[OblivionCPA]

Hey folks, I’m indecisive about the possibility to clear these exams considering I can neither sit to study for long hours nor am I a genius.

I was never a topper or a nerd. I believe that I’ve got an average IQ. But old studying habits – specially the ones like studying a night before the exam, not memorizing anything, etc. surely do not work for the CPA. Even though the material is fairly easy to comprehend, its tough to sit through it. And its even tougher to reach the finish line considering the poor educational work ethic I’ve developed over the years.

1st BEC attempt – viewed 50% of the lectures with 0 practice questions – scored 60

2nd BEC attempt – viewed about 80% of the lectures with about 20% practice questions – scored 68

1st REG attempt – Viewed 8% of the lectures – scored 40

1st AUD attempt – viewed about 15% of the lecture with 10% practice questions – scored 26

Started my journey in February 2013 – Time’s flying – Material expires in July 2014

Next attempts

1st May – BEC

27th May – AUD

3rd Jul – FAR

I have 16 days to crack BEC from Scratch

About 26 days to crack AUD from Scratch

About a month for FAR and I’m relatively weak at accounting. Therefore left it for the end.

And I plan to repay to extend the REG material and attempt by the end of Aug.

I plan to just make it a point to sit for about 6 hrs a day at the least. I personally believe that it shouldn’t be a herculean task (passing all of these in the 1st attempt) as it seems. Specially when someone isn’t working. With a fair amount of hard work and practice, do you think this is unachievable?

[JustWant 75]

I think it's achievable if you dedicate yourself 100% with your studies. I think you have to look at your quality of studying instead of the time and maybe come up with a schedule so you know exactly what you need to do each day. If you are using Becker you can create a schedule based on your own preference. I believe setting a small goal for a week and just accomplishing that will keep you on your feet so you don't fall behind.

Most importantly you need to be able to know the concepts (being able to explain the concept to someone in a way that they can understand it) and actually apply them and the only way to do that is by doing as many mcq's as possible.

Becker, Ninja Audio + Notes

FAR: 80 (Aug 2013)
AUD: 91 (Nov 2013)
BEC: 79 (Feb 2014)
REG: 80 (May 2014)

[JustWant 75]

I think it's achievable if you dedicate yourself 100% with your studies. I think you have to look at your quality of studying instead of the time and maybe come up with a schedule so you know exactly what you need to do each day. If you are using Becker you can create a schedule based on your own preference. I believe setting a small goal for a week and just accomplishing that will keep you on your feet so you don't fall behind.

Most importantly you need to be able to know the concepts (being able to explain the concept to someone in a way that they can understand it) and actually apply them and the only way to do that is by doing as many mcq's as possible.

Becker, Ninja Audio + Notes

FAR: 80 (Aug 2013)
AUD: 91 (Nov 2013)
BEC: 79 (Feb 2014)
REG: 80 (May 2014)

[Study Monk]

@OblivionCPA I would describe myself similarly to how you describe yourself. Based on my intellect I would fail BEC and FAR, studying full-time, given your schedule.

The reason being is that it takes people at least 2 tests to get a feel for how to productively study for these exams. I studied BEC for a month full-time several years ago and failed. I spent about 2 months on FAR and about 5 weeks studying for AUD full-time. If I had to restudy for FAR it would probably take me 6 weeks now that I know what study strategies work best for me. I recommend 6 weeks for FAR and a month a piece for the other exams.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

@OblivionCPA I would describe myself similarly to how you describe yourself. Based on my intellect I would fail BEC and FAR, studying full-time, given your schedule.

The reason being is that it takes people at least 2 tests to get a feel for how to productively study for these exams. I studied BEC for a month full-time several years ago and failed. I spent about 2 months on FAR and about 5 weeks studying for AUD full-time. If I had to restudy for FAR it would probably take me 6 weeks now that I know what study strategies work best for me. I recommend 6 weeks for FAR and a month a piece for the other exams.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[CPA soon]

If you're expecting to wing the exam and pass.. It's never gonna happen..u need to be more determined to get through this. Ur still makin the same mistake over and over again by trying to pass the exams with two weeks of light studying which will never work. If you really wanna pass this, reschedule and spend more time. If u don't want it bad enough, find something else to do.

FAR - 71, 68, 74, (8/31/14) 78 ✔
REG - 67, 71, 71, (10/18/14) 78 ✔
BEC - (11/29/14) 86 ✔
AUD - 73, (4/4/15) 86 ✔

I can't believe this is over! 2 years and 3 months..

[CPA soon]

If you're expecting to wing the exam and pass.. It's never gonna happen..u need to be more determined to get through this. Ur still makin the same mistake over and over again by trying to pass the exams with two weeks of light studying which will never work. If you really wanna pass this, reschedule and spend more time. If u don't want it bad enough, find something else to do.

FAR - 71, 68, 74, (8/31/14) 78 ✔
REG - 67, 71, 71, (10/18/14) 78 ✔
BEC - (11/29/14) 86 ✔
AUD - 73, (4/4/15) 86 ✔

I can't believe this is over! 2 years and 3 months..

[Kimboroni]

Will it help you if you have a specific study schedule mapped out? Where you assign certain programs/tasks to each day, and check them off as you do them?

