[habitual]

Okay so…I can already predict what most of you will think, BUT, I have to ask lol.

I am currently studying for audit and am scheduled to take the exam 1/13. So I’m looking at 2 options here:

Option 1: Take Audit 1/13, turn around and immediately start studying for REG and take it 2/10, and then turn around and start studying for FAR and take it 3/10. This would only give me 4 weeks of study time for FAR and REG.

Option 2: Take Audit 1/13, study for REG for 8 weeks and take it 3/10. Then study for FAR for a good 2 or 3 months and take it in the 2nd quarter…then wait til August to get my score back.

So yes it probably makes more sense to spend more time on the tests and just wait it out for the score, BUT my thought is why not try to hammer them out in the first quarter and possibly be done by March instead of August?? A couple months of misery compared to 6 or 7 months?

I don’t know, I kind of want to try just for the heck of it but I don’t want to be absolutely miserable. Has anyone taken three sections in one quarter while working full time?

Thanks in advance! 🙂

[Future_CPA?]

I'm thinking about doing Option 1 except with REG and BEC

[Goingallin]

I would go with option 2. In my opinion, best to succeed 2 out of the three because if you rush all three, you might flunk all three.

[hasy]

FAR has the LEAST amount of changes. But even REG doesn't have as many changes as people are projecting it to be, they're adding 4 MCQs and 2-3 SIMs. However, it is, theoretically (maybe a little harder) due to the time increase.

Option 1: How much time are you allotting to study? FAR has WAY more material than REG than you think. Yes, BLaw makes more than half of REG but understand that you need grasp the basic points of BLaw and understand everything there is about tax. How much are you willing to suffer between now to 3/10? Because you better be grinding them out a lot if you want any hope of passing. I'm really all for it, bc ain't nobody got time for 10 weeks for results or that new exam format. But I don't even know how you study. Would that amount of time be enough FOR you to finish the material in BOTH books adequately?

Option 2: Better. You can have peace of mind that you've allocated adequate time for both sections, but yes, I know it's hard waiting for 10 weeks. Though 8 weeks for REG is overkill, 6-7 weeks is more like it. I don't believe in spacing out these study times that much or else you'll forget, especially with something detail heavy as REG. And yes, I did cumulatively ~6 weeks for REG.
–
These exams are miserable but at least you don't have to take BEC under the new format!

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

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BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[habitual]

@goingallin, that is exactly what I'm afraid of in regards to choosing option 1. Rather be prepared for both even if it is a longer process than be underprepared and fail both. I just can't kick my natural instinct to give it a shot and see if I can prove myself wrong. It doesn't help that my boss is encouraging option 1. She said she took 3 months to study for FAR, but she thinks I should just try it because “you never know what could happen.”

Jefferson, as you can see I didn't pass BEC the first time, but honestly I think it was because I didn't put in the effort. If you spent a solid 3 weeks on BEC, I think option 1 may be a feasible plan for you. I am more concerned with trying to take REG and FAR because I feel like these will probably be the two most difficult exams.

[habitual]

Thanks for the thoughts @hasy! To answer your questions, I would have 8 weeks total to split between REG and FAR and since FAR has so much more material I was considering splitting the time up 3 weeks/5weeks for REG/FAR. I wait til last minute for everything, and I feel like I do my best studying under pressure. The first few weeks of studying I always loaf around because I know I have plenty of time. I know it would be an extremely difficult and miserable 8 weeks, but I am thinking that with my personality and study habits, a tight time schedule might actually be advantageous for me.
My organization is paying for my tests and study material and my 18 month clock just started… I am thinking that worst case scenario I fail one or two and have to retake, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

And very true regarding BEC, I did not like the randomness of that exam and I am glad to have it behind me!

[AccJGarcia]

Sorry about the duplicate post. Using the forum from my phone.

[AccJGarcia]

While I am not able to vouch for your sanity (I know mine's a separate topic altogether) I am currently working through option 1 only faster. I plan on taking three parts within the first few weeks of the quarter. I signed up for Becker's Past Pass Plus (like the Fast Pass which is 12 weeks, but faster because it's only 6!!!) *I did point out that my sanity is a separate issue!*

I started the BEC course on Nov. 28th and tested on December 10th. I'm currently studying REG. Who knows if I'll pass all 4. All I know is that if I stick 2 or 3 I'll still be ahead of my original plan which was to take a full year to do it. . . I don't think my sanity would survive 12 months and, to be honest, I'm ready to be done with studying and want to live my life without stressing over how much time I have before the next text.

ps I did complete the CMA process before starting on this sprint which I'm SURE helped with BEC.

