How many hours and which part??

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  • #158055
    RPCPA
    Participant

    Hello, I just received all my Gleim material to study for the exam. I need a little help determining which part I should take first and which part to take last. I know the entire exam is very difficult, but is there a part that is easier than the rest? I would like to have a confidence booster after taking the first part so which part are people most likely to pass? Also I did not know what the ideal amount of hours to spend on each part. I am planning on spending about 30-35 hours a week for each part, but some say that is a little overkill, can someone help me out? Thanks!

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  • #233713
    whitesoxfancpa
    Participant

    AUD – 135 hours

    AUD 96 FAR 95 REG 94 BEC 88

    #233714
    Idrathergolf
    Participant

    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)

    #233715
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I agree with idrathergolf (on playing golf as well), definitely depends on the individual.

    FAR – 2 1/2 months, 180 hours. (couldn't let myself take it twice)

    REG – 110 hours.

    #233716
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Just for a variety of responses… I studied:

    BEC: 117.5 hr

    FAR: 169 hr

    AUD: 108.25 hr

    REG: 128 hr

    AUD(2): 49 hr

    Just keep in mind that it's not about meeting a certain number of study hours. Don't tell yourself “I need to study 100 hours for this section”. It's more about dedicated study hours. If you're focused on meeting 100 hours (or whatever number you choose), it's easy to switch your focus to “just 20 more hours” rather than making study goals based on how much material you still need to master. I tracked my study hours as a way to keep me accountable. I didn't want to think I studied 8 hours in one day if I only actually spent 6 dedicated hours (and took bathroom breaks, ate, accepted phone calls, etc during the other 2 hours).

    Best of luck!

    ~Beth

    #233717
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I second what BShep said. I tracked my hours for my first exam, but found it was stressing me out and I was obsessed with the hours. LOL

    So for the next two exams, I didn't track my hours. I just knew I had to put in enough time for me to have a comfortable understanding of all the material.

    Just make sure your study time is quality time and you'll be fine. Good luck!

    #233718
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I didn't track my hours the first time I studied for FAR (2 1/2 months) but since I failed, I wanted to track them to see if I was coming up too short. So far, 123 hours clocked for my FAR restudy. Still way more studying to go in the next 13 days.

    For REG I studied 5 weeks. I'm not sure of the exact hours but I thought back then that was an insane amount of studying. Little did I know what havoc FAR would bring to my world.

    Try not to get hung up on hours, but make sure you stick to a schedule.

    #233719
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I say use the “estimated hours” as a timeframe of scheduling your future exams. for example obviously schedule more time to study for FAR but say BEC vs AUD this comes in handy. True, don't be obessed with overall time but yes with getting your goal hrs per day (example 4 hrs a night) and be sure it is done efficiently (and not on 90% of time on this forum lol)

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