[Anonymous]

I received passed score notification today on my last section of CPA exam. It’s time to say goodbye to CPA exams and this forum. Before I leave, I want to give back to the forum by sharing my experience of CPA exam.

I am a fulltime student. I decided to take CPA exams in May 2016. I sat in for Far in July, Reg in Sept, Aud in Nov and Bec in Dec. It is painful to study for CPA exams with a lot of classes going on.

I used Becker, nothing else. Here are my tips for each section:

Far: practice, practice and practice. I spent first 20 days on reading books and then did the homework questions in Becker. Becker will mark out the questions I got wrong and I would come back for those questions after I finished all. I would go over the materials in the book related to the wrong questions and take notes. I spent last 10 days before the exam to go over the books again.

Reg: I only spent 15 days on Reg because of the tight schedule of classes. I read the book twice and finished all the homework problems. I really think tax parts kills me. I listed out comparations of different kinds of tax rules and highlighted the difference. Reg is the lowest score I got in CPA exams.

Aud: I went over the books 3 times. Becker’s homework questions are a little bit different from the book materials. So read the explanation of each question even though you get right.

Bec: Becker’s study material for Bec is a little out of dated. The cost accounting part needs a lot of practice. The IT part may need good luck. Again, read the book at least twice.

I saw some people spent more than 2 months on one subjects. That strategy does not work for me. I am the person who can remember a lot of things in a short time and start to forget them quickly. So be careful about the strategies and time frame. Do not plan study during vacation. That never works. I also want to say that our goal is to pass the CPA exams, not to get an A in each section. Doing thousands of questions and try to remember everything sometimes does not work the way you want. Try to focus on the most important parts. Those would help you pass the CPA.

Here are my scores:

Far: 94
Reg: 87
Aud: 96
Bec: 91

I majored in science in undergraduate study. So if I can pass the CPA, you also can. Just keep calm and study hard!

Good luck to everyone!

[Anonymous]

wow-that's extraordinarily impressive! my singular regret is not taking my CPA exam sooner. AT 38 I cannot retain the information the way I used. Congratulations!

[Stilgoin]

There is no doubt that I am having difficulty retaining info because I am older, but I have seen people on this forum over 50 pass them all, so I try not to let myself use that excuse. Lol

Congrats OP!

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[Anonymous]

Very impressive. Congrats.

[Trele6]

I'm 36 and just completed all four exams. I can see how being older might hurt in some regards, but I feel like it helped me since I actually have real life experience to apply while studying. Studying depreciation, versus actually booking/correcting/reviewing is very different so some topics were very easy on the CPA exam just based on my experiences (memorization wasn't required).

My professors will always tell you to learn the material instead of memorizing, because if you just know it, it will come to you always. Granted that is tough sometimes, but I think taking the test as an older candidate versus right out of school helped me.

B - 80 Jun16
A - 74 Aug16, 77 Oct16
R - 87 Nov15
F - 79 Apr16
Ethics - 98 Nov16
Licensed in New Mexico Dec16

First go at the CPA! Only using Becker
Reg / Nov 2015 - 87
Far / Apr 2016 - 79
Bec / May 2016 - 80
Aud / Aug 2016

[Author]

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