Checking In and Decisions

Today was another BEC class.

It felt good to be ahead of the class and use class today as reinforcement. I must say that the reason I'm ahead is not because of Becker but its because of Yeager. Yes I swore before that I was done with them but let me tell you, the 2011 version is so much better! Cindy is the main instructor. Economics last yr in the 2010 course was beyond horrible...I would say to sum it up it was wretched! Phil must have had a lot of complaints becAuse they totally switched it up this year.

Anyway, I decided on a number of things this weekend. One being that Im putting 150% into passing by this summer. And when I say Summer I mean I will be done with all tests before the 4th of July. I just missed out on my bff's bday party which included a photo shoot just to study. I have to prioritize. I must say that my level of being this focused was not this high last year.

Secondly I decided that I will NOT be doing live classes for FAR and Audit. I've decided this because I NEED my Sundays to study. FAR is a time crunch no matter what so sitting in class for 8-9 hrs where the instructor is just reading from the book is not a good use of time. I believe I can do this on my own. I have the structure and determination and will inside of me to stay on course.  I've also decided that I will use Yaeger as primary and Becker for HW . I made this decision because Cindy's teaching style is exactly what I need. She breaks it down so that it makes complete sense. I will do the Yaeger minimum questions and all Becker HW. If I have time I will go back and do the Wiley questions not listed as minimum. I will also be using Kaplan audio for daily reinforcement.

So there it is. It's amazing the clarity you get in a week.

Study Tip #2- Chill Out

I've realized during studying sometimes you have to give your mind a rest. What's the point of studying if your mind is somewhere else? It's Ok if somedays are not as productive as others. As long as you don't totally deviate from plan you will be OK. It's better to study when your mind is 100% there than 50% there. We are not machines.

There have been plenty of times that I have been frustrated and continued to study all the while I would not be retaining information and everything seemed sooooo hard.

Now on the other hand there have been times when I would know when to put down the books when I felt the level of frustration building. It was during these times that I learned that its better to chill out, regroup, and come back to it. I can tell you that 98% of the time when I came back I understood it.

While we have goals to study we do need to take a little time to make ourselves happy. If we don't then we will totally resent the CPA and see it as punishment. For instance I can tell you that one of my fellow twitter friends (Lady La_La) made the funniest video ever here. You have to learn how to de-stress.

So this weeks study tip is to CHILL OUT don't get so worked up when things don't go according to plan. We are humans not machines. If we were machines well we wouldnt even be here talking about this. Tomorrow is a new day whatever happened regarding your study goals yesterday doesn't matter all that matters is that you put your focus into today and exam day.

Happy Studying. And remember don't lose focus...you got this!

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Study Tip #1- Set a Goal

I've been thinking about starting a feature on my blog. I wanted this feature to be something that I can speak upon and can relate to. So without further ado I'm introducing weekly study tips. These are study tips that I use or have learned from others.

When I first started studying I didn't have a plan. All I knew was that I had to study. I was jumping all over the book. I didn't have a focus and I had no direction. Looking back on it now, that was a BIG mistake.

Now I know the importance of setting daily/weekly goals. I prepare my weekly goal setting on Sunday's. I map out what I need to cover for the week. I also keep my goals REALISTIC. I don't set a goal that is unattainable (i.e. answer 2,500 questions today). Setting goals gives me a sense of accomplishment and I also don't feel overwhelmed.

The most important thing to remember when setting your goal is to STICK TO IT!. What is the point of a goal if your not going to stick to it. If your not sticking to your goal then its not a goal, its a possibility. Possibilities won't get you to pass on the CPA exam. I will admit that sometimes I may set a goal and I may fall short. For example I may say that I want to answer 50 questions and my brain is so fried that I only answer 30. In situations like this I still feel like I accomplished something. Yes I didn't meet my goal but I didn't totally ignore it and I did make an effort to get close. I will say that when that does happen I make it my business to make up for it.

So this week's study tip is to ****SET A GOAL AND STICK TO IT****

You will see how much you accomplished and how better prepared you are by doing it.

Me and BEC

It's that time again and its Me and BEC.

I'm a week ahead of my schedule which is great! I did what I had to do so that my Becker live class could be a review today.

Can I just say that Becker gets two thumbs DOWN from me when it comes to cost accounting. The way that they explain cost accounting is just really bad (that's just my opinion). Thank goodness for my old notes or else I would be royally screwed.

Other than that my studies are going good. My REG score should be coming out in about a week and a half and my nerves are already bad. I'm freaking out already. I don't know if I'm going to check my score before or after BEC. Checking scores before another exam can be a serious confidence boost or killer. I do feel pretty good about REG but I still have that doubt in me ( I know I know thats not good...but I do).

This weeks plan is to cover B2 and B3. There are 520 homework questions O_0. That means that I will be studying during lunch atleast 4 days and on Saturday.

The $464 Master Plan

The number represented above represents the amount of exam fees I just paid this morning.

I paid for BEC and FAR. Once I get my NTS I’ll be scheduling BEC for April 2nd or 3rd (preferably April 3rd). FAR I’ll be scheduling for May 31st. I want the last day of the window!

