[Scared-cpa]

I sat for AUD on 03/08 and found out I failed last week. Tomorrow I begin restudying. Should I go back through all the material as if I’ve never done it before or just do Ninja MCQ until I am trending like I need to be?

Since I’m wanting to give myself as much time as I need, I thought it would be best to start over from scratch. This is also what Jeff says to do. My only worry with this is that since studying wasn’t enough to get a pass the first time, why would it get me a pass the second time through? I’m just afraid Wiley CPAexcel isn’t fit for me, but I bought it and can’t afford another course.

However, I do have Ninja MCQ and will be utilizing it to the fullest. With my FAR retake, I literally only did Ninja MCQ so that is why I wonder if it’s what I should do for my retake with AUD, I’m just terrified of failing at this point.

So should I (1) Start over from scratch then finish the review with Ninja MCQ, (2) Only do Ninja MCQ until I am trending 85 and feel ready, or (3) Start over in studying AND simultaneously work through Ninja MCQ?

Since FAR, the only section I have passed so far doesn’t expire until 07/31/17, I’m wanting to take my time with the other three sections and give myself the bet chance possible of passing. So I am devoting all of Q2 to studying AUD. Ideally, I want to sit May 10, but I can extend that date until the end of May if I feel like I need to.

"The more I practice, the luckier I get."

FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
AUD - 68, 79
REG - 75
BEC - 82

Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

I cannot believe I am done.

[Anonymous]

^^THANK YOU FOR THIS! Printing….

Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

AUD Passed  78
BEC Passed  79
FAR Passed  77
REG Passed 76

I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

[Meg267]

@scaredCPA, I'm from South Dakota. I think we only have two Prometric centers in the entire state!

BEC - 57, 68, 78
REG - 62, 82
AUD - 61, 76
FAR - 79

Licensed.
No one ever fails the CPA exam, there are only those who give up.

[Scared-cpa]

KGreen, your time frame for taking exams is similar to mine except I'm going AUD, REG, and BEC. I'm wanting to do BEC in September, but I am giving myself Q4 for the last exam in case I need extra time on one of the exams. That gives me Q1 2018, Q2 2018, and the first month of Q3 to retake before FAR expires. Although, like you, I hope that doesn't happen. I would be completely and utterly devastated if I fail all three and would seriously consider quitting.

Wow, mtaylo24, that's a lot of useful information! Thanks 🙂

Meg, I'm from Kentucky and I think mine has 2, as well. One in Louisville and one in Lexington. I have to drive two hours to get to my closest center. Since I like to test at 8am, I usually leave around 5 to stop for breakfast and give myself adequate time to arrive. It makes me nervous that I would have to drive to a different center even further away if I schedule too late but at the same time, I don't want to schedule to early.

"The more I practice, the luckier I get."

FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
AUD - 68, 79
REG - 75
BEC - 82

Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

I cannot believe I am done.

[Meg267]

Wow! 2 hours? That's quite a drive. I'm lucky that I'm about 20 minutes from my testing center. The next testing center is 5 hours away! So I've got to take what I can get. A lot of other students for nursing, teaching, etc. take tests at my center and there isn't a lot of spots.

BEC - 57, 68, 78
REG - 62, 82
AUD - 61, 76
FAR - 79

Licensed.
No one ever fails the CPA exam, there are only those who give up.

[Scared-cpa]

You're very lucky to be so close to a center! I live in a small town tucked within the Appalachian Mountains. So it's safe to say there's not much here in regard to testing centers lol.

Every time I have been to the Prometric Center (3 times) there have been at most maybe 10 people there within 2 large testing rooms holding about 20 computers each. So there's usually plenty of openings, just not the greatest times!

How is studying going?

"The more I practice, the luckier I get."

FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
AUD - 68, 79
REG - 75
BEC - 82

Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

I cannot believe I am done.

[Anonymous]

You should start over from scratch with a completely fresh mind. I've never been a big fan of people going straight to doing multiple choice questions and reviewing notes after a fail. Restudying from scratch will hopefully be less painful than the first time since you've been through the material already but you will be amazed how much more you pick up and reinforce topics as if you were studying for the first time. I took AUD three time and during my last time studying for it I definitely hit the multiple choice and practice SIMS much harder but I still rewatched the lectures, did homework, notecards, etc. as if it were my first time taking it. You will do great!

[Meg267]

I'm behind in studying. I've got at least 10+ lessons to catch up in Wiley. I'm starting to worry that I'm not going to get through everything and then back to Ninja MCQ before my exam day.

