Written by Christine L.
Now that I’ve taken AUD, I’m taking a few days to catch up on my life and getting myself ready for FAR. I have thought a lot about which parts to take and in what order. I am planning on taking (and passing) all four parts in four months, and that’s about as short a stretch as I can imagine fitting this into. My original idea was to put FAR last because I think that it will be the most interesting for me (and closest to what I plan to do 40 hours a week for most of the rest of my life). I figured that after three months and 29 days of study I’ll be thinking a lot about inspiration.
But there is another factor, which is the blackout months. My choice to take all four CPA exams in the period of May to August had to do with a lot of things, but simply put, those are the dates of summer break at school. June is a blackout month. This means that while I can study past the end of June into July, I cannot gain a day or two by studying hard and sitting for a section a day or two ahead of June 30. Many people suggested a little more time for FAR and a little less time for BEC, so the tentative plan is to push FAR a few days into July and steal a little time from BEC. I am fortunate in that I live in an urban area and there are at least five test centers within a two hour drive. That means that I can watch the spots filling up and sign up as little as five days in advance.
Still, I’m upbeat about the possibility of getting through the whole of the FAR review course in close to one month. Studying for hours unquestionably got easier after the first couple of weeks. Having been through the process once, I’ve learned a few useful things. I do better with one long study session with frequent breaks. I like to schedule things down to the hour, and rewrite my schedule to get me caught up when I slip, even a little. And under no circumstances do I start goofing off until I have reached my daily goal, even when I should have plenty of time left to finish quizzes after I watch a cheesy classic movie. And the best thing about those cheesy classic movies is that you can never watch them all; they will always make more of them. And you can always watch them later…after you pass all four parts.
