Help me strategize for the exam – incoming associate / new grad

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  • #202859
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    First off, thank you to everyone for your advice.

    I’m incoming b4 associate and new college graduate. I tried to work a little quickly and will have my 150 finished late next week over 4 years plus a summer. 9/15 is my start date. Two months away. I’ve begun CPA review, but realistically it begins next week.

    With the entire exam in front of me. How do I manage this? I’ll be in audit so I think doing AUD last sounds best. How many exams should I study and review for? What should be my goals? How many hours and weeks apart per exam? What is acceptable to have in front of you at start?

    I’ve started looking at FAR at this point.

    Thank you

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  • #781877
    kayfcpa16
    Participant

    Ok, relax.. You mentioned you're about to obtain 150 credits ..Have you applied to a State board to sit the exams (i.e. going through the process of obtaining a NTS)? Next when did you intend to sit the examinations, and which review course are you using?? All answers will determine how you should go about studying for the exams.

    Its usually recommended to study 6 – 8 weeks for each section but depending on your learning style and strength in the various topics it may be shorter or longer. Will you be studying full time or part-time

    May the force be with you .

    BEC - 78 (2/16)

    FAR - 78 (2/16)

    AUD - 69 (8/16), 75 (10/16)

    REG - 65 (8/16), 65!! (10/16) - Just Shoot Me [Re - Retake (1/17) 75!] ..

    DONEEEEEEEE

     

    FAR - 2/16 - 78
    BEC - 2/16 - 78
    AUD - 8/16
    REG - 8/16

    #781878
    GitRDone2017
    Participant

    I am in the same position as the OP for the most part. I started with AUD because it is my weakest subject, I figured if I failed the exam that 18-month clock doesn't start ticking! I am following that with FAR (my fav) and then REG (in time for tax season) and finally BEC. If I fail AUD, I have enough time to re-apply and take the exam in the next window. It really does seem to be a timing game from what I have seen so far. What are your strengths? what are your weaknesses? I would think that you would want to take that into consideration when planning studying and sitting for the exams. I downloaded a study planner and started moving dates around and using what-if scenarios to try and get the best plan made, it took awhile! Good luck and happy studying!

    AUD - 82
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    FAR - NINJA in Training
    REG - NINJA in Training
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    "Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a rowboat and taking tartar sauce with you" - Zig Ziglar
    Ninja book + Ninja MCQ + Roger
    AUD Oct 2016
    FAR Nov 2016
    BEC ?
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    #781879
    REG-FTW86
    Participant

    The very first thing you need to do is plan and build a study schedule. Understand it is going to take a lot of sacrifice to get through it if you're working full time. Studying is like a second job. Friday nights are great for studying and so is the weekend. You'll find during the week is very difficult but it has to get done.

    Look at Ninja's How to Survive the CPA exam. That's a good read.

    AUD - 78
    BEC - 77
    FAR - 77
    REG - 80
    "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."  Thomas A. Edison

    How bad do you want it?

    Regulation For The Win!

    FAR 57, 62, 77
    BEC 70,77
    AUD 54,78
    REG 66, 62, 7/29

    FAR.BEC.AUD.AUD.BEC.FAR.FAR.REG.REG

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    Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time - Thomas Edison

    #781880
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Are you studying full-time after you finish your courses next week and before you start work? Or are you using the months between for a break/vacation before work starts?

    If you're studying full-time, you should be able to easily do a test each in July and August, and maybe more than that. Many people start with FAR since it's considered to have the most material – if you started studying it next week and tested at the end of July, that'd be a little over a month to study for it, which should be good being fresh out of school and studying full-time. Then you'll have about 6 weeks left to study prior to the end of the testing window and the start of your new job. If you wanted to be ambitious, you could knock out 2 tests in that time, or to keep an easier schedule, you could plan for 1 more test in that time. REG is often considered the next-biggest after FAR, so would be a good one to do after FAR and before your job starts, since you'll have full-time study to devote to it, then you can decide whether to fit BEC in too or not.

    If you're wanting to just study part-time, then you'll have to decide how much part-time you're willing to do and how many exams that can accommodate. Recommendations for study time are usually in the 150-200 hours per exam range, though some people need more and some less, so figure out how many hours a week you're willing to devote to study and plan accordingly (FAR needing the top end of the range; BEC more like 100 hours for the average student).

    However, before getting too concerned with exactly when to take each exam, you definitely need to figure out what's required to get your application processed through your state for getting approved to sit for the exams. If that requires a transcript showing all 150 credits, then find out from your school how soon you'll be able to get a final transcript, and try to find out how quickly you'll get an NTS after getting the transcript and application in to the state board. If you're looking at 8 weeks from now till you get your NTS, and then having to schedule at least 2-3 weeks out to find an open spot to test, then you'll have less testing opportunities than if you can apply now, be approved a week later, and still easily get a spot scheduled in July.

    As for study materials, look up samples of all of them and see which ones you learn best from. Also consider whether you learn better from books, lectures, etc., and make sure the review course you get has the learning materials you need. Like, for me, I learn better from books than lectures, so comparing lecture samples didn't matter, but having a really good book was essentially. Thankfully, books are also cheaper than lectures, so I got to be a tightwad and learn at the same time. 😀 But finding the review materials that you personally learn best from is the most important thing.

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