Time to move on...

BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 3 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
I decided to forget about the CPA for an entire week! I think my motivation was really hurting as a result of my experience with BEC. I couldn't motivate myself to open my FAR book at all, especially since FAR is supposed to be the most challenging section of them all. BEC kicked my butt! I spent this week catching up on homework for my online classes, had an exam in both of them and a project due...it's not like I was going to have a ton of time to work on studying anyway. I also spent some time this week reflecting on how I prepared for BEC and realized that I was trying to master everything which resulted in me mastering nothing!

I spent my final week of review by going through the cards, chapters and homework questions all over again. I took notes on areas I was still struggling with, made a formula sheet for pretty much all formulas, studied Jeff's NINJA and did most of the questions over at cpareviewforfree. I felt well prepared heading into the testing center and horrible leaving the center. I think that I was trying to hard to get every detail straight, I really just ended up confusing myself during the exam. COSO questions were somewhat confusing because they were worded oddly, as were several other questions. There were also several questions that were not covered by Becker. These questions made me the most frustrated because I was having to make a blind guess on them.

The written portion of the exam was not too bad actually. I had 1 hour and 8 minutes remaining when I started the WC and decided to use the entire time to ensure my answers were polished...I was hoping to redeem myself from the MCQ. I would suggest that anyone using Becker practice at least a few of the written examples Becker provides in order to nail down the format and time management. Becker suggests 15 minutes per memo and I think that is very realistic. I had all three of mine written and proofread in about 40 minutes...Becker also warned that the WC may cover topics from other sections of the exam and this was true in my experience, but if you have any kind of accounting background, you can certainly formulate a decent answer. Apparently, the AICPA is not grading them based on how technically correct they are, but more on writing ability. I am a decent writer, so I didn't focus much energy on preparing for this part and I am glad I didn't...

Overall, I would suggest any and all of the resources I mentioned above to help you prepare. Although I seriously doubt I passed, I think this first section was a big learning experience for me. Jeff's NINJA suggests watching all the videos before working any of the problems because trying to remember anything from FAR-1 when you finish FAR-9 is unlikely. This was certainly part of my problem with BEC. I would watch the lectures, read and then do the homework for each subsection. I was scoring above 75% on the homework most of the time, so I felt like I was comfortable with the material...but when I went back after finishing everything, I found myself a little lost with the beginning information. It is amazing how much you think you know, but you really don't...

Starting today, I am going to stop worrying about BEC and have decided that FAR is now my main focus. I made a spreadsheet schedule with predetermined study times, dates and hours from today up until my FAR exam on May 26th. I know that I cannot push that date back like I did twice for BEC, so I made a strict schedule I am going to stick to. I have a total of 172 scheduled hours, but my goal is more like 150. I will also take the NINJA's advice and watch all the lectures for FAR before working any homework problems. I am hoping this section goes better for me...

Good luck to anyone else out there going through this wonderful experience...