FAR Exam Testlet Time Allocation

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #181760
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I am taking FAR in a few hours and I am making a plan of how much time I should spend for each testlet. Would it better to spend more time on the 1st testlet rather than the 3rd? Also do you think around 1 hour and 45 minutes is enough for the simulations? I know if varies from person to person but I would really appreciate hearing what some of your time allocations were on the test.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 16 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #469971
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I spent about the same amount of time for all 3 MC testlets (about 55 minutes each) but unfortunately that didn't leave me enough time for sims – which were ridiculous. I used Becker to study but didn't feel prepared for SIMS.

    I felt like the MC questions in the 3rd testlet were more difficult than the other 2 but by that time I was already pressed by time and wanted to allow at least 1 hr and 15mins for SIMS.

    I am hoping for a miracle pretty much! 🙂

    Good luck to you!

    #470031
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I spent about the same amount of time for all 3 MC testlets (about 55 minutes each) but unfortunately that didn't leave me enough time for sims – which were ridiculous. I used Becker to study but didn't feel prepared for SIMS.

    I felt like the MC questions in the 3rd testlet were more difficult than the other 2 but by that time I was already pressed by time and wanted to allow at least 1 hr and 15mins for SIMS.

    I am hoping for a miracle pretty much! 🙂

    Good luck to you!

    #469973
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    My goal was 45-50min for each testlet. That leaves a minimum of 1.5hrs for the SIMS, and maybe a quick break if you're on schedule. And yes, I would agree that 1.5 to 1.75hrs for the SIMS is about right if you'd like to have time to not feel too pressured.

    I had 1hr 40 min going into the SIMS, and I dove right in and had a pretty solid pace. I had 15min left when I finished, but decided to call it good rather than hit the authoritative literature hard.

    Also, if you're doing well, the first testlet may be the easiest, so don't allocate extra time for that one unless you find you're genuinely struggling with several questions. I usually flag the ones I'm not sure about as I go through the testlet. Then I go back and try try answer the ones I think I have a decent shot of answering correctly first. When I get down to 3-5 flags left of the hardest questions, I just make a quick educated guess and press on. My normal self would kill 10-15min trying to answer those, but it's just not worth it when you know you're truly guessing anyway.

    #470033
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    My goal was 45-50min for each testlet. That leaves a minimum of 1.5hrs for the SIMS, and maybe a quick break if you're on schedule. And yes, I would agree that 1.5 to 1.75hrs for the SIMS is about right if you'd like to have time to not feel too pressured.

    I had 1hr 40 min going into the SIMS, and I dove right in and had a pretty solid pace. I had 15min left when I finished, but decided to call it good rather than hit the authoritative literature hard.

    Also, if you're doing well, the first testlet may be the easiest, so don't allocate extra time for that one unless you find you're genuinely struggling with several questions. I usually flag the ones I'm not sure about as I go through the testlet. Then I go back and try try answer the ones I think I have a decent shot of answering correctly first. When I get down to 3-5 flags left of the hardest questions, I just make a quick educated guess and press on. My normal self would kill 10-15min trying to answer those, but it's just not worth it when you know you're truly guessing anyway.

    #469975
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    cpaexcel says youre supposed to spend 2 min per question but i always run out of time while doing the practice questions in exam mode? are the actual questions as wordy and long?

    #470035
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    cpaexcel says youre supposed to spend 2 min per question but i always run out of time while doing the practice questions in exam mode? are the actual questions as wordy and long?

    #469977
    Wolfchicken
    Member

    @CPA066729. Just took FAR a couple of weeks ago. I spent about 2 hours on the MCQ's and allocated 2 hours to the sims. I used Becker and the actual questions on the exam were definitely not as wordy and long than the practice MCQ's with Becker.

    BEC - PASS
    FAR - PASS
    Audit - PASS
    REG - PASS

    #470037
    Wolfchicken
    Member

    @CPA066729. Just took FAR a couple of weeks ago. I spent about 2 hours on the MCQ's and allocated 2 hours to the sims. I used Becker and the actual questions on the exam were definitely not as wordy and long than the practice MCQ's with Becker.

    BEC - PASS
    FAR - PASS
    Audit - PASS
    REG - PASS

    #469979
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Were there alot of calculation questions or theory questions, I know some ppl had tests with mainly concepts and few calculations

    #470039
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Were there alot of calculation questions or theory questions, I know some ppl had tests with mainly concepts and few calculations

    #469981
    Wolfchicken
    Member

    I had a mixture of both. Probably a little more theory than calculation. The calculation ones weren't too complicated. I wasn't surprised on any of the SIMS I got either. All things that were covered in Becker. I did have a lot of tricky MCQ's tho, which is the same experience that I had with both REG and BEC so I was expecting it.

    BEC - PASS
    FAR - PASS
    Audit - PASS
    REG - PASS

    #470042
    Wolfchicken
    Member

    I had a mixture of both. Probably a little more theory than calculation. The calculation ones weren't too complicated. I wasn't surprised on any of the SIMS I got either. All things that were covered in Becker. I did have a lot of tricky MCQ's tho, which is the same experience that I had with both REG and BEC so I was expecting it.

    BEC - PASS
    FAR - PASS
    Audit - PASS
    REG - PASS

    #469983
    toasty
    Member

    just took FAR yesterday and oh boy was i unprepared… flew through the MC, got a good mix of theory and calc, nothing too difficult… took a 10 min break and started the SIM with 2:10 left, this is where i got nervous cuz of the 7 SIMS that i got, nothing looked even close to any of the sims in Becker 🙁

    #470045
    toasty
    Member

    just took FAR yesterday and oh boy was i unprepared… flew through the MC, got a good mix of theory and calc, nothing too difficult… took a 10 min break and started the SIM with 2:10 left, this is where i got nervous cuz of the 7 SIMS that i got, nothing looked even close to any of the sims in Becker 🙁

    #469985
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Im using cpaexcel, some questions are easy but some are crazy hard

    I practiced some sims but heard its better to focus on understanding concepts and doing mcqs

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 16 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.