Pass the CPA Exam - How to Do It Passing the CPA exam can be a discouraging project, especially if you've heard of the vast number of people who have had to take more than one section several times before ultimately passing the exam. What follows are ten CPA exam tips that have helped me in the past, and I'm quite certain that they'll serve you well too. Pass the CPA exam you will, finally - unless you give up, it is inevitable.
1)Take On the Correct Mindset
It's not easy to pass the CPA. Passing the CPA is a great task that may need lots of time and effort before you will accomplish. Many people fail several sections multiple times before ultimately passing all 4 sections of the CPA. Brace yourself for the possibility that you may fail several sections before passing them, and accept that as a typical part of the process of getting your CPA. Multitudinous other people have struggled through and passed the CPA exam finally, and you also will.
2)Request Help From Family & Friends
Attempting the CPA is not a simple task, fortunately you do not have to go about it by yourself. You can request help from your family members & friends by telling them reasons why you want to pass your CPA and how complicated and time-consuming this project is.
3)Be Physically Healthy
Poor health has hurtful outcomes on mental acumen, which in turn can greatly impact on the capability to think and study. Eat a nutritious diet, exercise adequately, and above all, sleep for a minimal of six to eight hours each night, and take an afternoon nap if you must. If you want to pass the exam, you need to keep both your mind and body in good shape.
4)Get a Solid CPA Review Course
The top CPA review programs available on the market are equipped with DVD lectures that explain concepts so much better than books do. The best of these CPA review courses offer live support where you can call in to ask for further explanation on the study materials, and obtain answers and detailed explanations from course instructors. All in all, investing in a good CPA review course can really cut your exam preparation time and better your chances of passing the CPA exam.
5)Find a Study Buddy - Or Two
Find people that are also studying for the exam in your area and invite them to study together. CPAnet.com has a forum where you can post a request for study partners or browse requests from other people also looking for study partners.
6)Only Take On One Section At a Time
That would be too much material to cover at the same time. Getting rid of that hardest section first will minimize your chances of running out of time and having the eighteen-month window expire on you.
7)Concentrate on Difficult Areas
To get the highest ROI (rate of return) for your effrot and time, spend it on materials you have the most trouble with. Browse through all of your learning materials, identify your problem areas, and focus on them
concentrate on them until you have conquered them.
Because you'll be using mostly your short-term memory during the exam, materials you study during those last several days will be remembered the most clearly on your exam day. This small window is just not sufficient for you to study all materials from beginning to end, so be sure you have a comprehensive set of study notes that you can commit to memory during the last few precious days before your exam.
9)Race Against Time
When doing practice questions, time yourself like you're actually doing the exam. Furthermore, by training yourself in this way, you'll be less likely to panic on exam day when you can't come up with the answer to a problem.
10)The More Practice the Better
Try to do as many practice problems as you can. By doing so, not only will you understand the materials better, but you'll also feel more positive about your odds of passing the exam - both of which will result in increasing your exam score!
Find out about how David Bryant's finally managed to pass three previously failed CPA exam sections over the course of just ten months, with impressive scores, in his blog
PasstheCPAExam.org.
CPA Review Course - How to Pick the Right One?
Summary: With all the CPA review courses on the market today, which one should a student choose to prepare him/her for the CPA exam? This article will examine the 4 factors that need to be considered before making a purchase decision.
Keywords: CPA review course,CPA exam review course,best CPA review courses
A good review course will decrease study time as well as maximize the possibilities of successfully passing the CPA exam. With so many different courses on the market today, it can be difficult to pick the one that best fits both factors above. Below are some of the factors to be considered when choosing a CPA exam review course.
1) Course Materials
The best CPA review courses have available free lecture samples that you can judge before making the choice to buy.
Also the lectures can be available thru a selection of media, such as live or recorded webcasts, CDs, DVDs, or USB. The portability and accessibility of the media the study materials are available in should be considered when evaluating a review course.
Also, when looking around for a review course, be certain to note any expiry dates for the course materials. Some questions and simulations software will become disabled at a certain time after activation. The best sort of course materials and software is the kind that doesn't require access to the internet to view or use, and thus doesn't expire.
2 ) Practice Questions
While this may be the safest way to go, it can also be overly time-consuming. Many students simply run out of study time, and never get around to completing many of the practice questions, which does not prepare them well for the exam.
On the other hand, there are those review courses that do not provide enough practice questions to adequately prepare the student for the exam. Obviously, this situation is a long way from ideal also.
This will guarantee the top rate of return for the student's study time by permitting the student to focus on areas that will potentially matter the most.
3) Student Support
Some review courses provide message boards and forums to permit students to have interaction with instructors and with one another. Before buying a review course, make sure that it will give the level of support you want.
4) Frequency of Updates
Due to changes in accounting-related legislature amongst other reasons, CPA exam study materials must be updated correspondingly on a consistent basis. Some review courses update their course materials and practice questions more often than others, so be sure to take this under consideration when selecting a course.
One factor that many people take into consideration, which has not been discussed, is price . Considering that the average pass rate for the CPA exam is only 47.49-49.10% ( pass rate for Uniform CPA exam in 2008 ), failing one or more sections is not unlikely. The sole exception is when the course fees will be reimbursed by your employer, in which case you can want to exploit this, even if it would mean having less options to choose between.
To find out my personal experiences with the
Yaeger CPA Review Course please visit my CPA exam blog at
http://www.PassTheCPAExam.org.