Failed FAR what should I do to prepare for my re-take?

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  • #195818
    jbabs991
    Member

    I took FAR on July 11th and just found out I failed with a 73 so disappointing because I was so close. I know the sims killed me. They were a lot harder than the ones from Becker and I wasn’t prepared for that. I attempted to do my best but obviously I missed by two points. And now I need a 75 next time. So what is your advice to restudy for FAR and when is the earliest that I can take it again? I just applied for another NTS. I don’t want to lose all of the information in my head because FAR is a beast. I was struggling with keeping so much information in my brain. I know that I’ll definitely need to focus on the sims and go back and redo the multiple choice questions again. But is there anything else I should be doing? Is Becker enough to get me to pass FAR? I have Ninja Notes as well, which I should have gotten sooner and studied more since they help condense down the material. I’m definitely not going to slack on reading that over and over again this time around. I just want to pass the beast and get it out of the way. I was hoping to have FAR and REG done before tax season starts is this still possible to do? I didn’t start studying for REG yet since I wanted to keep the FAR material in my brain. Plus I work on tax so I think REG will be fairly easy for me, but I’m not sure if now I have enough time to take both of the exams before the end of January? I’m not good at the whole blackout month things and when I’m able to sit for FAR again. Thank you for the help in advance.

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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  • #686243
    jbabs991
    Member

    Any advice?

    #686244
    Priscilla
    Participant

    Hi!

    I'm going to be following your blog here since I'm also in need of advice as to “how to do a final review” for FAR.

    I failed and my last chance to retake is August! I'm a bit scare and I also think anxiety is getting to me.

    I did all chapters again – I feel strong in some areas but totally scare of JE's during the exam…. I'm planning so far to do Blitz and continue to practice sims and mcq's –

    You are so close which means you definitely understand the material….

    My hardest trouble is to keep “so much” material down in my brain… husband says to stay sharp each day prior to exam… in other words study each day….. like 7 days a week…..

    Good luck! keep me posted.

    What did you do for you final review last time?

    Pri

    AUD - Done
    REG - Done
    BEC - Done
    FAR - August 2015

    #686245
    jlee1086
    Participant

    Here are some suggestions from someone who failed FAR twice before passing.

    1. Don't judge the quality of study by the number of questions. There's no point of blowing through 100 questions if you don't understand them. I made a list of topics to review based what I got wrong. Then I take some notes/make flashcards depending on the topic. I'm not sure what notes you can take on questions where you careless though.

    2. Make sure you're not just memorizing MCQ's. You're going in the right direction by deciding to focus more on sims. But you also try not to do so many of the same ones. I did Becker and for my 2nd round, I thought I was improving by repeating the homework but I was really just memorizing. That was especially true when I did progress exams. The 3rd time, I added Wiley and Ninja questions into the mix. (I did see certain questions on all 3 courses though).

    3. Make your own notes. If you're a flashcard person, that means not using Becker ones. First of all, it's too many to go through. Second, some are too wordy. If you make your own, you're more likely to write in a way you'll understand. There are a minority of people who say it helped but most people I know didn't even open them.

    4. Don't get too caught up in the details. There is a fine line between understanding a topic vs getting bogged down. In the last few weeks, I was trying to learn perpetual FIFO/LIFO. But the sims very extremely time consuming. There are plenty of other important topics for FAR and I used my limited time to focus on those. It also helped that a Becker instructor said other topics within inventory were more frequently tested (although some of the AICPA's favorite topics according to Becker were not on my exam). Ideally, you would learn everything but if you have to choose between depth and breadth, breadth is the way to go.

    5.. Know what works for you. Do you like online lectures or doze off? For some reason, I have shorter attention span with online videos so I sampled some live classes and went to a tutor in my area.

    FAR 57 (11/2014), 64 (1/2015), 79 (7/2015)
    AUD 68 (2/2015), 79 (11/2015)
    REG 79 (1/2016)
    BEC 81 (4/2016)

    #686246
    NPD108
    Member

    I think an underrated study method for FAR (using Becker) was going through their SIMS. I know the actual SIMS are a lot harder, but the practice SIMS really reinforce your understanding of a section since they include JE's and conceptual items. With that being said, its a great opportunity to practice JE's, which is probably the best way to study for this exam. Also, it doesn't hurt to do a progress test of 30-40 questions everyday before you begin studying. This will help you identify any weak areas. Good luck!

    FAR 78
    REG 85
    BEC 85 DONE
    AUD 77

    #686247
    mscav76
    Participant

    I just squeaked by in FAR. One thing that I think really helped was the NINJA audio. There is so much material in FAR that it was hard to try and retain all of it. When reading and taking notes it was easy forget things from the beginning and it is very easy to do multiple sets of MCQs without even touching every area. I have a fairly long commute so listening to the audio helped make sure I was touching on everything at least a little bit. If I could go back I would have started listening to the audio from day one. That is what I am doing now with REG and I have noticed that when I get to a lecture in Becker I have to double check that I haven't watched it yet because I have already picked up the info from the audio. One other thing is when studying for a retake, study as if it is your first time with the material. I had to retake BEC and the material was so different on each test that if I had just studied my weak points I probably wouldn't have passed the second time.

    AUD 88
    BEC 73,82
    FAR 76
    REG 76

    Ethics 95

    #686248
    raymondsfamily
    Participant

    My first fail with FAR was a 69…on my next retake I scored an 81 and it was my first pass. There was probably a good 8+ months in between the two attempts (mostly downtime). What I realized is that to keep the material fresh on my second go-around (given the crazy amount available) I would use two different test banks (back then it was Becker and Wiley). I would do random 30/50/100 MCQ sets not relative to a specific chapter or topic. That way I didn't have a chance to forget something learned earlier, etc. I also printed off the explanations to the questions I go wrong so that way I had a large stack of additional notes. I am not an audio learner but I had the Ninja audio and notes and I also had flashcards. I liked being able to manually flip through notes and write on notes, etc. I think since you've got a good grasp on the material perhaps you just need to hone in on some weak areas (or those nasty SIMS) and just focus on keeping it fresh. You'll find what works for you and I hope you get both FAR and REG done in time for the busy season šŸ™‚

    AUD - 89
    BEC - 83
    FAR - 81
    REG - 86
    Finally done - many thanks to Jeff and A71!

    F - 5/8/13 81
    R - 74, 2/7/14 86
    B - 74, 12/6/13 82
    A - 70, 11/4/14 89!!!

    I'm done šŸ™‚ Many thanks to Jeff, A71 and Roger CPA!!!

    MBA and CPA

    #686249
    Ag12thman
    Participant

    I just took the beast and I have no doubt I failed it. Now I really don't know what to do at this point. Really feel like I probably need to stick with studying for FAR rather than move on. If I pass my jaw will be on the ground. Seriously, I highly doubt I passed. I left one simulation blank and at least two others I was very unsure on and probably got at least parts of them wrong. What to do???

    FAR: July 2016

    #686250
    Priscilla
    Participant

    @Ag12thman: head up and keep going…….. dust yourself off.

    Don't loose sight of the end…. the rewards…..

    I'm getting ready for FAR this month and staying positive has helped this time around, I do believe we are all smart… no drought but these exams are more than brains, they are an endurance test…..

    stay positive and you'll see the difference while studying.

    Pri

    AUD - Done
    REG - Done
    BEC - Done
    FAR - August 2015

    #686251
    Ag12thman
    Participant

    Thanks Pri. I appreciate those thoughts. Just very concerned that I failed and will be floored if I didn't. I'm leaning towards just studying more FAR until score is released in a few weeks.

    FAR: July 2016

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