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AnonymousFor those who passed all 4 parts, how much of your life did you give up? I work 40 hours a week and because of that, I feel like I have to devote all of my life outside of work just to study. I tried adding just a few hours of enjoyment per week just to relax a bit, but I end up feeling more overwhelmed afterwards because I’ve wasted those few hours and now I have so much studying to catch up on. I’ve been giving myself 2-3 months to study before I take one part of the exam, but I feel like I need to use every single minute of my free time to study or else, I’ll fall behind. I can’t give myself just a few hours per week for myself. It’s crazy. Heck, I just took FAR a week ago and after I took it, I felt like those 20-30 hours of studying per week for three whole months weren’t enough. So, now I think there’s a chance I might’ve failed it.
So, I’m just wondering. For all of you who passed, did you have to literally give up your whole life just to study for this exam? In other words, was your life like this…. Work, eat, study, sleep….Work, eat, study, sleep…. And so on?
Like Peter Olinto said there is an inverse relationship between doing well on this exam and happiness. With the sheer amount of material on these exams looking at them at least everyday and review review review is the only thing that helped me.
I pretty much gave up 80% of my life while studying for the CPA exam.
AnonymousI am really really really glad that I wasn't the only who felt that way. I was playing tennis yesterday and the day before, I felt really guilty.
I did it all within 8 months. In between windows I would have normal life. Aud was Aug 1… Aug 2- Sep 30 or so I didn't study, even took a vacation to Hawaii… BETWEEN Oct 1 – Nov 30 I studied hard core for reg and.BEC…maybe 4
off days in that whole span. Dec 1-31 did nothing lived normal life… Started FAR studies Jan 1. Went out on weekends in Jan, took few days off.but come.Feb..no breaks or anything. So oct, nov, and Feb were like hell study sessions. Everyday
3-4 hrs on weekdays, 6-8 on weekends. Working full time too. WAKE UP, WORK, EAT, STUDY, SLEEP
Anonymous@Herbieherb- I'm trying to do it all in 10 months. 3 months for FAR, 2 months for AUD, 3 months for REG and 2 months for BEC. No vacations in between and it feels it's not enough.
I forgot to add in my audit prep time…i started around june, took off a lot of nights and weekends but July was hard core. Aud and BEC don't need so much time…reg and far I felt I could've used another month each. I feel I lucked out on reg/BEC in one window…cut my time in half :)..my job isn't very stressful I have normal hrs 8-5 M-F, no weekends. You can also enjoy Saturday nights if you study during the day
AnonymousShort answer – the better part of a year. Was it worth it? Abso-friggin-lutely!
I won't lie; it was absolutely horrible. I had not planned to work while I was studying for the exam, but I just happened to have a job offer right after I applied for my NTS (to take all four parts within six months). I'd advise anyone to get this thing done BEFORE you begin work, if at all possible. Having all of the responsibilities that go along with having a family, home, job, graduate courses, plus studying for the CPA exam…it can be overwhelming. Yes, it did take ALL of my time outside of my other duties (ones I couldn't shuck off on someone else) as a wife, employee, and mother, so that I literally had no free time. Yes, it was work, eat, study, sleep (and not a whole lot in the sleep category), work, eat, study, sleep.
My husband and I actually moved a recliner from our living area to our master bathroom (sitting area) for me to have a quiet place to study (out of the way of household traffic). We just recently moved the chair back down to the living area – AFTER I got my last score. Sitting in it right now in front of my TV. AAhhhh, what a feeling to be out of the bathroom study cave and back to living amongst my family!
I hated every minute of taking the exam, but I am glad I held out now that I passed FAR in February. I think I am a better accountant for the experience. It helped me see things I had not seen with my education and work experience alone – helped synthesize material in a way. The only thing I wish I had done differently would have been to spread the sections out over a year instead of six months (since I was working)…I literally got sick from exhaustion and was in no shape to take FAR when I took it in November 2010.
Hang in there, and good luck to you.
I have no clue how many hours I've devoted to the exam. But I do know that all I've been doing is working or studying since October leaving me with no time/energy to exercise and thus I've gained 15 lbs!! Horrible!!
yes i gained 20 omg…10 lbs just from studying FAR Jan-FEb. I hit the gym today but man I still got the munchies!
