Posts tagged: CPA Score Release
The Longest Reach – How To Combat A Failed REG Attempt
Written By Guest Blogger John E.
On an afternoon in late 2012, I sat quietly in awe as my advisory score flashed on my computer screen. I could not believe it. After putting in 125 hours of study time and hammering away at 1,900 test-prep questions, I was expecting something great. What I hoped for never happened. The result of seven weeks of studies and countless questions netted me a fail.
I wasn’t angry or sad. This grade, the lowest I have ever seen literally drained the hope out of me. This score had me second guessing my abilities. I managed to pass three sections in the matter of five months. I did this using Gleim books and Test Prep software alone. Passing FAR, AUD, and BEC in just a short span of time really had me confident and optimistic. I thought that I would pass REG on my first try when I sat for it on 10/31. I thought momentum was on my side.
I let myself and my family down. I have a wife and young child waiting for me to be done with this arduous journey. I can’t let this happen again. The only way to move forward is accept the failure and forget about it. After having a little time to reflect on my failure, it was clear I shouldn’t have sat for REG so soon. After passing three parts in five months, I had two options before me: study for REG and take it for the fourth quarter or take a break and come back fresh in 2013. My parts don’t expire until November 2013 anyhow. I was tired and knew I needed a rest, but I thought momentum could push me through. Noticeably, my intensity on day one of my REG review had plummeted. I had become lax and was cutting corners in my studies. At the same time, I was cavalier, overconfident, and denying the possibility of failure. I had gone through the same study schedule for REG as I had for the previous three sections that I passed. Yet this time I failed to give it my all, and I never tailored my study strategy for this particular section. Please take my advice and take this thing seriously. Don’t waste your time or money.
When I start back this month, I will be ready once again. I will have a clear mind and a passion to succeed. I anticipate re-taking REG by the third week of February. This time around, I will be straying away from the book and Test Prep alone; I will take my studies more seriously and will use the entire Gleim CPA Review System. I will follow Dr. Gleim’s system exactly. I know I will be successful once again.
Looking Back At My CPA Exam – It’s All About The Timing
Written By Guest Blogger Christine L.
Taking all four parts of the CPA exam in four months is not how most people choose to do it, but for me, it was logical that I try. I didn’t have a job; scheduling conflicts forced me to push graduation out a semester, and graduating in the summer didn’t sound that exciting. So I tried it. I did it, and it was hard. It would have been hard no matter how I did it, but I it could have been easier had I known some things I know now.
I already had some things to say about academics, but really, the academics were not harder than my classes. It’s the volume of these things that makes them hard. It took me more hours than I thought it would. Some study units took more than six hours, some took less, but on day one, I didn’t know how it would add up. There are people who will tell you that you can do it in half of the hours I spent. Of course first-time pass rates for these exams are not real high, and you might wonder if there is some relationship between these two facts. I wanted to pass more than I wanted to spend my time elsewhere. That sort of contradicts the part where I wanted to pass all four parts in four months, and this was an issue. I was always chasing after myself—if I take a break now, will I be able to make it up tomorrow? Studying for hours was never a problem. The problem is that I had to keep each day’s hours reasonable if I wanted to keep going for four months, but I miscalculated because my experience with the first exam led me to underestimate how many hours I’d spend on the last exam.
I didn’t spend enough time on REG. What I would do now is to take all the Gleim sample tests for every part first, and stat with the one with the lowest score and work down. You’d have to vary this though, depending on when the blackout month(s) fall into your planned schedule.
The real lesson I took away from this is that passing the CPA exams has as much to do with your life, your job, your school schedule, and your finances as it does with all that intellectual stuff. If you’ve taken 150 hours of accounting courses and done well, you’ve proven that you can handle the material. What’s left is about discipline and concentration and an awful lot of just keeping at it. Plan it out, think it through, know yourself, and let the test prep take care of itself.
Final Days before BEC
Written By Guest Blogger John E.
I have just a few days before my BEC exam and I am feeling quite confident. I have been keeping up with the same final review strategy that I used in the past. I believe I am ready to take the exam. So far, my scores have been around 75%-90%. I still catch a few curve-ball questions every now and then. There is only so much you can retain. Even though I have already passed FAR, I feel the BEC is no exam to joke about. Yes, it is only 3 hours long, but this exam is the kitchen sink of all sections. As an accountant, this exam draws business knowledge that I do not use in my current practice, so applying these foreign concepts (such as macroeconomics, microeconomics, IT, and cost accounting) can be a real challenge at times.
Aside from final review and sitting for the exam, I am looking forward to a little time off before grades post so I can unwind and decompress from my CPA marathon. As I have stated before, I intend to pass all four sections within a six-month window. Yes, this is highly stressful, but possible. Beyond being pressure cooked for the past few months, house chores are slipping behind, and I have many errands to complete. I would like to stress the importance of having a spouse that supports you 100% during this time. You will need a strong support team along the way.