BEC’s schedule is going to be very rigid for me. I don’t have any wiggle room. I want to be finished reviewing by March 20th. That will give me two full weeks to review. I realized that two weeks is the perfect amount of time to review. I feel that if I take too long to review I forget. I like things to be fresh in my head. The last thing that I want to feel is super stressed and lost while reviewing BEC (i.e. BEC 1st, 2nd, and 3rd try).

I will also be attending the Becker live classes on Sundays. My goal is to be ahead of the class so that when I’m in class it is basically like a reinforcement class for me. I’m not sure if I’ll get the Becker Final review for BEC yet. I’ll determine that soon. I’m also going to be supplementing my studies with audio lectures.

Today I’ll be starting B1. Since I know that my weaknesses are cost accounting and variances I’ll be doing the homework problems at a minimum of three times. I'll also be working the Wiley questions also. (However I will say, that I feel that the Becker questions are more indicative of the actual test. Not all questions but the majority).

As far as written communications I will be nailing down exactly what the examiners want. BEC here I come!

My REG Experience - 2nd Time Better Be a Charm

Sooooo I took REG today. (This is probably going to be a long post but I have to share)

First I'll just start from the beginning.

I worked a full day yesterday. I was unable to get the day off because my manager requested the day off before I could so therefore I took a day off earlier in the week. Although I wished had the day off I worked with it. I took a two hour lunch break and I studied hard. I reviewed all of those areas that I wasn't too sure of (and I'm sure glad I did because if I didn't I would have been in a bad place).

After work I came home and worked some more individual tax questions. I was in the bed by 8pm.

I woke up today at around 6 am (my test was scheduled for 1:30pm..yes I know thats crazy). I was so anxious. I just wanted to get the test over with. I was anxious to see what was on the test. I just wanted a break.

Since I woke up so early I started reviewing some more. I went over business law for about 45 mins and taxes for about an hour.

I decided that I wanted to get to the city early so that I wouldn't have to rush. I got to the city at 11:00am. I found a Starbucks and I hit the books again. At this point I was pretty comfortable with taxes so I decided to hit Business Law hard. I skimmed the ancillary material and I also just started circling things that I felt were important. Before I went to the testing center I looked at taxes one more time.

I started at about 1:20 and I was done with the first testlet in about 20 mins. Just to make sure I reviewed my work.

After the first testlet I was praying that the questions got harder....and they did! But then that's when it happened.....My head started pounding so hard. I mean to the point that I had to massage my temples. I was squinting at the screen because the light was bothering me. I would periodically close my eyes because I wanted some type of relief. As bad as my head was hurting I wasn't going out like that. I just sucked it up and kept at it.

I finished all of my testlets with 83 mins left to do the sims. The sims weren't too bad. But I will say that I benefited infinitely from doing the TBS marathon (thanks Dee).

I had two research questions. Now here is the crazy part. When I started the first research tab I was spending too much time on it. I decided that I would move on and then come back to it. I didn't want to spend so much time on it and then scramble with the other tabs. I completed the other sims and then I get to the second research question. That one was a problem too. By this time I had about 35 mins left to do the research questions. I'm not sure about the second one but the first one I know I got right. I got that one word for word. I was getting discouraged with it at first but then I just told myself that I have to use the words in the sentence as search words and next thing you know the answer was right in front of me. I couldn't believe it! By that time I only had 6 mins.

So the waiting begins. I told myself positive thoughts only. I fought through this test. Not fighting because I felt like I did bad but fighting like I put my all in it. I double checked everything. And if I just didn't know an answer (which was about 3-4 questions at most) I just chose "C" LOL.

Well enough rambling. Off to BEC (Hopefully I can get a April 2nd or April 3rd test date). If I do then that leaves me 8 weeks for FAR!!! (Oh Joy).

Randoms and Updates

Today was such a long day at work. As tired as I was I couldn't wait to get home and meet my goal of doing 150MCQ's.

All in all I did around 185 questions (jumping for joy).

I'm already thinking of what to do once I pass all four parts.

I have my goal framed in my bedroom of passing 3 parts this year. By the way I'm feeling and my new found motivation I think I'll be passing 4 this year. I'm promising myself that I WILL BE TAKING 2 EXAMS A WINDOW. With that schedule my plan is take Audit in July and then I'll be done (praying!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I really want one of those Mac LCD monitors. They are really expensive (just a thought, thats way out of the budget for now).

I'm going to go to spin class early Saturday morning. I haven't been since January. My body will be crying afterwards but the long term is worth it.

I can't wait for summer. Just the smell of summer makes me happy.

I need to go spring clothes shopping. But first I want to lose 10lbs first. I always gain over the winter and lose like crazy in the spring ( I think its due to the fact in the summer I crave smoothies and can practically live on that alone. It's too cold for smoothies in the winter).

Saturday is going to be TBS day. I'm planning on getting my hands on every TBS I can find. I'm going to know them like the back of my hand.

I'm still in shock as to how my confidence has been boosted in REG. I'm really starting to believe in all that I preach.

Other than that I'm still plugging away.