[Katie]

Accounting was never extremely for me, but I certainly never felt like I was going to walk into an exam and fail. I even graduated summa cum laude. But I am studying for my first section, FAR, and I have convinced myself that I’m going to fail. Has anyone else experienced this feeling of complete incompetence when it comes to studying for the CPA? I feel like I’m going crazy.

[Anonymous]

Studying for the CPA exam has nothing to do with college as crazy as it sounds. it's a lot harder because they are no shortcuts. If anyone tells you they don't feel like a total idiot at one point or another studying for this thing, they are lying. Just trust the process in your review course and do everything they ask you to do. It will come together!

[Skynet]

Since it's the baseball postseason i'll use a baseball analogy.

College experience is the T-Ball Little League where as the CPA Exam experience is the MLB World Series.

[Ana]

graduated high school at 16, grad college summa cum laude, been an all star in the workplace…now look at my signature. it doesn't match up. I have various reasons/excuses why but end of the day have to get this done. but nothing compares to the hell of the CPA exams

[Katie]

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad I'm not losing my mind.

[Missy]

I think the best description of the difference between college and the exam, is that a college course is a river an inch wide and a mile deep, and the CPA is a river a mile wide and an inch deep. Imagine one cumulative final exam on every single course you took in college but in no depth whatsoever…….that's the CPA exam.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Ana]

Missy that's exactly what my college professors would say about the CPA while in school. I don't find it to be accurate anymore with all the changes. That's how it was for them 30 years ago. My husband and I say it's 10 miles wide and deep enough to cover your head-gotta keeping swimming or you'll sink.

[CPA2BEE]

I was a complete j*ck-off in college and barely got by, I REALLY tried on the CPA exam day-in and day-out and barely got by.

For me, that was the difference.

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[Tim]

@Ana I agree with you the testing is not superficial at all. And I love when older CPA's talk about how they had to take all 4 parts in one week as though it was harder for them. The reason they split it into 4 different tests was to make it harder and more encompassing, not easier. I wish I could just study for a month or two and do the whole thing in one go.

[M123]

I like the deep river analogy. Despise the “inch deep” Lake Erie or river. False advertising!

Add a lot of sharp rocks to the overhead deep, class-5 rapid river and I can concur.

[Anonymous]

It’s like comparing your 7th/8th grade year in Junior High School to your Freshmen/Soohomore Year of College! HUGE jump and plenty of people get weeded out! Actually it might be worse than that – no lie.

Goodluck.

[Superdude3000]

You can half-ass college and pass. You cannot half ass the CPA and pass.

[kdcpa]

I agree with Superdude3000. You can pass with decent grades even if you don't work much. It is difficult to fail in the college. That can't be done with the CPA exam at all. Here it is difficult to pass. That's the difference.

[itooshallpass]

In college just because of the format and expectations, I was able to get through with really good grades without really understanding and thoroughly learning the material. Now the exam review has come back to bite me. There's just too much material to approach it the same way– by cramming and forgetting. Ugh.

[Anthony]

Not really. Feels much more of the same to me. Maybe because the college I went to was actually somewhat challenging and was fighting hard on grade inflation unlike other schools where you can show up and get an A.

[Katie]

@anthony

My public university of 7,000 students ranked in the top 5th percentile of 858 schools who's graduates passed the CPA exam on the first try. No need to put down other schools!

[Author]

Replies