I just found out last night that I passed my last section (Audit). Now that I'm done, I thought I would take a few minutes to share my experience for those who are either new or are struggling to finish this exam. I graduated from a large state school with accounting and finance degrees in 2009 and a 3.0 GPA. It was a party school so studying wasn't always as high on my list of priorities as it should have been, hence the not so impressive GPA. I landed a job in corporate accounting last November with a midsized public company. (As a side note, I got this job by meeting my now current boss at a Springsteen concert. We were tailgating in the parking lot, started talking, he gave me his card, sent him my resume etc etc a month later I had a job- so for those looking for jobs, opportunities tend to pop up in some unlikely places) Anyway, I started studying in January using becker. Took FAR in February, wanted to cry leaving the testing center, but I ended up getting a passing score a month later (89). I was shocked. I was convinced I had failed. I've found that it is very difficult to gage how you did and you often get scores you do not expect. Similar experience with REG and AUD. BEC was the only exam I actually felt good about leaving the testing center and that ended up being one of my lower scores. For those using becker, I think they do a fantastic job. I haven't tried any other prep courses but I hear good things about several of the others as well. I don't think that the prep provider you choose will make or break you. I'm sure they all do a good job preparing candidates. On the back end of this experience, I can tell you that this test is 10% not being dumb as rocks (which is pretty much anyone who is sitting for this test since you have a degree), and 90% hard work. I consider myself to be of average intelligence, and I passed this all 4 parts on the first attempt- Not because I am smart, but because of hard work. You need to put yourself in the mindset that you love nothing but accounting while studying, and that it's the coolest things in the world, and all you want to do is get your CPA. You don't need to be a genius to pass these exams- 6 months of hard work and effort will give you a lifetime of dividends. Goodluck to all those preparing!
BEC 85 AUD 82
Done!!!
