[lmross]

By the time my final semester rolls around I will have all the credits necessary to sit my CPA exam (it is also allowed in NC if you are about to graduate). My question is should I try to start taking it in the spring semester? I will only have 3 classes and have just come out of my auditing class. I feel like this would give me a head start and make me more marketable (I have decided on grad school yet) but am worried since most people don’t take the exam until they graduate. Thoughts?

Thanks! I’ve been a lurker on here for a while and have learned a lot already! 🙂

[Anonymous]

@imross – I mainly agree with the advice here. How I did it, is I had accepted a job offer in the fall of '11 to start in the fall of '12. I took one exam in my final quarter (BEC), two in the summer (REG & FAR – the harder ones that cover more material) and one after I had started working (AUD). Since I was working in Audit – the actual training & work I was doing combined with my studying helped.

You were not too specific with your post, so I'll try to cover the different alternatives:

1. Are you going to try to get a job/internship after the spring semester but don't have one already? If so, then that should be your focus this semester and I wouldn't worry about the exam quite yet.

2. Figure out if you are going to grad school. If that is the case AND you are already eligible to sit, then you have the summer and at least 1+ years to take the exams. There is no real rush at this point if you want to focus on school (to keep your grades high) and extracurriculars/jobs (to build your resume for recruiting season next year).

3. If you do have a job offer lined up already – and are not going to grad school – then absolutely start taking them now. It is so much easier to get them out of the way prior to starting work. And I was able to pass BEC with an 89 while going to school no problem, so it is possible.

[lmross]

Thanks for the help everyone!

More information:

I am currently finishing out my junior year of study at a public university. I transferred in at the start of this year from a community college. As far as I can tell the extra credits I gained there (I ended up with two associates degrees) can/will count towards my 150 for the CPA because they were all college level classes. In the fall I am finishing up my Accounting credits and will only have 9 credits left in the spring to graduate (3 classes). I do not have a job offer (still interviewing for internships actually) but am a part of a program where we visit major cities and tour major public accounting firms and many people get job offers or internship offers during this process. I have not decided on grad school yet simply because of the cost and the fact that I wouldn't need it to sit my exam but am still trying to weigh the pros/cons especially if I were to get grant money.

Anyway thanks again!

[lmross]

Thanks for the help everyone!

More information:

I am currently finishing out my junior year of study at a public university. I transferred in at the start of this year from a community college. As far as I can tell the extra credits I gained there (I ended up with two associates degrees) can/will count towards my 150 for the CPA because they were all college level classes. In the fall I am finishing up my Accounting credits and will only have 9 credits left in the spring to graduate (3 classes). I do not have a job offer (still interviewing for internships actually) but am a part of a program where we visit major cities and tour major public accounting firms and many people get job offers or internship offers during this process. I have not decided on grad school yet simply because of the cost and the fact that I wouldn't need it to sit my exam but am still trying to weigh the pros/cons especially if I were to get grant money.

Anyway thanks again!

[Author]

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