I have problems remembering things - Page 2

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  • #1586910
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I haven’t posted in a long time. Purposefully. Mainly because doing so in the past took a significant chunk of time away from studying, which I had very little of due to work and life in general. Happy Summer.

    My problem is this – I can’t remember anything anymore. I remember my long-ago college years when I soaked up stuff like a sponge and the new information was always swirling around in my head and what I didn’t absorb quickly, I did eventually absorb. Nowadays, as I am studying for these exams, I don’t remember much of what I studied a week ago. Although, I did learn most of the stuff in school…years ago. When I took FAR in January, and when I took AUD exactly 2 months ago, I found myself guessing on well over half of the questions. I don’t think I was prepared for either exam. Not that the questions were mind-bendingly hard…it’s just that the answers were not jumping out at me. It was like my brain opted to step out for a smoke break on those test days. Although, I don’t smoke. My body would not permit me to do it anyway.

    Some history:

    – I’m 41 and healthy. Rarely sick.
    – The last time I even had a passing acquaintence with “substance abuse”, or use of any recreational drugs, including alcohol, was about 20 years ago. And even then, I never used any drugs and never drank even remotely to excess.
    – I eat right and exercise. Although, I am not fanatical about either one and don’t believe that “organic” food is any more beneficial to humans than non-organic food.
    – I am not taking any prescription medications.
    – I am not under the care of any physician. I don’t even have a doctor. Much.
    – I’ve taken FAR and AUD. I’ve been studying off and on for the last two years. Well, first year I had no review course and thought I could do it on my own; I got onto Roger a year ago.
    – I finished school (1st degree in non-business related subject) forever and a day ago, but finished my accounting studies a few years ago. I was always a good student. I had a 4.0 on my second BS degree in Accounting.
    – I’m taking BEC on August 12th, which is the date my NTS expires. It’s the last exam on my NTS. I had to forefeit REG because I had no time to study for it due to work.
    – The psychological aspect of doing these exams at age 40+ has all but killed me. I don’t know why I hate myself so much (with respect to these exams; I don’t hate myself about other aspects of life.)
    – No family history of Alzheimer’s.
    – I am in a relationship with someone I love very much. He has an MD and an MBA. No children though, and never will have any.

    I am one of the few who got sick of Roger. I am not someone who learns from videos, and because I heard so many bad things about his BEC program (which I did not know before buying his course) I am mostly using Gleim for BEC, and probably REG too.
    I’m finishing up Gleim’s book this week. Due to time constraints and budgetary constraints, I have no access to anything except Gleim’s printed textbook, so I haven’t seen any of their vids. I will be using Roger’s BEC practice SIMs though, after I finish Gleim’s book. I’ll have a few weeks to work on them.

    Anything anyone can suggest about ways to improve my memory so that my brain doesn’t just shut off on test days? I guess I could try omega-12 or fish oil…

    I just don’t know if it’s my brain’s subtle way of telling me that the CPA is not for me. But, I’ve come this far already…I might be stupid to give up, but on the other hand, I don’t want to keep paying money for failed exams.

    Thanks for reading, and in advance if you happen to come up with any advice.

    -L.L.

Viewing 11 replies - 16 through 26 (of 26 total)
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  • #1587458
    Henrigu
    Participant

    Hi guys,

    I passed all CPA exams about 5 years back when I was in my early 40s.
    I signed up for CPA in 2004, tried for a few years then went for a few years of close misses, throwing all of the books in trash, dusting them off and starting up again. After a few years of that I finally gave up for good.
    After a couple of years, I had a kid and thought that I owed that kid one more attempt. This time I did not rush in. I sat down and analyzed. What was holding me back. I could not sit, focus or retain. I then came up with this 1 & 2 plan. And started off with CISA since it was one exam. I used this strategy. And I got through CISA.
    I now sat down and prepared a plan to tackle the CPA exams. How much time will I devote to each paper, the order etc.. I mapped it out on an excel file. I appeared for BEC first as I thought it was the easiest and that win could help me tackle REG which I thought was the toughest, then FAR and AUD. Another thing was that the place where I worked was supportive of me studying for the CPA but not supportive enough to let me take any days off work to study. So I had to study from 4 am to 8 and then work for the day and exams were usually on a Saturday. And that schedule was good as it allowed me to also spend some time with my family which kept me from going crazy. I put aside close to 5 months to each single paper. And then I got through each of them on the first attempt except for Audit where I got careless and got 63 the first time and 94 the next.
    I look back and think was it worth all that hard work over all those years to have those 3 letters after my name, definitely. So keep going. You will get through. You need to sit down and analyze what could you have done better in the past. Plan it out.

