I passed all 4 with Becker. It gives you enough to pass, but it doesn't necessarily give you all of the information you could see on the test. I think the test tries to get you to apply what you have learned rather than memorize. 

I think the most important things for the exam are:

1. Get the most recent version of the review course. It is worth the extra money. I did pass FAR with 2008 software in 2009 though. Stick with 1 program. If one doesn't work, try another if you think the program isn't working for you. You may prefer 1 learning style over another. For example, Yaeger teaches differentlly than Becker and Becker different than Roger Phillip,etc. Studying multiple review programs simultaneously wastes time since most of the material is duplicated.

2. Learn all of the review material. Don't skip lectures or chapters. Check for any updates.

3. Take enough time to review the material several times. Do as many questions as you can stand.

4. Try to take 2 exams per window so you don't have to worry about the 18 month window. In hindsight, I should have done FAR/BEC in 1 window REG/AUD in other window. This is a balanced amount of study time for both windows. Instead, I did BEC/AUD then took REG and FAR in separate windows. I took both sections twice which made it so I was 1 window away from the 18 month deadline.

5. Take time each day to study. Make it a habit. A few hours a day worked much better for me than 5-8 hour sessions. You can only absorb so much material in 1 sitting.

BTW, waiting until October is way to long. Take FAR sometime in August. Even if you do just 1 chapter per week for 9 weeks and 1 week final review, you can take it at the end of August. If you work the chapters even faster, you will have more time for final review. I think 2 months is plenty for FAR even if you're working full time.

Good luck to all.

As I wrote sometime ago, Becker course and becker final review are more than enough to pass FAR. Averaging 70% on MCQ's the first time is perfectly normal. As long as you can average 85-90% at the end, there is no problem with your performance. The material in FAR is so immense, that buying many books, programs, software etc will only overwhelm you, leaving you very little time for serious studying. So it would be better to choose a program (i.e. Becker or Yaeger or etc) and stick to it.

What I find the most important is that apart from doing MCQ's you should read the f*8%£ book (whether it is from Becker, Wiley or whatever). Don't read only the highlighted sections. Read everything and make notes. My two cents.

I wrote the above, because a lot of people think: "Oh I'll do the MCQ's several times and I will be ok. I will skip the book. I'll learn through the process of answering MCQ's. It's so boring to read the book..."

My answer: Yes it is very boring. And very painful. And very exhausting. And very consuming and many things more...But it will pay off at the end.