[Anonymous]

Is taking a break between exams a good idea? So far, I’ve only taken a break long enough to find out my score and then I immediately begin studying again. If I passed BEC, I’m planning on jumping right into FAR. I am thinking about taking a break for the holidays (Thanksgiving through Christmas) because I’ll be traveling a good bit. My family is all out of state. Is this a bad idea? Am I setting myself up for disaster?

[Anonymous]

Hit it as hard as you can with no interruption; you are on a timeline to pass and you don't want to lose credit for something you have already accomplished, trust me.

[Anonymous]

If you've passed BEC, logically, you could bang out the last two right at the beginning of 2015 no problem, no worries. But then again, BEC could be your demon. Or FAR. Or AUD. Don't hate yourself a year or so from now because you're about to lose REG, and would have had another chance if you hadn't taken a break. Losing credit for parts SUCKS.

[Anonymous]

I took FAR on Saturday. I gave myself Sunday to do absolutely nothing related to Accounting at all. Monday I started looking at Audit.

Jeff's CPA Survival Guide recommends giving yourself a couple of days after an exam to decompress but he doesn't recommend anything more than 3 days otherwise you risk losing focus.

Everyone is going to be different but if you're serious about passing all 4 portions, I recommend a day or two break but no more than that.

[Tux]

I would not take such a long break. You never know if you might need to take one (or more) of the exams several times to pass.

It's easy to think – “Oh, I have lots of time left”, then something unexpected goes wrong and you're in panic mode.

You can take a break when this is over. Until then, I say stay focused and keep studying.

FAR - 86 - 2/27/14
AUD - 75 - 5/29/14
BEC - 80 - 8/31/14
REG - 89 - 2/27/15
Praise Jesus! I'm done!!

Study resources:
Becker
Wiley test bank

[zieba]

In my humble opinion, this is not even remotely a good idea. I took one break, and ended up redoing AUD at the end to wrap it up.

Unless you are the pass in the 80's at the first try kinda guy, a prolonged and sustain commitment is required.

AUD - 75*, 88 done 5/14! (*exp)
BEC - 74 , 77
REG - 65 , 76 (10 point combooo!!)
FAR - 69 , 75

Dr: perseverance
Dr: intelligence
Dr: luck
. Cr: . advisory score

[Anonymous]

@Angelwatch – that is extremely impressive. I think I might have murdered someone if I only took one day off from studying after a test.

@Tux – I know you're right. I wouldn't consider a break if fail because I can't imagine stopping when the material is so fresh.

@zieba – I'm a girl 🙂

Ugh I was really hoping someone could help me justify getting away from it for awhile!

[I Believe You Have My Stapler]

I agree with everyone else. You NEVER KNOW what may come up to get in the way. Study while you are perfectly able to, and you won't kick yourself later for it. I have to tell myself this every freakin' day: Don't forget, you've done well passing one, but you haven't earned a break yet. Your 18 month clock is ticking.

AUD- 97! (May 2014)
BEC- 79 (August 2014)
REG- 64, 83 (February 2015)
FAR- May 2015

[Anonymous]

Just don't do it. Take it from me. I passed FAR, BEC, and AUD all within the Oct-Nov window in 2013, and had all the confidence in the world going into REG. Then a whole bunch of life happened. We lost both my mom and grandfather to cancer in late December and early February, and after I got through all of that, busy season happened, and I worked busy-season hours nonstop until the beginning of June. So I told myself I was 100% justified in waiting. I still TRIED to take reg a couple of times, but as you can see, it didn't go well. Now I'm more discouraged than ever and there have been several days I've just wanted to throw in the towel.

And the thing is, I'm lucky nothing else has happened. But you never know when life could throw you a curveball, so why wait?

If you're taking (and especially passing) tests now, do as many as you possibly can as fast as you possibly can. Once you taste freedom for a bit, it's nearly impossible, in my opinion, to get re-focused. And now I just keep thinking about how I went from having like 16 months to pass one more test, to now 7 months (unless I passed a few weeks ago…we'll see!)

Just stick with it. Seriously. I wish I had!

[mla1169]

Unless you're an EXTREMELY laid back person you're likely to find yourself spending 2+ hours a day cumulatively thinking about having to go back to studying, wondering if taking time off was the right decision, calculating your next move. Your mind will keep wandering back to it somehow. So spend that same time studying.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[RachelP]

I give myself 2 weeks between exams to study lazily… which means not really at all. I agree, keep going, if you want to have weekends with your family, build those in, but don't take the time off completely. After giving up last year's holiday season, I told myself by hell or hot water I would be done by Thanksgiving, and now, here I am! If I pass in October, I WILL BE DONE, and (hopefully) licensed for my Christmas present (:

"Don't worry, beeeeee happy!"

Unhappy with job, long distance boyfriend, not much studying:
FAR- 66 [08/28/12] AUD- 61 [10/04/12] REG- 59 [11/28/12] BEC- 63 [01/11/13]
Year off (from exams): Got new job, got married, moved, etc
✓ AUD- 79!!! 01/10/14 FIRST PASS!! WOOOO!!!
✓ REG- 73 02/27/14, 81 10/27/14
✓ FAR- 83 5/16/14
✓ BEC- 80 7/24/14
✓ Education ✓ Experience
Ethics Exam

[Author]

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