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How Sophie Passed Her CPA Exams with SuperfastCPA + Becker
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May 3, 2024
In this SuperfastCPA podcast episode, you'll hear how Sophie started from the beginning by using SuperfastCPA along with Becker, and how she passed the four CPA exams. You'll hear the specific CPA study strategies she used, her daily study routine, and how she did prepared the last few days before an exam. IMPORTANT LINKS: Master your study process by attending one of our free study training workshops: https://www.superfastcpa.com/study-secrets Enter our free monthly podcast giveaway: https://www.superfastcpa.com/enter FULL EPISODE PAGE: https://www.superfastcpa.com/superfastcpa-reviews-how-sophie-passed-her-cpa-exams/ 00:00 Sophie Interview 02:49 Sophie's CPA Journey 05:56 "Third time is a charm..." 10:34 Sophie's Process for Using the Questions to Learn a Topic 14:56 Doing the Daily Set of Rereview MCQs 16:00 Her Study Routine at Night 17:28 Working Through the Simulations
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0:00
And I told I wouldn't, I wouldn't get married or, like, wouldn't even talk about marriage until I passed my sickness
0:04
Like, that was, I'm like, don't talk to me about this, even though it is like something that's
0:08
good and something that we both want. Like, don't, don't bring it up. Welcome to episode 91 of the CPA exam experience podcast from Super Fast CPA
0:25
I'm Nate. And in today's interview, you're going to hear me talk with Sophie. Now, Sophie, in her interview, there's not a huge backstory where she struggled with the exams for years because she had found super fast CPA and had our program and started with our study strategies from the beginning
0:43
So her study process went pretty smoothly and she just worked her way through the four exams
0:49
So this interview is more technical where we pretty much get straight into the strategies, how she applied them on a daily basis, why they worked
0:57
and, you know, a little bit of the philosophy behind the strategies and why they work so well
1:03
So regardless of where you're at in your own CPA study journey, you will find this interview
1:07
very helpful and informative because it's just so heavy on just the strategies
1:12
What works, what to avoid, and what to spend your time doing
1:16
So before we get into the interview, I just need to mention two things. First, you know what I'm going to say at this point
1:22
Our free study training. As you'll hear on Sophie's interview, that is what she started with
1:27
our free study training webinars, I don't care how long you've been studying or how much you think
1:32
you know about the study process. If you are struggling at all, or even if you don't think that
1:37
you're struggling, watching one of those free one-hour trainings, you will have at least three to four
1:43
light bulbs go off as to how your process could be much more effective. And if you feel completely
1:49
lost and overwhelmed, then that training will be a complete revelation to you. So to sign up for
1:54
one of those free webinars, just go to our main site at superfast cpa.com, or the link will be in the
2:00
description, whether you're reading the description on your podcast app or watching this on
2:04
YouTube. The second thing would be to sign up for our free podcast giveaway. Each month, we give away
2:09
three pairs of Powerbeat Pro headphones to three of our listeners that have entered the giveaway. It's
2:15
just your name and email. You can find the link down in the description as well. All right, so with that
2:19
being said, let's get into the interview with Sophie. So the only thing I remember from your note, or you kind of just said you did the CPA back in 2019, is that right
2:31
Mm-hmm. And then do you just, do you just still get our emails? You're just on the customer list still
2:37
Yeah, just on the customer list. Nice. I'm over since subscribing to things, but I'm like, yeah, it'll probably come in handy at some point
2:45
Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm excited to hear your story or how. went. So on that note, let's just start from the beginning. When you started studying
2:55
what were you doing? What were you using? And what was it like? Yeah, awesome. So during school
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I interviewed with a bunch of firms and ended up landing a spot at Deloitte. And so they offered
3:05
like the full Becker package with the videos, the like physical manuals and different things like
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that. And it was just kind of like overwhelming to take all that in. I didn't really know where to
3:18
start. I had heard from other friends and coworkers that had taken the exams, like, you should
3:22
start with. I was in tax. I got my master's taxation. So they're like, should probably start
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with reg, just because you're more familiar with that. And then maybe move into far next just because
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you know, get the harder ones out of the way first. But I don't know. I just, I didn't feel
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like I had enough knowledge to go off of. And so it kind of just like kept pushing it off
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pushing it off. And I had all the study materials for probably six months before I found super
3:50
fast CPA. And I can't remember how I even found you guys. I think it may have been like an ad on
3:55
Facebook or something like a video that just popped up. And I was like, I'm kind of a sucker for
4:00
things like that. So I just like, I was like, oh yeah, I'll see what's going on. And so clicked on the
4:05
video and it was just kind of like, this was my story. And all the people that I had talked to was
4:11
like get through all the material because it's a the test is a mile wide but an inch deep so you need
4:16
to know a little bit about everything and I feel like you're um the video that I saw and I think
4:21
it was you on there was just like you know I I didn't do everything and I was like okay like this
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might be my jam then um so I you know hook line and sinker you got me in um purchased the study
4:35
materials and then read through the introduction manual. I think it was just like a couple
4:41
pages. It wasn't like that big. And just kind of like your mentality behind it and like how
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you went about it. And yeah, it totally got me. So I followed your study pattern. I woke up
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at 5 a.m. every morning popped a diet Pepsi and just got studying and then went to work. So at this time
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I was working and it was actually like fall busy season. And so it was brutal
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but would study from like five to seven, get ready for work, head to work, get home at like nine
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study from nine to 10.30 or whatever. Reg went pretty fast just because, again, like I just got my
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master's in it, so stuff was pretty familiar. So yeah, took reg, passed it fine, and then just like
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yeah, moved on to audit and did what you said. I only did the multiple choice. I didn't do
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you know, all the videos because those were so cheesy and they kind of like irritated me a lot of
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but they weren't helpful. I was like, this is not super helpful. And when it came to the test, you were 100% right
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Like all the questions were variations of the questions that were in the study materials
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I mean, like they changed the numbers, which changed the answer, but essentially like the formula behind it was the same and definitions were exactly the same
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So, yeah, I thought it was super helpful. So audit you passed your first time without just doing that
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So audit was actually kind of user error. I had to like reschedule a few exams because my husband's cousin ended up getting married
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And so we wanted to go and I had scheduled. I think it was audit for that weekend
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And so rescheduled stuff. And I thought that I moved my audit test to a Monday
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And so I like took work off that day, studied and everything. And I showed it to the testing center and was checking in and they're like
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we don't have you on our list. And I was like, well, that's weird. Like, oh, what happened
