3 Weeks Gone Already

I’m on a really tight schedule this time.  It’s 10 weeks again, but it’s hard to keep up with this schedule.   And unless I get ahead or take time off of work, I won’t have as much review time as I’ll need.  I’m sure I’ll take a day or two off.

I think that REG is more interesting to read overall than FAR or AUD.  But there are a lot of legal terms that I’m not familiar with, that I don’t remember from school.  I’m getting on average 68% on my first time through the online MCQs.  My study routine has been going like this:

  1. Read overview and terms for the module in the Wiley book.
  2. Read text and do MCQs in book when they indicate.
  3. Do the sims in the book.
  4. Read Focus Notes
  5. Do online MCQs, and do ones answered incorrectly again.

So far there haven’t been any sims online.  Those are coming in the 5 taxation modules at the end.

I haven’t been taking notes, which worries me.  I keep thinking that the Focus Notes are good this time.  I plan on using those to review at the end before going through the online MCQs again.

I also have no idea about any kind of research questions yet.  I’m just concentrating on the material that I’m reading for now.

It’s so hard to study in the evenings.  I’m so tired every night.  The weekends are better, but still they go by so quickly.

According to my time estimates for each module, I’m about 37% through after finishing Module 30 (8th of 17).

Yay! A Free Weekend!

Last weekend was crazy, with the AUD exam Saturday and Easter dinner on Sunday.  Finally I can have a weekend to hang around the house and get some shopping done.  But, holy cow!  I only have 2 weeks left before I have to start studying for REG!  And so much to do!  I’m planning on taking REG Saturday, July 7th.  Then I’ll have about 2 weeks to get ready for vacation in Colorado.  Did I say that time is my biggest stressor?

ABOUT THE AUD EXAM:

I got to Prometric a half-hour early like last time, and again, they were not busy so I was able to start right away, around 12:00 PM.  I was definitely less stressed having been there before for FAR.

The only bad thing was the room was extremely hot.  And dry hot.  I took a break after the 3rd testlet, at which time I had 1-1/2 hours left for the sims.  I told the ladies in the office about the heat, and they said they just turned on the air-conditioning.  I noticed that the thermostat in their office registered 79 degrees, and it was a lot cooler there.  So, I’m guessing it was 85 degrees in the room.  Phew!  It didn’t get a whole lot better, but I survived.

Many of the multiple choice questions were very much like Wiley’s.  Others had me completely baffled.  I usually could easily narrow down the choices to 2, but sometimes I just couldn’t figure it out using common sense or my knowledge.  I think I did well enough on the first testlet to get the harder testlet 2nd.  When I got to the sims, I found that the standards were all there in the authoritative literature tabs so I could use that to look up the answers.  I didn’t need to for some of the sims, but the others, I mostly looked up the answers.  However, I couldn’t find definitive answers for everything and the time ticked away until I had about a half-hour left when I finally called it quits.

I really think it could go either way.  It seemed easier than FAR, and I left with a better feeling than when I did for FAR.  I felt horrible after FAR, but got an 81.  The thing I just don’t understand about the scoring is that if some exams are more difficult than others, why are the pass rates so close for each of the 4?  It makes me wonder if this really is a competition to score in the top 45%, rather than passing based only on your own results.

So, I have to wait until may 7th or 8th for my score.  I hate to have to wait so long.  But because I have so little time until my next study session starts, it will probably go by quickly.  I’m trying not to think about it and just stay positive, because the thought of failing AUD is horrifying.  I am so determined to have this done by the end of October and get a real life.

Some other comments about the exam:  I wouldn’t want to give too much advice because I don’t want to violate the rules of confidentiality, but I do want to say that I’m really glad I didn’t kill myself studying the intricate details of audit sampling and PPS and that I didn’t try to memorize too many rules.  The one thing maybe I could have been stronger on is remember timing and dates of things, like required written communications and letters and such.  But who knows if the next person would get a lot more or less of what I had on my version of the exam.

 

 

 

2 More Days……

I’m off of work today and tomorrow, and then the exam is Saturday.

I’ve been scoring pretty high on all the Wiley online MCQs.  I did pretty much what I planned according to my last post.  I reviewed all of my notes, did some memorizing of the most important concepts, went over all the sims in the book, and started MCQs online.  The only thing I didn’t do much of were the online sims.  They are so awkward and annoying.  Scrolling up and down in one window within another window.  Forget it!

The 2 modules that I feel I have the hardest time on are Reporting and Audit Sampling.  Reporting is just so much to remember and Sampling is hard for me to understand all of the concepts.

