[Anonymous]

Hello,

I was hoping for some kind of motivation, miracle, tips, or really anything in-between at this point.

My firm provided Becker. I studied the first two chapters [individual] without any issue thanks to my tax internship with my company giving me that basic knowledge. Then I hit C-Corporations and it has been a serious downwards spiral since then. I work as an audit associate and our fall busy season is hitting, so I keep finding all these excuses to not study. I’m scheduled for 8/31 and am just wrapping up chapter four (partnerships and Gift tax) today.

Has anyone else gone through this lack of motivation/intense fear? I know a lot of it has to do with the fact I never worked 40+ hours before this job. I was always just a full-time student doing with odd jobs here and there throughout college. So, I think I lack the work-life balance… and that “life” part of the balance is definitely tempting me way more than my “I need to study”.

Does anyone have any advice on how to get through this funk? I honestly feel like I’m just afraid of the material being so intense with only a few weeks…

Anyways, if you can’t tell by the tone of this post, I’m panicking and afraid – thus avoiding it all together. Advice?

[WaitingonScoreRelease]

BadIdea,

Take a deep breath and try not to worry so much, The Business Law section goes VERY quickly. You will have more than enough time to finish the modules and have plenty of time to review, that being said, take some time and have some “me” time and take a day off, or only limit yourself to certain hours and then designate some “ME” time in there, otherwise your performance in studying and on the exam will suffer.

The C-Corp, S-Corp, Partnership, etc. are the parts that wear you down, but when you go back and review, they will make more sense. You got this! Just take some healthy time in there too to exercise, spend time with friends, or whatever hobby makes you feel good.

Aud: 99. (May)
Bec: 89. (April)
Far: 84. (Feb)
Reg: 79. (July)

[Anonymous]

WaitingonScoreRelease,

Thank you for the advice. It reassured me a bit that this part was the most difficult. I'm going to definitely try to limit my study time. The issue is that I wasn't getting much out of Becker's lecture for C-Corps or even the partnership section. So, I just started doing what I used to do in college – reading the material and outlining as I go so I can be sure I can put it all in my own words. Seems to be helping, but it makes the “lecture” section last a bit longer.

Thank you!

[JWcpa1111]

Hey there, just wanted to give a few words of encouragement. You can do this! I am in the exact same boat (finishing chapter 4 Becker today, REG exam scheduled for 8/31). Definitely having more trouble getting through chapter four than the earlier chapters. My plan is to get through chapters 5 and 6 this coming week, 7 and 8 the week after that, and then two weeks of review. I think getting to the business law section of material will be a good change of pace. Balancing study with work is definitely a challenge, During the weekdays I try and stay late at my cubicle to study, that really helps me. If I go home first and try to study after having dinner and relaxing I am MUCH less productive.

Hang in there and good luck!

FAR 7/16/15 (82)
REG 8/31/15 (85)
AUD 10/27/15 (81)
BEC 11/30/15 (84)

[Missy]

It is very hard to make major sacrifices when the payoff seems so distant. Keep your eye on the prize and remember any sacrifices are very short term. Remind yourself you'll get your life back just as soon as you buckle down and get it done.

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

[jam6478]

I also felt exhausted after going through R3 and R4 back to back. I'm sitting on 8/19, so I was a little worried that I wouldn't have enough time to review everything, but thankfully the 2nd half of Becker REG material has been MUCH easier to get through than the 1st. I am finishing up R7 tonight, and will be shooting to be done with R8 by Wednesday morning so I'll have a nice two weeks of review to nail down every inch of tax. As previously noted in this thread, business law is a great change of pace.

Good Luck!

FAR - 77
REG - 83
AUD - 87
BEC - 83

[Kayla123]

I am in a similar position- I have REG scheduled for 8/27 but I can't seem to motivate myself to study AT ALL. I have been doing FastPass with Becker, so I think I am getting worn out. I will be doing R6-R8 this week, but I am worried I will not have enough time before my exam. Does anyone think it is doable to study for REG is 4 weeks?

AUD- 99
FAR- 93
BEC- 90
REG- 94

[WaitingonScoreRelease]

Kayla,

I did almost 4-6 hrs a day of Becker for Reg and took it in 4 1/2 weeks with having 8 days of review. Some of the more important topics (R3,R4) I had time to redo all the homework twice because the Business Law review was very brief.

Let me add a disclaimer about this though, I didn't do the sims because I heard that Becker doesn't prepare you for SIMS so i just rolled the dice on the exam and used the literature to the best of my ability. Time will tell how well that strategy worked.

Since you're already so deep in it, I would say continue. Worst comes to worse, you don't pass and you retake in the next testing window. If you don't take it, you will have to wait until OCTOBER to take it. You'll more than likely forget most of what you've learned or have to relearn/remember significant parts of it by the time October rolls around.

Good luck!

Aud: 99. (May)
Bec: 89. (April)
Far: 84. (Feb)
Reg: 79. (July)

[Kayla123]

WaitingonScoreRelease,

Thanks for the advice! I'll just stick with it and push myself to study more! I think R3 and R4 are just making me nervous because they are so difficult!

AUD- 99
FAR- 93
BEC- 90
REG- 94

[Anonymous]

JW – I have made it a habit to stay in the office as well. If I feel like I'm not concentrating here (usually just due to a stressful day) I go ahead and head home, but I force myself to stay in my little office/study area for at least two hours. Two hours of studying at home when what you really want to do is lay in bed crying is pretty successful in my opinion (only half kidding).

I have turned to my old college study habits. Instead of listening to him lecture (and say “again” fifteen times in 60 seconds), I'll re-outline the chapter. Then with the multiple choice questions I write them out as if I was solving them in class, so that way it's right in front of me if I had a mistake. This process is WAY slower than Becker's straight-forward one, but I came out of college with a 3.8 so I'm assuming it has to at least be productive somehow.

MLA – Definitely hard when the prize is so far off. I've changed my phone screen to Orlando because I told myself that if I pass the CPA exam, my boyfriend and I can go get married there (and go to Harry Potter world! lol). It seems to be helping me at least put my phone down each time I want to pick it up during my study sessions.

Jam – I would be such a nervous wreck if I were you haha. You're gonna rock it! I'm way more encouraged now knowing that the next few chapters are a lot less dense. I just felt like I was hitting a brick wall face first over and over again. I wish you the absolute best of luck!

Kayla – if I wasn't working/was smarter/more motivated, I would do it that way! From just reading the replies to this board, I think everyone hated R3/R4 – but you're almost there. You can do it! Just force yourself into it. During my stint at law school I would study for 50 minutes, give myself a 10 minute “veg out” break, then repeat the process. I'd break up every few hours with a 1 hour break as well. Good luck!

[Author]

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