I agree – it's great to have someone to discuss the topics with.
Regarding studying with a colleague – like others have mentioned above, when I first started studying for the CPA, I tried to study with others, but everyone was working at their own pace and we quickly went in different directions.
What REALLY made the difference for me was working with people who had already passed their exams. They became a resource for me to ask questions of topics that I didn't understand because they had already been through it. Of course they're busy with their own responsibilities, so scheduling can still be challenging, but not as much as with someone who is buried in studying for the exams and trying to grab every free minute for themselves.
Also, we work via email and phone so we don't have the added challenge of trying to schedule a meeting in person. It's much easier to coordinate a few minutes here and there, rather than a few hours at a time.
Also, when you're studying with someone who is also studying at the same time as you, sometimes you both have questions about the same topics, so it's like “the blind leading the blind” – Neither understands a topic and you're both lost.
If you can find someone who has already passed the exams, consider using this system for communicating with them on topics you need help with –
1 – Ask if they prefer that you email them one question at a time, or group your questions into one email per chapter, or per week, or whatever frequency you agree to.
2 – create a spreadsheet with a different tab for each chapter or topic
3 – list your specific questions (and your friend's answer) in the spreadsheet – this will help you to stay organized and allow you to look back on questions you've already asked.
4 – Either send them the spreadsheet via email so they can enter their answers directly, or just keep it for yourself as a way to stay organized and copy and paste the Q&A from email into the spreadsheet.
5 – When referencing a specific MCQ, print out the question, scan it, then email it to them, so they can see what you're talking about – OR – copy and paste into a Word doc and email that to them – OR take a screen shot of it and email.
You may also need to scan in a page from your text periodically if you're asking a question about the material.
6 – BE SPECIFIC with your questions. Help them to help you. Let them know what parts of a MCQ you DO understand, and exactly what's confusing you.
FAR - 86 - 2/27/14
AUD - 75 - 5/29/14
BEC - 80 - 8/31/14
REG - 89 - 2/27/15
Praise Jesus! I'm done!!
Study resources:
Becker
Wiley test bank
.