[JessF]

I’ve been studying for FAR since the end of February. I’ve pushed my exam back 4 times or something like that. It was going to be early May, then late May, then early July, now it’s mid-July, giving me only 6 weeks to study for BEC at the end of Aug (probably impossible). I am on Study Unit 12 of 20 Study Units in Gleim. I’ve taken many weeks off from studying since February, so my knowledge of the 12 Study Units is very scattered by now. I’m so overwhelmed with the amount of material. I get really discouraged. I hate reading the Gleim book, and I hate taking the MC exams. The MC exams take me forever. I’m so slow, and the questions are so cumbersome. I’m not dumb by any means. I graduated with a 3.96 GPA, and I’m an Accounting tutor for pete’s sake!! I know Accounting. I just don’t know all that Gleim expects me to know 🙁 I’ve got 7 weeks to turn this around, and I don’t know how!

BBA Accounting 12/2013
FAR - July 2015
BEC - Aug 2015
REG
AUD

Gleim

[ruggercpa2b]

I honestly think that you are not fully dedicated to the exam. Especially having been studying since February. I have been there and have wasted money on paying for rescheduling and not even taking the test. Mostly because I would procrastinate and the day would come and I would say I was not ready.

Sit down and really decide that you do want to study. Then make a study schedule and stick to it. I goofed off so much one year I said screw it and took the year off and had fun. I started looking for a job last year and every interview I went to they wanted someone with a certification. It took me over a year to get another job. I shifted my focus and got serious and my scores improved. You have to be in the right mindset otherwise you end up wasting money.

Good Luck!

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[Missy]

There's studying since February and there's “studying since February”. If you're taking weeks off, you truly havent been studying.

No reason to be discouraged, discouraged is reserved for those who actually put in the hours without results., When you put in the time you'll get through the materials. But if you're not consistently doing 20+ hours a week you're better off to wait until you can commit to this.

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

[WeWillSee]

We've all been there. This isn't something that is supposed to be fun or easy, otherwise everyone would be a CPA. You need to do as many multiple choice questions as possible, and if you get any wrong than you need to understand why it was wrong, and why the correct answer is correct. If you just keep pushing yourself you will be able to do it.

I had a great GPA in college and then did not push myself on the CPA thing for a while – and it has not been an easy road at all. Very rocky, and painful. But I'm almost there now and you can do it too.

Just start studying and studying hard, that's the only way it's going to get any easier! You'll see people talking about missing their family, friends, activities, etc… for months on end because they aren't doing anything besides studying. That's because that's what it takes. Don't let yourself take weeks off, just push yourself and you will end up being fine.

[sweetmoon]

@JessF- It is not you, it is the Gleim material. I have had the same feeling studying with Gleim too. It is really exhaustive to study from the book and to practice all their questions, and if you really follow their method of study, you will feel nothing but crazy. I tried it for my first attempt with FAR and then decided enough is enough. I used my own proven method to study the material and it worked for me. I passed all the four papers in about 7 months time, studying exclusively with Gleim. It does seem painful but it really prepares you to face the exam.

My suggestion is, you take it one step at a time, you make your own schedule and stick to it.It is humanly impossible to know 100% of the material. It would also be tremendously useful if you pay attention to the score weightage and spend your time accordingly. All topics are equally detailed in Gleim, but they are not in the exam. Knowing this will help you to spend your time wisely in the exam. I have also had good help from their personal counselors. You can call them up and they can help you with your specific problems. Hope this help, let me know if you have any more questions about Gleim. I would be glad to help.

FAR : 71, 83
AUD : 73,88
BEC : 87
REG : sweet 82 and DONE !!

[JessF]

I'm probably not AS dedicated as I should, but make no mistake, I have done TONS of studying. Out of the past 13 weeks, I've studied around 10 weeks. I've put in at least 20 hours each of those weeks, probably more. I usually do about 1 study unit a week. Yes it takes me that long to get through Gleim's material. I read the chapter, write notes, write flash cards, and take several multiple choice exams. After 12 study units, I feel like it's all jumbled, and I realize I've still got 8 study units left. I barely can remember the stuff I know now, how can I possibly pile more information on it? It's just so much information, and I'm feeling very overwhelmed. I kept re-scheduling because I felt I still had too much material left and study units were taking longer than expected to get through. I feel like I made a mistake scheduling FAR first. I think I needed to get a “win” under my belt with one of the less cumbersome exams and feel like I had some progress made already.

@sweetmoon thanks for your opinion on the Gleim stuff. I think I'll sit down today and really look at the topics in the SUs that are tested heavily and focus more on those.

BBA Accounting 12/2013
FAR - July 2015
BEC - Aug 2015
REG
AUD

Gleim

[Missy]

Right but as you pointed out yourself, taking weeks off here and there causes you to “lose” stuff. Thats why you can't really study 5-6 months and be prepared for this. Its my opinion (and many others) that much of anything studied 12 + weeks ago is not going to stick with you. Thats also why people recommend that you study as much for a 2nd or 3rd attempt at a sectiion as you did before, there is no “I got a 74 so I'll put in 20 more hours.”

Trust me, I've passed all 4 exams and been around here for nearly 4 years (Licensed since 2012).

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

[ocarina]

Figure out what you hate about studying the material… Whether the book sucks, notes suck, or questions suck and find a supplement. Change things up. I've used Ninja Notes & questions and audio to help mix things up. Taking a break from Becker for a few days but STILL studying with new materials really helped let me see things differently & appreciate what I like out of Becker… You have to make this as approachable as possible. The other thing you need to realize is that the longer you push this off the longer it will take to get done. Why waste your time? Don't let your past self down because you can't in the moment get this finished… Just go through the motions and get the exam done at the best of your ability. Even if you aren't 100% on passing, at least you'll have it done. You have to take the test to be able to pass the test.

