CPA Exam Updated

I received an email from NASBA this morning regarding the update to the CPA exam.  In 2011, CPA candidates will be tested using the new Content and Skill Specification Outlines (CSOs/SSO).   Which most candidates, including myself, already knew, but what is new is that the AICPA just released the sample exam on their website for this specific update.   You can try out a sample of the new CSO/SSO’s and see how you like it. Just go to:

http://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/ForCandidates/TutorialandSampleTest/Pages/exam_tutorial_parallel.aspx

They have both the old and new sample tests up at the moment.  I tried the AUD and REG.  I didn’t see anything new on the AUD that was worth pointing out, but the REG portion had a sample tax return you needed to fill out.  I think its a VAST improvement over filling in random questions.  But despite the update I should remind people it looks like you may have to put up with the outdated software from the previous exams.  You would think they would do a major overhaul of this exam when putting out an update like this.

If I do not receive a passing score on REG I might be subject to this, but at this point I am feeling pretty good about passing and I haven’t felt the need to continue to study.  I also have another quarter to take the old exam before they release this update, so if I don’t pass I can try once more before the release.

Ben

Waiting Game

On Friday I woke up to my alarm on my cell phone at 6 am.   I grabbed it and promptly shut off the alarm.  After, a few yawns I clicked on the browser on my cell and hit refresh.   The night before I had entered my NTS and birthday into the NASBA website so I could see if my score was up yet.  It wasn’t but the website stopped working after 10:30 so I had a feeling it would be this morning.  After a few seconds it returned with my score… I passed.  I yelled at my fiance “I passed”, she just shrugged.  It was too early for her to care.

With that news it meant I just had to study for this one last exam.  I just needed a passing score on REG and I would finally be a CPA.  That was Friday.

It’s now mid-afternoon on Monday.  I took REG this morning.  It was just like the rest, it went smoothly enough but I am still second guessing myself.  I could fail  or I could pass.   So at this point its just a waiting game, but at least its August 30th.  That means I shouldn’t have to wait long to find out.

Ben

Introduction – Ryan Hanefeld

99 nights ’til graduation on the wall…99 nights ’til graduation!  Take one down, pass it around, 98 nights ’til graduation on the wall!

People exhibit all kinds of emotions when such a momentous occasion as graduation is approaching, but for me it’s been almost pure excitement.  In times like this, there gets to be a divide in the senior class between people who want to hang onto their undergraduate lifestyles until the very last second, and those who can’t wait for the next step.  I’m definitely one of the latter.  Living off campus since the end of last school year has provided a nice buffer between campus living and post-graduate living, and has allowed me to take this school year a lot more seriously.  Sure, it can be a pain driving and parking at school to visit people on campus instead of just walking to the next building, but it’s forced me to improve my time management skills in a good way.  With five major classes and three minor classes among a total of 39 credits this school year, it’s nice to have some almost guaranteed quiet.

Especially when studying for the CPA exam.

My 25-pound package full of textbooks and homework books came in the mail from the headquarters of Roger CPA Review about a month ago – it looks like an insane amount of material when it’s all in the same place at the same time.

Having read ahead for most of my final semester of undergrad classes allowed me to be more confident that my schedule of online classes and adequate study time would actually work, among inevitable class work that had yet to be assigned, looking for an apartment for the summer, and looking for both a job and some time to commit to it.  Nothing’s worse in my mind than convincing first yourself, then your employer at a prospective part-time job that you can handle both school and work, and then a month or two down the road, telling them you mis-judged and need to request time off frequently.

So far, CPA Review with Roger has been going according to plan – he’s a real funny guy, and definitely keeps you awake and focused.  What was nice about starting with the AUD section was I’m taking Financial Statement Auditing at Bentley, with Dr. Jay Thibodeau, CPA, a Bentley professor who has just as much energy as Roger.  This has not only confirmed what I heard relentlessly over the summer from my coworkers at Feeley & Driscoll about how much easier it is to take the CPA exam as soon after college as possible, but since they’re happening literally at the same time, has allowed me to reinforce and consolidate study time.

-Ryan

The clock is ticking…

So it has been a while since my last post, however, things have not been uneventful. I decided to cram and take FAR on November 30. I didn’t leave myself much study time as work had been crazy, Thanksgiving was coming up, and I was exhausted! I worked part of the day on Monday during the week of Thanksgiving, and decided to take the rest of the week off to study for my exam on the following Monday.

I studied everyday, all day, all night (with a few breaks here and there for my own sanity…) except Thanksgiving (I had to enjoy one day off!).  I haven’t studied like that ever…not even in college!  I don’t think I could’ve fit anymore information in my head after that week.  Who knew studying could be so exhausting!

So I went into the test feeling ok about it (because you never feel 100% great about going into FAR…I would know…I’ve taken it 3 times now…). I sat down and the first question I got, no idea… Second question I got, no idea… Never a good way to start off a test!  I made it through the first testlet, which was really hard and at least half of the questions were calculations (I know this because on my first pass at testlets, I go through the questions and answer all the ones that don’t have calculations, and the ones that do have calculations I “mark for review”, then I go back and do the calculations after).

The second testlet was just as hard, which is a good thing because I must have done good on the first testlet after all!  The second testlet had just as many calculations as the first.  However, when I got to the third testlet, I felt like it was easier than the first two because it barely had any calculations (which isn’t good because that means I didn’t do well on the second testlet if the third was easier).  Ugh!

