[CPA2990]

Study or not to study? Before my exam, I usually cram every last minute (within reasonable limits). I have one more day and am struggling with how much to review for FAR tomorrow. It’s my second time with FAR and I used the day before with audit and bec, crammed it all in and passed the first time. But I’m worried about over doing it. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice? With the longer exams, like far, does it make sense to somewhat take it easy the day before?

[thechapman]

I eat a Sonic breakfast toaster and listen to Eminem like I'm getting paid time and a half to do so.

Passed - 2014

[Mary 2496]

Personally, I usually study up until the last minute. I don't cram to the last second but even in the Prometric parking lot while waiting for the doors to open, you'll find me going over my notes or flashcards one last time.

[Anonymous]

For each exam, I studied for a half day the day before the exam, then got up early and did a quick MCQ session of no more than 30 questions. I had a couple cups of coffee and ate the same breakfast I normally would before going to work. In the car, I listened to loud, aggressive heavy metal on the drive to prometric, stopping to pick up a mocha on the way there.

[y_u_no_pass]

Cram cram cram is my style too. I just make sure I stop in time to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Although I usually can't sleep…

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[Anonymous]

Agreed, sleep generally doesn't happen the night before the exam.

[Anonymous]

Skim through the Becker outlines (which have my personal notes and highlights on) and work through the MC questions that are in the lectures. Those tend to be good MCs because they're trying to teach you/trick you with something and are probably the most important concepts.

[Anonymous]

For FAR and BEC, study all day, past midnight, while steadily drinking beer, switching to whiskey after the sun sets.

For AUD, wife convinced me to relax the night before, so I watched “Wolf of Wall Street” and drank until I passed on the floor in the fetal position. The next morning, I killed three beers before the exam.

Turns out, I got my highest score yet doing that.

[Juliemiddle]

@audit_this – you're my hero.

The only exam I crammed for until the last minute was REG, and I did well, so I'm taking that approach 🙂 I do a mock CPA exam the day before the actual. Afterwards, I pinpoint the areas I'm still weak in, and hone in on those most of the day. Next morning, go thru notes and flashcards, so everything is still fresh before the exam.

AUD: 84 - Oct. 2013
BEC: 83 - Feb. 2014
REG: 91 - May, 2014
FAR: 68, 96 - Oct. 2014...DONE

CPAExcel, Ninja Audio (all sections)

[Uhartsoccer21]

I try to get myself mentally prepared, go for a run, calm down, positive vibes. I'll do a few MCQ's but will spend about two hours going over all my notes which is usually about 3 notebooks.

Also I usually shorten my notes to about 15 pages of things to memorize a week before the exam and focus on that day of test.

After making the mistake of pounding caffeine and water prior to exam and having to take 2 bathroom breaks, I now stick to one 5 hour energy and it works like a charm.

A - 89 10/23/2014
R - 90 2/27/2014
F - 75 5/25/2014
B - 83 8/28/2014

[Anonymous]

I schedule my exams for 12:30pm. I wake up at 6am and review my notes until around 8am. I don't do MCQ's during this time. Have a good breakfast and wait for prometric to call for an earlier available time. It has happened for the first 3 exams I took. Wife drops me to center and hangs out with our son at the mall while I battle it out with my section.

[Anonymous]

Generally, I study till about 9-10 p.m. the night before, and then I call it quits. I don't touch anything the day of, and I will just listen to “aggressive” music while I fantasize about destroying the exam lol

[shankysays]

This section that I'm taking on Monday 10/20 will be the first time I'm taking it not at 12:30pm on a Saturday (it's 9am on a Monday)…

I think what I will do is study on Sunday until about 3 or 4pm, and then try to relax after that. Have a good dinner, maybe a glass of wine, and a good night's sleep. I'll probably review some of my notes over breakfast. I don't like to exhaust myself before the exam actually begins.

BEC - 72, 82! ✓
FAR - 80! ✓
AUD - 70, 92! ✓
REG - 74, 78! ✓

Licensed CPA 5/2015

[Anonymous]

I always take off work the day before an exam, unless I schedule for a Monday. The day before I'll study non-stop until about 9 o'clock, then eat something delicious and have a glass or two of wine. I'll try to get to sleep at a reasonable hour but it's usually pretty tough to sleep (which is where wine comes in handy!)

I usually schedule for 12:30 so the morning of, I get up and drink a bunch of coffee and do a 30 question set just to fire up my brain. But no more than that otherwise I start to feel overwhelmed. The rest of the morning is spent calming my nerves by listening to music, watching TV, making breakfast (if I'm not too nervous to eat), and just trying to breathe!

[Anonymous]

I studied the day before I took REG, but for FAR I took most of the day off and went to a hockey game that night. You don't want to tire your brain too much.

[taxgeek83]

My BEC exam is tomorrow and I've been cramming all day (only because I haven't actually been studying, and I couldn't move my test again). I finally “quit” at 9 p.m. only to run another 45 minutes of MCQs. At this point I'm just confusing myself, so I'm done. We'll see what happens tomorrow….

P.S. I'm promising myself I'll prepare better for REG. Then again, that's what I said about FAR. And BEC. 🙂

[Author]

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