[Anonymous]

Hey all,

So I’m in my last semester of undergrad, will be graduated by May 2. I will be doing a Big 4 audit internship this summer in a major metro (far away from where I live and go to school). I am strongly considering trying to lighten my load for next year by trying to knock one section in May, before my internship. I figured I’d do some light studying in April while I’m still in school, then basically study full time in May for a couple of weeks and then take the exam the end of May.

Now comes the question part. Which exam should I take under these circumstances? I know BEC is considered the “easiest” by many, but I was thinking of doing REG. Reason being, I was enrolled in grad business law last semester, and am currently enrolled in grad tax. I figure the material for REG will never be fresher in my mind than it will be at this time, especially because my law professor made it her priority to “teach with the CPA in mind” first and foremost (she used to be a writer for the exam). I’m also enrolled in regular undergrad audit, but to be frank, my professor isn’t that great, so I’m not learning in the way that I know is needed to pass that section, so its no real advantage.

What does everyone think of this idea for REG? Any other sections that you’d recommend instead? Am I crazy for trying to take a section in May at all? The alternative would be study May and half of June hardcore, and then more lightly for the second half of June (when my internship starts) and take the section the first month of July, but for obvious reasons of overlapping with my internship, I’m less fond of that idea.

BONUS QUESTION: Obviously because I don’t have an offer for Full Time yet, my firm is not paying for Becker yet, and I’m certainly not paying out of pocket for that. Any great recommendations for a very cheap CPA review course for just one section? Would Wiley book+test bank+maybe some Ninja notes/flashcards be enough?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

@smeech8000 – The thing is, the mid-to-end of April will obviously be finals for me, so a lot of “hardcore” study time will go to those. So my most vigorous studying would May, whereas April wouldn't be able to be as committed. That said, I can always try to allocate, say, weekends for CPA studying and during the week for regular coursework. Yes, I am a full time student, but I also am involved with ECs and work 25 hrs a week so time isn't exactly abundant, at least not until May.

I noticed your scores are incredible (congrats on those, btw), so you obviously know your stuff, but it also may lead me to believe that maybe you studied more than the average test taker (not to take anything away from any natural ability you have), which makes me think perhaps I could in fact be ok with just “lighter” studying in April and full out in May.

[gooderest]

I saw that you didn't want to spend a lot of money on review materials. Since you have just finished BLaw and are in Tax, I don't think you should spend much at all.

I am 8 years out of college (undergrad in Accounting and MBA with Acct concentration). I started the exam when I graduated, stopped, restarted, stopped, and now I'm on round 4. I paid for expensive review materials the first time, and renewed them the second time. For rounds 3 & 4 I refused to spend a fortune on review. That saying, on this round with REG, I only used cpareviewforfree.com and Jeff's audio. I also had Jeff's flash cards and notes, but I really didn't use them. So, after spending about $125 in review materials, I passed REG on the first shot this go round. The last time I took it, I got a 69.

It's all about commitment to study, and writing notes, and answering question after question after question after…. You get the picture. Good Luck!

P.S. Jeff's audio is really great – listen to it constantly and you will get lots of fact nuggets and tricks to remember material.

B - 11/14 83! DONE!!!!
A - 8/13 90!
R - 11/13 86!
F - 4/14 78! Almost there...

[gooderest]

I saw that you didn't want to spend a lot of money on review materials. Since you have just finished BLaw and are in Tax, I don't think you should spend much at all.

I am 8 years out of college (undergrad in Accounting and MBA with Acct concentration). I started the exam when I graduated, stopped, restarted, stopped, and now I'm on round 4. I paid for expensive review materials the first time, and renewed them the second time. For rounds 3 & 4 I refused to spend a fortune on review. That saying, on this round with REG, I only used cpareviewforfree.com and Jeff's audio. I also had Jeff's flash cards and notes, but I really didn't use them. So, after spending about $125 in review materials, I passed REG on the first shot this go round. The last time I took it, I got a 69.

It's all about commitment to study, and writing notes, and answering question after question after question after…. You get the picture. Good Luck!

P.S. Jeff's audio is really great – listen to it constantly and you will get lots of fact nuggets and tricks to remember material.

B - 11/14 83! DONE!!!!
A - 8/13 90!
R - 11/13 86!
F - 4/14 78! Almost there...

[Anonymous]

@gooderest – Yeah I gotta figure having just taken the two classes its tested on (even if BLaw was a semester ago) gives me some sort of advantage and reason to take this one first. Really, I don't wanna spend more than like $300. My firm will pay for Becker after I accept my FT offer, but won't reimburse, so I cant really afford to buy a section of a major CPA course such as CPAExcel, Becker, Yaegar, Roger, etc. Would the Wiley book+test bank+ninja notes (plus got the flashcards for a dollar thanks to Jeff's awesomeness) be enough?

[Anonymous]

@gooderest – Yeah I gotta figure having just taken the two classes its tested on (even if BLaw was a semester ago) gives me some sort of advantage and reason to take this one first. Really, I don't wanna spend more than like $300. My firm will pay for Becker after I accept my FT offer, but won't reimburse, so I cant really afford to buy a section of a major CPA course such as CPAExcel, Becker, Yaegar, Roger, etc. Would the Wiley book+test bank+ninja notes (plus got the flashcards for a dollar thanks to Jeff's awesomeness) be enough?

[smeech8000]

Thanks Art, and no offense taken : ) I reviewed with Becker and allocated one week to each chapter of the review materials, plus one week at the completion to review any areas I felt I was weak in. I was working full-time throughout (notice no testing during or shortly after busy season) and have two children <5 years old at home… although my amazing wife made it possible for me to allocate nearly 20 hours each week to study. It was very important to me to pass each section the first time as I knew that a repeat would usurp even more of my time in the long run… perhaps I overstudied a bit but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

I understand that you have a lot going on with school, etc. but it is important to view the exam as your #1 priority when you decide to sit for it. A71 is chock full of candidates that passively studied and were blown away on exam day. I just don't want to see you become another statistic because you thought that since you were enrolled in university courses that mirror the content of the exam section you'd be prepared.

