[Anonymous]

Good day all:

I have struggled immensely with passing this exam; I have yet to pass a section. After a full days work, I study 3-4 hours a week (at the library), work tons MC Questions (NINJA & Gleim), and several SIMS-but yet received scores in the 40s for FAR( 2xs) and scores in the low 60s to high 60s for Audit (5xs). I have went from Becker to NIU review course (out of pocket) without any success, obviously. Needless to say, I have lost track on how much I have spent on review course material and NASAB fees!

Family and friends tell me that I should hang it up- that if I don’t know it by now-I will never know it. They also say that I am spending too much of my hard earned money on something that is not happening-that I should live life.

All that being said, would you opine that I lack a solid foundation in intermediate accounting and audition principles? I am contemplating enrolling as a non-degree seeking student and retake intermediate accounting and auditing courses, maybe taxation too. There is a community college which has a strong accounting program, from what I hear, but the down side is that I would be charged out-of-district tuition and fees.

Would this be a logical approach? This option would be more financially feasible for me because I do not have the money for a Macc- I have 80k in student loan debt as an undergrad who graduated in 2010.

Kindly provide your thoughts.

Thank you!

[ipasscpa]

Hi CPA 1 Day,

I absolutely understand your frustration. If you have already taken these accounting courses in college, there is no point going back to the school to re-take them. This is the reason why we spend money on review courses, so we can learn it from the beginning. What you probably need is a fresh mind and some different strategies than what you are using now. You already pointed that you are doing the MC questions, and that’s good. Make sure, after you do each question, you take notes. Until you don’t’ know why the right answer is right, and why the remaining three are incorrect, you won’t understand the concept behind it.

Your friends and family are discouraging you, but don’t let them take this away from you. This exam is doable and one day you will own it. If possible, take some time off from work (a week maybe) and start it again.

Many did and you will do it too……Good Luck

CPA- VA

[ruggercpa2b]

I agree with ipasscpa, there is no point in going back to school. Also, being around all those people saying stuff that is not encouraging makes it harder.

Maybe take a break and then come back to the exam. I have been studying for the CPA exam since 2009. Its been on and off where I have taken a year off here and there. Each time I always wondered what if so I would get back to studying.

I went from scoring 47 on audit to a 73. That 73 gave me a glimmer of hope. But one thing that helped me was sitting down and being honest with myself. I spent maybe 6 months telling friends and family I was busy studying when in actuality I barely studied. I took naps and watched reruns on the weekend and maybe invested an hour or two of actual studying. I also did not give myself enough time to learn and understand the material. When people would say they were burned out from studying I never understood why because I was barely studying.

When I got the 73 I studied. I mean truly studied. I did not watch TV, I took time and read the Wiley textbook from cover to cover and took notes. There were countless nights I wanted to give up but I pushed through. I took the time to research sections that I did not understand. I followed advice given by Jeff and other forum members. And with all that hard work I actually have hope that I can pass the CPA exam.

I am studied for what will be my 4th audit retake and am going to study hard again. Actually study hard not my BS study hard from previous years. You can do this.

Maybe you can just study for a section and not tell your family and friends. I always leave Friday nights open to maybe go to dinner with friends or my fiance. And if no one calls to do something I will study just in case someone wants to grab dinner saturday. I monitor how much I drink so I am not hung over the next day and I can study.

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[Anonymous]

Hi CPA 1 Day, it depends on how much you'll have to pay for those intermediate accounting courses and audit course at that school, if it's less than a brand new review course AND you've talked to some students who have taken the courses at that school it might not be a bad idea. Sometimes I think about it too and you might even be able to find a tutor (I've thought about this too). I knew someone who did take an intermediate accounting class at a JC as a refresher and it worked for them especially b/c this teacher taught the class like a study lab, they did lots of problems in class and he'd walk by to help them with what they needed – but this style might not be that easy to find. I also had a friend just recently take a review course offered by a university and it really wasn't any better than just buying a review course b/c the lectures weren't that great and to pass they needed to do a whole bunch of mcq on their own, basically anyways. Good luck to all of us 🙂

[Missbots]

CPA 1 Day I understand your frustration, but I doubt going back to school will help

I got BA in a different country, so GAAP and all the other stuff were foreign to me, I used Becker and was able to pass my 3 sections all on the first try, still waiting for my final score.