Passed! Passed!
Written By Guest Blogger Christine L.
When I took AUD, my first section of the CPA exam, I had no idea that the AICPA had score release dates when a block of us worried candidates would simultaneously get hit with a brick composed of approximately 55% misery and 45% happiness. My AUD e-mail was a surprise and came much sooner than I’d expected. It took me hours to get up the courage to open it. This time around I took two exams inside of two weeks, but I knew in advance that I would get two score reports dropped on me in one day. I spent all day yesterday wondering what was taking so long. The first e-mail mentioned BEC…and it said PASS. It also said I had credit for AUD, BEC, and FAR, which did confuse me a bit. So I went to the AICPA website and saw 88 for FAR, and a 92 for BEC! It took another half hour for the FAR report to pop up in my mailbox. It’s a good thing I hadn’t thought about checking the website earlier because I would have been hitting the refresh key until my finger cramped. So besides being overjoyed, where am I now?
There’s a school of thought that says that anything over 75 on the CPA exams is over preparation. It’s pretty easy to regret that strategy when you end up with a 74. I was sure that if I even passed FAR at all that the score would be more like 78 than 88, and I based that on how I felt about AUD just before walking in and just after walking out of the exam. But my FAR score of 88 beats my AUD score of 82. Does this mean that my feeling that AUD would be my worst exam was correct? And how could I be over prepared for BEC when I only studied for two weeks? I don’t know, maybe my spectacular 92 is from my math background, maybe it had something to do with how well my courses synced up to the exams. The truth is that none of this speculation makes any difference in what I’m doing next, which is studying like crazy for another week, taking REG, and passing it. If I can do three, I can sure do four.
I Passed All Four Sections Of The CPA Exam!
Written By Guest Blogger Anne R.
I Passed! I just found out that I passed the Financial section of the CPA exam! That means that I passed the whole exam and I am finished with it forever! I will not be one to slack on my continuing education because I never want to risk having to take the exam again. I can’t wait to start the process to receive my license and certificate!
It feels so great to have finally passed all four parts of the CPA exam. I have been studying for and taking this test for 3 years now. However, once I really started studying seriously, it only took me one year to pass all four parts. I passed REG last July, BEC in January, AUD in May, and FAR in August. I spaced out the four tests because I needed to take breaks in between studying for each part in order to keep going.
I think the key to passing the CPA exam is just to give it your best the first time and put in the hours of studying. It is a difficult exam, but I think the most difficult thing about it is the time and discipline it takes. You have to commit to missing out on social events, waking up early and/or staying up late, and really focusing during your study time. For the first two years of studying, I would spend some of my “study time” playing a couple games of solitaire, checking my email, etc. – only for 5 minutes (I would tell myself). All those minutes add up! A good way to get around this temptation for me was to order the book. This way I could do a lot of my studying without a computer in sight. I also went to almost every social event and would schedule my studying around my life. In order to pass, you have to schedule your life around your study time, and you have to be really focused in order to use that time wisely. In fact, when I’m missing out on something, it helps me to focus more on my studies because my time is valuable. While I was studying for FAR, my whole family and my husband went to see the new Batman movie…and I stayed home. That was a great 3 hours of studying though; since I was missing the movie, I wanted to make my suffering worthwhile.
So I leave you with this: be encouraged, no matter how many parts you’ve failed or let expire. You can pass if you put in the time and focus. It’s okay to start over, give yourself a clean slate, and get serious about the CPA exam. You can do it, because I finally did!
Cost Accounting and One Sick Household
Written By John E.
Well there I was on the brink of finishing up a preliminary review of all 20 study units from my Gleim CPA BEC book and test prep software. There were a few obstacles standing in my way as I looked ahead to breezing past study units 19 and 20, which cover Cost Accounting topics. First off I was sick, and so was my spouse and baby. Secondly, I struggle with Cost Accounting in general due to the breadth of formula usage. Toward the end of the week, I finally got through Study Units 19 and 20. Not too bad I guess. I would definitely rate these study units top of the list in difficulty. After a few sets of practice tests and in-depth reviews of all of the questions and answers in each study unit, the learning curve improved and I was able to complete Cost Accounting.
Now it is time to move on to a comprehensive final review. When it comes to the final review, I like to give myself a minimum of two weeks. In this crucial period of time, I tend to review study units in blocks of five at a time in a 20-question practice test. After I complete a practice exam, I will review each question and answer. I will re-take practice tests as many times as necessary until I achieve a score of 75% or better. Then it is on to the next practice test. I will repeat this process over and over until the night or two before the exam. Fortunately, my CPA exam is scheduled for the end of August, so I have given myself the two weeks plus that I need. On the night before my exam I will engage light review. Also in the morning I will put in a little more light reviewing over a cup of coffee to seal the deal. I also do not like taking my exams first thing in the morning. I like to shoot for a 10 o’clock time slot.
