[10keyLeah]

I’ll be sending in my application hopefully the first part of January. I’d like to take my first exam FAR in April. I won’t have any other obligations, no job right now, and no classes after December.

1. Should I also take AUD in May in the same window as FAR?

2. Would there be a benefit to taking only FAR in the April/May window and waiting to see if I pass first?

3. When would a score come out for the April/May window?

4. If I fail FAR in April or May, will I get my score in time to be able to apply to re-take the exam in July/August window? (Apparently, in the state of WV, all request to re-take an exam has to be sent by snail mail).

I would appreciate some comments and help figuring this all out.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[Anonymous]

Since you are not working I would take it late February, see if you pass and then take it in April/May. 4 months of full time studying is way too much for one section in my opinion. You will have plenty of time to find out your score and register for any retakes between test windows. You will find out your score in 1-5 weeks depending on when you take it in a test window. You can look up the score release timeline to find out when you will receive your score.

[mmcgrad1]

There's no reason not to start studying in January and take the first section of your exam in February. Then, I would take AUD at the beginning of April since the exam changes in July. Next, I would take REG at the beginning of May and BEC at the end of May. You are not going to be going to school or working so there is no reason you can't finish the exam in two quarters. I did something similar this year. I took the exam in mid April, mid May, early August and end of August. That was more than enough time. I probably could have done it all by the end of July if I didn't slack off.

Take the section you expect to be hardest first. I expected REG to be toughest for me and took it first. If you think FAR will be your hardest section, then take it at the end of January or sometime in February.

If you fail a section you should have enough time to take it in the next window without problems. There is a whole month in between the testing windows and the latest score releases tend to be 6 business days after the close of the testing window.

NIU CPA Review Correspondence is awesome!

I passed all four sections on the first attempt

[pkd1982]

I agree with others, take FAR in February, near the end of the section. That way if you fail, you will know quickly and you can always try to reschedule for early April, and study in the “off” month of March. Then you can take AUD in May.

REG: Pass
BEC: Pass
AUD: Pass
FAR: August 2013

[10keyLeah]

I really appreciate the helpful comments. I didn't realize I could potentially take an exam in February. That may be a problem though because I'll be away from home from Feb. 18 through the end of Feb.

Would I be able to schedule the exam for the week of the 11th? Would I have a possible problem with getting scheduled with prometrics for the exam for that specific week?

That would put me having to take the exam earlier than the end of february as well and I don't want to have to cram or pay for the exam and not be able to sit for it.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[mmcgrad1]

You know you can take the exam at any prometric location, right? For example, I'm from IL but I scheduled to take the exam in FL when I was on vacation. So if you're not intending to go off the grid or out of the country, then you can schedule to take the exam elsewhere.

Really, the key to knowing if you can take the exam earlier is if your application is processed and approved. In my experience that takes a few weeks. So the sooner you get that application in the better. Also, a month of studying for FAR is plenty. You don't need almost two months to study for the exam if you are dedicated to your studies.

NIU CPA Review Correspondence is awesome!

I passed all four sections on the first attempt

[10keyLeah]

Thanks mmcgrad, for the response. I knew you could schedule an exam in another state, but I hadn't really thought about it. I'll be in the Caribbean on a ship though so I don't think that would work in this case. I am considering sitting in Feb. as suggested, but I just don't know if my application will be processed in time. That will depend on the time it takes my colleges to get transcripts in and the time it takes WV to process it all. I won't finish up classes until December 17th to be able to request transcript to be sent out. If that did work out, I still wouldn't know if I could get a time scheduled for that particular week in february. It would stink if it was booked up by the time I was able to schedule. I don't suppose prometrics would save me a spot that week this far out. The closest prometrics testing site to me is about a 2 hr drive on way.

Would it be worth it/helful to call the state board or the prometrics site and ask? Thanks everyone for helping me out.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[mmcgrad1]

I'm wondering if you can send your transcript now to be approved and take the exam. In Illinois we were (are?) able to apply for the exam and take it as long as our transcript shows we are taking the courses this semester to be eligible to sit for the exam. You could then sit for the exam and after you sent your final transcript you could see your exam results.

I would contact your state board to see if they allow something similar. That way you may be able to apply earlier and get that time slot.

NIU CPA Review Correspondence is awesome!

I passed all four sections on the first attempt

[10keyLeah]

Thanks mmcgrad, I'll contact the state board and see what they say.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[Anonymous]

Do what @mmcgrad said. I was able to file a “certificate of enrollment” showing that I was currently enrolled in classes that would eventually deem me eligible to take the exam. Was a pretty simple process, all I had to do was send my final transcripts when the semester was over.

I think if you start the application now then time should not be an issue. I'm in Missouri, and if I remember correctly it was about 3 weeks for me to get everything sent it, reviewed, and accepted.

[Author]

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