[Anonymous]

I am awaiting the score on my last section and really don’t feel well about how I did. Because of a weird personality issue I really struggle with the cheerleading you get in this test as it is. The “I know you did great!” or “you’re so smart you’ve got this” or any of the 10 million versions of it. For this last one though it’s the most difficult when I say with full vulnerability “I really don’t feel great about how I did” and the only answer I get now is “You passed the first three I just know you passed this one!”.

Of course I appreciate the support, it’s so amazing to have! But I am scared of the next release; I am terrified! Why can’t anyone just let me be terrified? When I tell people that this is a tough test and there is a very real chance I didn’t pass why do they just brush it off?

I finally started asking people to just let me be scared and vulnerable (it’s not my first damn section!!!) but they literally can’t just say, “OK, let’s talk about it”. It’s just endless cheerleading. If it weren’t for this site I would feel like the most alone person on the planet.

Anyone else feel this?

[Shel_178]

I'm sure like everyone else already mentioned, friends and family are just trying to stay positive and say something nice. During the exams when I was waiting for a score my mom always seemed to say the right thing, “you studied your butt off and whether you passed or failed you can't change it now so there's no point stressing yourself out about it, just relax and when you get your score if you failed you'll be better prepared next time!” Somehow that made me feel better.

REG - 86
FAR - 80
BEC - 79
AUD - 92...I'm done woohoo!

Licensed CPA since Feb. 2014

[Anonymous]

I am going through the same situation. I have some friends at work (who aren't accounting people) who just don't have any idea what the CPA exam is like.

As I've said in other threads, I took REG last week and don't think I passed. I didn't have enough time to fully prepare but had to sit before the window closed.

So now they know I get my score next week, and they know it's my last section. So now they're wanting to plan a Happy Hour next week to celebrate. I've told them I don't feel good about it and they say “That's what you always say and you always pass!”

It's a good problem to have, because they really are just being awesome and supportive, and I really appreciate them. But I really don't want to have to get together with a bunch of people and say “Uh, guys, I failed.”

Nobody understands it unless they've gone through it.

[Anonymous]

I think all the positive encouragment is annoying and it drives me crazy too, but I had my first real dose of non positive encouragment and it's not better trust me. These poor people that support us are in a no win situations. There is nothing they can say.

I have failed a lot of these and I'm waiting for AUD results with two that expire if I fail. If I pass I'm done. I had a realitive that instead of the usual positive I'm sure you passed comment said, “Look at the bright side pass or fail your done because I assume your not going to try to start over after all those fall off.” I thought to myself you know I was thinking that, but it still hurts way more to hear someone else say it out loud.

[Anonymous]

What people have trouble understanding is the magnitude of the material that has to be mastered in order to pass. Very few people get that FAR alone is like every financial accounting course you took in college, wrapped up in one cumulative exam. This is why my family doesn't understand that I can't come home to visit every other weekend. They think I should be able to knock it out in a couple weeks and move on with my life. My boyfriend is better. He is a very smart, accomplished guy (lawyer, Wharton MBA, etc.), and he's been through enough similar exam situations that he understands how difficult and time-consuming it is. His attitude has been “If you give it your best, and you fail, then you dust yourself off and try again. Life is not over.” That is helpful and comforting. With pretty much everyone else, I feel like if I fail a section, I have to avoid them until I pass it.

What is more annoying, though, is what I hear very frequently from older CPAs I've worked with … “Oh, you have it so easy. I had to take the whole exam at one time.” Yeah, it's not like financial accounting standards, auditing standards, tax law, etc., have grown more complex since the good ol' days before computers and electricity. I mean, if the pass rate is 45 to 50% and only 10% of candidates pass all sections on the first try, it is clearly not for the faint-of-heart.

[jmhassell21]

I try not to talk to anyone about the CPA exam, unless they are a CPA. People that haven't taken it just sound stupid.

My dad's an optometrist, and he told me that, “I worked optical physics problems until I could do them in my sleep. I know exactly how you feel when you say overwhelmed. But it's a hoop you've got to jump through. Take yourself to the brink.”

REG (4/2015)
AUD (5/2015)
FAR
BEC

"And I am reminded, it is not the billows, but the calm level of the sea, by which the heights and depths are measured." James A Garfield

[Author]

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