[Anonymous]

Curious how long have you all been battling with the CPA exam? When did you first start studying? And if you’ve already passed, how long was your journey?

[Excel14]

@RyonT:

Can you elaborate, when you state “wade through some fluff”? So given the choice between the NINJA materials and CPAexcel, you'd recommend NINJA? I bought CPAexcel a long time ago, so I've had it a while. I've bounced around, not being able to get serious with these exams, and quite frankly let the program “gather dust”. I also purchased the FAR book (NINJA) in the past, along with the MCQ. Again, not much was done with it either, and it proved to be a waste of money, because I just found myself not motivated after work (not sure I am now). I feel guilty letting this beast known as the CPA beat me, so I'm trying to motivate myself to get with it this time!!! lol

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[Meg267]

Started studying in September of 2015. I wasn't fully committed. I sat for BEC in January of 2016 and failed. Tried to get my butt in gear for the retake. Failed again. After that I finally buckled down and got it done with a pass a year later, in September of 2016. Since then I passed REG in January. I'm waiting for my AUD score (feeling pretty good about it) and I've got FAR scheduled mid August. I'm so ready to be done. Even if I have to retake FAR, I should have all 4 exams passed by end of 2017. That would put me at about 2 years worth of studying.

This process is way harder than I thought it would be. I've been out a school a while before attempting the CPA. I also worked full time during the entire process. The end is hopefully near!

[Radez]

I bought the study materials for all four exams in November 2015. It was an 18 month subscription, and I spent the 8 – 10 months of that with it on the back-burner. Studying, but not seriously. I was probably half way through the AUD material before I decided to really make this my first priority, and it's been non-stop since.

@Excel14, I hear you on letting it gather dust. I've been pretty disciplined about studying, but only if it's in the morning. I don't think I've had a single day where I promised myself I'd do it after work and actually followed through. Choosing to study before I blow my daily allotment of good decisions at work is the only thing that has had any success for me.

Now I'm just hoping it translates to passing scores on the exams. 🙁

[Anonymous]

I started studying July 11th of last year. I remember the exact date because my birthday is the 9th (on a Saturday last year) and I get my birthday off at work, so the 11th is when I took it to officially start studying. I study probably 20 hrs per week and I prefer thoroughness over speed.

I took FAR October 4th and BEC January 4th. I started studying for REG right after that, but didn't push so hard because work had gotten absolutely crazy and I needed a little bit of a breather. I FINALLY took REG on Monday (felt good about it!) and will take AUD September 8th. The September score release could be a really good day, or a really bad day 🙂

If I pass REG and AUD I will have passed them within a year, but total time studying would've been 14 months. I am SO ready to have my life back!

[RyonT]

@excel14
Its been almost 2 months since I've looked at material so I can't point out a specific lesson, but 1 example is I remember several lessons in both BEC and AUD that where very detailed. They took no less than 45 minutes to get through. At the end of the lesson, there were only 1 or 2 review mcq, and maybe 1 more in the test bank. Now from what I gather about this is that if it were an important section, there would be more questions about the topic, especially given how detailed the material was. I'm not saying you won't get a question about that material, but its probably less likely. What I started doing on my last retake was to first look at questions at the end and base my study off those questions. It helped me avoid some of the less important stuff. We'll see how that worked out in August.

[CPAIN2K17]

@excel14 Wiley definitely prepares you well for the exams if you do all the lessons and MC questions!

[Finally_a_CPA]

I began studying on March 1st of 2016 and took and passed my final section on March 10th, 2017 so it took just a little over a year. I did take the occasional break in between because they are definitely needed. Overall, I probably took a good 8 weeks off from studying because I would usually take a break after every exam or whenever I simply thought I needed a break.

I was working full time while studying but I have no kids or spouse so it was definitely easier for me to try to focus on my studies.

Now that I think about it, it's been four months since my last exam and since I stopped studying and it honestly feels like a life time ago. Good luck to all of you who are currently on this journey!

[Excel14]

@CPAIN2K17:

Glad to hear that it prepares you well, in case I decide to go that route.

@RyonT:

I understand what you're saying, and thanks for the heads up.

The bigger issue is getting my “butt” motivated; once I've done that, then it will be a matter of CPAexcel or NINJA to get the job done!!!

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[Wanna_B_TXCPA2014]

Took my first exam in May 2009, BEC got a 71. Came back in Oct 2013 and didnt pass my first exam until April 2016. I've been trying to pass REG since Dec 2016. Hopefully I can get get off this slow boat ride to HELL when Aug 2017 scores are released.

[Author]

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