I made note cards on all the things I wanted to memorize, many with mnemonics.  But memorizing is really hard for me.  I did manage to retain all of the report types [Unqualified, Unqualified with explanatory, Qualified, Disclaimer, Opinion], when they are used [Going concern, GAAP departure, scope limitation, lack of independence, etc.], and which of the 4 paragraphs are modified in each case:  Intro, Scope, Opinion, Explanatory.

I’m also memorizing the charts for sample size for attributes and variables sampling.  I don’t think I’m going to master all the calculations involved in that, especially PPS.  I’ll take my chances.

I re-did all of the MCQs on Sampling (52) and now I’m working on the 173 for reporting.  I will for sure score above 80% which is my goal.  Actually, 85% or higher is better.  Of the 740 MCQs that I’ve done in my final review so far I’m at 90%.  It sounds great, but I know when I get to the exam, everything is going to sound like a foreign language!  And as far as the sims, I hope I’m OK.

I think I wrote before about the stress at work.  This week or last 2 weeks have been probably the most stressful at this job whever I’ve been for almost 4 years.  For me, people issues and not enough time in a day are my biggest stressors and I have both going on right now.  I won’t work late while I’m in my CPA study period, but next week I will have a lot of catching up to do.

And getting ready for Easter dinner the day after the exam.  Ugh!  My daughter will be home in about 2 hours from college for the weekend.  I’m happy to see her, but distraction!!

My kids got me a nice bottle of Pino Grigio and a gift certificate for a massage and a mani/pedi at a spa nearby.  Next weekend!

 

 

 

2 Weeks Left! omg

Now I’m starting to feel the anxiety. I’ve been tired weeknights and have to catch up with studying on weekends. That’s OK, I’m more alert on the weekends. But doesn’t it figure that work is stressing me out right now!

After finishing my review of each Module, and retaking all of the MCQs until I get them all correct, there were 2 modules that were clearly the worst – Module 5 on Reporting and Module 7 on Statistical Sampling. So I redid all the MCQs again and did so much better. So now I am over 80% on the MCQs for each module separately.

For the final two weeks, I made a plan:

1) Take all the sample exams in the Wiley book including MCQs and non-research Sims.

2) Redo all non-research online Sims

3) Review all sims in the book for each module

4) Start doing random 30-question MCQ tests online until the end.

5) Take the sample test / tutorial on the AICPA website.

If the sims are too time-consuming, I may not do them all. I’ll have to play it by ear. I was just reviewing in the Wiley book that they are recommending getting an 80% minimum on MCQs, and not to rely totally on those, but to spend time on Sims. I wasn’t going to, but now I think I should.

I have the Thursday and Friday off of work before my Saturday, April 7th exam. Like for FAR, I’ll study all day both days. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I scheduled my exam the day before Easter, and my daughter will be home from college for the weekend and we’re having our usual family dinner Sunday. My husband and daughter have to make this happen because I can’t spare too much time away from studying.

Time flies!

I’ve been working through the modules pretty much as I intended.  I’ve read all 8, took all the sims in the book and online, and all of the MCQs in the book and online.  I’ve gotten used to the new Wiley Online Testbank.

One disappointment relates to the Wiley book.  I saw that they now break up the modules into sections where they stop you and tell you to work on a segment of MCQs and then go back to reading, etc etc.  However, the MCQs don’t relate to the section in the book that they are supposed to.  So that was a waste.  It was like that throughout the book.  Anyhow, I never did any of the book MCQs in FAR so just doing them this time for AUD is a plus.

I did all 17 research sims online and got them all correct.  At least that’s one area I don’t have to worry about.  I hope it’s the same way on the real exam.

Now I have to hit the MCQs hard.  I haven’t tried hard enough to memorize anything.  I need to go through each module and see what I need to memorize.  Then I’ll take MCQs online on one module at a time until I am getting 85%.  Then I’ll start testing on the whole thing.  I will probably take the sample exam in the book like I did for FAR.  I may also check out the MCQs on the CPA for free website.

I absolutely can’t fail this.  I will only have a three week break before I start studying for REG.  I won’t even get my score until 1-2 weeks into my next study session.

I will need every minute of those three weeks to get stuff done!  Hair!  Clothes shopping!  Doctor appointments!  Friends and family (or not!)  Ugh!

Anyhow, just 3-1/2 weeks to go!

AUD – End of week 4

I’m just finishing Module 4 of the 8.  4 is one of the big ones.  So far, I think I’m doing pretty well.  My average score for MCQs online for Module 4 is 72%.  Not bad for first time around.  Although I have been doing book MCQs first which I skipped for FAR.  It seems like this is easier than FAR(?)  But I need to look back at my FAR study plan to compare.  I don’t want to get complacent!

Work has been hella stressful!  This week was the worst!  Which makes me so tired at night and it’s hard to study.  I think I can get a lot done this weekend, though.