AnonymousI passed all four between October 2009 and August 2010; I took off four months or so during busy season.
Here was my daily schedule:
5:00 am- gym
7:00 – 3:30- work
4:00- 9:00/10:00 – study
Sleep, reset.
Long story short, it was terrible. But totally worth it.
Doc
Still taking it but feel experienced enough to speak. I failed FAR this past summer before passing any… my study began March 2010 and I will take my final (hope) May 2011.
You tell me if I gave up anything.
Full time tax job at fortune 500 with 3 busy seasons per year. Married with 2 year old when I began… wife wanted a puppy over the summer which meant I was in charge of all training bc… oh yeah she was pregnant with my son who was born Jan 2011. that's right… didn't have enough on my plate so I needed a freaking puppy on my plate taking her ouside every 30 minutes when she had worms while trying to study for BEC. I tried to have it done in early January before my second son was born but that didnt work out. Now I'm studying again.
When I began I made a promise to myself… I would NOT let this exam stop me from being with my kids. So I would study from 5am till my son woke up. Play with him till I go to work. Study during lunch. Leave work hurry home and eat with my son then do bedtime with him. He goes to bed and I study till I pass out… wake up, rinse and repeat. Now I have a 3 month old in the mix.
Despite all this I have been very happy, had the best career year performance wise, been the best dad one can be ( only studied 4 Saturdays away from son)… and I can say I am genuinely happy. stressed? unbelievably. happy? hell yeah.
All I have given was tv at night and some sleep. of course I said no to a lot of nights having fun. But as a dad, I wasn't doing much anyway. I just gave up my relax time.
And I am VERY proud of myself for all I've done while not sacrificing my family time. I am very close with my son and he has no idea daddy is doing this. Very proud of that.
Given the fact that they've already passed and are still posting in threads like this. I would say not much. 😉
AnonymousI passed all 4 sections in 8 months the first time around. I was working 40 hours a week and not only I gave up most of my social life, but I also had to implement several things to save time to study:
– Bought CD audio lectures to listen while commuting to work (average of 2 hours per day)
– Quit going to the gym (bought an exercise equipment to work-out at home)
– Saw my boyfriend only once a week
– Ate dinner while driving home from work (I know, sounds irresponsible, but it was mainly sandwiches / snacks)
– Took my notes everywhere (car wash, oil change, and even to some social events)
I was pretty much eating, sleeping and breathing accounting!
A bunch, but probably not that badly – my friends from back in those days still talk to me and we hang 🙂 I would say it was about 18 months for me, 15 months from the first to the last (repeated 1 part).
I had a lot of support and helpful circumstances going on during that time. I lived at home with my folks, and they left me alone. (I'd clean and help out with laundry, but they did all the cooking and shopping). Of the 2 different places I worked at, the first place was slow and you were encouraged to study. The second place had clients who started around 830, and then kicked everyone out at 5pm. It was a short commute also. I worked Saturdays for a few months, but by then I was up to AUD, which I didn't find too difficult b/c I audited at work. When I took public transit, my study notes accompanied me.
I woke up very early in the mornings to study, i.e. like 430am or 5 (and then out about 745). TV is pretty bad at that hour, and it was even worse during the writer's strike. On the weekends, I went through a strange hermetic cycle of studying, snacking and napping. I went out probably a few times a month during the weekdays, and then just for a few hours during some weekend evenings. I often felt guilty going out, but then I was miserable while studying, so it was quite tortuous!
At this point in my life, I'm not sure I could pass again! My job now is interesting, although somewhat stressful, but the hours are fairly flexible. I live on my own, and have figured out cooking & cleaning on my own, but I'm not sure if I could be as disciplined as I once was. (I am trying very hard though, as I am learning a challenging language, which is why I like this forum).
I had to give up about 75% of my free time. I would say it's VERY important to plan one day a week to not even think about studying or the exam. You need a break. But you come to cherish that 25% that you do get off.