I had a bridal shower and bachelorette party I had to attend on Saturday. On Sunday, my husband wanted most of the day to spend together. Totally understandable, as he works every other weekend and I've been neglecting him with trying to study. Next week I'm traveling for work and will be gone three days. I'm taking my laptop with me in hopes of studying late evenings at the hotel. Work was super hectic today with month end.

Well, my husband will be at work for the next couple of hours, so I better get to studying. How's studying going for the rest of you?

BEC - 57, 68, 78
REG - 62, 82
AUD - 61, 76
FAR - 79

Licensed.
No one ever fails the CPA exam, there are only those who give up.

[Anonymous]

I completely understand how easy it is to get behind in your study efforts when you're trying to juggle everything. I, too, have a family and work full time. So, I have to carve out a fair amount of time to make sure I balance it all. Unfortunately, it leaves me to study into the wee hours of the night (well beyond midnight) and to wake up an hour or two early.

Honestly, I'm tired of retesting already. I'm trying to stick with my study schedule and PASS by a significant margin. It's hard to study when my eyes want to close so bad.

Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

AUD Passed  78
BEC Passed  79
FAR Passed  77
REG Passed 76

I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

[Scared-cpa]

@AshiaJ I started over from scratch reading the study guide and taking notes. I am picking up on things easier this time around. I'm not sure if it's because I've been over it already or if it's because I know what the words mean now so I'm not as lost.

@Meg267 Are you using CPAexcel's planner? I noticed the order that the assignments are in are different this time around than when I originally studying in February. I don't know if this is because of the new exam or if the program changes the order I learn the lessons since this is a retake. But either way I think I like the order better. If you are using the planner, I'm on assignment 54 – Audit Risk. I'm finishing up tomorrow's homework so I'm a day ahead. I've got Wednesday's and Thursday's scheduled off so tomorrow I will be working on Thursday's assignment.

@KGREEN37 Luckily I don't work or have a family like you guys, but I can relate to the difficulties of trying to balance time. My boyfriend has Wednesday's and Thursday's off so I try to get in study time that morning so I can spend the rest of the day with him but I only get a couple lessons, if that, finished on those days. I wish I could do more but oh well. It's getting warmer here and I keep telling my dog I will take him on a walk but he's still waiting! I just get so busy with my grad courses and studying that I always prioritize those higher than a walk. I have a hard time justifying an hour or more of my time walking when I could use that to study.

Are you all still keeping your original retest dates? I haven't even sent in my reexam application yet! I should probably get around to doing that, but luckily my state board sends my payment coupon within a couple days. How soon do you all think I should schedule my exam? I am technically still on track to sit the 10th of May but I don't know if I will want more time for a final review. I know I would like more time but I would also like to use the last three weeks of May to start studying for REG since those are the weeks off between spring and summer courses.

"The more I practice, the luckier I get."

FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
AUD - 68, 79
REG - 75
BEC - 82

Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

I cannot believe I am done.

[Meg267]

Yes, I'm using the planner. This format is new, as I was using the flash drive with older material before. I like how CPAexcel has changed things around. The new format seems easier to work with. I'm on lesson 44, Overview of Audit Process. I'm supposed to be through lesson 55 at the end of today. So I'm about 11 lessons behind.

I'm still planning on sitting for my retake on May 5th. That gives me a month or so from now. I should be able to catch up some more lessons tonight still, and then the next few days the lessons are more spread out. This weekend my husband works (thank goodness) so I'll be able to put quite a bit of studying time in. I need to watch my niece for a couple of hours on Saturday, and I've got to get groceries, but other than that I'll be studying all weekend. I still feel pretty good about my exam date. Writing out my plan just now kinda helped 🙂

BEC - 57, 68, 78
REG - 62, 82
AUD - 61, 76
FAR - 79

Licensed.
No one ever fails the CPA exam, there are only those who give up.

[Anonymous]

@scared_cpa – Regardless of what people have on their plate, the time can definitely find a way to escape you. Not to mention, I recall not so long ago being in grad school and the coursework was brutal. BTW, please bump the walking of your dog up on the priority list tomorrow or Thursday–make it a family park day :). They're like little people (with their emotions) and need a great amount of attention from us before they start feeling neglected. Seriously. LOL

As for me, the dates near me were getting booked up very fast so I went ahead and scheduled for May 7th. Oddly enough, that's on a Sunday and I didn't even know people were able to test on that day. I'm not going to tell any one aside from my husband that I'm testing on that day. No more of that! I'm tired of people asking how I did and looking disappointed when I say I failed by a matter of points–eventhough they don't hold the designation and will never know how difficult it is. To be honest, if I could hide my test date from my husband, I might try it LOL. He believes in me and really is my #1 supporter, so I almost feel as if I let him down when I fail. Though, he knows it's one of the hardest exams in the country and doesn't appear to care if I fail 20 times as long as I don't quit. Gotta love my family–yep, even the kidos.