[habitual]

@AccJGarcia I know how you feel! I hate studying and I want to knock these out ASAP. Congrats on your BEC score, that is awesome for the amount of time you studied. Good luck on all of your tests, hopefully you will get them all on the first try and be done with this madness!! 🙂 

[Future_CPA?]

@habitualprocrastinator93 that's my goal anyways. I'm currently working in the tax field so busy season is upon me. Plus married with a puppy (no kids) running around. So I personally think that it would be possible for me to do it that way. Thinking about starting with BEC and then REG. But I'm hoping to get both in before 3/10

[habitual]

Jefferson, I am also married with a puppy and no kids lol I know my husband is probably going to get tired of cooking supper and doing the dishes for the next couple months, but I am leaning towards option 1. I work in internal audit and we aren’t extremely busy, so it may even be easier for me to do this than you! I say GOOD LUCK to both of us on this endeavor!! Hopefully we both survive these exams, and you survive tax season!

[ythomas10]

I don't think you're crazy at all…I'm actually taking a huggggeeee risk because I lose my FAR credit in Jan.

I'm taking studying REG and FAR in Jan…taking the Becker courses in Dallas and taking the exams on REG 2/1 and FAR 2/5 (Gotta watch the SuperBowl LOL).

Then studying for BEC and AUD in Feb…taking the same Becker courses in Dallas and taking the exams on BEC 2/27 and AUG 2/19.

I know many will say I'm insane since I'm working full time too…but CPA is my motivation.

FAR 7/24/15
AUD 10/10/15
REG TBA
BEC TBA

[Meg267]

Why not just take a shot at them? The worse thing that could happen is that you fail and do retakes Q2. I’m doing a REG retake in January and then sitting for AUD 3/10. I am also married with no kids and a dog! I work full time, but I think I’m a slower studier, so I need the extra time to get through all the material.

[Anonymous]

I think you should go with option 2. I don't think you are necessarily crazy but possibly a little naive. You've passed BEC which while still a difficult exam pales in comparison to the other ones simply because they have simulations. I'm not sure if passing that one should suddenly translate to “okay I can pass the rest with less study time.” I don't know how much time you studied for BEC in your attempts but you have to realistically add all the time you spent studying for both together because that is what it took for you to get the pass. If that amount of time is more than 4 weeks I would say you really need to study a LOT better/efficiently than you did for BEC if you want to pass REG and FAR back to back with 4 weeks of study time each.

Also I am assuming you already have given yourself more study time to study for Audit than you plan for REG and FAR. It seems a little backwards that you have probably allocated more study time for the exams that are lighter on material than the ones that have a lot more. FAR will feel like it has twice the material as BEC.

And don't get me wrong. Even option 2 is going to take a lot of hard work to accomplish as well. You have to be honest with yourself with what you can accomplish. If you think you could study a lot better than you did for BEC than it is possible to do option 1. It might feel miserable studying for these exams and you want to just get them over with but a single fail sets you back much more than getting it done right the first time.

[martimann]

Option 1 Sounds kinda crazy but if you can pull them off in such a short span while working full time, you can call yourself a genius from time to time haha. The only people I see passing the tests within a month or so are those that study full time, like 10 hours a day and are not working. But hey if you are able to knock off ANY section before the new 2017 changes come in then that's a win. You also run the risk of not passing any since the study hours for each section would be shortened. Option 2 sounds a lot more realistic. Good luck.

[habitual]

Well @chrislo2007 I can agree that I may be a little naïve when it comes to these exams lol for BEC I studied off and on for 4 or 5 weeks… I maybe spent two weeks of solid study time, and even then it was only a few hours a day. I don’t think that just because I passed one I can pass the other three, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. I think that because it took me two tries to pass BEC, its probably not super realistic to think I can pass REG and FAR with such a short amount of study time. On the other hand, I would say I put forth about 60% effort while studying for BEC and if I decided to attempt this I plan on putting forth 110%

@martimann yes I would love the satisfaction that would come with pulling it off (that may be part of why it seems like an appealing option)! I know it’s unrealistic, but hey if I pass one or two and have to retake the other in Q2, at least I will already have looked at the material once and restudying should be a little easier, or at least the material will already be familiar

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