Jaquetta is a weekly NINJA CPA Blogger.
Hi CPA NINJAs!
So, how did I lose REG and AUD? Pure cockiness! Honestly, after putting the CPA exam off and passing REG and AUD I felt like the rest would be fairly easy.
Obviously FAR and BEC werent so easy for me. When I went in to take both I didnt feel confident, I felt rushed, I wasnt ready.
For the rematch I am going to do what worked for me with REG and AUD, save the cockiness for when I get my congratulatory letter, and I am considering waiting until I am about ¾ done with the material to schedule the exam (this will be the hardest for me).
What did work for me was the NINJA method. When I first decided to start the process of taking the CPA exam I searched the internet for any and all tips. I found a really interesting blog post on another71.com that described an active learning process of taking notes while listening to videos, creating your own note cards, doing questions (tons of course), and rewriting your original notes.
This process is time consuming, but I went into REG and AUD with a certain level of confidence that I didnt have with FAR and BEC.
My method is to take fast notes (illegible to others) while listening to videos. Then I go back and re-write my fast notes so that they are neat and organized. To make the re-write more bearable, I use colored pens and highlighters. For example, one color for headings/sections, one color for the main text, one color for side/margin notes, one color for IFRS, etc.
I also use the Pomodoro technique to study (and work). Daily I mark my pomodoros on a small white board that also has my FAR CPA schedule on it.
My original schedule allowed for 5 weeks of study with weekend catch-up time and a few catch-up days at the end of the review. At this point I am not on schedule because it takes longer than expected to complete a section. We also had a family emergency that had me out-of-town for 5 days. Well I guess I better go get caught up.
Until next time,
J