Feeling defeated, I moved on to the simulations.  Ha – with only about an hour and a half remaining for time!  Which, by the way, is not enough time… The simulations were very hard, and unfortunately, I did have to guess on many things.  I had such a headache by the time I got to the simulations that my head felt like it would explode!  I finished the simulations with about 30 seconds to spare and I walked out of there feeling horrible…

I received my score on December 22 (just in time to ruin my Christmas!) and got a 73…yes…a 73…so close yet so far!  So now my clock is really ticking.  I have scheduled FAR for January 23 and REG for February 27, of which I have to pass not one, but BOTH, or I lose AUD on February 28.  No pressure!  I hope I can get those few additional points I need to pass FAR and breeze through REG (because that’s my strong point!).  Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…

The best Christmas present!

The best Christmas present I could ask for this year was passing my final exam….and I did it!! I got my score for BEC on Thursday night and left for a long ski weekend Friday morning. It was nice to finally relax and not have to think about the CPA exam anymore!

The best advice I can give everyone about taking the exam is to make a schedule and stick to it. It will be horrible to study for six months straight, but when you are finished you will realize it was well worth it. If you use Becker I highly recommend the schedule function where you can put in your exam dates and it will set up a study schedule for you. Very helpful.

Now on to the application process….haha

Good luck everyone and happy studying!

~Rachael

All I want for xmas is….

A passing score on BEC!

If I pass BEC I will be finished with the CPA exam! I found out on Friday night (the same day I took BEC) that I passed REG. That means one more passing grade and I can become a CPA

It has been a lot of work and time spent but well worth it. I can say that I will be very happy to get home from work today and NOT study. It’s just a waiting game now.

Good luck to everyone taking exams before the December blackout!

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Rachael

The Learning Curve

I finished the REG self-study course last week. It was a great feeling. That was the last of it. I considered making myself a Becker CPA Review Course diploma, but my passing grades on the Exam will suffice.

Since then, I have been going through all of the questions a second time. This is my favorite part of studying because it goes much more smoothly than the first time around. The first time I spend a ridiculous amount of time on each question; sometimes up to five minutes. I refer back to the book if I need to and make notes to help understand and retain the information. The second time I fly through.

Last night I did 100 questions in less than 2 hours. Tonight I did 150 in about 2 hours. Not only does it take less time, but it’s less frustrating because I score higher. The first time I do the questions I average around 70%. So far, my second time around has been around 85%, which I consider to be an acceptable level of improvement considering that I went over half of the material in early June and then set it aside for the GMAT, vacations, etc.

So, I guess, to turn this into useful advice I’d say, take adequate time to review the material the first time around. It lays the foundation for your final review, which is critical for success. The last thing you want to do is struggle with a concept the week before the Exam because you hadn’t taken the time to understand it when you first reviewed it. If you are able to obtain an understanding of everything as you first see it, the final review will be efficient.

-seth

Crunch Time!

Sorry for being gone for so long! I have had a crazy two weeks. I flew to Orlando for two days for work (3 hour plane ride…took 8 hours) and to my dismay when I got there, it was raining lol. The weather followed me down south. But since I spent a lot of time at the airport and on planes I got a good amount of studying done for FAR. That’s good because my test is on Friday :O. I am a little nervous since this is the first section of the exam I am attempting. I just want to get it over with so I know what it’s like. I am focusing my efforts this week on taking practice exams to prepare me for the big day! haha Wish me luck! The weather better stay nice until I after I take this exam!

~ Rachael

Vacation at Last!

I just finished watching a two and a half hour lecture on contract law. That’s it. I’m done. No more CPA Exam preparation until a week from Sunday. I started the CPA Exam and my career last September and have yet to take any time off. Next week I will be in a beach chair by a lake listening to Kokomo and sipping those fruity drinks with the colorful umbrellas.

I’d like to think my mind will be free of all accounting-related thoughts, but it won’t happen. I love the stuff. I’m a wild and crazy guy! I won’t bring my books, though. They will be here for me when I get back.

Good luck to everyone taking the Exam this testing window. I will be joining you in August to take REG. Happy Independence Day!

-Seth

Write/Type it out.

To piggy back on Seth’s post, I have a similar study habit, except for the best part of his posts “Being the Teacher” which I think is a brilliant idea! And I am stealing this one when I start studying for the remaining sections.

Here is how I approached AUD: My software throws random questions from every category. I answered them to the best of my ability. For every question I miss and/or had no clue what the question is asking for, I would write out definition/answer on my purple notebook. After a few days, I figured I’d save some time and few trees by typing instead of writing. So I started typing my notes on the MS word and named it Note1.doc.  There were 37 pages in Note1.doc. When I was through answering each question at least once, I printed out my note and read/reviewed it thoroughly before attempting the questions again.

The purple Notebook.

My chances of missing the questions the second time around was much higher than (don’t laugh) the sun shining in MA. So, when I miss the questions this time, I would type it out in Note2.doc which contained 17 pages. Not bad! Then I read/reviewed Note 2, before attempting to answer the troubled questions. (Question missed more than once).

Next, were simulations. I did two simulations per day coupled with as many multiple choice questions as I could fit in, everyday, until two days before the test. I took a day before the test off from studying.

This was my methodology for AUD. While BEC has its own story. I will write about it in a separate post, when I get back from my guilty pleasure vacation.

Happy 4th of July.

babita.