[zmatin]

I am exhausted, defeated and excuse-less.

I passed AUD with an 83 and gave myself 2 months to study for REG but I’ve also been preparing for Canadian immigration–including sitting for language exams, meeting with lawyers, getting police certificates from FIVE different countries (each with a significantly different process that needed to be researched), contacting old employers for employment verification letters–and moving on the 18th back to my home country. I scheduled REG for the 10th (tomorrow) and BEC for the 17th.

I read 20 pages of Wiley today. I managed to study 10% of the videos before, but it’s been hard to manage. Pile on family problems, personal problems and my anxiety and I can’t even bring myself to open up the textbook again tonight. I still plan on taking the exam cold because I paid for it and I don’t have the opportunity to take it again this year anyhow before my NTS runs out.

I’m just feeling utterly destroyed. My nerves are shot. It has just been hard for me to balance this immigration stuff with studying even though I haven’t been working and I am furious at myself for not being able to manage. I have a 3.98 GPA in my Masters and was inducted into academic honors societies in both undergrad and grad school and yet I have zero discipline and terrible study habits. I’m terrified of what employers are going to think when they see my first REG score because it ain’t gonna be pretty tomorrow…

Just wanted to know if anyone else has gone through the same thing. How did you come out the other end?

[Anonymous]

First of all I sympathise, I was deported last year* and so I'm fully aware how that can affect your study. I sat REG myself just after arriving back in the US and got a 61, I had a freakout (i hear you on the anxiety issues) the week before and stopped studying as it was “pointless” but on the day I went in and sat it anyway, same as you plan to do and it wasn't the end of the world getting that score.
But, here's the thing, firstly any employer who wouldn't understand issues like you have had is not one for whom you want to be working, secondly, why do they ever need to see the score? Like the old joke, (“you know what you call someone who got 75 in all four exams? Same as someone who got 99… a CPA!”) it doesn't matter once you have the licence number.
Don't worry, sit the exam, do your best… the worst that can happen is you use 4 hours of your life, and even if you fail its always good practice for Round 2!

*had to spend 6 months while they were reprocessing my immigration application and so lost a full set of exam fees, ironically they now offer exams in that country but didn't then :_(

[zmatin]

Hey ConorJSheehan,

Honestly, thank you for sharing. You basically hit the nail on the head with EXACTLY how I've been feeling all month…like what's the point? All my friends here are taking their sweet time, and I don't begrudge them that. It's great for them and they're amazing people so I do wish them well. But with how many extra hurdles I have to face as an international….it gets draining. I thought I could keep my fully passed exam scores indefinitely in NY but I just found out today that internationals only have 3 years to get the experiential requirement done after passing all 4 sections. And that too through Guam. It's only nationals who can keep them indefinitely…so breezing through all of them quickly will really not do much besides hasten the deadline to get that done.

I'll be fine in a few months, once I've moved back home and settled in and started working again and having a more stable situation in which to study, at least I hope. Rather than running around like a headless chicken. I have REG tomorrow (10th), my graduation/farewell party (14th), BEC (17th) and flight out (18th). And during that entire time I am still having to work with my lawyers to get this Canada express entry thing done before I leave AND squeeze together a few stray hours once a week to spend with my boyfriend before we end things due to my departure.

You should be proud of that 61. I am sincerely wondering if I can even get above a 40. But it's been really nice knowing that someone else has been in a similar situation, still went for it and was ok afterwards. Once again thank you <3 It gives me a bit more confidence to see this through.

[tygolfer]

Just do the best you can! I have a friend who schedule FAR and REG for the same window, and basically realized it was too much so he focused solely on FAR. He went into REG with about 5 hours of preparation, and got a 26. He went on to pass the exam within the next year. I'm pretty sure Jeff has a similar situation where he took an exam just because his NTS was expiring.

All that to say, no one is going to care what your scores are. No one will ask you if you passed on your first attempt. Just do you best and take it as an opportunity to learn and prepare for the next one!

[Author]

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