BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 159 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 270
I couldn't sit down to write about my exam experience until today because I took it Thursday and wanted to forget it as quickly as possible...it was terrible! I had complete test day amnesia : (
If I compare the FAR exam to BEC, it was much better for 2 reasons: I had 1 test day under my belt so I knew better what to expect AND there really wasn't very many things from outer space on the FAR exam. Having said that, I couldn't get my brain to cooperate at all. I couldn't remember anything and found myself making guess after guess on the MCQ. I honestly think that if I had gotten the question "What does the acronym CPA stand for?" I would have been stumped! My brain was just plain overloaded! I left myself just over 1.5 hours for the SIMS and needed every second...they were confusing and poorly constructed IMO. It makes me wonder who the heck comes up with them?! The research one was really hard to find and I used almost a 1/3 of my time just on that one...
Overall, FAR was just bad and it is mostly my fault. I KNOW that one is a repeat...so it is likely 2 down, 4 to go for me...sucks big time...
I can say that I have realized that just putting in "enough" time is not really going to enable you to pass...I didn't use my study time wisely. I should have "practiced" more and tried to "memorize" less. Come exam day the practice makes perfect saying is so true...oh well...
On to Audit as of tomorrow...Lesson learned in a big way with BEC and FAR...
LIVE AND LEARN!
May 30, 2011
May 24, 2011
WOW!
BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 147 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 258
Just a quick post to say NFP Accounting is a pain! I FINALLY got through those terrible questions...there did not seem to be much consistency with applying what I read...I am guessing that is just because I didn't totally understand it all...I scored a 74.7% on the MCQ the first time through. For Government I scored in the 80-90% range for every section, which I am very pleased about!
I just took the short sample test the AICPA provides and surprised myself! I am retaining a little more than I thought. I only missed 1 of the multiple choice questions (because I didn't read it carefully) and I got all of the SIMS right except the research one. I had never done a research one before and although I found the section I thought was right, the answer referred to the section I found, but was not the "correct" section...frustrating! The SIMS seemed REALLY easy, so I am guessing that is quite misleading!
I think for my own sanity and for my brain, I will spend the rest of the evening reading notes carefully and trying to not go crazy! I only have tomorrow left : (
FAR: 147 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 258
Just a quick post to say NFP Accounting is a pain! I FINALLY got through those terrible questions...there did not seem to be much consistency with applying what I read...I am guessing that is just because I didn't totally understand it all...I scored a 74.7% on the MCQ the first time through. For Government I scored in the 80-90% range for every section, which I am very pleased about!
I just took the short sample test the AICPA provides and surprised myself! I am retaining a little more than I thought. I only missed 1 of the multiple choice questions (because I didn't read it carefully) and I got all of the SIMS right except the research one. I had never done a research one before and although I found the section I thought was right, the answer referred to the section I found, but was not the "correct" section...frustrating! The SIMS seemed REALLY easy, so I am guessing that is quite misleading!
I think for my own sanity and for my brain, I will spend the rest of the evening reading notes carefully and trying to not go crazy! I only have tomorrow left : (
The end is not FAR...
BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 137.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 248.5
I only have NFP left for notes and MCQ, which is the second lecture of FAR-9. So far, Fund Accounting actually seems like the "easy" part of the exam! I mean, Becker does a very nice job with mnemonics to keep all the rules straight and I have taken a course in Government accounting. I am not sure I really understood much of it during the course, but the second time around it is clicking better...
Once I finish NFP this morning, I am taking a lunch break and then starting back at FAR-1. I will review my notes and the questions I marked. I plan to get through as many sections today as I can and the same tomorrow until I am back at NFP. Then, if time permits, I hope to practice the SIMS a little...from what people have posted on another71.com, the actual SIMS on the exam are far more detailed than Becker thought they would be, thus using Becker to prepare for them is only mildly helpful...
I just hope I feel better about this exam when I leave the testing center than I did about BEC. I can't imagine how terrible I will feel to have put in all this time for BEC and FAR only to fail both :( I am not sure how people find the motivation to keep at it when that happens...when I started this whole process, I fully expected to study hard and pass on my first try...now I am much more realistic about the fact that even if you study hard, it is about 50% luck come exam day. Hopefully luck is on my side!!
