[krstnam]

I figured I’d add an area to whine about the CPA injustices 🙂 I’ve seen quite a few people in a similar boat as mine. I lost BEC in November, I’m losing REG in May. Just got AUD score back and I got a 70. I’m not going to be able to take three exams between now and May so I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m starting over from square one.

Silver linings: I’ve struggled with how to study for this exam since day one and I am getting the hang of things. Even though my last AUD score was a 70, I had only studied about 65% of the material. My new study method has been working well. Instead of saying I’ll complete a certain number of chapters or MCQs, my goal per day is a certain number of study hours. For some reason, I am able to go through WAY more material and it’s been more effective/efficient for me. I started doing the hours method half way through the last AUD study session and I think it’s why my score improved so much.

Basically, I’m in this for the long haul, so I’m only going to study every other weekend, and cut my weekday study from 3 hours/day to 2 hrs/day. It’ll take way longer but I need to balance my life out a little more (my health has suffered, it’s taking a toll on my marriage that only began last year). I thought the CPA process would be a sprint, not a marathon. It seems that I was wrong and now I’m going to take things slower and try to live a more balanced life.

I made a new schedule, if I can pass all 4 in a row, studying slower I should be done by October…meh…

[Anonymous]

For me it is a marathon instead of a sprint. I know some try to complete the exams in record time due to wanting to finish before they start working or to get a bonus. Since those things don't apply to me I have given myself 1 year to complete the exams and it is working for me. I have work/life and exam balance. I don't study every day and I have passed BEC and REG and I will take FAR next. I will hopefully have AUD completed in October which will be before the year deadline I gave myself. You have recognized areas that you can improve upon and that's what matters. Do what works for you. For me slow and steady wins the race.

[Go.For.Broke]

@krstnam Sorry that you're going through that. I was on the brink of losing both AUD and FAR, if I hadn't passed REG (luckily, I passed). However, if I were to have lost those (and dropped to only credit for BEC), I would have stayed the course and pushed through. It wouldn't have been easy – and it won't be easy for you. But just remember this is a big investment in your future. You can do it! Again, I don't discount how you feel, because I'm sure it's not a good feeling to lose a credit. I failed so many exams during my path to passing all 4, that it felt like I DID lose credits.

Best of luck to you in the duration of your journey.

[Anonymous]

Can't believe I got a 72 on my expired BEC retake, what kills me is that I totally blew a sim on variance after deciding to skip it in my review, in favor of useless formulas and ratios that never came up on the exam. Another $200 and 3 months down the drain, but least I still have 3 more tries left.

A: 75
B: 72
F: 78
R: 75

[krstnam]

@Destiny, I wish I would have been more realistic instead of imposing “deadlines” on myself that were just created by me…it created unnecessary stress.

@Go.For – thx for the encouraging words. It’s been a trying journey but I’m feeling more confident about everything. I’ve been out of college for 13 years, my study habits consisted of getting drunk until 3am then moving the party to iHop to cram for my tests. Lots of soul searching I think.

@calvin – when I took BEC I skipped price variance too. I’ll be sure to study it this time around. When I took it last, it was just MCQ and written. 😐

[Author]

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