Wiley has a new online test database.  Some things are better, some worse.  I found a discussion about it on “another71” website and Wiley is responding to everyone’s beefs.  They are even offering free stuff to people who post errors on the Wiley test bank.  I think this is great, I just don’t feel that I have time now for this.

 

End of AUD Week 2

I’m getting close to finishing Module 3.  It’s one of the largest of the 8.   This is how my study plan is going:

1) Read module and do book MCQs when instructed, since the modules are broken up into sections.  Then score the section.  Read focus notes along with text reading.

2) Do the book Sims and the online Sims.

3) Do the online MCQ’s.  Repeat until all correct.

The one change I will make is to look at the answer for each MCQ in the book right away instead of after finishing all for a section.  I think it’s more advantageous to know right away what I got wrong and why.  This new online version makes it hard to do that because you have to “try again” until you get the right answer and then your score at the end reflects your final answer, so 100%.  It’s important for me to track my real grade to see the progress and know when I should be ready for the exam.  So I wait until I’m finished to look at the correct answers to the ones I got wrong.  But that’s OK because they do a good job of laying it out in the online version.

I started making flash cards and taking notes, but I just don’t learn well this way.  I don’t memorize things easily.  The best thing for me is to make sense of everything so I can figure out the answer.  So far, this has been much easier to do than on FAR.  So far, AUD seems easier than FAR.  But I realize that the pass rates are all about the same for the 4 sections, so I can’t slack off at all.

I’ve been having to drink more coffee in the afternoon so I can stay awake and alert to study in the evening.  I risk not being able to get to sleep, but it really helps the studying tremendously.

Also, I don’t want to skip my 3-times-a-week workouts like I did sometimes during FAR.  I found that if I study for a half-hour or so, then work out, then go back to studying, I am much more alert and retain better.

TGIF!  Looking forward to a weekend of studying!  Well, it beats being at work.

 

 

Going for AUD!

I’m one week into my 10-weeks of studying for Auditing and Attestation.  I’m using the same study materials as for FAR:  Wiley book, Wiley Focus Notes, and Wiley Online Test Bank.  The Online Test Bank is new and improved.  It took a little getting used to, but it’s better.

There are only 8 modules in AUD as opposed to 14 in FAR.  I’m already through the first 2 and ahead of my carefully planned schedule.  So far, I can’t imagine this being more difficult than FAR.  But I know I’m not into the nitty gritty yet.  The next 3 modules will be the biggest.  FAR was so full of calculations, it took so much longer to complete the MCQs.  Still, I’m going through this with as much commitment as I did for FAR.  I’m not taking any chances.  I can’t fail.

10 weeks of doing practically nothing but studying and going to work is a big commitment.  After AUD, I’ll have only 3 weeks before I start studying for REG.   I won’t have my AUD score for 2 weeks into that study session.  And then by the time I take REG it will be just after the 4th of July!  That freaks me out!  Then get ready for vacation for 2 weeks at the end of July (I hope) and then August starts the study session for BEC.   I try not to think about what I’ll do when it’s over and I have my CPA.  I hope there won’t be any delays.  But in the back of my mind is a dream of a better job and freedom to have some fun!

I Passed: 81!!!

What a surprise!  I knew scores were being released yesterday by NASBA, but didn’t know how long it would take for ILBOA to post them.  I signed up for Twitter just so I could get the tweet from NASBA.  That happened around 4PM.  I started checking ILBOA, and finally, when I got to work this morning, a little before 8AM, there it was.  I was shocked!  I didn’t feel that I had passed, so when I saw that I did AND that my score was 81, I couldn’t believe it!  I was so elated I couldn’t think straight.  I let everyone know, my family, my FB friends, and a couple of coworkers.  How fantastic! 

Why did I think I failed but actually did pretty well?  I noticed other people saying the same thing on message boards, and friends of my son who are recent college grads.  I’m guessing that many of the harder problems were the pre-test questions.  Plus, I always tried for A’s in college and when I finish an exam, I expect to feel like I aced it.  With the CPA, a 75 is the goal – to pass not to ace.  I also think I beat myself up over the ones I totally blew and forgot about everything I did right.  I don’t remember being sure of any of my answers, but I must have been.

What a relief!  Now that I know I can do it, I can go on to the next one with some confidence.  I can actually envision getting the CPA next year like I’ve been planning for so long.  I’m not sure if I will try a review program.  If I do I will probably use Yaeger, but I still don’t think watching videos and having things explained to me is the best use of my time.  I learn by doing, and my listening skills and attention span are bad.  

I’m planning on going for AUD next – start studying the end of January and testing the first Saturday in April.   I’m not able to start the next section until the holidays are over and it’s not so crazy at work from year-end closing and audit. 

YAY!!!  I’m so happy!