[Becca]

I’m 30, married, and we have a 19-month-old. My employer is awesome. Not only do I like my job and the environment; but they have amazing benefits, one of which is tuition/certification reimbursement. I earned my undergrad in March 2016, never intending to pursue my Master’s (I used all of my GI Bill for undergrad), much less a CPA licensure. When I learned about the tuition reimbursement upon being hired, I thought “may as well…” I chose my current school because it is the closest commute with the Master’s of Accountancy program, and with this program, their sole purpose is to prepare students to sit for the CPA exams and ultimately take them as part of a course.

The downfall is that these are day classes that cater mostly to (younger) students who have recently received their undergrad – obviously it’s difficult for the working adult to attend day classes. All of the material is fresh for my classmates. 2016 isn’t THAT long ago, but I brain-dumped everything when I thought a Bachelor’s was as far as I was going. I’m not afraid to ask questions, but I don’t think it would be appropriate for the teacher to have to re-teach everything just for me.

I just passed REG, but I had been looking at that material since August 2017 due to having a class, then the Becker Live class afterwards. If I didn’t pass, I was going to be pissed at myself. I just started the Master’s class for FAR, will take Becker Live in April, and have to sit for FAR late May. We just went over investments and pensions in my Master’s class, and I don’t remember any of this lingo. I know it’s a little early to be freaking out, but I question my ability to re-learn all of this information in 2 months with my “mom-wife-work-life happens” schedule. With REG I had so much time to really delve into subjects that I didn’t know or understand.

I realize that I’m at an advantage with my classes and I don’t have to teach myself everything from scratch (which I don’t learn from reading and teaching myself, anyway – my mind wanders). But, can anyone relate? I guess I’m looking for a little encouragement and/or CPA war stories.

Thanks to anyone who read my novel.

[Anonymous]

I kind of started my CPA journey in a similar situation. I was 30 years old working full time, with an 8 month old son when I started studying. I had been out of school for about 2 years but managed to pass the exams in a little over a year. Myself, if I was in your shoes, I would pick the Masters classes or the CPA and focus on one. It just seems like that's a lot of stuff to be doing at once. If it took you 6 months of studying REG because you had your other classes, does that realistically give you time to finish all the tests within the 18 month timeframe? If you fail one it seems to really put you in a bind with time. Just my two cents, I'm sure you've thought it through and maybe I'm missing something.

[Becca]

It definitely is a lot. Taking the CPA exams are part of the MAcc program – I have to take them for a grade for one of the Master’s courses. Pass one exam, I get a B. Pass 2 or more, I get an A. Since I passed REG, though, I have passed that class. This university aligns their Master’s classes with Becker Live classes, and the program is set up weird: REG was a semester-long class which is why I had so much time to study REG, but FAR is being taught in a mini-term (9 weeks).

You’re probably right in that maybe I should focus on getting through the remainder of the Master’s courses, and maybe not push myself so hard to pass the CPA exams (I mean, I’ll try of course; but maybe not put so much pressure on myself). Part of me wants to get these knocked out, though, especially since this program is like killing 2 birds with one stone.

I appreciate your input.

[Author]

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