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April 28, 2016 at 7:06 pm #201632jqh1989Participant
Hi everyone I’m planning to study the FAR first for the cpa, any advice or tips to reduce my study time in half. If you could do it differently, how would you reduce the study time daily or weekly for the FAR. I heard that it’s the toughest to pass but I want to know how I could pass it in my first try? Any note taking tips? Would just reviewing the MCQ’s be enough and what did everyone do to pass the simulations?
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April 28, 2016 at 7:27 pm #774207MissyParticipant
I would seriously not look for ways to reduce study time there is no shortcut, especially with FAR. Put in no less than 20 hours per week for 8 weeks but get the biggest bang out of every second of that time and you might just pull off a 75 or better.
Old timer, A71'er since 2010.Finance manager/HR manager
Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR ManagerApril 28, 2016 at 7:43 pm #774208RE2PECTParticipantHow long has it been since you were in school? I agree with mla11692 that you shouldn't be looking to reduce study time, but should try to be as efficient as possible and get quality hours in. I finished my accounting requirements in December and started studying right away for FAR and took it on 2/29. Being fresh out of school helped me, especially taking Gov/NFP my last semester. I studied over 200 hours, not including all the hours listening to Ninja audio on my commute to work and just barely passed. It seems impossible in the beginning, but it will start coming together when you're doing nonstop mcq's for your review. I highly suggest using Ninja MCQ for that part. The answer explanations are what really helped reinforce all the information.
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."Roger & Ninja
FAR: 75
AUD: 73, 81
BEC: 71, 73, 82
REG: 68, 82FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
AUD: 73, 81
BEC: 71, retake 8/29
REG:April 28, 2016 at 8:28 pm #774209AnonymousInactive“How can I cut down study time” and “how can I pass the first time” should not be in the same post. 🙂 I'm a huge fan of efficient study, and personally passed all the exams on my first try, but when the goal is minimal study, the likelihood of first-time passes is low. Your goal has to be quality study, not minimum study.
That being said… Efficient study varies from person to person, but generally people find MCQs to be an efficient form of review. Most people (vast vast majority – like 98% or more) need more than MCQs for initial study, but MCQs are great for review. Initial study is usually done via either lectures or textbook or a combination thereof, and some people takes notes on it, some use pre-made notes as an outline, etc. For a person who learns well from books, I think that using CPA review books has the primary basis for study is the most efficient way to study, since the books can be read in much less time than the time required to watch the lectures. However, it's key that the student has to learn well from the books. I do learn well from books, so I was able to use a book-based method and skip the lectures altogether. This allowed me to do all the exams in less than 100 hours each, since I could read the book, do the MCQs, etc., in less time than other students spent just on watching lectures. However, if I hadn't learned well form the book, then all the time spent reading it would have been wasted, so the book wouldn't have been efficient for me, which is why I said efficient study varies from person to person.
April 28, 2016 at 8:31 pm #774210TheHoundThatRidesParticipantDo cumulative tests so you don't forget what you learned before. They can just be quick sessions at the beginning of your studying. It doesn't have to take forever. It also helps retention if you see something across several days.
Look up the content outline. Study the most heavily tested stuff……more heavily. No use spending 2-3 hours trying to master the subtle details of a subject if it's barely on the exam as it is!
BEC - 78 (August 2015)
FAR - 80 (November 2015)
AUD - 73, 67. (Ok I gotta confess I was even more lazy this time around)
REG - August 27th, 2016April 28, 2016 at 8:44 pm #774211Excel14Participant@hound:
How does one know what is heavily tested? I have seen the outline with percentages, but everyone's exam is different. What would say is the most heavily tested areas? I'm studying FAR now, but feel like I've forgotten everything from early on. Fortunately for me, I don't take it until 06/10. I have about 5 chapters in Gleim left, before I can go back and hammer old material.