    *One more thing I did was to use video lectures (Becker self review) which allowed me to re-play as often as I wanted.
    Best of luck.

    #1587831
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Almost 50 here. I started studying in 2014 and passed my last section in 2015. This after being out of the industry for more than 20 years. I hear you. I was running my own business, have a young daughter AND elderly parents, and a fantastic husband. I know it sounds totally woo-woo and if I weren't desperate I would never have bothered but I found that essential oils AND vitamins (like ginseng etc) were helpful. I also wrote EVERYTHING! I had almost 5 pounds of notecards when I was done. I also listened to the becker lectures any time I was in the car. If I was waiting in a check out line, I pulled out their flash card app. Basically any spare moment, I was focusing on the section under review.

    You can do it. Have faith.

    Oh and I will say get enough sleep but I know for the year I basically subsisted on five hours of sleep a night. The only time I was able to push an 8 hour sleep night was the week before each test.

    #1588284
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @Allegra yes, I wrote out tons of notes for FAR and AUD. I actually had time to go back and review the AUD ones, but I took well over 100 pages of FAR notes, which I never even re-read due to lack of time. For BEC, I haven't taken any notes. Due to work schedule and sheer burn-out, the most I've had time to do is just read the book and answer the 30-35 study questions at the end of each chapter. I applaud you for passing, even though you weren't 29 when you finished. 🙂

    #1765661
    Anonymous
    Participant

    I am 40. I have a family as well. I have a full time job. I am blessed to be where I am. I don’t think it’s your brain. As you can see everyone has their way to succeed this exam. So can we? If I were you, i would start with chapter 1. Understand it. Do all the questions. Take notes of the one that you get wrong understand what you get wrong. Write it down why you got it wrong. Was it because you forgot the concepts. Open the book and read it. Don’t look at the answer. Try to answer the question on your own using logic and our memory, if that does not work then use your book. Then your notes. Practice that over and over. After you become really good at chapter one you get them all right. Then go to chapter 2. Then go back to chapter 1 to refresh your memory. The chapter 3 and 4 then review 1 – 4. It will help your memory to bring it back. It’s not age. It’s self discipline and how you are doing it. Find out if you are a morning or night person and study for sure the time you are at most able to focus. Use those to do difficult questions or memorization. Those are my techniques to pass the cpa. I am sure there are others. I respect all of them and i would suggest whatever works for you what counts as long as you don’t give up. This test is a test of discipline Roger says. I don’t think you studied correctly how Roger told you. He is the best teacher you possibly can have on the market for me and for many people. I am sorry if you did not like his teaching. But in the end whatever works for you. I heard a lot of success in all the cpa reviews. In the end is you to decide what is best. Don’t get into crap like depression and anxiety. Just relax and focus. Your memory is fine. Check your notes if you write them all and rewrite them 1000 times. It will sync in. My doctor said out memory is very strong but our willpower is weak.lol! Go study!

    #1765696
    aaronmo
    Participant

    My short term memory has never been great…but it really started declining in my mid-30s and it was a real challenge on the CPA exam; especially stuff like IFRS vs. GAAP and exceptions in REG. It just made me work harder at prep, and I doubled down on what I am good at…strategy and concept. I have little doubt I would have scored far better in my 20s, but I didn't have the maturity to study then like I do now.

    At this rate I'll be doddering by my next birthday, but so long as I can just estimate/replicate last year, I'm good enough for the firm I'm at!

    #1767166
    sacpa
    Participant

    @crazyleon: You have received excellent pointers to tackle your issue. I started a post about having no motivation & did not have much luck with lot of responses. The responses to your post made sense to me with all the practical solutions which applies to my issue as well. It is best to implement most of them, if not all.



    @mckan514w
    , @BrickellCPA, @cmcook, @Missy, @Recked, @Henrigu, @Allegra, @Bashir – excellent points.

