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Hi Fishes... Need 11 likes please
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I am WAY TOO nice to be in public accounting….
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Raise your hand if you just cannot do it today.
Can you negotiate PTO at annual review?
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Rising Star
Sacrifice a year of your life for the rest of your career. Some people do it, some don’t.
If you have time to post here, you have time to study
Just suck it up and do it. Be disciplined. Tell your friends and family to leave you alone for a year. They’ll understand. Get your priorities straight. I studied every night, even on the weekends and holidays, except during busy season; do what works for you. It was painful. But I did it anyway and passed all four on first try. Good luck.
I waited until I was a second year senior to do it. I worked efficiently during the day and "clocked out" by 8 pm and would study from 8-12 each night doing the Becker videos and practice questions (one section per night). Quit going to gym even. Had them all passed within 6 months, even doing busy season during that timeframe. It can be done...but you have to want it and be willing to sacrifice, perhaps in recognition that (like me) you maybe didn't prioritize it sufficiently at the beginning of your career.
You are more valuable to your firm after you pass the exam, so they will support you in that endeavor, and it will open other doors if you decide public accounting isn't for you. Also, if you don't pass it long enough, it could be used as a reason for termination later.
Not every firm supports employees.
No study materials. No tuition reimbursement. No testing fees paid. Nothing.
I always did before work and on the weekends - for me it was pretty much impossible to do during the week after work. Also using vacation time to study.
What I found really helped me was getting a pair of noise-canceling headphones and listening to “super focus”/flow state music on YouTube while I studied, and I had a pomodoro timer that would count down each hour.
My typical study schedule was 1.5hrs before work, .5hr during lunch, and then 2hrs after work. If you are able to break up your study time, it’s much less overwhelming than studying for several hours straight.
I would also keep up sticky notes to track how much time I had left each day. For instance, on weekends I studied 10hrs, so I would put 10 sticky notes on the wall above my desk and take each one down as I made progress.
I used UWorld. Took Fridays off. Listened to videos on 2x speed while in the shower, while eating meals, and while commuting. Have a pop socket that I put a holder for in my shower and on my dash. Studied a solid 2 hours before and after work Monday through Thursday. Studied a solid 8-12 hours on Friday-Sunday, even did 1-2 15 hour days. Studied for and passed all 4 parts in 2 months.
I'd show up an hour early during the week amd study, then spend some time on Sundays. Knocked them out quickly that way. I agree studying after a full day of work is hard to be effective
On easy way to get two passed (which I have done) is to study for one, take a week or two of PTO right after it, use that pto to study for another and then do another test on the last day of PTO. If you're in a crunch that's a great way to knock out two in a month or less
Thanks all!
I have my schedule from 7:30pm-11:00pm
I think I’m going to start taking half days PTO on Fridays . It seems Fridays is when I crash.
I live on a ranch so mornings are animal well being check & house chores.
Also going to take the advice of using a week PTO to cram for the second exam.
I’m not leaving BDO. I’m in a good office and the small team I’m on is great. Plus it’s remote.
I’m only on week 1 so I was bummed how tired I was yesterday! 😵💫
Don't dwell on it. It just needs to become the thing you do. If you think about what you're giving up (sleep, time with friends, whatever) or how tired you are or whatever it will make it 10x worse. Just tell your future you that you already decided to do this and that the only way out is through.
Do it in the morning before work. You have the most brain power then. Just wake up early.
Rising Star
All power to you .. just doesn’t work like that for most
I’m a procrastinator.. so I’d just have a terrible 3-4weeks before exam
To each his own tho
I don’t work if there isn’t a fire under my a**
You can guarantee yourself an upper middle class life at a minimum or you can waste hours on Netflix and social media.
Your choice
Study when working out doing cardio. Only way i passed. Becker mcqs on my z fold 5. And cardio.
Still fat though, but now a CPA
Rising Star
You don’t
Hence why there aren’t many CPAs
Rising Star
Sadly I don’t disagree with u
I remind myself that what I have in common with the greatest minds that ever lived is time. The same 24 hour clock. So I make time. Sleep 6 hours vs 8 and use some of the 2 to study.
Thank you for this post. The comments gave me the motivation I needed lol.
I took Fridays off on summer to study. And then, weekends to focus. You can try to make some index cards for you to remember stuff and look at them in the morning. Best of Luck! You can do it!
How bad do you want it?
Wake up early and study before work.
Find a study program with tons of practice questions. And do 40-60 per night. If you can work on particular sets, work on the questions you most often miss. Once you can score above 90% on the practice tests, take the exam. The nightly sessions should take 45-90 minutes. And just do them while you relax and watch tv.