What do they call an accounting person, who only managed a 75 on all four parts of the CPA exam....you got it, CPA!!!BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REGCIA, CGAP, CFE
April 28, 2016 at 8:51 pm #774212Jdn9201ParticipantJQH, I'd say with this being your first exam, it's going to be harder for you to be efficient without cutting too many corners. I took FAR last, so by the time I got to it (based on how I studied for other parts), I had a better idea where I could trim the fat. The time it takes varies for everyone, for a variety of reasons. I got fortunate and passed with 3 weeks of studying (took exam on 2/29, started studying 2/7). The content specific outline was huge – I used that as a guide to help me decide how to focus my time. I used Roger and did MCQ's after every 3-4 chapters, and moved on as long as I was scoring at least 65-70 (my experience was my real exam score was always about 10 points higher than practice). I think one key for FAR is knowing when to spend more time on a topic vs moving on to the next. One blessing about it being so much information is it's impossible for them to test you over all of it. Also, realize that longer window of time you set to study, the more time you are going to have to spend reviewing what you learned. Since I only spent 3 weeks, I didn't have time to waste getting bogged down, and the longest I had to recall earlier information was 3 weeks – not enough time to forget it. DO NOT FORGET THE AL! There are so many points buried in the AL for SIMS, but you have to know where to look. Good luck!
BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16April 29, 2016 at 12:20 pm #774213jqh1989ParticipantSo would it be smart to just read the highlighted parts of the lectures in the book instead of just wasting so much time watching the boring videos? Also, Maybe use a snippet tool and snip the highlighted parts of the book into an organized word document for each section then memorizing the material and go forward with doing the MCQ's for each section. Appreciate all the advice guys!
April 29, 2016 at 12:57 pm #774214AnonymousInactiveIf you're going to use the book, you need to read the whole book, not just the highlighted parts. Studying is kind of like dieting…one diet might allow you to eat anything you want, but only in restricted portions; one might allow you to eat all the meat you want, but no carbs; one might allow you to eat all the potatoes you want, but no meat or fats. You can't pick and choose parts of them and have it work, choosing the unlimited meat from one, unlimited potatoes from the other, and eat anything you want from the first. If you want to get the cutting corners from one, you have to take the part that you don't want form it, too.
So, if you want the “cutting corners” part of book-based learning (which is getting out of watching the silly videos), then you have to take the part which you don't want, too, which is reading through the whole book. You can't take the “cutting corners” part of the lecture-based learning (which is reading only small portions of the book), cause if you want the “cutting corners” of lecture-based learning, then you have to take the bad part of lectures, too, which is watching the videos.
Using a snippet tool to snip the highlighted parts of the book into an organized Word document might be a good tool to use for a quick reference guide to review important topics, so that's probably a good idea. However, you have to read the whole chapter, and then use the highlighted portions in your review sheet for review. You can't get out of reading everything and get out of the lectures too. The lecturer tells you more than just what's in the highlighted portion, and the book tells you more than just what's in the highlighted portion. If you only read the highlighted portions, then you're skipping information that you need.
April 29, 2016 at 1:11 pm #774215DTBirdParticipantI passed FAR on the first try.
My key to success: I studied a lot.
AUD - 78
BEC - 77
FAR - 76
REG - 80Texas CPABEC - 77 (5/16)
AUD - TBD (8/16)
REG - 80 (1/16)
FAR - 76 (8/15)April 29, 2016 at 1:25 pm #774216StilgoinParticipant@DTBird – The harder I work, the luckier I get. Isn’t it funny how that happens? Congrats 😉
Stilgoin, CPAThere are enough critics. Be an encourager
B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, WaitingEthics | 93
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."
April 29, 2016 at 2:32 pm #774217okcpa2015ParticipantHow you prepare is up to you, but I would recommend constantly assessing what you've learned. A weekly quiz over the material you've learned helps you understand if what you're doing is effective.
Everyone on this forum, especially those who've passed, will tell you what you should or shouldn't do. I suggest make your own action plan, monitor it, and make adjustments as need.
Good luck!
FAR - 91
REG - 88
AUD - 98
BEC - 88 -
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