Introducing Club 75 Blogger: Mandy

Mandy is a new Club 75 Blogger as she documents her journey through the CPA Exam. She has been a member of Another71.com's Club 75 since September 2011.

The CPA Exam… Some people know what it is, some don't. Of course, if you are at this site you most likely know what it is and that passing it doesn't come easy. My name is Mandy Weeks and I have been studying for this exam since the spring of 2009.

I'm not proud of how long this has taken me, but I can definitely say I'm proud of myself for sticking with it. My first round of exams was tough. While studying (I used Becker for my first rounds), I was planning a wedding, finishing the last semester of my master's degree, buying a house, etc….

I took FAR, BEC and REG prior to starting my job at a national accounting firm in November 2009, only passing REG. I then sat for AUD at the end of November 2009, only to fail it as well. I continued studying with Becker and passed FAR and BEC last year, and have taken AUD again, and again, and again. Because I didn't pass AUD in April, the credit for REG expired and I now have to sit for it again.

Obviously, AUD is not my strong point. It isn't a subject I enjoyed while in school since I knew I wanted to work in Tax, and I didn't take much away from the classes, other than RTFQ–“Read the ‘Freaking' Question.” Valuable advice for the exam!!

For the last test last Monday, I knew I had to change something with my studying; therefore I used the NINJA notes, and with Jeff's suggestion, switched to the Roger CPA Review AUD course. I don't know if you can truly ‘love' a study course, but I'm about as close as you can get to it with Roger’s course.

I thought the materials were wonderful. The lectures were easy to follow because Roger keeps you engaged, the book was good, and the Wiley test bank was great once I got used to the format of it, as it is different than Becker. BUT what I love most about it is that it TAUGHT me about AUD rather than just review it like other courses.

Over the past two months I put in many hours of studying. I read through the NINJA notes, watched all of Roger's lectures, did all of the end of chapter questions, and all of the homework. I then began taking practice exams with the Wiley software, going over the areas that I didn't perform well in.

Last weekend, during my crunch time, I did practice exam after practice exam–my husband called it “my conditioning.” I think that this not only assisted me in studying, but it also prepared me mentally for the exam. It was so hard to study at the end, but I pushed through it and walked out of my exam feeling much more confident. I am now starting to study for REG again while I ‘patiently' wait for my score.

For those of you studying for an exam right now, my best advice to you is stick with it. It is going to be tough, it is going to interfere with your social and family life, but I'm sure when we all accomplish this task, it will be the greatest feeling in the world. Good luck with your studying!! Until next time…