[Anonymous]

Well, the day has finally come for me, and I finally made it. I am going to be a CPA. I think I made a post in another thread but I had just found out at that moment and was going crazy and jumping up and down like a lunatic lol.

After realizing my dream over the last few hours, it has not sunk in at all yet. The only thing that has sunk in so far (at least sort of) is that I will never ever have to study for this exam again. I think the reason being is that I have not been studying for this last week since I took FAR, and when you are studying everyday for about 1.5 years, you notice that you are not studying lol.

I want to thank Jeff for this board. Even though I had a great support system through my wife, parents, and family, sometimes you really feel alone on this journey. This place was unbelievable, and I am forever indebted to it. You guys were quick to respond to questions I had (I think Memorial Day weekend when I was in Take No Prisoners Review mode, I asked a question like every hour lol on loose ends that I was trying to tie up). The Ninja Notes were awesome! I have to say that once I ordered the Ninja Notes and took on the Ninja method of reading those notes every day, along with my own notes that I started making, it really helped the material sink in. Once I ordered those notes, and adopted this method, I never failed another test again, and passed three straight. I am now I for-lifer advocate of the Ninja Method. Thanks Jeff.

So I take REG in January 2013, fail with a 70, and kept my head high, being it was my first test, even though it hurt. Came back with a vengeance after tax season and scored an 85 in July. Scheduled AUD for October and got a little cocky and took it lightly and failed miserably with a 64. This one hurt more than the 70 because I was disappointed in the effort that I gave. I knew my studying habits all of a sudden became poor, and I needed something different. That’s when I became a full member of this board, bought the notes, and started posting here, instead of just browsing. I adopted the Ninja Method and took BEC during the extended week in December and passed with a 75, took Audit in February of this year and landed another 75, then studied over tax season (hour on lunch break, while working 11 hour days, then coming home at night around 9 and putting in another hour, and more on weekends) and getting the prize with an 85 on FAR taken May 29. I really was starting to lose it, I was exhausted, burned out, I felt like a robot, my life was accounting 24/7 for a month and a half, but I love a good challenge and this really tested my will to succeed. I just had a voice inside that kept saying “keep going, keep pushing forward.” I wanted a shot at finishing up for good and before the summer time. And now I have a free summer with my wife and family, and will be a CPA. It is surrreal and I am overjoyed.

My advice to those still in the grind. Keep fighting. I got knocked down twice, but you have to get back up and get right back at it. Allow yourself to sulk for a day or two, then turn that sadness into fire and get pumped. It’s all about making adjustments to your studying and seeing what works and what doesn’t and following a plan consistently. A couple of pointers that I feel made a WORLD of difference for me:

1. Do not just do a ridiculous amount of MCQs without really understanding the concepts, why you got the question wrong, why the correct answer is right, and why the others are wrong. I made this mistake for AUD where I just did MCQs nonstop until I was blue in the face, and barely took the time to make notes or actually understand the material, and wound up with a 64. This is a lazy way of studying. You must read the textbook and/or make notes and read them until those concepts are drilled into your head to the point where you can look at a blurb of your notes, read the first word or two and can finish the sentences of your notes without looking. Again I adopted the Ninja method and never failed again, passing three consecutive exams. It really works. Also, make fact nuggets when doing the MCQs and add them to your notes when you get a question wrong due to not maybe having enough notes on that topic.

2. It’s quality over quantity. It’s better to do two really good hours of studying than four garbage hours where you are not focusing 100% on the material/get easily distracted. Using EAR PLUGS is a great thing, a partner at my old firm suggested this and it helped tremendously, blocking out all outside noise. You have to give yourself up to the material, it’s the only way to do it right.

3. Awesome tip for MCQs, what I did which really helped big time, was I went through a chapter of MCQs in Becker and I took a piece of paper out and wrote down what section of questions I was in (ex: Chapter 5 “bonds” or Chapter 5 “leases) and I would make a list of questions by topic. So that way, if I felt I was weak in an area, I knew which question numbers to go back to. Like for FAR, any questions that had to do with EPS calculation, I wrote on my sheet EPS and wrote out those question numbers, or installment sale method calculation I would write Installment Sale Method and list those question numbers out. Then I would put all the theory questions (non calculation) under a theory column. Then, I would take another sheet of paper and write formulas out for each chapter, such as steps to calculate installment sales/cost recovery method, EPS, financial ratios, etc and keep memorizing them. The key really is to make that list of MCQs by topic because if you feel you are weak in something and need practice, you know what questions to go to.

4. Final review is HUGE and CRITICAL. Allow yourself AT LEAST TWO WEEKS, to do a final review. This helps tie up loose ends, and refreshes your memory on things that you may have forgotten or overlooked while trying to get through the chapters. I cannot stress this enough, this can make or break you and I agree that my final reviews are what put me over the hump. If I didn’t take the time for a review, I know I would have failed.

5. Make sure you maintain some sort of life/interests while studying. I had the gym, some time with my wife and friends and sports while I was studying. Study hard, make it a number one priority, but allow yourself some free time or you will go nuts. I almost didn’t make it out of studying over tax season for FAR, but I was desperate and wanted it bad.

I hope these tips will help someone, as these are things that I came up with while studying for 19 months. I got married in August of 2012 and started studying in October 2012, so my whole marriage has been centered around this exam. 19 months later, through lots of hard work, I am going to be a CPA. It was well worth it, nothing comes easy, and it’s all about discipline, hard work and sacrifice. If you put the time in, and give it your all, you will pass. I am not some genius, but I worked hard, and you can do it too.

Thanks again to all my friends here. Congratulations to all who have passed parts or finished. We have made the Another71 class of May 2014, and it feels great. I think this feeling will last a lifetime. And to those still going, keep pushing and giving it all you have. You will get there, and we have all failed at these tests. So glad to be done, accomplished my goal and get my life back and spend time with my wife, friends and family. Glory to God on this one!

Good luck and keep punching!

[Anonymous]

Congrats digi!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!

[Anonymous]

Thanks! And glad I could offer some advice to those still taking the exam or just starting out.

[Author]

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