Much better to get a full read-through of the material prior to your jam time in May, so that you can really hammer MCQ's and sims during that time, focusing on specific areas you probably didn't touch on in the classroom.

Good luck!

B 92
A 99
R 90
F 92

Becker Self-Study

OH CPA since 2/18/14

[smeech8000]

Thanks Art, and no offense taken : ) I reviewed with Becker and allocated one week to each chapter of the review materials, plus one week at the completion to review any areas I felt I was weak in. I was working full-time throughout (notice no testing during or shortly after busy season) and have two children <5 years old at home… although my amazing wife made it possible for me to allocate nearly 20 hours each week to study. It was very important to me to pass each section the first time as I knew that a repeat would usurp even more of my time in the long run… perhaps I overstudied a bit but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

I understand that you have a lot going on with school, etc. but it is important to view the exam as your #1 priority when you decide to sit for it. A71 is chock full of candidates that passively studied and were blown away on exam day. I just don't want to see you become another statistic because you thought that since you were enrolled in university courses that mirror the content of the exam section you'd be prepared.

Much better to get a full read-through of the material prior to your jam time in May, so that you can really hammer MCQ's and sims during that time, focusing on specific areas you probably didn't touch on in the classroom.

Good luck!

B 92
A 99
R 90
F 92

Becker Self-Study

OH CPA since 2/18/14

[Kimboroni]

Yes, definitely take a look at the AICPA CSOs to see what the gaps are. Here is the link:

https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/ExaminationContent/ContentAndSkills/DownloadableDocuments/CSOs-SSOs-Effective-Jan-2014.pdf

The good thing is that while you are studying for school this term, you are also studying for the exam. So think longer term when you are studying the applicable coursework, rather than the “getting through this one test” mentality. So you can make that portion double duty.

I was lucky that I did have teachers who were good at teaching toward both the exam and actual practice (very helpful for SIMs), rather than theoretical that you can't really take to either one. That makes a big difference.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Kimboroni]

Yes, definitely take a look at the AICPA CSOs to see what the gaps are. Here is the link:

https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/ExaminationContent/ContentAndSkills/DownloadableDocuments/CSOs-SSOs-Effective-Jan-2014.pdf

The good thing is that while you are studying for school this term, you are also studying for the exam. So think longer term when you are studying the applicable coursework, rather than the “getting through this one test” mentality. So you can make that portion double duty.

I was lucky that I did have teachers who were good at teaching toward both the exam and actual practice (very helpful for SIMs), rather than theoretical that you can't really take to either one. That makes a big difference.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Anonymous]

@Kimboroni – Yep, thats how my audit professor is. Doesn't really teach to the exam or to actual practice. Its all theory. Which is sort of interesting, but not exactly helpful, which is why I think REG is the better exam to take in May.

@smeech8000 – Definitely makes sense. Retaking an exam sounds shitty for me as a student, so I couldnt imagine as a father, husband, and full time employee. I know I really should just say, “screw it, a couple B's aint a big deal” cause I'm already admitted into grad school and already have the offer with the firm/city that I want, but I'm right on the border of summa cum laude and magna cum laude, and really wanna keep summa. I know it means nothing, I just am so competitive that I want it! So I'm still bustin my ass to get all A's, which may conflict with the CPA in May. I'm also trying to become proficient in excel for my internship (I have very little excel knowledge). Lot on my plate in these next few months. May can be full on CPA, but March/April will have some conflicts

[Anonymous]

@Kimboroni – Yep, thats how my audit professor is. Doesn't really teach to the exam or to actual practice. Its all theory. Which is sort of interesting, but not exactly helpful, which is why I think REG is the better exam to take in May.

@smeech8000 – Definitely makes sense. Retaking an exam sounds shitty for me as a student, so I couldnt imagine as a father, husband, and full time employee. I know I really should just say, “screw it, a couple B's aint a big deal” cause I'm already admitted into grad school and already have the offer with the firm/city that I want, but I'm right on the border of summa cum laude and magna cum laude, and really wanna keep summa. I know it means nothing, I just am so competitive that I want it! So I'm still bustin my ass to get all A's, which may conflict with the CPA in May. I'm also trying to become proficient in excel for my internship (I have very little excel knowledge). Lot on my plate in these next few months. May can be full on CPA, but March/April will have some conflicts

[Anonymous]

One last bump for any other opinions

[Anonymous]

One last bump for any other opinions

[The CPA Kid]

I'm starting with KPMG this summer. They honestly give you plenty of time between your internship and full-time to complete your 150 and earn your CPA, so don't feel pressured to knock one out early.

That being said, if you really want to, I say go for REG. If you aren't working full time then each one is completely doable within 3-4 weeks of studying. BEC took me 10 days, REG is twice as much though.

FAR- 82 (December 2013)
BEC- 88 (January 2014)
AUD-94 (January 2014)
REG- 84 (February 2014)

They call me the Kid

[The CPA Kid]

I'm starting with KPMG this summer. They honestly give you plenty of time between your internship and full-time to complete your 150 and earn your CPA, so don't feel pressured to knock one out early.

That being said, if you really want to, I say go for REG. If you aren't working full time then each one is completely doable within 3-4 weeks of studying. BEC took me 10 days, REG is twice as much though.

FAR- 82 (December 2013)
BEC- 88 (January 2014)
AUD-94 (January 2014)
REG- 84 (February 2014)

They call me the Kid

[Author]

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