I pretty much winged it for AUD and ended up passing, but only because I had just taken audit and had an excellent professor. I did put in a lot of cram time at the end. It just wasn't structured at all.

For FAR, I'm being much more structured, since this is my weaker area and my classes for this were longer ago. I looked at everything I had to cover and how many pages each module was (I don't have lecture videos). I knew I wanted 2 weeks at the end just for review and doing all the MCQs. That gave me 5-6 weeks to cover the chapters, so I divided them up pretty evenly across the weeks as far as the number of pages. For instance, week 1 was one long module. This week I'm covering 3 shorter chapters. I've stuck to my schedule so far. It has really helped keep me on track.

So if you can figure out what you need to do to get through all of the material, and then stick to it, then yes, I think it's manageable.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Kimboroni]

Will it help you if you have a specific study schedule mapped out? Where you assign certain programs/tasks to each day, and check them off as you do them?

I pretty much winged it for AUD and ended up passing, but only because I had just taken audit and had an excellent professor. I did put in a lot of cram time at the end. It just wasn't structured at all.

For FAR, I'm being much more structured, since this is my weaker area and my classes for this were longer ago. I looked at everything I had to cover and how many pages each module was (I don't have lecture videos). I knew I wanted 2 weeks at the end just for review and doing all the MCQs. That gave me 5-6 weeks to cover the chapters, so I divided them up pretty evenly across the weeks as far as the number of pages. For instance, week 1 was one long module. This week I'm covering 3 shorter chapters. I've stuck to my schedule so far. It has really helped keep me on track.

So if you can figure out what you need to do to get through all of the material, and then stick to it, then yes, I think it's manageable.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[OblivionCPA]

@JustWant 75 – True, sitting through the mcqs is whats the toughest bit. Going to do all of them this time.

@Study Monk – Thnx. Lets see how it goes this time.

@CPA soon – True that. I need to be more determined. I've given myself almost about an year to study all of it and haven't even managed to finish half the portion. Basically, all that I'm trying to do is finish the portion believing that I will pass if I've studied everything.

@Kimboroni – I'm working on the schedule a lot more mathematically with the number of pages I'm supposed to cover each day.

Thank you all for the valuable replies. Will keep you posted with my targets and results.

[OblivionCPA]

@JustWant 75 – True, sitting through the mcqs is whats the toughest bit. Going to do all of them this time.

@Study Monk – Thnx. Lets see how it goes this time.

@CPA soon – True that. I need to be more determined. I've given myself almost about an year to study all of it and haven't even managed to finish half the portion. Basically, all that I'm trying to do is finish the portion believing that I will pass if I've studied everything.

@Kimboroni – I'm working on the schedule a lot more mathematically with the number of pages I'm supposed to cover each day.

Thank you all for the valuable replies. Will keep you posted with my targets and results.

[OblivionCPA]

@JustWant 75 – True, sitting through the mcqs is whats the toughest bit. Going to do all of them this time.

@Study Monk – Thnx. Lets see how it goes this time.

@CPA soon – True that. I need to be more determined. I've given myself almost about an year to study all of it and haven't even managed to finish half the portion. Basically, all that I'm trying to do is finish the portion believing that I will pass if I've studied everything.

@Kimboroni – I'm working on the schedule a lot more mathematically with the number of pages I'm supposed to cover each day.

Thank you all for the valuable replies. Will keep you posted with my targets and results.

[OblivionCPA]

@JustWant 75 – True, sitting through the mcqs is whats the toughest bit. Going to do all of them this time.

@Study Monk – Thnx. Lets see how it goes this time.

@CPA soon – True that. I need to be more determined. I've given myself almost about an year to study all of it and haven't even managed to finish half the portion. Basically, all that I'm trying to do is finish the portion believing that I will pass if I've studied everything.

@Kimboroni – I'm working on the schedule a lot more mathematically with the number of pages I'm supposed to cover each day.

Thank you all for the valuable replies. Will keep you posted with my targets and results.

[OblivionCPA]

@JustWant 75 – True, sitting through the mcqs is whats the toughest bit. Going to do all of them this time.

@Study Monk – Thnx. Lets see how it goes this time.

@CPA soon – True that. I need to be more determined. I've given myself almost about an year to study all of it and haven't even managed to finish half the portion. Basically, all that I'm trying to do is finish the portion believing that I will pass if I've studied everything.

@Kimboroni – I'm working on the schedule a lot more mathematically with the number of pages I'm supposed to cover each day.

Thank you all for the valuable replies. Will keep you posted with my targets and results.

[OblivionCPA]

@JustWant 75 – True, sitting through the mcqs is whats the toughest bit. Going to do all of them this time.

@Study Monk – Thnx. Lets see how it goes this time.

@CPA soon – True that. I need to be more determined. I've given myself almost about an year to study all of it and haven't even managed to finish half the portion. Basically, all that I'm trying to do is finish the portion believing that I will pass if I've studied everything.

@Kimboroni – I'm working on the schedule a lot more mathematically with the number of pages I'm supposed to cover each day.

Thank you all for the valuable replies. Will keep you posted with my targets and results.

[Author]

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