Posts tagged: Gleim AUD CPA Review

Study Scheduling – Work/Life Balance

January 4, 2013, by No comments yet

Written By Guest Blogger Jaime C.

Hello, fellow CPA exam candidates!

I recently read blog postings from other CPA candidates about the sacrifices they make to increase study time. Several candidates have plans to skip social dinners, not go to the movies with their families, and even miss weddings in order to study. I admire this dedication and discipline. I, however, have yet to master the discipline to make studying my main focus. While I work really well under pressure, I have found that “cramming” in the last weekend or two before the exam does not lead to a passing score.

I continue to work on finding a happy medium between studying and participating in social gatherings. With that said, I have not opened my AUD book in exactly one week. My intentions to tackle the simulation exams were pushed aside.

Now that I have my Notice to Schedule and plan to sit for the exam in roughly 6-7 weeks, I need to cover the remaining study units and knock out as many practice exams as possible by following the original plan from my Gleim Counselor. Since I have already covered several study units, I will now be able to focus on practice exams and simulations.

Here is my six-week schedule for one exam section:
Week 1: Complete Study Units 1-4
Week 2: Complete Study Units 5-8
Week 3: Complete Study Units 9-12
Week 4: Complete Study Units 13-16
Week 5: Complete Study Units 17-20
Week 6: Cumulative review of weak areas

I plan to add studying to my calendar just like any other appointment or get-together.

 

My Notice To Schedule Has Arrived – CPA Exam

January 4, 2013, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Jaime C.

My Notice to Schedule arrived via email this week. Immediately, I jumped on the NASBA website for the link to the Prometric website. I entered in my zip code and a local testing center popped up. Since there is only two weeks left in this testing window, the only time available was a week and half later. In addition to the local testing center, the three next closest sites were between one to four hours away. I wouldn’t mind traveling a bit to take the exam; however, the open dates were essentially the same.

I stared at the calendar on my wall, counted the days and tried to convince myself that an adjustment to take the exam two months earlier than originally planned was feasible. I figured that if I moved up the AUD exam, I could move on to another section and be ahead of my anticipated timeline.

After much consideration and discussing my options with my husband, I decided to wait until the next testing window. I have not nearly covered the amount of material necessary to sit for the exam and two weeks was not going to give me enough time. No one is pushing or pressuring me to take the exam so allowing more time to adequately cover the material is my best option.

With a final decision made to sit for the CPA exam in the next testing window, the pressure to cram and study all hours of the day was eliminated. Needless to say, my motivation tanked this week. Instead, I worked on house projects and ran errands with my husband all weekend. It is refreshing not to cram and feel pressured to study, study, study. I can get back on track this week with regular studying in the evenings. I also plan to focus on the simulations rather than multiple-choice questions this week.

 

TeamAUD and Feeling Good About My Progress

December 20, 2012, by No comments yet

Written By Guest Blogger Jaime C.

This week I felt great tackling the Audit material. I studied a few nights during the week and focused on the current study unit, rather than the fact that I have the whole book to learn. Focusing on one study unit at a time helps take the anxiety out of the massive amount of material yet to cover. I also jumped to Study Unit 19 to change things up a bit. My professors in college never taught classes by going through chapters in consecutive order, so it couldn’t hurt. For the most part, I plan to study the study units in consecutive order. However, variety is the spice of life, and if mixing things up can keep me motivated and interested, than it is worth it.

During the week I took numerous 15- and 20-question practice exams, incorporating Study Units 1, 2, and 19. This amount of questions is manageable and keeps my attention. I read a recent blog posting from Danielle C. where she wrote, “When studying from the book and answering questions, I read the entire answer paragraph, even if I got the question right and feel that I understood it.” I realized that I do the same thing and would encourage others to study in a similar fashion. The repetition is great, as well as the opportunity to pick up information as the incorrect answers are explained.

In junior high, our English teacher would give us a spelling test each week. In order to prepare for the weekly exams, we would copy each word 20+ times. I find this method helps now as I study for the Audit exam. The repetition is great but it also gives me something to visually recall while taking the practice exams and ultimately the final exam. For instance, I recall how the auditing standards looked on the page as I wrote them over and over. This isn’t something I do for all topics, but I find it very helpful when there are lists or categories to remember.