I studied 2-6 hours a night after work on workdays (most of the time it was around 4 hours). I would take one evening off during the week and not think about studying. Sometimes this was Friday, but there were many Friday nights when I felt like the lame person in Starbucks who was studying on Friday night. I would study 4-8 hours a day on weekends, but this left me with free time on both Saturday & Sunday.
Take advantage of “dead time” by carrying around flashcards. I studied in the Walmart line, waiting at the doctor's office, and while waiting through many traffic light cycles during rush hour.
I studied for three months for my first section and after passing that, lost all motivation and didn't take another exam for eleven months. Big mistake!!! I then took the remaining three parts in 4 months. Not the recommended plan of attack! I have a pretty demanding job but just sent my youngest child off to college so I did have a fair amount of free time to study. I found that quality was better than quantity as it relates to studying and rarely studied during the week due to my brain being fried from working all day. I spent the better part of the weekends studying and while on vacation in Steamboat, Colorado over Christmas I stayed in the condo and studied FAR while the rest of the family went out skiing. There were clearly sacrifices and there were many times that I was questioning why I was doing this but in the end I got through it by focusing on how I would feel when I passed. Now that I am done I can say that it was all worth it!
5 Months from the very first stay of studying to sitting for my very last exam (waiting on results) I started studying November 1st. I took my first right before thanksgiving then took one right before busy season and one 2 days after my main client filed there 10-K. I was working 80-95 hours a week all through January and February which made studying very very hard. I useually hit the bar every friday and saturday but during this 5 month peiod I only went out maybe 5 times which for me is not normal. I quit going to the gym and quit doing all fun things that I enjoyed. All I did was work, get home from work and study until midnight, granted I got off work before midnight, and then wake up at 6:30 and study until 8:00 before heading to work every morning. Very long 5 months but I should be all done just waiting on my last grade. I have not been able to really relax in over 2 years because every since I graduated college this has been hanging over my head. Now I can read, enjoy the outdoors and go to the gym again without feeling guilty!
I worked full-time while studying. I went out on Friday and Saturday nights. I studied from around 6:30 to 9:30 on the weeknights (not Friday) and around 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Give or take.
AnonymousI woke up at 4:00am each weekday and studied until 6:30am. Drank 3-4 cups of coffee while studying. Then studied most of the day Saturdays and Sundays.
I can't study at night. I'm not a night person. I work full time as a Controller for a Real Estate Developer while also owning a small accounting office (4 people) in my home town (that I work weeknights at.)
This is a SPRINT……not a marathon…..if an airplane cuts its power by 50% but doubles the length of the runway, it still won't take off. You have to go “balls to the wall”, “full out” “101%”….and you'll pass….
Wow, cpawannabee…you really used up all the pages in your passport and then some to pass! Congrats!
It's nice to know I'm not the only one who woke up at bizarre hours to study!
I'm just starting the exam, I'm 4 weeks in. I'm studying about 3 hours a night after work, and then about 5 hours on saturday and another 5 on sunday. So all in all about 22 hours per week. And I give myself Friday off, and then Saturday and Sunday afternoon/evenings off. That's about all I can do while also keeping my sanity. But I've given up completely on working out for the next 7-8 months. I used to work out 4 days a week but not anymore until I'm done with the CPA. I'd rather sacrifice that than sleep or down time. I'm fortunate to be single and not have kids or a spouse to worry about.
Sit in traffic, work, study, eat, sleep, repeat. I try to exercise for 30 min. per day, 3 days per week. Have gained 10 lbs since Feb., which include 2 new dimples on my @ss.
No one I know (other than you guys on this board) is taking this exam. I feel very alone in this process. My friends and family think I exaggerate the amount of time and energy this monster takes. They really have no idea. How could they?
I turn down 99% of social invitations, which makes me sad. I miss my friends and family. Also, I have no time for a relationship right now, so it's good that I'm not in one (although the support would be nice).
The amount of time I spend alone studying is causing me to feel very depressed and lonely.
This whole experience has been sheer misery, but I'll be glad when it's over and proud of myself for sticking it out.
122 days to go until I'm done! (I WILL pass FAR on the first try. Failure is NOT an option.)
Back to FIN 2.
@cpawannabee – Love your quote! You are an inspiration!
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