Test Anxiety

I am scheduled to take my first section of the CPA Exam a week from Saturday. I'll be doing the portion entitled Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR). This is the big section, covering the most material - things I learned from my very first accounting class to my second-last semester in school (my last was all tax accounting).

This test will be 4 hours long. It will consist of 3 sets of 30 multiple-choice questions (total of 90) plus two "simulations" - longer case-study type problems. Most people I have talked to barely finish it in time, but at least they didn't run out of time.

To help prepare for the exam I purchased the Becker Review course, featuring 1 book and DVD for each exam section. The FAR book was broken into 9 chapters. The DVD has a 3 or 3.5 hour lecture for each of these chapters. There are also multiple choice questions and simulations for each section.

I just finished viewing the last lecture this weekend. Tonight I finished my first pass through the multiple-choice questions in chapter 8. So far I've worked 700 questions in those 8 chapters with another 86 for chapter 9 to go. By the time I take this test (really just one of four) I'll probably have 75-100 hours of study time invested (yes, it's a wide range because I don't really keep track too closely) I've done chapters 1 & 2 twice, and I'd like to review all the chapters once more. I also need to work at the simulation examples to prep for what can really be the harder part of the test.

Fortunately, I have a long weekend ahead so I should be in good shape. I am pretty nervous, because even though I can retake this thing, I'd really rather not. Getting my CPA license is essential for me to keep career options open, so I need to get through it somehow. The material isn't extremely challenging (some is hard), but the quantity that is potentially testable is substantial. It's very little that I haven't learned before, but imagine having to take a comprehensive exam at the end of college (PhD's you know what I mean). At least mine comes in four parts. I know I can make it if my memory holds up, but I'll be trying to cram as much in during these last few days as I can.