[Accountingbeans]

Just for fun: What type of superstitions do you guys/girls have when preparing/taking the CPA exam?

I’m generally not a very superstitious or religious person at all, but every CPA exam I’ve worn the same shirt given to me by my accounting firm and a necklace given to me by my grandma that I kiss before each exam.

Any superstitious traditions that the rest of you do?

Newbie
BEC- August 31

[Anonymous]

I always wore a basketball jersey and the same pants and shoes. I wore Kobe jerseys for the first 3 (Mamba mentality) and for the last one on the last day before the changes I wore my jersey with my name on the back symbolic of adding a comma and CPA on the back of it that day.

[Wanna_B_TXCPA2014]

Wear favorite Tshirt to the testing center that says, “I speak fluent sarcasm.”

[CPYay]

Mine dates to before the exams. In my last few college courses, I would always drink a sugar-free Starbucks Doubleshot (those small cans) and have a banana before each exam so I didn't sit on an empty stomach. Every test I did this for, I'd ace. I developed this assumption that my “brain meal” beforehand was definitely a factor in my success.

So… I did the same thing for each CPA exam.

Worked brilliantly.

I didn't do this for the CA PETH exam because I took it at home… failed my first try. I'm telling you… Starbucks Doubleshot and a banana. Magic.

[joonpark1212]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one with superstitions! Unlike most of the people here my superstitions are after the exam and before the score release, so it has been particularly very long this time since I took REG in 2Q. My superstition is NOT TO DROP ANYTHING. Whenever I miss a trash to the bin or miss a bottle to the recycle bin I MUST pick it back up and throw it down the bin. This way I feel like I PASSED the exam! Hopefully everyone is doing well over this long and excruciating waiting score release period. Let's stay strong!!

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

Prior to exam:
1. Go to grocery store for beef jerky and water
2. Listen to lecture on commute to testing center.
3. Arrive two hours early to skim my book and notes (saved my hide on a couple of questions for FAR and BEC)
4. Listen to Lose Yourself by Eminem.
5. Walk into testing center an hour early and take the exam

Post exam:
1. Re-skim notes and books to see if I got my flagged questions correct
2. Beer and a movie

Score release:
1. Wear the exact same clothes I wore for my first score release
2. Celebrate passing score with some rum and coke.

[Anonymous]

I eat beans on the exam date… because in Vietnamese, beans sound like pass(-ing).

[jc510]

Before exam: pray
During exam: pray
After exam: pray

[jereumie]

I quit smoking, but couple days before the score release for two exams, I dreamed of failing, so I smoked two days in a row. Then I passed.

I dreamed of passing, then I failed REG.

So for me, dream of pass = fail, dream of fail = pass

[yulla]

HA! This is a funny post…this is my ‘ritual':

Night before the exam:
-Make sure my NTS & license ID is in my bag
-Pack fruit bar/granola & water and tylenol
-Eat a wholesome dinner, usually something that involves beans so I won't starve during the exam. I don't focus well when I'm hunger…hangry comes out!
-Do one last practice exam and review notes on weaker areas

Day of exam:
-Perform “power poses”, this is where I stretch out my arms and legs and squat down…supposedly this gives you a boost of confidence. While doing power poses, I chant “I CAN DO THIS!”.
-Have oatmeal for breakfast
-Place my fruit bar/granola & water at the front of the locker so when I open it I can easily grab it rather than wasting time to rummage through my bag.
-After the exam, I write down notes of the sims I had and stress myself out contemplating whether I got the questions right or wrong

[Jigalo]

Exam Day :

Wear my lucky out(Even though its way tighter than when I took Audit back in January)
Do not look at anything related to the CPA exam I am going to take.
Ignore everyone and put on my spotify playlist.
Get to the prometric center 45 min early, park my car, roll down windows, and enjoy the day.
During the mandatory break, I walk around the building while talking to myself, and comforting the fact that I prob just wasted 2 month of my life because im failing this exam.
Slap myself on the face with both hands to remind myself I'm not dead yet.
Finish the Exam and go to a wing place that is my after exam spot also the reason why the clothes are alot tighter now.

[arsenal227]

FWIW, the exams that I passed were all taken towards the end of the testing windows. The exams that I failed were ones I took at the beginning of windows. This was also the case for several of my co-workers.

[Author]

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