FAR: 137.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 248.5
I only have NFP left for notes and MCQ, which is the second lecture of FAR-9. So far, Fund Accounting actually seems like the "easy" part of the exam! I mean, Becker does a very nice job with mnemonics to keep all the rules straight and I have taken a course in Government accounting. I am not sure I really understood much of it during the course, but the second time around it is clicking better...
Once I finish NFP this morning, I am taking a lunch break and then starting back at FAR-1. I will review my notes and the questions I marked. I plan to get through as many sections today as I can and the same tomorrow until I am back at NFP. Then, if time permits, I hope to practice the SIMS a little...from what people have posted on another71.com, the actual SIMS on the exam are far more detailed than Becker thought they would be, thus using Becker to prepare for them is only mildly helpful...
I just hope I feel better about this exam when I leave the testing center than I did about BEC. I can't imagine how terrible I will feel to have put in all this time for BEC and FAR only to fail both :( I am not sure how people find the motivation to keep at it when that happens...when I started this whole process, I fully expected to study hard and pass on my first try...now I am much more realistic about the fact that even if you study hard, it is about 50% luck come exam day. Hopefully luck is on my side!!
May 22, 2011
4 more days to STUDY!
BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 116 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 227
So today I am going to finish up FAR-7 notes and MCQ. I am a tad behind because I still haven't touched Government and NFP (FAR-8 and FAR-9). Hopefully I can stay focused today and get a good chunk of that done too...
My wonderful boss let me take the next 4 days off to study! I am really happy about that because I have a long way to go before I really feel confident about any of this material. I seem to be missing stuff on even the easy material...mostly because I didn't RTCDQ or TIT, but with the time pressure on the exam, getting more of this information straight in my head is a must! My goal is 10 hours per day for the next 4 days. I honestly feel like I could study this stuff for another month and still not have a lot of it straight...
FAR: 116 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 227
So today I am going to finish up FAR-7 notes and MCQ. I am a tad behind because I still haven't touched Government and NFP (FAR-8 and FAR-9). Hopefully I can stay focused today and get a good chunk of that done too...
My wonderful boss let me take the next 4 days off to study! I am really happy about that because I have a long way to go before I really feel confident about any of this material. I seem to be missing stuff on even the easy material...mostly because I didn't RTCDQ or TIT, but with the time pressure on the exam, getting more of this information straight in my head is a must! My goal is 10 hours per day for the next 4 days. I honestly feel like I could study this stuff for another month and still not have a lot of it straight...
May 17, 2011
Is it over yet?!
BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 91.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 202.5
So I intended to keep this blog a little more current, but finding the time to do so is proving difficult...
In the last week I have studied over 40 hours trying to really nail down FAR 1-4 and I think my pace is a little too slow! I almost through FAR-4, but still have 5-9 to review and do the MCQ! I am way behind where I would like to be, but I am dedicated to getting through this and taking and passing my exam on 5-26! I really feel a lot better about my approach to FAR than I did about BEC. I would really recommend taking Jeff's advice (over at another71.com) and watching all lectures first, then retaking/typing notes and doing tons of MCQ. My main problem is slacking several weeks back and now scrambling to make up for that...I DON'T recommend doing that!
I am still astounded as to the sheer amount of information and details in FAR. I am more and more impressed that someone can actually score a 99 on this part of the exam (well any part really)! I mean, even when I read the questions and actually comprehend what they are asking for, I forget some specific rule about 1/3 of the time...very frustrating!
I fully intend on staying on track for the next 8 days so that I can give myself a really good chance of passing next Thursday. I feel like it is 50% prep and 50% luck, so I am hoping for the best of both...
Goal: finish all notes and MCQ by Sunday at the very latest.
FAR: 91.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 202.5
So I intended to keep this blog a little more current, but finding the time to do so is proving difficult...
In the last week I have studied over 40 hours trying to really nail down FAR 1-4 and I think my pace is a little too slow! I almost through FAR-4, but still have 5-9 to review and do the MCQ! I am way behind where I would like to be, but I am dedicated to getting through this and taking and passing my exam on 5-26! I really feel a lot better about my approach to FAR than I did about BEC. I would really recommend taking Jeff's advice (over at another71.com) and watching all lectures first, then retaking/typing notes and doing tons of MCQ. My main problem is slacking several weeks back and now scrambling to make up for that...I DON'T recommend doing that!
