FAR – Writing Notes

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  • #188937
    jakeeee
    Member

    Hi! I was just curious… for those of you that have passed FAR and wrote notes while doing so… how beneficial did you find it to be? Since FAR is huge in volume, it takes quite a long time to write out the notes. I know I have to be patient, but ahhh! So did you do anything differently with FAR compared to the other tests you have passed?

    I use Becker. This is what I did for the previous three tests:

    1. Watch each lecture.

    2. Write down my notes by section. Once I’m done with a section, do the multiple choice for that section and then write more notes for questions I get wrong or topics I’m not too clear on.

    3. Do all the multiple choice questions. If I’m pressed for time, skip the additonal questions.

    4. By the time this is over, hopefully I have a week or so until my test day. I read my notes for one chapter and repeat all the multiple choice questions for that chapter. I then do this for every chapter. If I skipped any additional questions for a particular chapter, I will do them IF I feel like I’m weak in that chapter.

    5. Take practice quizzes if I have time. And do at least one, if not both, practice exams.

    6. Hope for the best.

    Right now I’m almost halfway through my notes for Chapter 2, and I’m already overwhelmed. Maybe I’m just psyching myself out because of all the negative things I’ve heard about the test… I only have two months left so I gotta get cranking! The first time I took the test, I definitely had no idea what I was doing and don’t think I even got through all the chapters.

    I’ve considered getting the NINJA notes for FAR, but honestly I feel like I get confused even more–if that makes sense. It’s a great supplement, but when I write my own notes and am confused on something, I can easily go back and find it in my Becker book because my notes are in chronogical order… whereas with the NINJA notes, it takes me a bit longer to go back and find things and I feel like I waste time when that happens and I feel even more overwhelmed. Maybe I’m just weird.

    Anyways, any advice would be great! 😀

    BEC - July 2014
    REG - Aug 2014
    FAR - January 2015
    AUD - May 2014
    Ethics - 3x...

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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  • #610493
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Your plan seems to be working as I can see you passed all other 3 sections, so stick to it. FAR is overwhelming due to the volume of materials so hang in there. FAR is my first section and I almost did the same steps as you do. Make sure you cover all chapters and also practice doing SIMs. I wrote my own notes and I prefer that way because it gives me more control on how I want to write it the way I can easily understand (except that sometimes I can't read my own handwriting). Identify your weak areas as you go along. And once you've gone through all chapters, you can go back to them and spend some extra hours on understanding them. I would also recommend reading thru the FAR section forums here (specially study group and exam experience sections) to get some tips on what's heavily tested, review techniques and any other support needed. Your weak areas could somebody else's strength and vice versa, so sharing ideas is definitely a great help. One more section and you're done! You will have your life back in 2 months. Good luck!

    #610494
    ShelahV
    Member

    I take notes too since I study best that way and I'm currently studying for FAR – I'm on F6. I have to say I feel your pain on the notes for F2. I felt like I was rewriting the whole chapter. F2 is the worst I've had so far. It will get better, just stick with your plan!

    BEC 8.14.14 - 87!
    FAR 1.8.15 - 89!
    REG 4.15.15 - 86!
    AUD 7.2.15 - 90!

    Application submitted 8.6.15
    Licensed CPA 8.19.15

    Benefit in living in a small state SD!

    #610495
    JoJo
    Member

    @ShelahV

    When do you plan to take FAR?

    I am using CPAexcel. I am going through the lectures, reading the text, and completing questions in test mode for my first round. The second round I plan to read text, write out notes for weaker areas, create flashcards, and complete questions in study mode. The third round I plan to complete a two week review at the end of December with just my notes, flashcards, and questions in test mode.

    I want to take FAR in November but think it would be wiser to take the exam the first week of January. I want to pass and not look back.

    I then plan to take AUD in April and BEC in August.

    REG - 77 (05/30/14); Failed (11/28/09)
    BEC - TBD; Failed (05/29/09)
    FAR - 74 (04/30/15);
    AUD - TBD

    CPAexcel; NINJA Notes; NINJA Flashcards; Roger CPA Videos

    #610496
    Iggy1985
    Member

    I found the notes that were most helpful to me were, whenever I got an MCQ wrong, I wrote the question on one side of an index card and the answer on the other side, and made sure I understood it my checking the reasons other answers were wrong and the reference text. I flipped through the cards the week before the exam, and put them into three piles of ‘i know this, i dont know this, and crap this is hard'.. lol. Then a couple days before the exam I made one note sheet on an unlined piece of paper in different ink colors that broke down my weakest areas in very condensed little snippets, and looked this paper over the night before and morning of. When I watched the Gleim videos in the early weeks of studying, I filled up like 8 legal pads and never looked at them again >_>

    FAR - 89 (8/19/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Books from School, Ninja Audio/Notes
    AUD - 92 (10/14/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Ninja Audio
    BEC - 82 (5/8/15) Mostly Ninja MCQ, sprinkles of Becker lectures and Ninja Audio
    REG - (8/14/15)

    #610497
    ShelahV
    Member

    Johanne, I plan to take it early January. I have it scheduled for the 17th but will probably move it up to early January since I seem to be doing well on the material (averaging 81-83% in Becker right now). I want to take it at the end of November but I'm like you – I want this to be a one and done on FAR! I'll be thru the material by mid-November but there just won't be enough review time as I want. I have a part time job that I work some weekends plus a couple of other committments coming up so I didn't want to rush and take it and then fail when I can take a couple more weeks of review and have a better change of passing. I do plan to start studying for AUD or REG during December in between reviewing for FAR.

    I also want to retain a lot of this information since I hope to transition into more financial reporting over the next couple year at my current job. I currently work for a publically traded regional bank. So this is another reason I'm taking my time on this exam a bit. Luckily I've worked with several topics (Fixed Assets, Leases, Patents) covered in FAR on a daily basis for almost 2 years now and I've been learning some new areas too so I can definately see that paying off right now!

    How about you? Have you scheduled an exam date yet for FAR?

    BEC 8.14.14 - 87!
    FAR 1.8.15 - 89!
    REG 4.15.15 - 86!
    AUD 7.2.15 - 90!

    Application submitted 8.6.15
    Licensed CPA 8.19.15

    Benefit in living in a small state SD!

    #610498
    JoJo
    Member

    ShelahV, it's awesome that you have the working knowledge!

    I have not scheduled my exam yet. I have a move to another city and job search activity the first week of October. So I am waiting until I move to schedule the exam. My average is low right now. I am just trying to get through the material this time around.

    REG - 77 (05/30/14); Failed (11/28/09)
    BEC - TBD; Failed (05/29/09)
    FAR - 74 (04/30/15);
    AUD - TBD

    CPAexcel; NINJA Notes; NINJA Flashcards; Roger CPA Videos

    #610499
    ShelahV
    Member

    Good luck with the move & job search and FAR,

    BEC 8.14.14 - 87!
    FAR 1.8.15 - 89!
    REG 4.15.15 - 86!
    AUD 7.2.15 - 90!

    Application submitted 8.6.15
    Licensed CPA 8.19.15

    Benefit in living in a small state SD!

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