[Anonymous]

Hi All,

Just wanted to share my FAR experience.

First I don’t have an accounting degree or accounting work experience. So I know FAR s going to be a challenge.

I passed BEC (80) on 08/12/2015 and failed AUD (74) on 08/31/2015. I decided to take FAR next and after that AUD.I started studying for FAR from September 10th. Almost 3 hrs during weekdays and 6-10 hours in the weekends. So almost from 09/10/2015 to 11/29/2015.

I used BECKER self study.

My exam experience today.

I know FAR is the toughest among the 4 sections and also without accounting work experience it is going to be big challenge. My exam time is 8.00 AM. I went to prometric at 7:15 and they allowed me to start at 7:30 AM.

MCQ experience: First Teslet-I felt like the first 5-7 questions no clue at all. Took wild guess.For me the difficulty level of all 3 testlets are the same . The pattern was like 2 questions appears – with 5-7 line accounting problem then simple one line question like a definition which is easy. I took 1 hr to complete the first testlet and the same for 2nd and 3rd too. Didn’t had time to review the 2nd and 3rd testlets answers.From my experience all the 3 testlets difficulty levels are the same. When compared to BEC and AUD, FAR is the worst.

After 3 testlets I took a break for 5 minutes . When I started the SIMS the time left was 57 minutes.SIMS are so brutal and totally clueless. Research question was super tough. Pretty much some wild guess.Then out of 6 SIMS – 5 are JE’s. Each SIM is like 15-20 lines – 2-3 paragraphs and then 3-4 JE’s like JE1,JE2,JE3,etc .Totally clueless. I can’t even put 0.00’s or some accounts in 3 sims and then research screwed up.I did maybe 30 percent correct in the 3 SIMS.

Very depressing. Few points to share.

1.Observed MCQ’s from all the topics. Not single topic missed out. Becker prepares you well for the MCQ’s. I think the MCQ’s appeared in the exam are not that complex like the Becker homework. I took the Becker practice test just yesterday . I think its better to do the practice exam like 2 weeks before the actual exam. But again the MCQ’s are not that complex but pretty much covers from all the topics.If you follow BECKER or any other review course you should be okay.

2.SIMS: For me the SIMS are the real challenge. I did all the SIMS in the Becker FAR review. Each chapter has 7-15 SIMS. I think Becker didn’t do a good job in SIMS especially the JE’s part. It looks simple when compared to real exam. I can’t relate to any SIM appeared in real exam to Becker SIM’s.I didn’t felt it the same way when I took the BEC and AUD. FAR is totally different. I am surprised how Becker missed it. Also all the SIMS for me was JE’s . 5 SIMS are JE’s.

I felt very depressed. But need to bounce back and organize myself. I need to focus on the JE’s and time management. I am thinking of taking again in sometime in Jan and Feb.

Again if you know the JE’s for all the topics from bond valuation, sale lease back, asset exchange, consolidation,equity method,treasury stock,hedges etc you can easily pass the exam.

Good luck to all of you preparing for the exam:-)