The surest way to realize your dreams: Lots & lots of work!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful. Your comments are welcome.
Popularity: 7% [?]
When you go to take the CPA exam at Prometric, they will give you several pencils, (I think they are HB #2 pencils), and some “course” paper on which you write your passcode/password. You are allowed to use the paper for calculations etc. If you run out of paper(!) you can request for me. [They tell you all that before you go into the examination room.]
Personally, I have never liked HB #2 pencils, I prefer mechanical pencils or pens. I do not have a preference on the paper, just on the pencils. I wish they gave you an option to get a pen or pencil. May be it is cheaper to offer pencils, and they are assured that the pencil will not run out!
CPA exam pencils - HB #2
Anyway, here is a tip. I think it is a good idea to practice or study, under conditions similar to those you will have in the exam. Thus, if you don’t like using HB #2 pencil, it is best to get one, practice using it, that way during the exam, you are not unhappy or uncomfortable using the HB#2 pencil. Actually, you could go as far as using a “blunt” pencil… because if you write as much as I do, believe me, the pencils will get blunt.
One may say that during the exam, you have no time to care about small or minor things like blunt pencils or what type of pencils you are using. Well, some people may, others may not. I happen to be the one who does. I suspect that there are a few more people. [As a side note, during the exam... there is time to think about... various things!]
If you don’t like pencil for note-taking, you can use a pen until a few days before the exam, and then use pencil for your last review just to practice a little.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.
Popularity: 8% [?]
You Have a What?
Sometimes people complain that the CPA exam is hard. Others ask about the minimum amount of time needed to pass the exam. Others say that getting more than the required 75 is a waste of time, effort, grades. Others just want to be familiar with the material to pass. I have been guilty of some of these things, explicitly or implicitly. For example, if I don’t study until two weeks before the exam while working full time, it is fair to say that even if I pass, my mastery of the material will not be as good as it would be if I had paced myself for 2 months, for example. The chances that I will retain the material for more than a few weeks or months are small. In a way, if I become a CPA, even if I don’t work in public accounting, I will be a weak CPA. Well, that’s what I think.
While I was thinking about the above, I considered Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, and other professionals… and I was wondering, if I were to hire a Doctor or Lawyer, or Engineer or Mechanic… how competent would I want them to be? I would probably want someone who did very well in school, scored high in his or her certification exams, and has decent experience in his field. One may argue that if somebody intends to practice in public, then he or she should excel. I would, however, argue that we all do public accounting of some sort. Even if we are in private practice or private sector, what we do finally finds its way to the public. Another argument is that once people know that you are certified, they think they can come to you for advice or opinions. These people can be friends, acquiantances, or family. They think that just because you are certified, you are an expert and you know your field inside out. In my world, that brings some ethical responsibility to know the subject matter really well, whether or not I am going to do public accounting. That’s a motivational tool for me. Of course, one has to strike a balance between spending time to master the material, and doing what needs to be done to pass the exam. As some CPA instructors say, “I am not teaching you to be an expert, I am teaching you to get you to pass the exam!” They are right, you can master the material after you pass, I guess!
Your thoughts and comments are welcome.
Thanks for reading and I hope you found that helpful.
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Practice is first, second, and last! You have to do it, over and over again, as if you are in a game, so that when game time comes, your body is not shocked, and your mind is sharp enough to react correctly instantly.
Practice, practice, practice!
Thank you for reading, and I hope you found that helpful!
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[A little background: My undergrad degree is in Mathematics and Education. When you study education, you learn about Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, and of course, Theories of Education and Learning. As you may expect, most of the Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy lean towards education. One of the few things I still remember liking from my time in college is the Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning.]
According to Bloom, all of learning is divided into three main domains or categories, namely, Cognitive, Affective, and Psycho-Motor. If I were to explain it to a kid, I would say, “all your learning is either mental, heart/emotion, or bodily” – which seems obvious, until you start getting into the details on how to formulate questions which can be used to assess an academic paper or a dissertation, or the technical competence of a CPA candidate! This article’s focus is the Cognitive Domain of learning and how its understanding can be a handy tool in preparing for the CPA exam.
