NJSCPA Exam Cram Blog

Wrapping things up for the final review

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all studying hard and staying positive--there is a light at the end of the tunnel! 

Jen  - welcome to the blog and good luck with your career at PwC.

Ed - congrats on your first two weeks with Deloitte; keep us updated on how you are handling the work/life/study balance.

Kunal - good luck and keep working hard!  I am taking REG on the 30th.

This weekend and next week I am planning on getting through the rest of the REG material.  It may be tough, but I have to do it.  I have Board Meetings next week at work, which does not make studying any easier.  At least there will not be any papers due, though.

I am hoping that next Saturday I can begin my nine day CPA Exam Cram Review.  I will take the exam on the 30th of November.  The upcoming holiday just days before my exam could be a good thing or a bad thing....

My strategy is to read the chapters thoroughly and then take my time with the multiple choice.  For review, I think I will just skim the chapters and devote most of my time to reviewing multiple choice.

Keep working hard.  Scores should be coming out soon, so let us keep our fingers crossed!  Good luck to anyone taking a part in the coming weeks!

Best wishes,

Ryan

First 2 wks of Work

Hello everyone,

I have been very busy with new hire training at Deloitte, but I am back now. I heard that BEC came out last night....hmm I wish I took it as planned on the 29th, but thats ok. My fingers are crossed for AUDIT and REGULATION.

Let me fill you all in on my training, it went well, and I enjoyed it. I was able to network very well, and I meet my fellow new hires in the same boat with me. I also meet a very nice young lady who keeps up with the NJSCPA exam cram blog, her name is FAITH, and she is also waiting for the last 2 parts of her CPA exam. (She has passed the first two), She told me how she enjoys reading the blog, and how it has keeps her informed. So we wish FAITH a lot of luck next week as final parts of wave 1 comes out.

I am officially an employee of Deloitte, and I must say I am excited, I got a lot of advice from Seniors, Managers, Partners on how to shape my career in Accounting. I also signed up to be a mentor for high school students with the NJSCPA, I am waiting for the results of the selection in early December.

I am getting ready for BEC, November 17th, preparations are in top gear, but honestly I would like to see my AUDIT and REG grades; passing would be a good booster into BEC.

I am getting ready for my last orientation class today, and looking forward to going home to see my two little youngsters, and my wife; I have missed them.

So, I wish everyone luck this wave and next wave...

Cheers,

Ed. Adiele

Hello!

Hi all!

My name is Jen, and I'm new to the blog (and also new to "blogging").  To give you a little background, I'm a recent graduate of Rowan University and I just started with PwC in September.  As far as the exam, I took Audit, my first part, in October and I'm still waiting on the grade.  And, I will be taking REG this upcoming Saturday.  For the rest of the week I will be focusing on working through as many MC questions as I can.  It's definitely been a challenging month trying to balance an unpredictable work schedule and studying.  But I'm somehow getting trough it, slowly but surely, and hopefully passing these exams along the way.  I will be sure to check back in after the exam.  Bye!

Half way there...

Hi everyone,

I hope all is well and that your studies are moving along nicely.  Work has been hectic as of late with important projects facing tight deadlines.  As such, it has been increasingly challenging to get my studying in, but I have been fighting to stay focused to do so. I now am working through the third of seven lectures for Regulation.  Although I thought REG would be challenging for me since I am not particularly interested or experienced in tax, I am finding the Becker material to be sufficient.  I actually am moving through the material fairly well....that is, when I have time to study.

I also have been trying to squeeze in time to complete my Masters coursework.  I have found that the only way I can do this is to dedicate time, in advance, for studying and school work.  During this time I close all programs on my computer except Becker and I ignore my phone (which is not easy!). 

With Regulation I have found the multiple choice questions to be the most useful in learning the material.  My plan is to move more quickly through the remaining lectures and then spend a great deal of time going through the multiple choice until my eyes fall out of my head, haha.

I'll keep you updated on my progress.  Good luck to all of you with exams approaching (I have until November 30th).  And keep working hard, but don't forget to have some fun too!  Admittedly, I am guilty of losing focus when it comes to friends.

Ed, I hope your first week at Deloitte exceeds your expectations!

Until next time....

Best,

Ryan 

Quick Update....(BEC- rescheduled, Deloitte start date)

Hello Everyone,

I rescheduled BEC at the last minute, I did not feel too comfortable from the practice questions I took. I really want to maximize this window, and do my best. I could have done it with the attitude of "well I can always retake the exam" but I looked at "cost and time" it would cost me $59+ to reschedule and more to re-take the exam. I would loose out on this window, and have to wait for next year, and all who are in public accounting know that the beginning of the year is hectic.

For those who have used Becker to take BEC, I need your advice my weak areas are chapters 3 and 5, I average 60-65% when I take them, it has a lot of cramming involved so I need your advice???

Yea....Work officially starts on Monday, I would be an official employee of Deloitte....some would say "what's wrong with this guy, he does not know what he is getting into???" well, for one I am excited to have a job in this tough times, and two, I am going in there with a great attitude that I would succeed. Nothing in life comes easy, you just have to work hard and sacrifice. The CPA exams is one great example. My philosophy is simple, "some people have worked in public accounting and are successful" how did they do it?????? and all I get is sacrifice and endurance and hard work which is fair game....

I took two exams this month (REG & AUDIT) and have scheduled BEC for November 17th at 7pm. FARE is my last part, and I would do it in early January before things start getting hot at work.

