Last week we introduced our newest guest blogger, Laura. In her introductory article, Laura talked about what sparked her interest in accounting and how she began her journey to becoming a CPA. Please join us for the rest of her story below!
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After I graduated with my first degree in accounting, I knew that if I wanted to continue my education in accounting without taking on any student debt, I needed to get started in the accounting field ASAP. It was difficult finding a firm that was willing to take a bet on a student, but an accounting firm based in Idaho gave me that chance, and I wasn’t going to let them down. I have steadily climbed up the ranks ever since then. While working, I completed my Bachelors Degree in accounting, then immediately pursued my Masters Degree in business. Now, for some naive reason, I thought, “Hey, not only can I work, have a healthy marriage, and pursue grad school — why don’t I also throw in studying for the CPA, just to make it extra fun?
This was back in 2017, and the only other people that I knew at my firm who were also studying for the CPA were studying with competing CPA review programs. When I reached out to my sister-in-law, she told me the people she knew who passed also used these same competing programs. My firm does not pay for any CPA programs, nor do they offer any reimbursements, so I bit the bullet and paid for a competing Platinum CPA program so that I could get unlimited access using their software (which ended up being a good thing, and you’ll soon know why). Shortly after starting grad school, I quickly came to realize that my ambitions were just a bit too high — okay, crazy high — and I decided to put studying for the CPA on hold so that I could focus on my business degree, my work, my husband, and a poodle puppy that had also snuck his way into my life.
I graduated in late 2018 with my MBA and it was FINALLY time to focus on the CPA. I went back to studying with my original program and decided to tackle the “beast” known as FAR. It took me roughly five months to get through the material and an additional month for review. I sat for the exam in 2019, and I felt very unprepared. It was almost as if I had studied for the wrong material! I left the exam confident I had not passed and, sure enough, my concern was confirmed when I received my results shortly after. I found resources online that suggested I start again from the beginning, and to comb through what I didn’t know. So I did that, and it took me another five months to prepare for the exam, as I wanted to ensure that I passed the second time. Then I sat again. I left the Prometric center feeling very optimistic. So optimistic in-fact that I told my family that I was sure I passed! When I found out that I failed again, with only a few points higher than my last attempt, I was devastated and embarrassed. But I put my ego aside and decided to attack it again.
After a couple of months of studying for the third time, by random chance, two people in the same week had used UWorld Roger CPA Review and told me that they had a good experience with it and both highly recommended it. By this time it was December of 2019 and I was willing to do anything to not have to study using my original material again. To help me pass the FAR exam, I ultimately decided that I would use UWorld Roger CPA’s FAR review.
I couldn’t believe how much more quickly I got through Roger’s program! Not only were the lectures entertaining, but I felt like I was actually learning the material rather than memorizing tons of questions and answers. I also love Roger’s SmartPath technology and being able to compare my scores to that of others who have passed. I was actually scheduled to take the exam in April of this year; however, my exam has been rescheduled twice now due to COVID-19 and I’m now scheduled to sit in late June. I know I will pass this time and I’m actually looking forward to sitting!
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We look forward to hearing about Laura’s journey moving forward in the next several months as she works towards passing her CPA exams. Thanks for sharing Laura!