The Cognitive Domain (or mental) aspect looks at levels of “thinking” from Knowledge (which is simple or (rote recall) to Evaluation and/or Creativity (which is complex and involves creation of something new). Like most skills in life, you build your way up, so there is a hierarchy of learning. The Taxonomy has since been revised; below are the two hierarchies (new and old) side by side.
Bloom's Taxonomy Cognitive Domain Hierarchy
Armed with knowledge of the details of Bloom Taxonomy’s Cognitive Domain, you can easily see through what a CPA examination question is asking. From my experience, most of the CPA exam questions focus on the high-level cognitive skills, (analysis, evaluation, and creativity) which partly explains why the exam is so difficult or demanding. You are expected to exercise those thinking skills from question to question, and the “keywords” for the particular thinking level are implied or hidden within the question. You may have noticed as you were going over practice questions that questions rarely directly ask you to evaluate or critique something. Usually, a scenario will be presented, and from the requirement/question, you will see that you need to evaluate a statement or position.
I think the most useful way to use the Bloom’s Taxonomy is to be aware of it as you are studying or learning or taking notes. For example, are your notes a regurgitation of what you found in the book (lower level), or did you create something that is “new” (higher level)? From your notes or newly acquired knowledge, can you answer questions that directly use the high level “keywords“? Can you debate an issue? Can you explain a concept to a person who is an accountant and have the person satisfactorily explain to another? (That is, can you teach what you know?) If you clicked the “keywords“ link, you may have observed that as you go up the hierarchy, “relationships” appear to be emphasized. This can be relationships between bodies of knowledge, parts of a body of knowledge, a body of knowledge and a particular scenario, etc.
You may get more information on Bloom’s Taxonomy and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) from the following sources:
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy (Bloom’s Taxonomy – Mary Forehand, University of Georgia)
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm (Excerpt of sample question stems, useful verbs, etc – from “Extending Children’s Special Abilities”)
http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/slatta/hi216/learning/bloom.htm (Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Levels)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom’s_Taxonomy (A Wikipedia article on Bloom’s Taxonomy)
http://www.mindedutainment.com/content.php?id=53 (Mind Edutainment – My Thinking Program)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.
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Write down the score you want to get on the CPA exam! That's my goal, what's yours?
Yesterday I was studying during lunch (break at work). I was going over the notes I had taken when I was preparing for REG last window. Usually, when I study, I write down the time and date when I started on a particular page, and when I stopped. When I do my last minute study, it is motivating to see that I had put in some time and effort on different days, at different times, and I thought whatever I wrote down was important enough… anyway, I am digressing. So, I wanted to write dates and times as I was reviewing my “old” notes. I did, but it didn’t feel as great as the last time… so I thought for a minute, and it occurred to me that since I know the score I am shooting for, it may be motivating for me to write it on every page that I pass through… and before I turn the page over and write the score again, I stop to consider if my effort on this particular page, was good enough to get me that 99. I noticed that I covered a lot of ground during that 1 hour lunch break. I am not sure whether it had to do with the score writing and focus, or it was just because I was going over the notes one more time and I was familiar with most of the concepts.
Another benefit of writing down the score you want, (from a motivational point of view), is that you feel like you are in control of what you will get. Not only is your goal passing, but it is more focused on passing with a certain score. I am thinking that you can use “your number” as guide as you do multiple choice questions and simulations. Obviously, if you are shooting for a 75 and you are getting 75 as you practice, you may be in dangerous territory. Aim higher. Work harder. Shoot for the stars. When you only make it to the moon, you are still way up there, floating in the heavens!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.
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I have not been doing great with studying at all. I have read a little bit, I have listened to the CDs, and I started doing some multiple choice questions some time back. I could come up with explanations and excuses, but I won’t. When things like this happen, the best thing to do is to realize what’s going on and take corrective action. Reading or writing about how to get things done will not get things done if no action is taken. Positive thinking will not get things done if no action is taken. Faith and hope has to be supported by action in the direction of the goal. So, tonight, I will take my first step towards serious study as well as overall focus on getting things done in my life. I will post the CPA-related updates here.
If you are also struggling with studying and getting things done, may be you can also make a similar decision to choose action over inaction. Let’s study hard and get this done!
Thank you for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.
(Thanks to the Cooking Accountant for checking on me and my studying earlier today! I really appreciate the support!)
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