Elizabeth is a NINJA CPA Blogger.

Greetings all,

I took AUD and hopefully conquered it. Needless to say it was an interesting exam and honestly the whole exam was a bit of blur. Allow me to explain.

My canine, aka world's greatest dog ever (no I am not being biased he is seriously the prefect dog for me:), on the morning of the exam was unable to get out of bed and was struggling to walk.

He is elderly and has hip problems so this unfortunately was not the first time this occurred though I am always concerned that one time the vet will say the dreaded words. Luckily the vet was able to see him at 3 though my exam was at 3:30, so I gambled and went to the test site early and they were gracious enough to allow me to test early.

I was planning to review certain topics/questions that I had marked again, but that went out the window. That being said, and of course I do not want my Spencer to get ill every time I take an exam, I do believe it was of benefit to my test taking.

While I was there, I was concentrating on the exam and it gave me a break not to have to think about other things. In some respects studying and taking an exam is very zen in that I can tune everything else out in life and not feel guilty. It was on my mind of course and I wanted to complete the exam so I could get home and be with Spencer.

I do believe I was not over-analyzing etc, which is what the study that I referenced in my prior post mentioned. Though of course I hope I did not fall victim to the easy wrong answer. I moved through the three tests of multiple guess in about an hour and a half and then I hit the simulations.

I wonder if I am the only one who feels that since there is only one tab with simulations the simulations are more difficult then when there were two tabs with simulations. The one research tab took approximately forty minuets and honestly I am not willing to bet my life on the answer as I am with the other research tab that took approximately fifteen minutes to complete.

In my opinion the research tabs are free points and so long as you have the time spend a ridiculous amount of time to ensure the answer is correct. I am a big proponent of research though I feel the methodology I use to research is not similar to the methodology you have to use on the CPA exam and honestly I always struggle with it.

All in all while the tabs were not extremely difficult and did in fact belong to AUD, as opposed to the last time when I swore I was taking FAR when I did the simulations. Two of the tabs are a topic I am not comfortable with though I had time and was able to work through them, hopefully correctly.

I entered the test site and took my “scratch paper” and wrote down all of my mnemonics. Now allow me to get on my soap box and exclaim why can the test center not provide you a tissue or an eraser is beyond me – I always leave with my fingers and hands covered in black from erasing. I personally find if I don't erase then I tend to look at wrong answers etc and once or twice during practice I have made errors.

The excellent news from the day is Spencer is not having a reaction to his medication (blood tests confirmed) and rather he probably pinched something. Additionally, he was placed on another medication and he is doing great.

Regarding the future game plan, I am going to wait to some degree. The scores should be out (I am going with the NINJA estimate of Sept 9th) and the first week of classes begun on the 26th and I have the LSAT on Oct 5th. I am listening to AUD NINJA Audio on my commute for those two weeks till I know.

And should the results not be as I hope then at least the material will still be fresh in my head. I will then continue to read my notes and listen to my audio. Immediately after the LSAT I will dive into hard-core questions and plan a rematch for the end of Oct/beginning of Nov.

Should I receive the news which I feel would reflect the intense level of studying I did (but honestly so long as I score a 75 I wont complain) then I have listened to Jeff's voice on AUD for more than I had. I feel the benefits outweigh the potential time lost to not studying BEC.

Assuming I pass the plan is to take BEC at the end of Nov and then FAR right before classes begin in Jan should I not pass then it will be AUD end of Oct/beginning of Nov and then honestly I am not sure how it will play out and I prefer not to dwell on that right now.

To all those waiting on scores my paws, hooves, and fingers are crossed for you as well as for myself.

Hoping everyone and their family had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend.

Cheers,

EAB