[thestruggleisreal]

I am looking for some honest and open advice/comment/critique/evaluation of my study habits and plan going into FAR scheduled 1/31. First CPA exam.

I am using becker and I am about to finish F8. I work full time and have been studying about 2-3 hours weekdays and 5+ weekend, taking fridays off. I view the lectures, review/study materials, and then do the MCQs and TBS. I average around 70-80% on MCQs and on SIMS I usually do fairly well but get tripped up on some of the finer details. I have 2 weeks off over Christmas and will have about 5 weeks for review. Im on a tight budget and am trying to avoid buying more questions so I have been saving optional questions for review. I have also been trying to hold of on doing multiple simulations if more than one is available for the chapter. My review plan is to review/study each chapter in the book and repeat all questions and TBS, while taking notice of weaker areas. About a week out I will do a practice exam and then save the second one for a few days prior and cram hard. Im feeling in the dark and unsure about my plan.

Let me know if I should switch things up and/or ramp up the study efforts.

Much appreciated!

[Anonymous]

I think your study plan sounds highly effective. Honestly if you're getting 70-80% on the MCQ with a first pass, you may want to move your test up. The one issue with FAR is that there is a lot of material and if you spread it out too much you wind up forgetting stuff. So make sure you are constantly reviewing older chapters to keep them fresh. You sound like you are on the way to acing that test. Just be careful not to memorize the questions/answers. Make sure you know why each answer is right OR wrong. Practice JEs for each question even if it doesn't require it for the answer. That will give you good practice for the SIMS in case you get any where you have to do JEs. You sound like you are going to do great!!

[Author]

Replies