I look forward to a victorious week of focusing on another Study Unit. Happy studying!

 

Messy House? You’re Probably Studying for the CPA Exam.

December 6, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Jaime C.

Our house is never as clean or organized as it is when I should be studying for the CPA exam. The newness of studying and preparing for the exam has worn off. I had set pretty high expectations for myself this week and did not meet those goals. I had plans to study a few hours each night, but by Thursday night those plans had fallen through. I had plans to study all of Saturday and Sunday, but those hours passed me by too. I had an epiphany today. I realized that the whole idea of studying and learning the whole book of Audit is overwhelming and that I need to set realistic, short-term goals for myself. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

I received an email from my Gleim Personal Counselor this week asking why I plan to take the Audit exam in late January. She said that with my availability of study time, I should be able to sit for the exam the last week of November. I pulled out my calendar and added up the days and hours. This plan appears extremely reasonable, and it’s comforting to know that I wouldn’t have to study through the holiday season. However, I am not completely convinced that my discipline will have me ready by then. I want to make absolute certain that I can pass on the first try, especially since the exam material is changing next spring. Normally I am not one to question the experts, but working 50+ hours a week gives me anxiety and I’d rather have a little extra time to study the material.

This brings me back to setting realistic goals and meeting weekly expectations. Tomorrow I plan to work all day, hit the gym for an hour, and study for two hours. Rather than plan the whole week and feel guilty when my expectations from Sunday night are not met, I will take one day at a time and celebrate each daily accomplishment. Since the house is nearly spotless, there aren’t any excuses to miss a great study session.

 

Beginning AUD – First Time With The CBT-e Exam

November 12, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Jaime C.

I ordered the Gleim Audit study materials last Monday anticipating another week of freedom before my studying would begin. The materials arrived Wednesday! I cracked open the book, read most of the first study unit, set up my online access and downloaded the software to my laptop.

The first time I took Audit (and passed) in 2006, I had just graduated from college and was very familiar with all the relationships between GAAS, ASB, FASB, SASs, etc. Now, a good portion of the first study unit seemed completely foreign. However, I am confident that other sections of the material will be easier to understand now that I have been on both sides of an audit, as the auditor and as the client. Taking the exam right out of college has its advantages, but since I can’t turn back the clock, I am expecting my work experience to complement the reading material to make this a successful CPA exam section.

Monday will be my official start to tackling Audit on a full-time basis. Since football season is in full swing, I can knock out some great studying on the weekends while my husband is watching all of the games and monitoring his fantasy teams. I grew up going to high school and college football games, but didn’t learn what a first and ten was until I was a sophomore in college. The sounds of the games filling our house on Saturdays and Sundays will be the background noise to my studying. I’m hoping it is just like the light music and conversation in a coffee shop (my favorite place to study) only cheaper and easier on the calories!

Speaking of watching calories, I plan to continue my commitment to fitness, rather than succumb to unhealthy comfort foods while studying. Fine tuning a balance between a full-time job, exercise, studying, and household chores will be another key to my success. I’ll keep you posted on my progress during this football season. I sure do like all the pink the players are sporting for Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

 

Looking Back At My CPA Exam – It’s All About The Timing

October 25, 2012, by No comments yet

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.

 

CPA AUD: All or Retest Next Year

October 19, 2012, by 2 comments

 

Written By Guest Blogger Oprah M.

I would say “all or nothing” but that would not be the case. Therefore, I just say “all or retest next year,” but I am praying to pass. This is the last testing window for 2012, so I am taking AUD in October. I also thought about taking BEC before the end of this testing window. However, I will focus on that after AUD.

I have about 10 more days to review and answer multiple-choice questions. I buckled down and started putting in more hours during the week and on the weekend. It so hard to tell my kids, “No, mommy has to study.” I do not know how many times I have had to repeat that within the last few days. It is funny how daddy can be right there, but they will walk past him to get to me. Thus, I just tell them to ask daddy. My husband is trying to help me get more time to study alone by taking the kids outside to play.

