Megan shares with us the trials and triumphs of CPA Exam preparation, all from the perspective of a non-accounting major. She currently resides in Pennsylvania, and is loving Roger CPA Review’s acclaimed review course to prepare for the BEC Exam.
How did it go? Do you think you passed? I took the BEC section of the CPA exam four days ago, and I’ve fielded these questions about twenty times in one form or another. Perhaps I am not the first CPA candidate to find that answering these questions can be as tricky as multiple choice questions on manufacturing variances. I find it very difficult to gauge my performance on the CPA exam. My usual replies range from the canned response, I think it went well, to the slightly dramatic, Well, I didn’t want to cry afterwards!
How do you answer these questions about your performance on the CPA exam? For me, it is little more than a pure guess to give feedback on these inquiries. The CPA exam is not like those exams we took in high school. I remember the days of multiple choice questions I didn’t have to analyze- there was always a clear answer! Now, I have no idea how the questions are scored or whether I fell prey to tricky wording or answered questions based on incorrect assumptions. What if the questions that gave me the most difficulty were pre-test questions that wont even count towards my score? What if the questions I thought were easy were actually pre-test questions?
In response to my inevitable post exam self-evaluation, I decided to adapt my retorts to friends, family, and colleagues to better match the facts of the situation instead of my very biased (and possibly risky) hopes of a happy ending.
Fact: I answered questions on the exam that I specifically practiced using the review software.
Fact: I steadily moved through each testlet in the time I budgeted based on recommendations from Roger CPA Review.
Fact: I prepared for the BEC section in the same manner and with the same diligence that I prepared for the other exams I passed.
In the kitchen, if you make the same recipe repeatedly, don’t you usually get the same if not better results? In the office, if you prepare the same report month after month, don’t you usually rely on the same process to give you consistent results?
After digesting this testing experience, I concluded that my feelings following the exam were positive. Nonetheless, I have been reminding myself that there really is no way of knowing yet, and I don’t want to jinx it! I want so badly to be at the end of this CPA exam journey, I hope I haven’t just convinced myself that it is over before it truly is over!
Weeks away from receiving my score, I’ve crafted a much safer answer to, How did it go? Now, I simply say, It went as planned. This seems like the most fitting reply, because the two basic steps to passing the CPA exam are 1) Planning and 2) Carrying out the plan. With Roger CPA Review as my secret weapon, I planned out my study sessions and stuck to that plan! In a few weeks, we will see how this recipe for success holds up against the BEC section of the CPA exam. Stay tuned!