[Anonymous]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to start a post talking about the struggles that most of us go through when taking the CPA exam. I feel like most people do not talk about it but most of us go through it. I currently have only REG left but I feel like I have nothing left to give..terrible anxiety and isolation. ..feel free to post anything you are currently dealing with or have been through.

[sacpa]

@FutureCPA: Same here, though this time I had prepared better than previous attempts, the pressure of not even one pass was so intense that like you I was literally praying & asking whether I will be successful this time.

I just took BEC so will know the score only in mid December. Though I prepared well for the exam, got everything ready for exam the previous day itself, slept for 8 hours, the morning of the exam I kept reading the book to take a quick glance at the concepts. Big mistake. Then with Prometric being a zoo & me forgeting the time limit for the disclaimers, it was downhill from there. I got stumped by the very 1st question which was a calculation question that I had to flag after spending 2 minutes. But when I went back to it, I had calmed down & actually it was not that bad. Actually the whole exam was not that bad. But the damage had been done & the thought that I had spent so much time on the 1st testlet brought my confidence level down which affected my focus. Don't have much hopes & moved on to AUD. For the next time, more than preparation, I need to stay calm & not freak out, no matter what happens. Also, need to do homework on time limit for disclaimers & testlets.

It looks like you did mcqs & WCs well so I don't understand what went wrong. You said that you killed the sims. Can you share how you tackled sims? Sims are my weak area.

I know what you are going through. It is so disappointing & the fact that we need start all over again is heart breaking. I even posted here asking whether I am cut out for this. It hurts awfully especially when I could have turned it around in my favor. I am over it now since it's no use worrying about it now. Did you take AUD & BEC in the 3rd quarter or moved on to other sections? Let's motivate each other & pass all the sections one by one.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[sacpa]

@FutureCPA: Same here, though this time I had prepared better than previous attempts, the pressure of not even one pass was so intense that like you I was literally praying & asking whether I will be successful this time.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[sacpa]

@FutureCPA: I just took BEC so will know the score only in mid December. Though I prepared well for the exam, got everything ready for exam the previous day itself, slept for 8 hours, the morning of the exam I kept reading the book to take a quick glance at the concepts. Big mistake. Then with Prometric being a zoo & me forgeting the time limit for the disclaimers, it was downhill from there. I got stumped by the very 1st question which was a calculation question that I had to flag after spending 2 minutes. But when I went back to it, I had calmed down & actually it was not that bad. Actually the whole exam was not that bad. But the damage had been done & the thought that I had spent so much time on the 1st testlet brought my confidence level down which affected my focus. Don't have much hopes & moved on to AUD. For the next time, more than preparation, I need to stay calm & not freak out, no matter what happens. Also, need to do homework on time limit for disclaimers & testlets.

It looks like you did mcqs & WCs well so I don't understand what went wrong. You said that you killed the sims. Can you share how you tackled sims? Sims are my weak area.

I know what you are going through. It is so disappointing & the fact that we need start all over again is heart breaking. I even posted here asking whether I am cut out for this. It hurts awfully especially when I could have turned it around in my favor. I am over it now since it's no use worrying about it now. Did you take AUD & BEC in the 3rd quarter or moved on to other sections? Let's motivate each other & pass all the sections one by one.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[martimann]

I'm actually at a point where I prefer not to think about my life prior to the Exam, thinking about all the things I'd be doing just make it harder for me. So I prefer to block those thoughts LOL
But we'll be fine once its done, nothing can touch me then LOL, and I'll be making up 5 times more for all the stuff I missed during this process.
Just keep hammering, it'll be done sooner than later. 🙂

[FutureCPA]

@sacpa, the writing part is just testing whether you can write a well organize small essay. The order should be as follow,

-Reason for memo (rewrite question)
-Severity of the topic
-What it is
-Specify using fact
-Make yourself available to discusss further
I don’t practice SIMs at all when studying all I focus on is the topics because you have to be able to talk about the topics and or any related topic to the topic.

I have a weird approach to sims because I fear running out of time or computer malfunction so I aim to make sure I have something in the screen. I get to the writing portion, scan all questions to see if I can talk about all the topics. Then I quickly type terms that relate to the topic because I don’t want to forget them. I then write the reason for memo, and invitation to further discuss for all the questions. I then go back and calmly answer all questions. I write everything and I mean everything that I know about the topic. I want the evaluators to know that I know what I am talking about.

Lastly, I want to mention. Last time I had a SIMs on a topic that my review only had one paragraph about it (scary stuff) BUT I was able to talk about all the relating topics.

