[JH]

Hi all,

I’m taking FAR in ~9 Days, and have 8 days for full time review. So far, I’ve went through all of the material in Wiley, spending ~180 hrs and covering ~1500 MCQs. The questions went well, but I’m worried that I’ve lost a lot of information from the earlier sections.

With just 8 days for review, I’m planning on spending 4 days going through my notes for each major section (Conceptual Framework and Financial Reporting, Select Financial Statement Accounts, Select Transactions, and State and Local Governments) and taking MCQs (this time with Ninja) for each of the major sections. After those 4 days of note review, I plan on spending 3 days hammering MCQs for the courseload as a whole. For the final day before the exam, I plan on spending the entire day working on SIMs.

I’ll be taking my mock exams (1) the day after I finish reviewing notes (2) 2 days before the exam and (3) 1 day before the exam.

If anyone has been in a similar position, or has used Wiley and Ninja, I’d like some feedback on my review plan. Is this review enough to be prepared? If there are any other study suggestions, I’m glad to hear them.

Thanks for reading and for providing feedback! Any input helps!

[Sam]

I like your plan for an all out blitz and I would just add two suggestions from my personal FAR experience.

First, spend more time on the notes and MCQs in the area you feel weakest in. For me that was governmental accounting and it paid dividends spending more time on that.

Also, this may sound counter intuitive, but the night before the exam, RELAX! Don't do too many SIMS. Anything you learned you would have learned by that point and it is most important to be energized and have a sharp mind. I actually spent the night watching TV shows and hardly even thought about the exam the night before and when I sat for the test I was refreshed and ready to go.

AUD - 92
BEC - 92
FAR - 91
REG - 93

CPA in Wisconsin

[Recked]

I'd recommend jumping straight to the MCQs. Use the testbank to help you find your weak areas that you need to further review the book or notes.
The more MCQs practice you get the better off you will be.

Memento Mori - Kingston NY CPA & EA (SUNY Albany 2002)

FAR-93 11/9/17 (10wks, 250 hrs, Roger 1800+ MCQs, Gleim TB 600+MCQs, SIMs)
AUD-88 12/7/17 (3 wks, 85 hrs, Roger 1000 MCQs no SIMs hail mary)
REG-96 1/18/18 (6 wks, 110 hrs, 1400 MCQs, no SIMs)
BEC-91 2/16/18 (4wks, 90 hrs, 1240 MCQs)

[JH]

Thank you guys for your input!

I'm liking the idea of jumping straight into MCQs and identifying weak areas.

A few additional questions:
Did you feel like the information you studied earliest came back to you when you hammered MCQs?

How would you recommend I cover SIMs? Should I just get an idea of how they're going to be formatted by looking at a few samples from the AICPA and Ninja's test bank?

When do you recommend I take my mock exams?

[Recked]

Early Information – If I had to do it all over again, the only thing I absolutely would do is a cumulative day once a week. Being that you are 8 days out and that is no longer an option… Yes, the early material will throw you some curve balls and you will get lots of the questions wrong. You'll see the stuff and it will be completely foreign to you, or you will recognize it enough to realize you forgot the correct way to solve the problem. It all comes back to you during that final review. Completely normal, just keep plugging away at it. Vital to touch MCQs from all areas to refresh your mind.
–
SIMs, probably the AICPA sample test. I am not sure on the SIMs in current review courses or NINJA, but the SIMs I saw in late 2017 were no where close to the “new and improved” SIMs the AICPA started using. I'd focus more on the MCQs, and the AICPA sample just to get an idea of what you are in for. You can update this thread after the test to let me know if things are still the same.
–
I would not recommend MOCK exams. When I took the MOCK exams the SIMs were way too soft ball fluff type old style SIMs. I was left with way too much time remaining (vs ran out of time on the actual exam). Unless your review course has updated more accurate SIMS I would not bother with them. If you need to do large batches I would create custom batches of MCQs at 33 a pop x2, just to get a feel for your time spent on each question. Grind through those MCQs on exam day as hard and as fast as you can.
_
Mock exam, if you score poorly it will crush your soul and motivation. Better to just focus on the MCQs. You don't need that kind of self doubt. I did the Mocks for FAR but none of the other 3.

Memento Mori - Kingston NY CPA & EA (SUNY Albany 2002)

FAR-93 11/9/17 (10wks, 250 hrs, Roger 1800+ MCQs, Gleim TB 600+MCQs, SIMs)
AUD-88 12/7/17 (3 wks, 85 hrs, Roger 1000 MCQs no SIMs hail mary)
REG-96 1/18/18 (6 wks, 110 hrs, 1400 MCQs, no SIMs)
BEC-91 2/16/18 (4wks, 90 hrs, 1240 MCQs)

[Mike J]

To piggyback @Recked I would make sure on exam day that you budget whatever time you need for the SIMs.

So if you know you need an hour for the SIMs, subtract that from the total time for the exam and divide the difference evenly for the MCQ.

That will give you an added benefit of keeping you focused and moving steadily along on exam day.

AUD - 90
BEC - 79
FAR - 77
REG - 77

They don't trust JUST ANYBODY to count beans

[JH]

Hey guys,

As an update, exam's on 8/7
Currently working on MCQs on Ninja
Avg: 69%
Trending: 72%
420 questions in

Do you guys reckon in continue plugging MCQs or at some point work on some SIMs and drilling on my weaker areas?

Again, I appreciate all the replies!

[JH]

The big day's tomorrow and I feel as ready as I'll ever feel. I'm trending a 76% on Ninja with a 72% Avg through 780 questions. Hope I'll perform tomorrow!

[Author]

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