I have had an AWFUL life the last 2 1/2 months studying for this thing but since I've put my head down and studied I have a test next Friday that I'm very sure I will get done as I put the time in for it. It's all over eventually and its a huge relief to know you only go through it once and its so worth all the reward afterwards, even if just self congratulations.

FAR - 78
AUD - 82
REG - 79
BEC - 78

Study Materials: Becker Self Study, NINJA Notes, NINJA MCQ for review
Started March 2015 and finished December 2015 all on first attempt. Licensed CPA Jan 2016.

IT Auditor/CyberSec Consultant in Public Accounting
Future goals: Learn IT Network infrastructure, obtain CISA & CISSP

[JessF]

Thanks @ocarina! I'm thinking I will buy the NINJA MCQs and maybe notes to help me these last 7 weeks! The MCQs really bother me, so I think NINJA can help me out there.

BBA Accounting 12/2013
FAR - July 2015
BEC - Aug 2015
REG
AUD

Gleim

[Anonymous]

As they say, the hardest job is the one you never start. In this case, the job isn't “studying.” It's preparing to take an exam. It doesn't sound like you are preparing to take an exam. Problem 1: You are taking too many study breaks. Studying is like dieting or working out. It requires discipline and consistency. Problem 2: You are giving yourself way too much time to forget what you've learned. At 1 chapter per week for 20 weeks, you're going to need at least another 2 weeks to review everything. That's nearly half a year for one section. What if you fail it and have to do it all again? Do you really have an entire year to waste on one section? Odds are, you'll walk away at that point.

If you are having that much difficulty with FAR, maybe put it aside for now and prepare for a different section. If you start studying for BEC or AUD now, you should be ready to take it by mid-July if you are really putting in 20 hours per week. Then take the other in late August, and regroup for FAR in the fall, once you've got some familiarity with the exam process. But you really have to get on the ball. No more of this 1 chapter per week business.

[y_u_no_pass]

Yeah also FAR is the most material. I will say though you will never feel completely ready. I took FAR last and was so done. Also you may think you don't remember that jumbled info, but it is probably in there somewhere. I only studied about half of CPA Excel for FAR and I passed by a decent margin. You just need to set a date and stick with it. You have no idea how much you know until you take the exam.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[sweetmoon]

@JessF- I was at your same state of mind not very far ago, and I did buy Ninja notes, thinking that would make my process simpler. But unfortunately for me, Ninja notes did not go very well with Gleim. There was literally tons of information in Gleim and Ninja notes had very few pages of notes, and that only led me to panic. I bought the notes for all the 4 examinations, and repeatedly after using them, I felt it was not worth my time and I just stuck to Gleim for my last examination (REG). I hear great reviews about the notes, but probably it might work with other review systems like Becker or Ninja, but not with Gleim IMHO.

FAR : 71, 83
AUD : 73,88
BEC : 87
REG : sweet 82 and DONE !!

[sweetmoon]

About taking 1 week to complete a unit, if you speak to a Gleim personal counselor, they would say not to spend more that 6-8 hours with a single study unit. I always had to spend atleast 10 hours with a unit and still I felt underprepared. But just keep moving, and if you do another thorough revision of all the topics before the exam spending about 5-8 hours a unit, it would bring it all in your head and then you can spend a few days in the consolidated review. Also the counselor suggests, after completing a unit, taking a 20-30 question test everyday on the previously completed units and after completing about 5 units, take a cumulative test of about 50 questions in the exam mode. It will help you to retain the info, and if a unit is particularly difficult and you get a lot of wrong MCQs, you can just redo the ones you got wrong before moving on to the next unit. As I told you before it is humanly impossible to know everything in the book, but if you get a majority of it right, you would be fine. My cumulative trending score for all the exams had been in early 70s range but I was still able to pass them all. But it did take me a couple of attempts with FAR and AUD to figure out how to use Gleim to my advantage.

FAR : 71, 83
AUD : 73,88
BEC : 87
REG : sweet 82 and DONE !!

[jw_83]

I finished the exams a little over a year ago, but I used Gleim and the NINJA Notes. I combined their study strategy with the NINJA strategy. The program could be different now, but I would print out the chapter summary from Gleim. Do the first set of MCQs. If I did well on those, I would skip the audio/visual and do the true/false. Then read the material, do the second set of MCQs and Sims. I would add notes to the chapter summary and write out flashcards for only things I really needed help remembering. I would do 2-3 chapters a week. Once a week I would do a cumulative quiz on the chapters I had already covered. I left myself 2 weeks for review, where I would rewrite my notes that were with the chapter summaries and combined them with the NINJA notes. If something didn't seem to mesh well between the 2, I left out the NINJA notes explanation. I would review each chapter by just doing MCQs for each, then a cumulative quiz. I would do their exam once. I don't think I ever got a passing score on it, but I would note which chapters I needed more work with. I would focus on those until exam day. Then the night before I would read through my notes. It is a lot of material, especially for FAR, but you have to be disciplined all the time. 8 weeks is all I gave myself for each exam.

REG - 64, 72, 81!
FAR - 77
AUD - 79
BEC - 72, 79! And Done!

[Anonymous]

You have to prep every day no matter what is happening. I am married with kids and work full time. I am out the door at ~ 4:30am every day to study at a coffee shop (until I go to work at 7am), and then do another hour after I tuck the kids in bed at 9pm. My first 3 scores were 74,72, 71. Those hurt but that's when I realized that you have to do it everyday. If you stretch it out too long you won't remember the stuff you did at the beginning.

[Author]

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