Hey A71-ers!
My name is Mark. I graduated with my Accounting degree back in 2006. Then I stuck around for a year taking Finance courses to pick the 150 hours. I called it the victory lap, but really I just wasn't ready to leave college.
After dragging my feet for several years, I started sitting for the exam in August 2011. My office provided the a self-study program, which followed the path of FAR, AUD, REG then BEC. I'm not really sure if there is a “good” order to take them in, but that's the way the course was lined out.
First up was FAR. After about 2 months of what I thought was solid studying, I scored a 68. Failing destroyed what little confidence I had. I was embarrassed and felt like I let everyone around me down. I knew it was nothing to feel bad about, but I was still beating myself up. Of course it didn't help that a friend of mine passed two sections in that same window!
I was frustrated and wasn't sure where to turn. So I started searching the internet for answers/support/something, and that's when I found the another71 forum. After reading some encouraging posts and how others were preparing, I realized my approach needed some tweaking.
Reluctantly, I decided to move on to AUD (mostly because of the review course timeline). This time I picked up the NINJA notes and supplemented with the Wiley MCQs. I believe that made all the difference, and with hard MCQ repetition I scored an 82!
With no time off I moved on to REG, which has proved to be my beast. Using the same approach I scored back to back 71's. Believe me; the irony of this site's name was not lost on me. Feeling defeated again after two failing scores, somehow I was able to pick myself back up and pass BEC in 4 weeks with a 76.
Now after taking all four sections I'm back on the rematch train. I have a date with REG the second week of the upcoming window, then another run in with FAR later in May. If all goes well, there's a chance I may get my summer back this year!
Well, that's my intro. Until next time.
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'” – Muhammad Ali
