CMA Exam is Tough – Just took Part 1 Today - Page 5

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  • #1720213
    OnmywaytoCPA
    Participant

    I passed the CPA Exam in November 2016, and it was really tough to pass all four parts of that exam. I have heard some people say that the CMA Exam is nothing and it’s easy or a cake walk. Let me be the first to say those individuals are wrong. I will give mad respect to anyone that has passed the CMA Exam. There is a ton of material and the exam process could possibly be more brutal than the CPA Exam (maybe not now with all of the new DRS on CPA Exam), but still the CMA Exam is a pretty difficult set of exams.

    Taking Part 1 of the CMA Exam was like taking FAR, BEC and AUD at the same time. I was shocked at how much External Audit Material was tested on the Exam. I can’t go into specifics but it was shocking.

    If you don’t pass the 100 multiple choice questions with at least a 50% or higher you automatically fail and you can’t even attempt the essay questions. I passed the multiple choice questions and was able to move on to the essay portion. The essay questions was like BEC on steroids.

    AUD - 83
    BEC - 79
    FAR - 77
    REG - 90
    CMA Part 1 - 360 (Barely made it but I made it)
    CMA Part 2 - 360 (Made it by the skin of my teeth)

    REG - 74, Retook 6/10/16, scored a 72 (Hate this exam)
    BEC - 69, 79, 8/1/15
    AUD - 83, 4/4/15
    FAR - 77, 2/27/16

Viewing 3 replies - 61 through 63 (of 63 total)
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  • #2278083
    B4BeanCounter
    Participant

    Going to give the CMA exam a shot after I go through busy season. Anyone else studying for this exam after passing the CPA exam?

    AUD - 86
    BEC - 87
    FAR - 87
    REG - 84
    "The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want badly enough." - Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture.
    #2281776
    Chris
    Participant

    I've been contemplating it for awhile now. Can't decide between this and the CGMA. I'm leaning CMA. I was just reviewing study materials last week. What are you thinking? I used a Gleim MCQ bank for the CPA exam so I'd probably use them again.

    AUD - 86
    BEC - 77
    FAR - 77
    REG - 88
    Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams.

    Licensed in NH. Working in MA.

     

    NH CPA
    REG: 07/03/2014 - 88
    AUD: 08/30/2014 - 73 - Retake 10/16/14 - 86
    BEC: 05/31/2015 - 77
    FAR: 08/08/2015 - 64 - Retake 11/23/15 - 77

    Becker*NINJA Notes/MCQ*

    Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem
    Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams ~ Kanye West

    #2281872
    B4BeanCounter
    Participant

    @Chris – I've done a little bit of research as to whether I should go for CMA or CGMA on this forum, and it seems like CMA holds more recognition than CGMA does as IMA (or ICMA) has a longer root when it comes to the management aspect of accounting although AICPA (that offers CGMA) has a bigger presence in the United States. One reason may be the CMA exam itself is more structured and difficult than some case scenario based exam they've implemented. In fact, it used to be such that those who hold the AICPA membership and had CPA could just pay the fee and receive the CGMA designation. With that being said, I know CPA is still the gold standard in accounting industry, but since I've already passed the CPA exam and there are already enough accountants with CPAs so I'm going to give this CMA exam a shot. I also got the access to the CMA review course at no cost so I'm definitely not going to pass this opportunity. Speaking of the review course, I used Becker to pass the CPA exam, which was paid for by the firm I currently work for, but the CMA exam review course I have right now is Wiley. Based on what I've seen from different posts here and other sources, Gleim seems to be the gold standard of the CMA exam review courses. Who knows? If Wiley doesn't work for me for CMA, then I may purchase the Gleim test banks to supplement my study.

    AUD - 86
    BEC - 87
    FAR - 87
    REG - 84
    "The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want badly enough." - Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture.
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