[CPA1DAY]

First I want to say thank you to anyone who responds to my question?

I take my first exam which is FAR this Monday and I am extremely nervous. I sit back and think about my college courses which i received mostly B’s and C’s in and really wonder is this exam for me. I feel like the only people who pass are the people who had 3.5’s- 4.0’s. Is there any body out there who can help give me confidence?

[ARay]

Anyone can pass this test. Just a matter of who wants it and who does not. As they say, it is a test of discipline and not IQ. PUt in the time and effort, and you will get there.

I was B's and C's as well, and got through it.

[Anonymous]

I agree, this process tests your discipline and will to succeed. Perhaps a person who did better in school will get there faster, but it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's a test of endurance not brains.

[Recked]

I ended up with roughly a 3.0
I have posted a thread on here with my grades for my accounting classes, you can find it.
I found it.
https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/college-transcripts-looking-at-some-old-ones/

College grades are no indicator of CPA ability.
Check out my grades, and my scores below.
You will be fine.

[sacpa]

@Recked: You have got stellar scores taking each exam back to back. Congrats on passing in such a short time, that too with a full time job! Any suggestions & tips welcome.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[MIsconnie]

I also agree, I had a subpar GPA and seem to be doing just fine. Just put in the time and you will pass.

[MantisAlfredo]

2.58 GPA checking in! 1st test, 70 on FAR. Waiting on my retake scores. We got this!

[alloverit]

Absolutely! The past is the past!!

You just have to put A+ effort into the CPA exam.

Here's why you can't go by GPA. Even if all schools were equal (obviously they aren't), some students spend more time on studying than others. I made straight A's, but here's the thing: I studied 5-6 times longer than my classmates. Most classmates would study 3-4 hours total for a test. I studied 25-30hrs for every test I took in school. If I had studied 3-4 hours, I would have made C's and D's.

But, the CPA exam requires as much study time as possible. There are really ZERO days off. That's the adjustment I could see you needing to make.

[sacpa]

@alloverit: I agree, you can't go by GPA.

@CPA1DAY: I, have a 4.0 GPA in all my Accounting courses. Did that make me feel that I will ace the CPA exam the same way? Yes. Did I pass? No. But I have to say that I had no trouble studying by myself & understanding even the complicated concepts. Even during the exam, all the questions were familiar & I got some which I had seen in my review course word to word, with different amounts. But since I had not reviewed enough, I was second guessing & losing time. This exam demands to be approached differently than a college course. For the same reason, GPA does not matter.

Are the courses graded differently in each college? Yes. Still I felt so confident about my GPA since they were derived from strong As (above 95%) in spite of not having an Accounting background & taking the courses late in my life with a full load of family commitments. I was the tutor of a Financial Accounting course while taking the course at the same time. Did that make me feel that I can pass the CPA exam? Yes. The truth is that I think I have not done full justice to the CPA exam which is the actual reason for not being on the other side till now.

Don't worry about your GPA. Forget about the mindset that only people with high GPAs can pass the exam. Believe in yourself. I sound as though I passed. I am telling the above mentioned to myself too. We can & we will pass the exam. Good Luck for FAR! Looking forward to reading your post after taking the exam.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[Anonymous]

Yes. If you were unmotivated/lazy during undergrad and just didn't feel like studying and that's why you got B's and C's, but in fact you're really smart, then passing the exams should be zero problem for you. If you got B's and C's because you aren't really intellectually gifted, then it might be a more difficult situation because you may need to learn/re-learn a lot of things that you don't currently know. But – some people will argue that “any idiot can pass the CPA exams if they put the time in.” I don't agree with it – it does take some intellect and they've re-structured the exam in the last year or two because too many people were getting by on guesswork (on MCQ mostly) and rote memory. But, if it's something you want, it shouldn't stand in your way. You need a BS degree or higher. They don't care about your GPA.

[Meg267]

Grades are subjective, as professors all have their own way of grading and judging quality of work. I completely agree with a lot of above posters – this test is all about discipline. If you want it, go for it.

[CPAcandidate3]

I was a C student but I was also an extremely lazy student so that was a pretty big factor. The CPA exam was a breeze for me.

[Anonymous]

BTW, I had a 4.0 in school. I have yet to pass any of them. Proof positive that grades in school have zero correlation to passing! I've worked in acctg for a few years.

[Author]

Replies