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

I am into week 5 of my AUD study plan and am on my way to wrap up the lectures and my first run at the multiple-choice questions. The 2011 changes to the CPA Exam and the new year have given me a new sense of hope. This time is going to be different. This time I will pass!

When I received my new 2011 AUD book and bought my new notebook and pens, it was like the first day of school. It was like the first day of school but without the new pair of shoes and Trapper Keeper. Oh yeah, and there is already an exam. I feel pretty good about the study hours I have been putting in.

The cold and snowy weather has been making it difficult to go some place and study, but once you get there it's easy to stay. My study plan is to finish the first run-through and leave two weeks for review. I am not excited about the fact that there are more simulations than last year.

When I scored my 72, I passed the multiple choice portion but not the simulations. I plan to allow more time to review the simulations in my two-week final review. I am pretty comfortable with the material, but there are definitely some subjects that I put off until last, like Audit Sampling and Transaction Cycles. I also plan to complete three full practice exams.

My parents are talking about taking a vacation to Machu Picchu in the fall. I plan to go and to be done with all of my exams by then. It has already been four months since I last took audit. It will be the fall before I get my results back.

I have taken nearly all of my vacation days for taking exams and studying. When I took days off to study, it didn’t seem to help me pass. The exams that I did pass, I had sufficient time to study and review without taking days off (especially if you do the ELL CPA Study plan). It is unclear what contributed to my passing and not passing, but that is something to think about.

I am not short of motivation to study. I like to read the other blogs that are posted about taking the exams. My beagles, Obi-wan and Chewie, haven't been walked for months. When people ask, “when is your next exam?”, I say Soon … how about those Jayhawks?” (Jeff says: Boo KU) 🙂

I hope to be able to report good news soon.

~Hattie