NJSCPA Exam Cram Blog

Phew.

FARE = done. Now the waiting begins.

The test went well (or so I think). The material was fair and there really wasn't anything out of left field. About 65% of the questions, I felt assured of the correct answer, and about 25% I felt like I made a reasonable estimate. So there were only about 10% of the questions that were straight up guesses. It wasn't even that the ones I guessed on were "hard," they were either tricky or I felt assured of an answer that wasn't an option (which I'm assuming meant I was wrong, haha).

So now I have to wait to find out if my feelings about it were correct. I'm sure hoping so, because I'll feel even worse if I feel this confident and still fail, haha.

The Becker Final Review did end up taking ALL day on Wednesday. So long...I studied, with only three half-an-hour breaks, from 7 am to 10 pm. But honestly, it was a great "conclusion" studying session. It totally ingrained all the pnemonics and just reinforced the key facts. I'd definitely recommend it. I really think that was what gave me the final confidence boost.

OK, so I'm taking the weekend off from studying to have fun in Hoboken and celebrate St. Patty's day (I know its really early). But come Monday - time to study for Regulation!!

Down to the wire...cram time.

So with about a day to go, I'm pretty relaxed. I'm not sure if it will hit me tomorrow or Thursday, but I'm thinking that I've got to get really nervous at some point. I'd rather get nervous tomorrow (Wednesday)...then I'd get it all out of my system before the test on Thursday morning. Does it work like that though? Can I just release all my nervousness the day before...so I'm calm, cool and collective the morning of? We'll find out.

Today I started working through the Becker Final Review course (it's an add-on to either the CD-ROM or Live course) which is said to take between 6 - 10 hours. They recommend doing it very close to the exam and after reviewing all the regular course material. I've gotten through 2 of the 15 topics for FARE and its taken about 3 hours. So basically I'm hoping that the remaining 13 topics are either a LOT shorter than the first two, otherwise it's going to be a LONG day tomorrow.

I took a vacation day from work tomorrow too so that I can fully concentrate on getting in that last full day of studying. It's odd...for college exams I was never really one to study until the last possible second or cram it all in. I worked under the principle that if I didn't know it the day before the exam, that I wasn't going to know it at all. I guess it worked - I mean I did graduate and get a good job. But I'm feeling TOTALLY the opposite for the CPA exam. There are so many nuances and special "circumstances" and "situations" that could present themselves in last minute practice questions and simulations, that it seems so worthwhile to keep on studying.

Doing those one or two additional multiple choice questions might make all the difference if they're anything similar to one or two multiple choice on exam day. That's my hope! Next time I post, the first exam should be only a distant memory! :-D (And not one I'd like to repeat.)

288 hours until test time...

In less than 288 hours, I'll be seated a the Prometric test site in Clark, NJ to take the first section of the CPA exam. This weekend will be consumed by studying (I'm lucky to have the holiday off on Monday as well to give me more time).

Recently, I've taken up going to the gym much more often. It might sound counterintuitive and time consuming, but it's really helped keep my head on straight. I've been taking Pilates and Yoga classes and they've managed to allow me to stay up later, wake up earlier, and generally just stay more alert throughout the day. They do cut into some of my study time minimally, but I think the mental and physical stimulation they provide outside of work is well worth it.

Work has maintained a good balance as well. I've been kept very busy, but not overworked, so I can still maintain my sanity which is nice! I'm working on two projects - one's ending and one's just starting up, but they are both interesting which makes things so much more bearable. I was able to connect one of our situations in the audit that's ending to my CPA studies and have been doing some AICPA research for it too. It deals with revenue recognition and some intricate scenarios that they definitely have never taught in school.

In the scenario I'm looking at, a financial product's fees are assessed at the beginning of a quarter for assets held in account based on the close-of-business of the prior quarter. If the fees are then accrued throughout the current quarter based on actual asset amounts, and the fees are then adjusted at the end of the current quarter (to balance the difference between the actual accrued fees that should be charged and the estimated fees that were charged), how is that adjustment in estimate (that is assessed to the client in the NEXT quarter) recognized? Fun stuff! It's actually been very interesting - I guess that's why I chose to be an accountant!

Got my NTS!

I finally got my NTS (on 01/30)! I scheduled my first exam for Feb 28 at 9am...that means less than a month to go! I scheduled my second exam for April 21 at 8am.

So it took about 10-weeks to get my NTS. Ughh. Hah.

Given the short time frame between now and the first exam, I should be staying home today to study, but instead I'm treating myself to some shopping! Hmm...probably a bad idea, but I'm dedicating all day tomorrow (before the Super Bowl of course) to studying.

Also, I'm going to Jacksonville on business Mon - Weds and I plan on spending all evening in the hotel studying and on the plane there and back. I'll let you know how my study plan works out these next few days.