I think there are a number of factors that come in to play when deciding how much study time is required to score well for each section.
– When did you finish your accounting degree?
– Do you have any work experience related to that section of the exam?
– Do you retain material fairly easily (1-2 times through)?
– What span of time are you going to conduct your studies?
– What materials are you using?
Each individual is different. I saw that some people had studied 80 hours and scored well on REG while others had studied 140 hours and scored well on REG. I'd also seen that some people had studied 120 and failed REG. What does this tell me? It is different for each individual.
I studied 90 hours for REG and scored well. Does that mean you can study 90 hours and score well? I have no idea. I studied for REG for 16 days. I was completely submerged in Becker. I was miserable most of the time.
Audit I studied 87 hours. Will I score well with that amount of study time? I have no idea. It was the best I could do in the timespan that I gave myself (21 days). When the scores are released I will have a better guage if my studies were sufficient or not.
I am starting to study for BEC this evening and I will have 15 days to prepare. At 4.5 hours a day that will put me at 67-70 hours, the least out of the sections so far. The fact is that there are no simulations in BEC, which I typically spent about 10 hours total on studying simulations for the past two sections.
I will have about 35 days to prepare for FAR which is the most time out of all the sections. I imagine I will log at least 120 hours when all is said and done.
I enjoyed my study schedule for AUD more than REG because things didnt feel as rushed. If I didn't understand a topic, such as transaction cycles, I could take my time and go through the material until I had a decent grasp on it. With REG it was either master it by the second time through or hope it isn't tested heavily.
With all of that being said, out of the two sections that I have sat for, I have felt very unprepared walking in to BOTH sections. I think that is just my nature, but there is so much material that I am constantly worried that they will ask me far-reaching questions that I have no idea about. I tend to overcompensate my studies (to the point of high stress) and underestimate myself (there was NO way I thought I had passed REG when in all reality I passed it with flying colors).
REG: 5/26 - 90hrs (Pass) AUD: 7/1 - 86hrs (Pass)
BEC: 7/22 - 72hrs (Pass) FAR: 8/31 - 56hrs (Wait)