A friend of mine visits this site religiously after she takes an exam hoping to hear some buzz about when scores will be released. So, I thought I'd take a gander. To be honest, I'm shocked. How are so many of you failing these exams so many times?
If you use Becker to prepare, give yourself 4 weeks study time for each exam (6 for FAR), and dedicate your free time to studying, you should not fail. It really is as simple as that. And when I say free time, I mean every waking moment you are not sleeping, eating, or working. Some people have a hard time putting everything else in life on hold. This means sacrificing going out on weekends, time with friends and family, leisure time activities, etc. Those people are destined to fail these exams multiple times. I work for PwC in NYC, and I see this happen time and time again. People are up for manager and are denied because they don't have their credential yet. They blame it on work. Ok, I can sympathize a little bit; too busy to study. But that sympathy quickly evaporates when I find out that these same people go out on weekends and weekdays, go on vacations to Europe/California/Brazil/etc., and generally just screw around in their free time instead of study. If the dedication is not there, forget about it.
Becker is like novocaine. Give it time, and it always works. People who say it doesn't work for them are simply not putting in the time. I can understand that maybe you have an off day….fail an exam…..but two, three, four???? Something is broken, and it ain't Becker. I must have studied 125 hours for FAR (includes watching the lectures) and probably 100 for each of the other exams. Guess what? It paid off. It pays off for everyone that puts in the effort.
I worked full time and hammered out all four exams in five months. BEC in July (83), FAR in August (85), AUD in October (94), and REG in Nov (96). I was able to do this because I dedicated all my time to studying. Eat, sleep, work, gym, study. That's all. It wasn't fun, but it's done! I'll give you that I am single, unmarried, and have no children (that I'm aware of). Those things complicate the picture for sure. But in the end, if you aren't willing to make those sacrifices, be prepared for failure….maybe multiple failures.
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