The studying..slam dunk. It's hard to put in the time and keep your eye on the end goal while sacrificing time with friends & family. The test is nerve wracking, but if you've put in the work, all you have to do is show up to the testing site. Finally the waiting – I do get anxious the day of score release, but some of these threads prior to score release day crack me up. There's nothing people can do to get their score early or make the time go by quicker. I almost like the wait because between each of my first 2 exams, I've given myself 2 weeks off from studying. The time seems to go by quicker when I bury myself in work and catch up on social time, because I'm not thinking about it.
Interesting, @ jdn1901. Time just seems to stop for me while waiting for a score release. It didn't bother me after taking AUD and FAR because I had to wait about a month for the score and had other exams to prepare for. My first exam, BEC, was at the end of the testing window and it didn't make sense to start new material on a week long wait. That week sucked. And since this may be my last score release it's even worse. Sounds kind of whiny, huh. Lol
Im opposite of you! For me, being in control makes me more nervous. Once I take it, its no longer in my hands, so all I can do is wait and see. Don't get me wrong, I'm still stressed! Just when I get in bed at night I don't feel guilty thinking that there was more i should've done today.
AUD: 98
REG: 91
BEC: 86
FAR: 83
DONE DONE DONE and DONE all on the first try! It IS possible, just keep on studying!
taking the exam is hardest. i enjoy studying. at least while waiting i can experience the feeling of hope!
FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different
Studying can be therapeutic for me despite the long hours, and sitting the exam isn't so bad once you've prepared yourself and remember that, when you see ridiculous questions, 12-15 of them are pretest and don't count towards your score.
The wait, on the other hand, is brutal. I had to wait four weeks for my audit and BECscores and the last two days were excruciating. I don't typically suffer from anxiety, but I was a mess those last few hours.
I'd say the wait is worst, followed by the actual exam, then preparing for it.
I think if I was waiting on my last score, I'd be more nervous but one thing that's worked for me too is taking exams towards the end of testing windows. I took BEC on Aug 29th and REG on Nov 14th so the max I've had to wait on a score is 10 days. I've also scheduled my exams before holidays (BEC before Labor Day and REG before Thanksgiving) so my break while waiting on scores collided with holidays, seeing family, etc. That made the time go by faster. I'm kind of a control freak myself, but once I take the exam – it's out of my hands. I either passed or failed and sweating about it isn't going to change the outcome.
I agree with those that say the studying is the hardest part. You are under tremendous pressure to consume and retain 100s of pages of information, further more you have to be tough on yourself and actually put in a good effort.
The exam is the least hard part in my opinion. You either know the stuff or you don't.
The wait is just an exercise in patience and is definitely a close second to studying, IMO.
The hardest/worse is PASSING THE EXAMS and still needing another year of college credits to get your license. It's like being stuck in limbo. I can't say I'm a CPA and I'm tired of saying I'm an accountant because I did the hardest part (passing the exams), but still need to meet that 150credit requirement.
@Another85 – That “not” studying is a doozy. You beat yourself up so bad about it before you get it in gear and start studying. That is definitely one of the harder mental things to deal with when preparing for these exams.
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