[sar_rah]

So its finally time for my FINAL CPA exam prep! I have REG saved for last, and not sure how to go about studying for it. I’ve started, and I feel like BEC and AUD spoiled me after FAR. Because this seems just as brutal as FAR! I am a full time masters student and work part time, so I have a hard time multi-tasking balancing studying for school vs. studying for the CPA. Usually when I’m studying for one, I feel so guilty that I’m not studying for the other, and then I just can’t focus on anything. For example, it took me 2.5 months to study BEC during the semester vs just 7 weeks for FAR and 4 weeks for AUD when I had nothing else going on.

I’m not testing till mid-may, giving me about 2.5 months. I’m planning on having R1-R4 done (all the tax) by spring break. I have 2 ideas–let me know what you think:

1) Use the week of spring break to hardcore review R1-R4 since tax is more heavily tested and much more difficult than standards and Blaw. So I’d review 1-4 in depth, then pick back up with R5 once returning to the semester. Then have about 2-3 weeks to review everything before my exam (and one of those weeks I’m luckily off of school and work!)

2) Just power though 2-3 chapters over spring break, only have 1-2 more to get through once I get back, and then have nearly a month to review everything

Im leaning more towards option 1, that way I can actually be super focused on tax since I feel like I was sorta distracted while doing it on top of my classes and other stuff going on.

What do you guys think???

AUD: 98
REG: 91
BEC: 86
FAR: 83

DONE DONE DONE and DONE all on the first try! It IS possible, just keep on studying!

[Jeff01234567]

Are you doing Master's in Tax?

I will be in the same situation as you (4th test, working part-time), although I likely won't be taking REG until July. I thought REG would be the easiest because I am majoring in Tax and enjoyed my business law class in college.

By the looks of your comments it looks like there won't be a smooth home stretch 🙁

BEC - 83 Oct 23
FAR - 84 Jan 8
AUD - 81 Feb 26
REG - 84 May 23

[Jdn9201]

Cb, how well have you done in the tax classes you've had so far? The reason I ask is unless you have a hard time with tax, I don't think you need a month to review. I like option 1. I know that you are concerned about having enough time to study and prioritizing everything, but you also have to make sure that you don't stretch it out so long that you forget things you learned when you first started studying. I knocked out REG in 5-6 weeks from start to finish, but I also work in corporate tax and have my master's in tax. I've tried to keep a pretty tight schedule because it forces me study and I don't have time to blow it off or get preoccupied doing something else. Good luck with your last exam!

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Nessie]

cb, I did 2 Master’s level courses in tax and law, and I think they helped. A friend of mine who is quite bright with an MS in Tax and working at the big 4 actually failed her REG exam. I think it was due to the fact that the MS in Tax does not require any law classes. So, if you have done well in Tax and Law, you are 50% there.

Back to your plan. Since you have the time, I would suggest 1 Becker chapter per week. If you want, at the half way mark spend a bit of time reviewing, like a couple of days. Or even skip the half way part. Do the last 4 chapters at 1 per week and spend 1-2 weeks reviewing before the exam. Don’t underestimate the amount of law that will appear on the exam.

REG Aug 20/15: 88
AUD: Feb 29/16: 80
FAR: Jun 10/16: 80
BEC?

Becker self-study, Becker Final Review & NINJA MCQS

[Anonymous]

completely disagree with Nellie. biz law = 17-21% of the exam. tax = 60-80% of the exam. why would anyone spend the same amount of time (1wk/chapter) reviewing one as the other.????? im a big fan of prioritizing based on Content Specification Outlines. studying biz law just as much as tax is plain absurd and can only cause detriment.

do not spend too much time on biz law. it is only 17-21% of the exam according to the CSO's and rarely encountered on the SIM's. that is the best advice i can give you- skim biz law- do not even read the chapter/ just focus on becker's pass keys and learn the rest via MCQ's.

i had to do REG in 20 days, and the scant focus on biz law paid off time wise for me.

however, since time is on your side, and your scores indicate to me you are not one to skip reading a becker chapter. i can only recommend that biz law in becker is given almost as many pages as TAX and that is nowhere near the case. i dont know why becker didnt combine all the biz law issues into one chapter isntead of 3. that is very misleading for candidates- those first four chapters R1-R4 are INFINITELY more important than the last three.

[Nessie]

Eesti, I wrote REG and my exam was over 1/3 law. I only mentioned it because I was quite surprised. I felt like every other MCQ was law. That was my experience.

REG Aug 20/15: 88
AUD: Feb 29/16: 80
FAR: Jun 10/16: 80
BEC?

Becker self-study, Becker Final Review & NINJA MCQS

[Jdn9201]

I completely agree with eesti. BLAW put me to sleep, so I blew it off and spent more time practicing tax questions. I figured if I picked up 90% of the points for tax, I could pick eenie-meenie-miney-moe on the BLAW and still pass. 🙂 It probably cost me 10 points on my exam, but B's get degrees and they also get CPA licenses. 🙂 I don't advocate other people doing that, but you definitely should not cut your time short on tax to spend on BLAW.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Anonymous]

exactly! focus on TAX and get an 82 and study 2 weeks less than you would have otherwise…OR waste two weeks of your life to get a 92. ill choose the former.

btw, even if your test was 30% biz law(doubtful- it is your perception playing games on you where you remember the hard question but completely forget the easy ones.) secondly, its every other MCQ, none SIM's which are supposedly 40% of the grade. third,most of them were probably pretest questions. even more reason to guess,

i am just a huge advocate for not studying for bizlaw from waht i read on these forums and hear from friends. and i chose not to study for it when i took the exam last week. i am all about efficient studying- so far 20-25days for each test. and this efficiency i would like ot share with fellow candidates. especially those that are struggling. they are filling their mind with useless surety and agency rules that are at most worth ~2 points on test day. meanwhile, they dont grasp the tax concepts that are much much more commonly tested and then wonder why failed REG.

read the CSO's people, use the top right corner search box. (people shouldnt share what their exam was like per disclosure rules, but you can get hints here and there)good luck everybody in maximizing your efficiency.

[Jdn9201]

I'm a huge fan of CSO's – especially for FAR. I pretty much have to be considering I'm only giving myself 3 weeks to study. I think one issue that keeps a lot of people from passing is they worry too much about the details and they miss the concepts. 90 questions and 4 hours isn't enough time to test you over every minute detail. And even if a detail comes up that I didn't study, I'm not going to care about 1 question because it may be a pretest, and if I understand the underlying concept or rationale behind the rule (for example, GAAP being more rules based whereas IFRS being more principles based) I'm more likely to get it right by guessing. I was one of those students in high school and undergrad that wanted A's in everything, but it pays to be efficient. I read this somewhere, but what do you call someone who gets 4 75's on CPA exams? A CPA. Their license is just as valuable as the next. I totally respect someone who strives to make in the 90s because it does help to be more knowledgeable about GAAP, etc. but for someone with a family and/or a life outside of work, I don't see the benefit by putting in the extra sweat to get a 90 when an 80 gets you the same thing in the end.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[sar_rah]

Thanks everyone for all the responses! I think once I finish all the tax chapters I will review them to keep them all fresh before moving on to R5-8. I'll then knock those out, and review normal business as usual. That was it will be my 3rd time coming across the tax concepts…I do best with repetition. I'm guilty of reading all my other Becker books at least 3 times… :X

AUD: 98
REG: 91
BEC: 86
FAR: 83

DONE DONE DONE and DONE all on the first try! It IS possible, just keep on studying!

[Author]

Replies