I will admit that after five weeks of reviewing all 20 study units, you tend to lose some of the information you learned early on. Here are a few helpful tips I use: Remember not to be too hard on yourself if your scores aren’t top-shelf. I have to remind myself of this often. You have two weeks to work the kinks out, so don’t panic. Don’t sit too long on one topic if you are having difficulties. Move on and come back to it (time permitting). Relax, just try your best and visualize your success on exam day. If you can believe, you can achieve. So far the above study strategy has worked for me with FAR and AUD.
John E Is Moving On To BEC
Written By Guest Blogger John E.
Week one has come and gone in my studies of the BEC section. I just finished the AUD CPA exam less than two weeks ago and I have committed to plugging along to the next section. The clock is ticking and I have committed to taking exam after exam without breaking in between to wait for scores before moving on. I am now patiently awaiting my AUD score. Scores should post by week one according to when I tested within the window.
In the meantime I am keeping myself busy studying the next six weeks for BEC. My thoughts about BEC is that this thing is the kitchen sink of ugliness derived from a variety of topics, which include managerial accounting, corporate finance, cost accounting, economics, and IT. Although this exam will be shorter in duration and have zero simulations, it is not to be underestimated. I am truly finding challenges in the content. I am not a big fan of economics, such as the Microeconomics and Macroeconomics study units. Some of the study units have required me to use statistical methods. Now those are some topics I haven’t covered in years.
As before, my strategy is to memorize and rework multiple-choice problems via the Gleim test prep software and the book. I will work BEC just as I did for FAR and AUD. I will hit every study unit and take practice tests in each study unit until I score a 75% or better. Then I will move on to the next study unit. During my final review I will re-test on all questions from Study Units 1 through 20. I will have roughly two weeks for final review. And as before, I will budget 15-20 hours a week. Week two, here we come.
Note: This blog was written by John E. before the CPA Exam window closed.
John E Passed AUD!
Written By Guest Blogger John E.
Any weekend a passing score is posted equals a good weekend in my book. I managed to check NASBA late Saturday night to find that scores were posted. I was able to score an 86 on AUD. Whew…what a relief. I am currently preparing for BEC, and I cannot tell you how much I needed to see another passing score before heading into the next section. There’s nothing like jumping into the next section before you know where you stand with the exam you just took. I wasn’t completely surprised to see that I passed the AUD section, even though I remember leaving the testing center totally unnerved.
I knew deep down that I was doing well on the exam, yet after four hours you lose some sense of your assurance in a solid performance. To pass AUD, I used the same materials and study habits I used to pass FAR back in May. I logged 110 hours for a total of six and a half weeks. This equates to about 15-20 hours a week. I used the Gleim book when needed to clarify the material in the Gleim Test Prep software. I did not read the book cover to cover. The thing that works best for me is the repetition of answering test prep questions over and over again. Honestly, I keep reading to a minimum, unless the material is completely foreign to me. I take practice tests for each study unit until I score a minimum of 75%. A score of 75% or better allows me to move to the next study unit. My final review consists of all the study units I reviewed together in a practice test of twenty questions each. So far this has been my study regimen. It seems to work for me, but no one strategy works for everyone.
Note: This blog was written by John E. before the CPA Exam window closed.
Gleim CPA Practice Exam
Written By Guest Blogger KRR.
I took the CPA Exam Practice exam on Thursday and received a score of 85.27%. I was ecstatic about my results and feel confident that I have very little to review before my exam at the end of the month. Even though my score is in the mid-eighties, I am a little concerned about the results. My weakest area was in the Evidence section (Study Units 10 through 15) where I averaged a 71.00%. I thought the Evidence section was one of my strongest areas. On the other hand, I received a score of 90.00% in the Internal Control section and was completely shocked. I felt like this was a weak area for me, so I am a bit surprised about the score.
My plan for this week is to review the Evidence section, the Internal Control section, and the Engagement Responsibilities section in depth to ensure that I have a better understanding of the material. Even though my scores in these three sections were seventy percent, eighty eight percent, and ninety percent, I would like the scores to be a little higher. I also plan to complete the additional twenty simulations that I have not completed and to retake the simulations in the three areas listed above to try to achieve higher scores.
I have a busy week ahead of me. It will be a challenge to stay on schedule, but I must continue to put in the hours of studying to hopefully receive a passing CPA Exam score in September.
Note: This blog was written by KRR before the CPA Exam window closed.
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