Tip for Success: Don’t register for more than two sections on your initial NTS

30. Jun, 2008 14 Comments

Note – this CPA Exam strategy tip is no longer valid. NASBA has since corrected this glitch. It adversely affected me at the time, but has since been corrected.

-Jeff

Note – someone left a comment that said that NASBA has fixed the glitch that won’t allow you to retake a section when you have other sections left on your NTS. I hope that this is the case.

As a jaded veteran of the CPA Exam process, I’ve learned a few quirks and tricks along the way and want to share them in hopes that people can learn from my mistakes.

Tip for Success: Don’t register for more than two sections on your initial NTS

I learned this one the hard way. It was Fall 2005 (3 years ago?…yeah, I know…insert excuse here_______) and I had just gotten back the word that I failed FAR – my first section, with a 70. I felt like the most worthless person in the world, but I was going to persevere and get right back on the horse and take FARE again in the next window, right? Wrong.

When I sent in my initial application and then my subsequent Notice to Schedule, I paid for all 4 parts because I was going to pass all four parts the first time obviously, so why go through the redundancy and hassle of getting more than one NTS?

Well, what they don’t tell you in the non-existent fine print and what will garner little more than an “oopsy” from the NASBA customer service rep is that once you get an NTS, you must sit for all parts on your NTS before you can re-take a failed section on that same NTS.

The NASBA rep explained that it’s a glitch in their software that causes this ridiculousness. “Is anyone going to get around to fixing it?” I asked. “uhhhh…I don’t think so,” she said.

Nice.

SO – if you pay for all four sections and don’t pass the first one, kiss your short term memory of the subject goodbye and we’ll see you in 6 months when you sit for it again.

Even if you’re going to knock the exam out in 1 attempt for each section (weren’t we all?), it still makes sense to get an NTS for a maximum of two sections at a time – that way you’re not chained to AUD, REG, BEC when all you want to do is re-study some cash flow statements and not for profits and go take FARE again.

Emily 21. Aug, 2008 at 5:17 am

The CPA exam is easy??? Ha, that’s funny. Although I have to say that this time last year I never thought I would have 2 sections of the CPA exam passed.

But I am between a rock and a hard place. My audit section expires in the middle of January. But that isn?t the only time constraint for me. In the state of VA I have to pass my last two sections (REG and FAR) by the end of November or I will have to go back to school for additional credit hours to meet the 150 credit hour requirement (I was grandfathered in for a couple of years). The real silly thing about it?my extra credit hours can be ANYTHING I want. I can take a simple English class?or how about golfing?

So yeah, here?s to hoping that I will be able to pass them by the end of November. REG has been a struggle for me and I do LOTS of tax work where I work.
Anonymous 25. Mar, 2009 at 1:28 pm

YOU WILL PASS! You MUST think that! I had a 4.0 in Accounting, I used Becker (D&T paid for it!), I work full-time for D&T, so I only took one section at a time, I had NO LIFE for 15 months, and STILL had to work my tail off to pass. But, it worked. If you prepare the way Becker says to, you WILL pass. I was 4-for-4, with an 83.25% avg for the 4. YOU WILL PASS!
Matt 17. Aug, 2009 at 10:26 am

Not fixed.
Matt 17. Aug, 2009 at 12:26 pm

Not fixed.