Okayyyyy, I wish everyone the best, and please practice questions as much as you can it pays off.

cheers!!!

Ed. Adiele (CPA-Unearned yet)

Blogging from Africa....."preparing for my next exam"

Hello Everyone,

I did not end up writing my Audit exam on the 24th, there was too much pressure from home. I could not focus on my work due to the excitement of my trip to Nigeria (West Africa). I pushed it forward by one month.

The next exam I have is BEC, which I have scheduled for October 1st, (1st day of the last window for 2009). Forget all the stuff you see on T.V, its really fun out here, the food is 100% organic. Its hard to find any food that is not organic. I wake up very early each day to get my work done for the day, this way I don't waste all my time. BEC has no sims, so I am just taking it one step at a time.

It took some time to get used to the time due to jet-lag, for example its 7am (Tuesday 9/1/09) while its 2am (9/1/09) U.S time right now. I have not seen any animals yet, like you see on T.V. The malls, beaches look very nice, and Tourism is really big.

I get back on the 18th (long time), but I hope everyone is hanging tight, and working their reviews books, getting ready for the parts you all are taking.

Cheers future CPA's,

Ed. Adiele

Exam Dates

Hi All,

It's now been two weeks on my new project, and I've gotten a better sense of my schedule and the deadlines.  My original goal was to take the Audit exam next week, but after talking to my Senior Manager, I felt that rushing to study when I won't have time is not the best idea.  Right now, I'm looking to take time off to take both sections on July 6th, and July 11th.

In order to take the exam on those dates and be fully prepared, I will have to go through 12 Becker Lectures (which includes the 1.5 that I have gone through already)  I'm hoping to have gone through and made note sheets (with formulas and important lists), flagged important pages, and used my notes to understand the questions once by my Birthday (June 19th).  After that, its question time.

The work schedule makes studying difficult (not to mention the fact that I want to take the exams so close together.)  The most important skill that will help you during the CPA exam is organization and scheduling.  I'm going to refine my schedule and make sure that I stick to it, so that by the July 4th weekend, I will not be stressed.

Good luck with studying,

Regards,

Kunal

A New Lease on ... Studying

Hi All,

I hope all is well.  Ed, welcome to the blog.  Wendy and Ed, good luck on waiting for the scores.  I'm sure you both did well.

So..., as for the name on this post, I feel like I've gotten a second chance on studying.   When I started this post, I was at the beginning of my first client assignment in New York City.  I had taken two parts, and was ready to finish the final two.  What a difference six months makes!  I've been working busy season hours since October, while working on a daily 4 hour commute, which took precedence over studying hard.  As of Friday, I have been rolled off, and brought onto a new client assignment in New Jersey.  If there is one thing I have learned (and Ed stressed this in his last post) is learn to manage your time.  I did not expect the hours that I received, and really felt as if I mismanaged my free time.  I'm definitely not making that mistake again.

I also just received my second NTS.  I paid for Audit and Regulation back in early April, but had to wait a month for my NTS because I needed to resend my transcript.  Always send away for the NTS as early as possible.  I cannot stress the importance of getting the best possible test time at a location close to you. (I can attribute being relaxed and comfortable with the location as a major reason for being able to pass two parts.)  Hopefully, I do not have to prove that I learned my lesson on this one.

I'm about to re-watch the Audit lecture 1 from Becker.  I have my notebook out and open, and I can honestly say that I'm excited to be able to start a regular study pattern.  Time to start memorizing mnemonics, and try to understand the why's behind an audit.

Good luck!.

Regards,

Kunal

Checking - In

Hello All,

Busy season has come and gone, and I am still working at my same client site, with similar hours that I have had since beginning this post.  Finding time to study is still difficult (as most of you may already know.)  Since I commute to work through the train, I have found time to study on the train.  Although this is not ideal, the Audit section is a little bit easier to focus on in a crowded train.  I have been able to work through part of the first chapter, but it is definitely taking me longer than I thought (which in the end may be a good thing, as I find myself going back the basic types of reports, and seemingly learning from the repetition.)

As of now, I have re-registered for Audit and Regulation, and have paid the fee.  I am waiting for my NTS, and I'm planning on taking the exam either towards the end of May and in July or both in July and August.  The biggest obstacle for taking the exam in May (other than not having an NTS) is the start of baseball season.  I have planned a couple of trips (including Baltimore this weekend) early in April and May, so that I can spend my summer studying for the final sections.

As always, please feel free to contact me. Over the course of the year, I've had periods where I had the time to dedicate to studying while also going through working and trying to study.  Hopefully, my experiences will provide some insight.

Take care and regards,

Kunal

Checking In...

Hi All,

Its been a while since I've posted here, and I have several pieces of bad news on my part.  First, I've underestimated once again how busy I would be,  So there is very little to update as to my study status.  I'm ultimately waiting for a better idea from my client situation before I start studying.  To further complicate things, family events and other events all seem to occur right around this time for me.  Looks like studying will have to wait until after my cousin's Sweet Sixteen, and Opening week in baseball. 

Secondly, I finally received my score for Audit, and I received confirmation that I did not pass.  I can't say that I'm entirely shocked. I knew that I didn't put in as much time as I wanted to.  The goal going forward is to schedule around busy season.

Good luck with studying, and hopefully busy season is wound down by the next post.

Warm Regards,

Kunal