I’m done!
I took waaayyy too long. I thought I could more or less wing it with just some review books, and after I passed Audit and BEC right away on my first attempt, I figured the other two would be no big deal. Wrong.
My study skills weren’t always great, but FAR and REG slayed me. Just when I thought I was improving at FAR, I got one of my lowest scores. Eventually with expiring scores looming, I decided to quit the job I hated and signed up for the Ninja review. I think the MCQs and night-before review of the notes were just enough to pass.
Thanks so much to Jeff for the review materials and the A71 forum. Hearing others’ stories and anxiety about score releases kept me sane and let me know I wasn’t the only one going through the stress. It sometimes felt like family and friends didn’t appreciate how all-consuming this process is, that I couldn’t even sleep without dreaming of either practice questions or score reports.
When I finally got that last score, I couldn’t help but cry. It’s amazing how surreal it felt, and how quickly those failing scores didn’t seem to matter at all. Looking back, I almost feel proud of my failures, like they were a sign of the struggle and perseverance.
I didn’t realize how much of a process getting the license would still be. After I got my scores and thought I was pretty much through it, I found out not only that the ethics exam is a bitch, but that the educational requirements in California had changed since I first looked into the process in 2010. I thought I had met all of the educational requirements with three community college courses I took over the last year, in part just to get units, but found I need three more. I wish I knew if the Board agreed with my assessment while I wait for their response to my application, because I’m now signing up for summer courses. Hopefully these won’t be a waste of time also. The waiting in this process has been almost as tough as the exams.
Ethics took me almost a solid week since I failed it once. It’s too bad that it’s not written as carefully as the CPA exams, but what the heck, I’m not working now anyway so it gave me some purpose. Now to start the job hunt…
Congratulations to everyone who’s gotten through this. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the CPA designation is no joke, and probably doesn’t get the respect it deserves. To everyone who’s still working on the exams or the license, best of luck and stay determined, it will be worth it.
AUD – 87
BEC – 78
FAR – 65, 66, 71, 65, 78
REG – 67, 69, 64, 76
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