Feel free to share some MCQs tips. I personally have decided to do three things differently this time. Supplement my review course, leave more time for MCQs test day and not run away from calculation questions. With regards to my whole rest taking approach, I won’t move on to other parts until I pass them. I was doing 2 at a time but that has not worked.

I need to pass before busy season.

[Anonymous]

Feb 2017 – 2 weeks before my very first exam (FAR). Took the day off work to study. Woke up with a terrible sore throat, draining, etc. “I know, I'll eat an apple, that'll fix it!”. Bite into apple, my front left veneer broke off (hockey stick to the face @ 15) biting into the apple.
The flu took me out of commission for 4 days. I ended up completely skipping Becker Gov accounting. My tooth was fixed @ 10:00 AM and I sat for FAR that same day @ 12:30. I knew I was going to fail, but my NTS was going to expire so might as well get it over with.
By some miracle I passed with a 79. After that I knew I could pass them all and 7 months after I rec'd my score for FAR I was a licensed CPA.

[Superdude3000]

I remember studying for my last section FAR over summer. I was so burnt out from my undergrad and studying/passing the other 3 I just wanted to relax. I knew I couldn't because I was so determined to get it done. Ended up studying just as hard for it as I did for the other sections and killed FAR in September. It is worth pushing through and getting it all over with, trust me!

[sacpa]

@FutureCPA: By sims, I mean the task based simulations (TBS) not the WCs. I am good in writing. I also type a skeleton of a memo for the three prompts, with introduction & conclusion & then go back to fill in with whatever I know about the topic. That way, even if I run of time, I'll get some credit.

The sims (TBS) is where I struggle. Last week for my 1st attempt with the new exam. I find that the first challenge is in finding the needed information, then figuring out how to arrive at the solution. Most times, I get lost in the details. By that time, lot of time goes by & then it is a race completing the rest of the sims with tension building up & forgetting whatever little I know.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[sacpa]

@FutureCPA:

The following helps in mastering mcqs:
1. Do tons of mcqs.
2. Do cumulative quizzes after you finish each chapter so you don't forget the concepts. This will be helpful when you do cumulative reviews after first round of material.
3. Do mcqs from different sources. If you have just your review course, use CPAReviewforfree site for free questions. Answer questions posted here & in FB CPA exam club page.
4. If you don't know the answer, look for keywords in the question.
5. If are clueless about the answer, usually you can narrow down to 2 choices, then make your best educated guess with the remaining two.
6. For BEC, generally you will get lot of questions on COSO & IT. Knowing the components of IC & ERM thoroughly is important. You need to know which component of internal control & ERM, they are referring to while describing the functions of the component in the question.

About one week before the exam only, I did cumulative quizzes continuously for just 2 days & I could see my speed & confidence increasing. At that point, I figured I should be focusing on questions in chapters I was struggling with & that's what I did after that. If I had done cumulative quizzes from the beginning, it would have helped.

I took lot of computer programming classes at one point of time. This is now helping me to a certain extent with IT questions.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[sacpa]

@drumstick: Great you are done. I cannot imagine skipping Govt. Acct. & passing FAR. All the best!

@Superdude3000: Awesome that you are done with the exam in less than a year. Great scores! What did you do to get high scores in FAR, AUD & REG? Good Luck!

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[sacpa]

@FutureCPA: I found this link while looking for time limits for each testlet.

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/time-benchmarks-for-the-new-version/

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[Superdude3000]

@sacpa

Did the same thing for every exam, first off I gave myself an ample amount of time to study for each section, although BEC was a tight squeeze. I first did Rogers lectures for a chapter and then the corresponding questions for that chapter until I had 100% correct (meaning I redid the ones I missed), including the sims. Once I finished the ‘regular' course I did Rogers cram course and I would then do the corresponding questions in Becker until I had 100% correct. I also did mock exams right before my real exam, as well as doing Rogers flashcards a couple times through. The day before I would just slowly flip through my textbook reminding myself of all I had studied. I also made sure to time manage well and remain calm during my exams.

[sacpa]

@Superdude3000: Great strategy! How did you practice for sims? I assume you did not take any notes.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[Anonymous]

@superdude3000 I just finished F10 of Becker. I did a progress test of 10 questions from F1-F10 just to see if I remember everything and only got 6 out of 10 right. I do not remember most of the previous chapters. I have been studying for FAR for 2 months now and it seems like I have not retained the information very well. Now that I am in the reviewing stage with 4 weeks remaining to review. What do you recommend that I do?

[Superdude3000]

@sacpa
I did not really take extensive notes, just answered my best and read and tried to understand the explanations.

@eas0014
Just continue reviewing the material, not really much else you can do. if you go through it all twice you should be fine come exam day.

[Author]

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