I am still astounded as to the sheer amount of information and details in FAR. I am more and more impressed that someone can actually score a 99 on this part of the exam (well any part really)! I mean, even when I read the questions and actually comprehend what they are asking for, I forget some specific rule about 1/3 of the time...very frustrating!
I fully intend on staying on track for the next 8 days so that I can give myself a really good chance of passing next Thursday. I feel like it is 50% prep and 50% luck, so I am hoping for the best of both...
Goal: finish all notes and MCQ by Sunday at the very latest.
May 9, 2011
FAR (from knowing this stuff!)
BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 48.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 159.5
Ok, so I finally finished ALL the FAR lectures! Phew, that was a lot of information and my head is spinning...My plan for the next 2+ weeks is to review the material section by section, taking my own notes and work all the MCQ. I hope this only takes about 10 days. That will leave me a solid week for final review and to practice a couple actual exams.
I will say it again (mostly because I may be in this boat), I cannot believe people do this more than once! I mean, I am totally consumed by this and would never want to go through 48 hours of lecture for FAR ever again! BLAH! Let's hope these next few weeks are both productive and enough to enable me to pass.
Wisdom for the day:
A wise CPA told me recently that the Candidate that scores a 76 has achieved a "perfect" score. The candidate studied enough to pass (and by 2 hairs instead of 1) and that is all because at the end of the day, they have the same three letters after their name as someone who scored a 99. The only difference is the person the scored the 99 "thinks" they have bragging rights, but the person that scored a 76 actually does because they sacrificed less to achieve the same goal. HERE'S TO A 76!
FAR: 48.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
Total Hours Sacrificed: 159.5
Ok, so I finally finished ALL the FAR lectures! Phew, that was a lot of information and my head is spinning...My plan for the next 2+ weeks is to review the material section by section, taking my own notes and work all the MCQ. I hope this only takes about 10 days. That will leave me a solid week for final review and to practice a couple actual exams.
I will say it again (mostly because I may be in this boat), I cannot believe people do this more than once! I mean, I am totally consumed by this and would never want to go through 48 hours of lecture for FAR ever again! BLAH! Let's hope these next few weeks are both productive and enough to enable me to pass.
Wisdom for the day:
A wise CPA told me recently that the Candidate that scores a 76 has achieved a "perfect" score. The candidate studied enough to pass (and by 2 hairs instead of 1) and that is all because at the end of the day, they have the same three letters after their name as someone who scored a 99. The only difference is the person the scored the 99 "thinks" they have bragging rights, but the person that scored a 76 actually does because they sacrificed less to achieve the same goal. HERE'S TO A 76!
May 4, 2011
Wow, there is so much to know!
BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 30.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
I really can't believe how much info FAR covers! I finished all but the deferred taxes (blah) lecture of FAR-6 today and can't believe how long it takes just to get through the lectures. There is so much detail and so many topics covered already, I am starting to see why people say this exam is the hardest. Each individual topic isn't bad, but the accumulated amount of info is nothing short of astounding. Keeping this rule straight from that rule and this exception straight from that one is only half of the struggle. Figuring out what the hell the question is even asking seems to be a huge part of it. I have only done the class questions that are included in the lectures, but I can see this being a problem already.
My goal was to finish all lectures by tomorrow so that I would have 3 solid weeks to do all the questions and my final review before my exam on Thursday 5-26, but it looks like I will not finish the lectures until Friday. I am starting to feel the pressure of the exam date already and am worrying I haven't given myself enough time to really "learn" the material. I hope I am wrong...
FAR: 30.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
I really can't believe how much info FAR covers! I finished all but the deferred taxes (blah) lecture of FAR-6 today and can't believe how long it takes just to get through the lectures. There is so much detail and so many topics covered already, I am starting to see why people say this exam is the hardest. Each individual topic isn't bad, but the accumulated amount of info is nothing short of astounding. Keeping this rule straight from that rule and this exception straight from that one is only half of the struggle. Figuring out what the hell the question is even asking seems to be a huge part of it. I have only done the class questions that are included in the lectures, but I can see this being a problem already.