    @shawn: I applaud your tenacity, diligence & grit. All the best for FAR!

    @crazyleon: I can related to you in a way since I have been in this CPA journey for a long time without a passed section, except I am 54 years young. As you said, with the amount of money, time & effort spent in pursuing this goal, we cannot forgive ourselves if we do not do what it takes to achieve our goal, putting setbacks aside. So assess your situation, pick up where you left, follow the suggestions in responses to your posts & make a sincere attempt at BEC. I also felt hopeless & overwhelmed when I started preparing for AUD. I kept asking myself as to how I was going to remember all the details. But as I kept on with it, day after day, I was able to remember the concepts.
    Repetition is key.
    Practice makes one perfect.
    We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

    I can go on, but you get the idea. I reached the point where the right answer just popped up. Unfortunately for me, with lots of interruptions coming along the way in my personal life & not being able to review FAR topics, AUD reports in detail & some other areas needing improvement, I could not take AUD before the tax season & here I am starting all over.

    Regarding notes, I was also not taking any since I did not review them at all in a previous attempt. The key to making note taking effective is to read them first when you start your study session each day & then move on as per your study schedule. Yes, note taking is time consuming. I try to make short notes so I don't rewrite the whole book. They are handy since you don't need to read the big book all over again & especially worth it, a day or two before the exam when you can just take a quick glance.

    Let's put the past behind & be as productive as we want to, in our next attempt. Good Luck!

    FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
    BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
    AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

    ~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
    ~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
    ~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
    ~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

    #1767235
    sacpa
    Participant

    @crazyleon: Btw, in your original post, you have mentioned that you are taking BEC on 8/12, the day your NTS expires. You have mentioned that you are going to take BEC next month in one response. Your signature says that you will be taking FAR in July.

    FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
    BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
    AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

    ~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
    ~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
    ~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
    ~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

    #1767710
    alloverit
    Participant

    How badly do you want to pass?

    I'm 46 and just passed. But I used an odd physical trick to help make my mind stronger. Google and watch some videos on “super brain yoga”. It's an Americanized version of a technique used in India as a punishment for students who don't pay attention.

    The technique worked wonders for me and I just used free resources/videos…didn't pay for anything.

    Anyway, done religiously it improves overall intelligence I think.

    Laugh if you want to, but I'm actually quite serious.

    I no longer do it because I passed the exam and I think my mind has already begun reverting to its previous ability level.

    #1767799
    sacpa
    Participant

    @alloverit: Great that you passed all the exams. It is wonderful that you used the ancient method from India & benefited. Thanks for spreading the word!

    Btw, the original name is ‘Thoppukaranam'. It was used in the olden days as a two-in-one strategy to discipline students & stimulate their brains. It is not used that much in India these days to discipline students. Although, even in present day, it is still a way of worshipping Lord Ganesha by Hindus. It has become popularized by the American name & can be followed by anyone who wants to reap the benefits of the method. No fees, no steroids, no bad side effects.

    FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
    BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
    AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

    ~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
    ~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
    ~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
    ~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

    #1768276
    CPATooleTime
    Participant

    Don't despair. It comes with age. I am 50 and have noticed the memory thing getting worse the last few years. @ Recked had some good suggestions. The ginseng can help. One way I am remembering things for the exam is when I miss a MCQ and I make a note about the correct answer and the principle, I make up a story and make it personal and say it out loud like I am telling a story or someone is telling me something. It might sound cooky but by doing this, it seems like it really happens and then a few days later when I get the same MCQ again, I remember the story of what happened and I can solve it. For example: Lease hold improvements get amortized for the time the Lessee is in the building. My story: My damn landlord won't put new floors in and the ones I have look like crap for my customers. I have 5 years left on my lease. I will just pay to have the floors put in. My landlord won't pay, but I will amortize the expense over the next 5 years. It actually helps.

    Also, stress will add to the memory issues. I know it's hard, but try to do something to relax at least 1 whole day a week. You will come back refreshed.

    #1768291
    sacpa
    Participant

    @CPATooleTime – Excellent suggestion making up a personal story when struggling with something. I hate leases.

    FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
    BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
    AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

    ~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
    ~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
    ~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
    ~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

Viewing 11 replies - 16 through 26 (of 26 total)
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