[habitual]

So I am taking REG on 3/8/17. That means I have 18 days left to study, and I am starting to panic!! I don’t know what the deal is, but I have not been motivated at all lately. I have listened to all the lectures in Becker, but I haven’t even completed all the MCQ. I’m mainly worried about tax because it’s so heavily weighted, and my plan was to spend the next 10 or 11 days really hitting R1-R4 HARD!

Then I plan to review ethics and Blaw and go in with my fingers crossed…

Have any of you been in a similar situation and come out on top? I worry that I don’t have enough time left to really absorb and memorize the material. Yes, I’ve looked at all of the material once, but I don’t feel anywhere close to prepared. Advice and thoughts appreciated.

[mad max]

I never have felt prepared for any of my CPA exams. Most of this applies to my 2011-2012 attempts (passed 3 of 4 eventually before expiring started) but in general they cover so much material that it is very hard to feel like you know every rule for every situation.

Nevertheless, if you study with good habits and drill the MCQs (do them all, then do both sets of incorrect questions, and random questions, with heavier focus on the incorrect ones) I find that hard work will pay off. Although, I am a good test taker, so that definitely gives me an advantage that not everyone may have.

Last exam I took was FAR in Jan 18, left thinking I failed with a high 60s, got a 90.
Did not feel like I was ready when I went in there, but I had studied for over 150-200 hours, and had answered > 2,000 questions.

Keep it up! Do whatever you need to do to stay motivated and in the game, and good luck to you!

[QueenCPA]

You have a lot of time!

I take mine in 9 days 🙁

Not feeling prepared at all!

Just hoping for luck especially with the sims!

[TommyTheCat]

Hit the MCQ questions HARD for tax, and focus on understanding basis concepts. I would suggest also understanding the 1933 and 1934 Acts.

[QueenCPA]

@TommyTheCat

Your score is very impressive.

How did you prepare for the sims

Also – Would you suggest I focus solely on MCQ's or I also spend some time practicing sims.

[Goingallin]

18 days is plenty for the tax part of Becker. That's way more than enough time to go through each question twice. It's really just a matter of being discipline. The questions are not hard but it does take repetitiveness to really buckle it down. The pro is the questions are far easier to grasp than FAR. I am taking REG same time as you. Spent 3 weeks studying and I have gone through each questions 3 times already. I know that sounds excessive but I am going to use up all the time I have until the exam.

[Goingallin]

18 days is plenty for the tax part of Becker. That's way more than enough time to go through each question twice. It's really just a matter of being discipline. The questions are not hard but it does take repetitiveness to really buckle it down. The pro is the questions are far easier to grasp than FAR. I am taking REG same time as you. Spent 3 weeks studying and I have gone through each questions 3 times already. I know that sounds excessive but I am going to use up all the time I have until the exam.

[higginmp]

so much time wouldn't even worry about it. I'm taking REG on Monday and it's my last one. I'm nervous as hell haha. I've never felt prepared for an exam either. No matter how much I prepare, the 2-3 days prior to the test I feel like I've completely forgotten everything and I'm doomed…

Yet somehow it always goes better than I thought. Even when I walk out of the test feeling like I didn't do well. I've always found that if you just put in the hours, day after day, nothing too crazy, but enough to go through all your review material twice over if possible (18 days is definitely possible imo) – you will be good on exam day. It just will flow out of you. Don't freak out. Don't overthink it. Just go with your gut and know you've done almost the same questions and seen all this material before (twice!). GL

[TommyTheCat]

@Queen – thank you. Yes definitely practice some sims to get the format and the style of them down. The reason I suggest focusing a lot on the MCQ is if you have those concepts down the sims will make a whole lot more sense. My experience was that the sims were all tax based. If I had a limited amount of time I'd jam as many MCQ as I could, and then practice like 10 to 15 sims. I'd hit tax HARD.

Full disclosure I have been working since 2006 100% in the tax realm, so the tax and business law and entity structure stuff is very familiar to me. Even so I spent no joke 2 and a half months studying for this exam and doing all the Roger lectures and MCQ.

The exam I am most nervous for is AUD. I avoid audit engagements like the plague. Never did them during my time at PWC, and I run a tax department now at a smaller firm so I dont think I will ever have to perform an audit unless our firm literally needs all hands on deck.

Good luck!

[rlarivee01]

If it makes you feel better, I'm taking it on March 9th and just started studying this morning.

Not on purpose… I planned to take it in the spring, while studying for BEC in January and February. I panicked when I realized I couldn't schedule it when I wanted and had to force it in in March.

I can study several hours a day, so I plan to do just that. Good luck!

[Author]

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