My goal was to finish all lectures by tomorrow so that I would have 3 solid weeks to do all the questions and my final review before my exam on Thursday 5-26, but it looks like I will not finish the lectures until Friday. I am starting to feel the pressure of the exam date already and am worrying I haven't given myself enough time to really "learn" the material. I hope I am wrong...
May 2, 2011
Inventory Valuation is a PAIN!
BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 20.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
I just finished FAR-4 Lectures! Let me just say, Inventory Valuation is such a pain! I mean, each individual method is not so bad, but throw in all these different exceptions, quirks and IFRS and you have me praying I don't get any questions on this stuff on my exam...
I am a little behind with my study schedule (as always...), but I am not worrying about it. I could not make myself study much this weekend...the weather was just too nice, but now I am going to regret not getting my time in because I will have to push myself harder in the coming 3 weeks. I just hope that is enough time to really nail down a lot of this material. It really doesn't seem so bad when I am going through it one by one, but combining it all is a little daunting...
On another note, so many people really just don't seem to get what I am going through with this exam and that is really starting to frustrate me. It does help to read forums like another71.com so I can continue to remind myself that there are literally thousands of people feeling the same way...
My goal is to finish FAR-9 Lecture by the end of the day on Thursday. I am really going to push myself to reach that goal so I can move on to reading the chapters, taking good notes and working the problems. That is what is really going to drive this stuff home...
FAR: 20.5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
I just finished FAR-4 Lectures! Let me just say, Inventory Valuation is such a pain! I mean, each individual method is not so bad, but throw in all these different exceptions, quirks and IFRS and you have me praying I don't get any questions on this stuff on my exam...
I am a little behind with my study schedule (as always...), but I am not worrying about it. I could not make myself study much this weekend...the weather was just too nice, but now I am going to regret not getting my time in because I will have to push myself harder in the coming 3 weeks. I just hope that is enough time to really nail down a lot of this material. It really doesn't seem so bad when I am going through it one by one, but combining it all is a little daunting...
On another note, so many people really just don't seem to get what I am going through with this exam and that is really starting to frustrate me. It does help to read forums like another71.com so I can continue to remind myself that there are literally thousands of people feeling the same way...
My goal is to finish FAR-9 Lecture by the end of the day on Thursday. I am really going to push myself to reach that goal so I can move on to reading the chapters, taking good notes and working the problems. That is what is really going to drive this stuff home...
April 26, 2011
BEC: 111 hours/(Time to pray)
FAR: 5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
FAR-1 lectures are DONE! I feel pretty good about sticking to my schedule and I also feel pretty good about the material in FAR-1. Obviously I will need to go over the information in detail several times, but FAR does not seem impossible. I also really like Peter Olinto and think he does a great job with the lectures. FAR-1 had quite a bit of IFRS comparisons that I hope I can keep straight. On to FAR-2 and hopefully a little of FAR-3 tonight. I will use the Becker flashcards for FAR-1 before bed so that I don't totally forget what I just learned!
I am going to try to keep up with posts better than I did for BEC. I think it is helping me stay focused and reminds me that I am not alone in this...I appreciate those of you that have taken the time to read my blog, post comments and share the pain...
FAR: 5 hours/??
AUD:0 hours/??
REG: 0 hours/??
FAR-1 lectures are DONE! I feel pretty good about sticking to my schedule and I also feel pretty good about the material in FAR-1. Obviously I will need to go over the information in detail several times, but FAR does not seem impossible. I also really like Peter Olinto and think he does a great job with the lectures. FAR-1 had quite a bit of IFRS comparisons that I hope I can keep straight. On to FAR-2 and hopefully a little of FAR-3 tonight. I will use the Becker flashcards for FAR-1 before bed so that I don't totally forget what I just learned!
I am going to try to keep up with posts better than I did for BEC. I think it is helping me stay focused and reminds me that I am not alone in this...I appreciate those of you that have taken the time to read my blog, post comments and share the pain...
April 17, 2011
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...
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...
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