I am still reviewing with flashcards and answering multiple-choice questions. It feels great when you actually know the information you are studying. For example, knowing the sales, purchases, payroll, and other cycles helps a great deal in remembering the assertions. Therefore, because I know the cycle process and how it should work, the multiple-choice questions are much easier. Knowing the cycles helps with reviewing evidence for sampling. I feel as though I know the process and not just the correct answer for a question.

Working with Gleim CPA Review has boosted my confidence tremendously. Reviewing AUD has helped me develop an appreciation for the auditing process.

Wish me luck!

 

 

Notice to Schedule Expiring

October 11, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Oprah M.

Today I decided to print my Notice to Schedule and realized that the latest I can take the exam is the first week of October. So I’m sitting here trying to figure out how to get everything finished for each study unit along with a final review. I figure since I paid for the test and NASBA doesn’t give refunds that I would go ahead and take it. I scheduled the latest time I could get in October.

Once I found out my testing time, it wasn’t a hard decision to continue. I have completed up to Study Unit 12 so I have eight more to go. For the next two weeks I took some vacation days so that I could study. I feel like I let myself down by not knowing my time was about to expire.

Right now, multiple-choice questions have become my savior. I’m using the Gleim software I downloaded to my computer for which I don’t need internet access to use. I’ll definitely have to start doing more Gleim simulations to get comfortable and teach myself how to stay within the allotted time. I have been studying 2-3 hours a day instead of just one hour per day. Carrying flash cards around has become another good way for me to study. When something doesn’t require too much of my attention, I review my flashcards. I created the flashcards from the Gleim AUD review book so that I wouldn’t need to always carry a book to study. Gleim has provided me with all my self-study CPA AUD review materials needed and has also assigned me a personal counselor to help me answer any questions or problems I may have. It all comes down to the next two weeks.

Wish me luck

 

And Then There Was One for John E.

October 9, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger John E.

I love the fall season. I love it especially this year. My reason for welcoming this fall with open arms and optimism is that I have managed to pass three sections of the CPA exam. I am within reach of completion and finally becoming a Certified Public Accountant. I see the light at the end of a long and sacrificial journey. Forgive me for being philosophical, but I am coming off a high from recently receiving a passing score on the BEC section.

I could not be happier. I really wasn’t so sure about myself after the BEC exam. I didn’t feel as confident as I had been when I took the AUD exam. I still believe and have stated before: “These exams are designed to be long, tricky and to leave you with the feeling of confusion.”

I would recommend to anyone not to stress too much about what has already been done and cannot be undone. Just leave it in the test room and move on. What I mean is that you should forget about the exam until you receive your advisory score. Then make a decision. Try not to schedule the next section unless you know you passed the section you just took. Just wait for the score and then transition to the next part. Yes, it’s tough to retake a section of the exam. I can speak about this from experience. However, it is tougher to retake a section and find focus after you have begun studying new material. I say, “one step at a time.” The journey to become a CPA is not a sprint but a marathon.

 

The Waiting Begins

October 4, 2012, by No comments yet

 

Written By Guest Blogger Kathy R.

I took the CPA Audit Exam on Sunday August 26 and was so relieved when I completed my last testlet. I walked out of the testing room in a complete fog. I was psychically and mentally exhausted! On my way home I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up two crab cakes for dinner. Once I arrived home, I started dinner and took a shower to relax. The remainder of the evening was watching mindless TV to attempt to get my mind off the exam.

Going into the exam, I felt totally prepared due to my multiple-choice scores consistently being in the mid-eighties and I felt I had a good understanding of the material. The first testlet required a lot of reasoning skills to determine the correct answer. The second and third testlets were a lot easier. The fourth testlet (simulations) was material I had not studied before. It’s very hard to try to predict your scores, so all I can do is wait for the dreaded email from NASBA.

I am taking a week to two weeks off from studying to rejuvenate my brain cells. I will also attempt to catch up on personal things that I had pushed aside in the last couple weeks before I took the Audit Exam.

Going forward, I am unsure of what section to take next. I need to review the subject content in each of the three remaining sections and try to determine which of them will be the easiest to take and pass in November.