[valueofnothing]

Wiley Question –

since these topics have been quite popular lately, shoutout to CPA excel for helping me go 4/4 with minimal studying. (100 hrs REG, 50 BEC, 50 AUD, 70 FAR).

but their 87% pass rate claim actually seems legit based on the success i’ve seen from others here that use CPAExcel.

but in all seriousness, it’s not the materials that make or break performance. it’s knowledge of the material. plus getting lucky/being in the right mindset/getting the right questions/etc on test day.

also getting 3 GMPs deep on FAR test day probably helped the one-week miracle happen.

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REG - 81
BEC - 88
AUD - 85
FAR - 81

[Anonymous]

GMPs?

[Anonymous]

ah, Good Morning Pill.

i can't tell if you're serious or just trying to sell a product

EDIT: nope, sorry — can't take this post seriously — https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/caffeine-lovers-something-for-you

[valueofnothing]

@cannot

both. i mean, i'm simultaneously kind of trying to sell the product (it works, i take it every day, and i'm sure a lot of people here are wasting $1k/year on 5 hour energy/coffee/red bull/etc when they don't have to), just kidding around, and being a bit serious (i did take 3 that day, and i've always relied on a nice dose of caffeine to help do well on standardized tests. science says it really helps.)

REG - 81
BEC - 88
AUD - 85
FAR - 81

[Laura]

sorry I'll stick with my Advocare Spark….

REG-80, 77, 77
BEC-67, 68, 71, 67, 71, 74, 71, 74, 72, 77
FAR- 72, 65,67, 53, 75 (truth be known the 53 was with 4 hours of studying)
AUD-58, 62, 72, 74, 74, 75
took 5 years but I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[valueofnothing]

this was really supposed to be a topic glorifying CPAexcel!!

REG - 81
BEC - 88
AUD - 85
FAR - 81

[Laura]

Did you use only CPAexcel? If not what did you find was the biggest difference with that review material? Also how long have you been out of school?

REG-80, 77, 77
BEC-67, 68, 71, 67, 71, 74, 71, 74, 72, 77
FAR- 72, 65,67, 53, 75 (truth be known the 53 was with 4 hours of studying)
AUD-58, 62, 72, 74, 74, 75
took 5 years but I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

@keeptrying ! WOW you passed your most recent test?! congrats!!!

btw i liked it better when you showed all your failed scores — it's inspirational and shows great perseverance 😉

[valueofnothing]

@keep

99.97% cpa excel. a friend who finished earlier this summer gave me her Becker outlines (?? i think thats what they were??), it was like a 2-pg summary of each becker chapter. obv can't learn a lot off of that, but it helped me keep track of the different things i had to study when i only had a week to cover 80% of FAR. other than that, just CPA excel.

i graduated in May and had pretty good academic preparation in most areas, but didnt have a high-level course in blaw (necessitating a lot of prep for that), and i elected to not take the hardest financial accounting class offered (which would have covered govt, non profit, combinations, etc.) some teachers used CPA prep questions for exams (it happened in financial accounting and auditing classes for sure) so i was dealing with these questions back in 2010.

REG - 81
BEC - 88
AUD - 85
FAR - 81

[Laura]

@CannotPassAgain–nope I failed BEC this last time with a 72…it's my last one. I took the failing scores off because i was really tired of what I felt was being ridiculed for taking the exam so many times. I know for some it was inspirational and showed that this is a test of perseverance not necessarily knowledge (well not knowledge completely). I think for me I felt ashamed of how many times I've taken it. I also think it took away from any advice I could give anyone; at least that was my perception. Maybe I'll put them back up there once I pass BEC….we'll see!! Have you passed any yet?

