's just say I'm glad that I did. I also really appreciated that you'd get a little blurb after every answer either confirming your correct answer or why your answer was wrong so you didn't have to wait till the end to find out. Read the blurbs! A lot of this is repetition and Ninja MCQ's are a wonderful resource. And you really can't beat the price at less than 50 bucks. I spend more than that on candles every month. No brainer. 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions or if there's anything I can do to help. Just remember, if it was easy, then anyone could do it. This exam is an equal part a test of your abilities as well as your dedication.
FAR - 78
AUD - 85
BEC - 70, 83! Ninja note bump of 13 points!
REG - 65, 70, 2016 Q1 retake before FAR expires 02/29/16
CPAexcel + Ninja Notes + Ninja MCQ = Success
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. And boy, I am HANGRY!
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