Posts tagged: CMA Review

Written By Guest Blogger Ashley G.

What happens when you fall off the horse? Do you get up and try again? Do you change your approach when you get back on the horse? Do you run away in fear?

Recently,  I was selfish and took some “me” time. The advantage of everyone reading my blog entries is that they get to see everything that I go through during the CMA studying process. So, to be honest, I have been a slacker.

When people have asked me about types of study behavior, I have always said the following: studiers will pass, slackers will fail, and crammers may get lucky. So, at this point, you may wonder what I consider myself. Well, I think I am still at the point in my studying where this time off won’t affect me too much, as long as I’m diligent for the remainder this month. Any more time off from studying will make or break me though.

Now that I am back from vacation and with the busy season slowing down (my busy season is from September to February), I have altered my strategy and gotten back on the horse. So, what is the current game plan you might wonder? Good question.

My plan is simple. I plan on reading the book throughout the week. This will be done by developing a pattern for my weekdays. I finish work around 6 or 7. Then I eat dinner and take an hour for “me” time. In theory, I allocate approximately 3-4 hours of studying for myself. Any make-up is done during lunch at work. My weekends will be spent working on multiple-choice questions, reviewing flashcards made throughout the week, studying notes, etc.

Here’s to a new strategy, and HOPEFULLY a new CMA certification!

Written By Guest Blogger Lynn L.

It was definitely a tough week for me to study. There were so many distractions during my vacation. I have spent very little time studying for the CMA exam and was not productive at all in the past week.

All I did early this week was study Study Units 1 and 2 with the CMA review book, which I thought was enough since I did that all the time for my other classes. But the results were not good. When I tried to take the diagnostic quiz, I found that I didn’t remember most of the things I studied previously from the review book. I was pretty confident before I started studying, because I took my cost accounting class last year and I thought I would remember a great deal of it. But when I really started studying a couple days ago, I discovered that I was not even sure how to calculate cost of goods manufactured. It is frustrating to have a tough beginning like this.

I was worried, but I tried to calm down and force myself to find a better way to study. I started to think of what my personal counselor said in the email. She listed all the things I need to study in the suggested steps, which Gleim concluded from the most successful candidates. I also read the CMA Review: A System for Success, which I had previously ignored. I have to say that this book answered literally all the questions I had and even gave me a clear direction where to go from here.  So I followed the suggested steps in the book and restarted Study Unit 1 with another diagnostic quiz. I was quite confused why I needed to take a quiz before studying anything. But it makes sense to me now because it helped my to discover my weak areas from the results of the quizzes. I definitely came up with a lot of questions during the process. These questions helped me become proactive when I started studying the presentation. Even though the presentation went pretty fast, I was able to be focus and grasped most of the concepts it covered.  After a quick review of my diagnostic quiz and presentation, I easily achieved a 93% in the true/false test and finally regained my confidence.

It is hard to accept the fact that I wasted so many days trying to create my own way to study, and it did not work well. Following the Gleim suggested steps seemed unnecessary, but it really is the best and most productive way for me so far. I am behind in my schedule and need to catch up as soon as I can. With a clear direction in mind, I believe it shouldn’t be a problem. I also hope that I do not become distracted by anything in the coming week. Good luck!

Regards,

Lynn

My name is Leslie M. and I am a Treasury Coordinator at a large public energy corporation. I have held my current role for several years and have experience managing liquidity, credit facilities, and the cash forecast process for multiple companies. I work closely with senior management and corporate accounting to identify key drivers for sources and uses of cash. I am an experienced accounting and finance professional with expertise in general ledger, full cycle accounting, financial reporting, variance analysis, treasury, cash management, and cash forecasting. I have also held other positions utilizing accounting, budgeting, and forecasting skills. I have an MBA in Finance and a BBA in Finance.

My primary reasons for taking the CMA exam is career advancement and to improve upon my practical experiences in accounting, budgeting, and forecasting. After I completed my MBA, I had always planned to achieve and maintain a certification in the area I felt was most applicable to my career. I believe the CMA designation is the perfect blend between accounting and finance. It will allow me to not only earn a respect in my field of choice, but also allow me the opportunity to continue my education each year and stay current on relevant financial trends and accounting concepts. I feel that taking the time to study for, achieve, and maintain the CMA also demonstrates dedication and commitment, which in turn will bring about positive career opportunities and advancement. Five years after completing my MBA, I have finally decided to pursue the CMA in 2013, and I look forward to the challenge!

Written By Guest Blogger Lynn L.

Staying inside my room during these cold temperatures, I started thinking about what my first step will be to prepare myself for the CMA exam.  I know that now is the best time to do it, when I don’t have classes or work. I plan to sit for Part 1 of the CMA exam in January and Part 2 in late February. I have only a few weeks to study for Part 1, so I decided to make a realistic plan for these upcoming days.

Do It Yourself VS. Personal Counselor

In order to make a realistic plan, I definitely need to know some general information about the CMA exam. I asked myself a couple of questions:
1. How long does it usually take for a candidate to study and pass Part 1 of the CMA exam?
2. What are the suggested steps to study and use Gleim review?
3. Can someone help me to make a study plan based on my own situation?

I absolutely had no idea what the answers would be. I searched the Internet for the answers. But it’s hard when you try to do all the research yourself. So I started to think about who I knew who had taken and passed the exam. I immediately thought of Melissa, who previously blogged about her study experiences and successfully passed Part 1 of CMA exam not too long ago. Melissa very kindly shared her stories, gave me some very helpful tips, and told me that Gleim actually provides personal counseling services to help candidates set up study plans for exams.

I felt lucky to learn this right before I started my own plan. So I contacted my personal counselor. I told them my background and situation, and then asked them the three questions I mentioned above. They quickly responded and set up study plans and weekly goals for me based on the information I provided. My personal counselor even listed how much time I would need to study the various materials for each study unit. Honestly, without their help, I would have spent much more time just on doing research on the preparation. My personal counselor just made everything much easier. Now, with a great start, I am confident and excited that I will definitely pass Part 1 after following the steps and working hard. I am going to start my first study unit now, and I will let you know how it goes next week!