REG-80, 77, 77
BEC-67, 68, 71, 67, 71, 74, 71, 74, 72, 77
FAR- 72, 65,67, 53, 75 (truth be known the 53 was with 4 hours of studying)
AUD-58, 62, 72, 74, 74, 75
took 5 years but I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

@keeptrying

Yikes…so close! But at least your scores so far are looking mighty sexy. How long do you have left to study before your score(s) expire? Just give it all you got and knock it out in February before busy season.

Trust me, no one looks down on you, don't be embarrassed or ashamed. I completely understand where you're coming from, though.

I'm studying for FAR and FINALLY sent for my Authorization to Test. Hopefully I'll receive my NTS and be able to schedule to test sometime late January.

When I had my employee review (I'm only 2 months into my job), they asked about my CPA status. I'm already aware that 2 younger guys from my firm passed their exams on the first try — so this definitely adds on pressure. However, there are also seniors and even supervisors who have not yet passed their CPAs; obviously, I don't want to use them as a benchmark.

I told my superiors my plan was to take and pass the CPA in 2012 — they told me to readjust my goals and shoot only for 3 exams this year. Lol, I'll be completely happy if I can pass 3..but maybe they're giving me a hint that they're gonna work me like a slave during busy season and thus should not expect to put in any study time?

I hope to report back here next year with some good results — then I will for sure share my success story, too.

[Laura]

yeah my husband passed all 4 exams the first time…son of a ******!! If you work in the Big 4 or any public firm then you will have very little study time between now and probably April. Good Luck and I'll keep you in my thoughts! Here's to being CPAs in 2012.

Oh and @valueofnothing sorry for taking over your thread glorifying CPAExcel!

REG-80, 77, 77
BEC-67, 68, 71, 67, 71, 74, 71, 74, 72, 77
FAR- 72, 65,67, 53, 75 (truth be known the 53 was with 4 hours of studying)
AUD-58, 62, 72, 74, 74, 75
took 5 years but I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with this post/topic. I used CPAExcel and feel that it is extremely undervalued in the prep materials market. Granted, I passed FAR/BEC on CPAExcel alone, but supplemented it with the Gleim test bank for REG/AUD. For anyone actually looking to purchasing their first prep course or changing to a new one, seriously give it a try. You can do a free 2 week trial and if you like it, you can purchase it. If not, you can move on. I don't work for them, but I just give a lot of the credit of my passing to them. They are extremely thorough, but don't go into too much in order to keep in manageable.

@keeptrying- When do you plan on taking BEC again and conquering it once and for all? I'm sticking around these boards because I truly want to see you pass it (Had to give you a shout out in my final blog last week too)! When do your current credits start to expire?

[Laura]

@bchaison– I replied to your shoutout 😉 and I haven't scheduled it yet. In my blog I detailed why I hadn't scheduled it yet. I don't lose credits until June but I plan on not having to worry about Q2 testing since I hope to have this behind me by then!!!

REG-80, 77, 77
BEC-67, 68, 71, 67, 71, 74, 71, 74, 72, 77
FAR- 72, 65,67, 53, 75 (truth be known the 53 was with 4 hours of studying)
AUD-58, 62, 72, 74, 74, 75
took 5 years but I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kandisjoy]

I love CPAexcel! I supplemented with NINJA notes and Wiley books, but I barely used Wiley. I probably didn't need them at all. Also, a friend of mine was failing with Roger CPA and I convinced her to try CPAexcel and she passed on her first try. She sent me an email thanking me for telling her about CPAexcel.

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[Anonymous]

I'm going to chime in here and say that I am a huge fan of CPAexcel as well. I decided to try out the product after some good reviews from kandisjoy (thank you!). I'm big into computers and enjoy reading the news online. I also can't stand reading from textbooks so the fact that all the lessons are online was what really sold me on the product. Also the fact that all the lessons are broken into tiny lessons definitely helps as well. I'm currently studying for BEC and have since made variances my b$#@! as they explain them very well. I'm using the self-study version. I tried the video lectures but did not get a whole lot out of them as I am a visual person and learn best from reading.

[Author]

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