[Anonymous]

This is my first time i am taking FAR i created this post so that I and others can learn from your experiences !

[Anonymous]

Any suggestion?

[Anonymous]

Maybe you should look for advice from people who passed FAR too?

[Anonymous]

I have also taken it three times. I have scored as high as a 71 on it. There is just so much…

[Anonymous]

I'd love to hear about other people's experiences with FAR. I have failed twice now, within 2 points of passing. I have one more chance to take FAR, and if I do not pass by 11/30/09, I will lose credit for the other 3 parts of the exam that I have already passed.

[Anonymous]

only listen to ppl who pass or fail do not listen to ppl who never took it everyone else is full of terds

[Anonymous]

I put in 150-200 hours of studying for FAR, yes, it's a beast, but if you take the book sections at a time (I used Becker, and did their recommended 3 chapters, then review method), you will do fine. I left myself 3 weeks to work all MC questions 2-3 more times. I took practice tests and any chapter that I didn't score at least a 75% on, I went back and worked all HW questions. I will say not to waste your time on sims, if you know the material in the MCQs cold, you will be more than prepared for the sims.

[Anonymous]

almost_there,

Just curious what the 3 chapters are that Becker recommends to focus on? I have the full 2008 suite, and 2009 FAR and don't recall 3 chapters they recommended to focus on… though I havent watched the videos since my first round with the 2008. Taking a guess I would bet they recommend F1, F3 and F5? Though I could see F2 and F7 being pretty important too…F8 and F9 probably arent as important as they aren't weighted as heavily on the official exam.

[Anonymous]

CPYAY,

I think what almost_there is saying is to go through 3 chapters, then review them before you go on to the next chapter. Do that for all nine chapters. That is what I am doing and it really does help. You end up in FAR with essentially 3 review sessions.

[Anonymous]

CPAWannaBe-

That's exactly corret. Becker recommends doing lectures 1-3, then doing hw/ typing notes/reviewing and then moving on to the next 3 chapters.

[Anonymous]

My advice:

1. Take FAR before all of the other exams if you can.

2. Use Becker, including their Final Review product.

3. Allow at LEAST 2 months of preparation because of the volume of material.

4. Don't glaze over government and non-profit. It surprised me how many questions were in this topic area.

5. Practice, practice, practice! I have never studied so hard for anything in my life as I did for FAR, including the other exam sections. Clear your calendar 1 week before the exam so that you can intensely study. I did this while working full time so I took the Thursday and Friday off before my Saturday exam. I used that time to do Becker Final Review.

GOOD LUCK!

[Anonymous]

Amethyst8,

I have never taken a government/non-profit class. Do you think Becker prepares candidates enough for this section?

[Anonymous]

CPAWannaBe,

Yes, I think Becker does, however, in your case, you will want to budget more time for it. I was familiar with the topics since I had taken the course in undergrad. If it's completely unknown to you, you'll quickly find that is conceptually VERY different than financial accounting. Some of the topics do get into the weeds and you'll want to just say “Oh, they won't test on that.” I'd recommend not dismissing it…knowing just the basics of fund accounting could cost you precious points. I hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

I took government/NFP accounting in grad school and forgot most of it. I took Becker and passed FAR on the first try.

[Author]

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