After I test, I'm breaking for 1 day and getting back to FAR. I truly think the large gap between exams and score release can negatively impact a lot of people and I must maximize my testing opportunities (all the while being smart enough to know when I feel “ready” and not rushing it).

Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

AUD Passed  78
BEC Passed  79
FAR Passed  77
REG Passed 76

I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

[Anonymous]

*Sidebar* How do some people take all 4 parts in 3-6 months? Are we doing something wrong LOL

Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

AUD Passed  78
BEC Passed  79
FAR Passed  77
REG Passed 76

I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

[Meg267]

Haha, I've wondered about that too! I've seen people on the forums who take all four parts in one quarter and pass. Not me! hahaha 🙂

I'm glad to see that you have such a supportive husband and kids. That truly makes a big difference. I'm getting tired of people I work with asking me when I'm going to be done with my CPA. Out of 40+ people in my department, there is only about 4-5 that actually have their CPA designation. I tend to point that out from time to time when I tell people it's a difficult exam. At least those who have their CPA understand.

Sidebar — I need to get out and walk my dog too. I've been neglecting the walking since it's been so cold here. It's getting better though. It's actually raining now. Better than snow.

BEC - 57, 68, 78
REG - 62, 82
AUD - 61, 76
FAR - 79

Licensed.
No one ever fails the CPA exam, there are only those who give up.

[Scared-cpa]

I will walk my dog tomorrow! Haha. We have a trail up behind our house but the ticks are bad already here. I took them out to potty earlier and just found a tick behind my ear! Yikes!

And a supportive family is super important. I'm lucky to have a supportive family as well, parents and boyfriend, who say that the fact I've failed is not embarrassing because if it was easy everyone would do it. They think I should just keep working toward it until I pass, but I feel the same way in that I let them down when I fail because they put so much faith in me. My mom actually was BRAGGING to people that I failed the first time by “only 8 points” so she was proud thinking that was close haha. I just let her have her moment.

I've also been keeping the score release date a secret and usually just tell everyone a general time period (i.e. next month or the end of this month) so when I find out, I can determine when and how I want to tell them. My first FAR exam, everyone texted me asking if I had passed.

I just checked Prometric with the seat availability tool and every day this month is open except the 28th or 29th and all of May is open. I was thinking maybe the last week of April to sign up, I just hope that's not too late. I will keep an eye on the seat availability and if it starts to get cramped I will go ahead and make my appointment. I'd like it to be around the 8th or 10th though since I graduate the 12th and would like to have this exam over with by then. Then I've got time to start studying for REG (My graduation ceremony is in May but I don't actually finish my classes until July).

I have no idea how people take exams so close together or study for such a short period of time! All I can think of is that they have no other responsibilities or they are super, duper smart! I completed 9 assignments today (excluding post assessment and TBS) and they take me from 20 minutes a piece to 45 minutes depending on the content. This obviously takes up a lot of time, so it's a struggle to work in classes, too. People who work, have a family and study…I don't know how y'all do it!

"The more I practice, the luckier I get."

FAR - 67, 82 (Expires 07/31/18)
AUD - 68, 79
REG - 75
BEC - 82

Wiley CPAexcel + Ninja

I cannot believe I am done.

[RyonT]

Does anyone feel like CPAexcel repeats concepts from chapter to chapter? I felt the whole first section could've been summarized in about 20 lessons rather than 38. I'm taking my exam on April 27th and I want about 2 weeks to review so I've taken a different approach. I start each chapter by doing the end of chapter questions and if I get 80% or above, I move on. If not, I read (or watch videos) and take notes. Then go back through the test bank on that section. I've gotten through 75 sections in about 24 hours of study. I've also been going over Ninja notes before bed as well. Hopefully that approach gets me a passing score.

AUD - 79
BEC - 85
FAR - 85
REG - 83

Licensed CPA (MI)

CPAexcel & Ninja

AUD 69, 73, 79

BEC 67, 69, 73, 85

FAR 85

REG 83

 

[Author]

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