What I think you should do, is reevaluate how you study, to be honest with you 3-4 hours a weeks, isn't going to get you a 75.. You need to put in at least 15 hours a week,maybe a couple of hours a day after work, and 6-7 hours a day on the weekends.

You sacrifice a lot, financially and socially.

What I do is put in over 200 hours for each section, 5-10 weeks depending on the section I'm studying for..

And also you should concentrate on section at a time, until you pass it, then move on to the next.

Good luck

[Kimboroni]

It just sounds like you are underestimating what it takes to pass these exams. They are very difficult and cannot be given the same amount of attention as, say, a college midterm or final. For these, we're talking about hours and hours for weeks on end in order to cram all of the necessary information into your head.

You need to study *at least* an hour or two every day. Every day. Plus more on the weekends. Do this for something in the range of 5-6 weeks (BEC or AUD) or 7-8 weeks (REG or FAR).

How many questions are “tons MC Questions”? Most people do something in the range of 1,000-1,500 questions per section.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Missy]

Lets slow down and take this one step at a time. I like to look at a poster's history to see where they are coming from. How long ago did you actually start studying for the CPA exam?

First have you actually sat for an exam yet? 2 months ago, you posted that you were preparing for FAR, your first exam. I think people are assuming you've sat for FAR 2X and AUD 5X based on this post. But you're talking about practice scores? Something doesn't make sense to me.https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/i-feel-deprsssed-with-my-current-life

If you only took your first exam at the end of Februaryhttps://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/controllerdirector-sugested-that-i its more than premature to be considering throwing in the towel. In yet another post you said you were beginning to study Jan 2015. Its unusual that your friends and family are claiming that you've put too much time in already,do they all think this is an intermediate accounting class final?; Nobody finishes this thing beginning to end in 3.5 months, sounds like some very unrealistic expectations all around. “Struggling Immensely” is when you've been at this for 18 months and are close to losing a credit.

Second, if you haven't taken any sections why are you studying for FAR and AUD? You mentioned in another post trying to alternate days for sections. If you are trying that it is a terrible idea and probably the cause of your frustratiion.

Third, was 3-4 hours a week a typo and you meant 3-4 hours a day? Unless you are putting in 20 hours a week you are wasting your money. Even if you ultimately decide to go back to school when it comes to exam time there are absolutely no shortcuts.

Fourth you've mentioned multiple times that you work in higher ed, if you do choose classes why would you need to pay for them? Is it a school that offers no accounting classes?

One section at a time, 20 or so hours a week for 6-8 weeks is what its going to take.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Missbots]

May I also add that, I worked over a 1000 practice questions over and over and over again until I understood the concepts..some questions I did over 10 times, no lie, in a day I would work over 200 questions, redo the ones I got wrong, until I understood why I got the answer wrong..

You do the MQS until the sight of them make you sick

[Kettlepot]

A lot of people I met in my CPA Review Course are now trying to get their MAcc or MBA. They've got a similar excuse to yours, or they equate them as “just as good, but easier than the test”. I am convinced these are just delay tactics because they got exhausted taking the test and gave up on it. Don't get me wrong, an MBA is a nice item to have on your resume, but sometimes people *need* CPAs.

I also wouldn't advise going to college to learn Taxation/Auditing again. Taking an Audit course is going to cover 3 hrs per week of Auditing over 5 months. That's not what you need to pass the AUD test, you need 3 hours EVERY DAY for 6ish weeks then go in guns blazin'. If you fail, then re-take AUD as soon as you can. do NOT flip-flop back and forth on tests – you lose way too much knowledge trying to study for REG, then go back to AUD, etc.

Your friends and Family sound like jerks :-/. Spending 80k to become an accountant and not get your CPA is just awful. You're limiting your potential so much.

Far: 49
BEC: 79 (Expired)
AUD: 51, 67, 64
REG: 59, 64, 59, 69

[Author]

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