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You know, come to find out. I had scheduled it for the Saturday before. And I feel like that's like not in character for me
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So it was super weird. But anyways, so I ended up missing my audit exam and then scheduled it for
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And I felt so prepared. Like I felt so prepared for that exam. And then I ended up moving it after I took BEC just to like keep the continuity and stuff
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And I think by that time I was like, oh, I should just need a refresher. Like I won't really need to do too much studying
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And so when I actually showed up for my. when I showed up for that next exam, I ended up failing that one
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I just was not prepared at all. I feel like all of that just kind of, you know
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that binge and purge mentality. Yeah. And it was just purged. Yeah
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So I, um, yeah, rewent through all the study material again, like fully this time as far as like all
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the multiple choice, all the chapters and then past it that the third
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third time's the charm. Yeah. I, that's so, so when you miss it, um, when you just miss the exam, you just, what happens
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Did you hear anything from chromatric or did they like you just get a zero or how do they even? I've never heard
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Yeah. Yeah, never heard that. Well, I'm glad to be your, glad to be your first
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I'm sure it's happened a lot, but. They didn't reach out at all and say like, hey, where are you at or anything like that
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I think they did it. They marked it like as an incomplete
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Like I just didn't even take the test. Yeah. And so, but I still had to, I had to
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it's just taking me back. I think I had to reach out to someone to say like what happened
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like someone within the testing center because they don't like when people just don't show up
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And then I had to pay for the test again. So that was kind of a bummer just to repay for it and everything
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And then I had to wait. There's like a, oh man, what do they call it
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Like a, you got to get a new NTS. Yes, exactly. I had to get the new NTS and everything
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And then so it just took a little bit. I think I was kind of discouraged
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Yeah, I mean, yeah, that would be, yeah, that would be annoying
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Well, yeah, so why I was asking is, if someone has never worked in audit, then audit a lot of times is one of the harder exams because it's just really specific to auditing, obviously
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And a lot of it sounds the same It very boring you know to try and learn it in like textbook format and you never worked it on it So I was just surprised you you know you passed it without
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watching the videos or reading the text, really. Yeah. I think like the acronyms really caught me up
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And I passed with like a, what was it? 76. So I mean, like just, just barely made it. But yeah
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that acronyms threw me off and I feel like their answer choices were all so similar
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I was just like, this is ridiculous. And audit was definitely my worst class in college too
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And that's probably why I didn't go into audit. I was like, I don't like this at all
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Yeah, that makes sense. And so then, so your BEC, did you pass that
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Because you moved on from audit to BEC. The rest of them passed no problem
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I should not say no problem. The rest of my past. And so, yeah, I think my score progressively
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got lower and lower as I went down, but I was like, I don't need anything higher than the 75
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Right. This is great. So you did, did you do far last? Or was it reg and their second? Oh, okay
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I see. Reg FAR BEC audit, although I had those switched in my mind, but yeah. Nice
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Yeah. So you said you, you kind of mentioned this, but would you basically just
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follow the study format. I'm guessing in 2019, we would have called our strategy videos the like the
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study hacks course. Does that sound familiar? Yeah. Yeah, totally. So the two hours in the morning
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you would just kind of do that format, go through the questions first for new lessons
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kind of get an idea of, well, and that's helpful to other people. If you can remember that far back
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what was your actual process for using the questions to kind of learn a talk
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topic. How did you actually do that? Yeah, great question. That is taking me back. I think I just
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jumped into, well, no, because you guys had like really good summaries. Oh, the review notes
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So I think I went over those first. I like went over the binder of information first and then just
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jump straight into Becker's multiple choice questions. And then we just go through them. And I didn't
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really care whether I was right or wrong because they provide that explanation at the bottom. And so then I would just read through all the explanations with the question
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And I can't remember if I, I don't think I made steady cards, but I think I had like a
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notepad in front of me. And then if anything just like wasn't clicking, like if I kept getting the same question wrong, then I would like write it down. And for some reason, I think I'm like
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a visual learner. So like writing it, seeing it helps me to absorb it a little bit better
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And so, yeah, I would just write it down. And then I would just keep going through that same multiple choice section because they have like the different chapters and then within those chapters are the different sections
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And so I would like go through those sections until I'd gotten like 100% right maybe like five times in a row
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And then I would move on to the next section and then match that up with your guys is study notes
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And then same thing. Just like keep going through them. Make notes if anything didn't make sense or wasn't really quite clicking
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And then at some point, I feel like I just accepted the answers that they gave at the same time
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I'm just like, okay, the answer to this question is this. I don't necessarily need to know the theory behind it
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I just didn't get the answer, right? Yeah. No, I mean, there's a lot of, you know, like, strategy in that basically
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Because that's kind of what, or my whole approach was how do I learn, how do I just figure out how to get a passive score, like, in its least time spent
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as possible. And so it's like, okay, on test day, I'm going to see these multiple choice and then
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these simulations. And so I'm just going to kind of use those from the review course. And because
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anyways, without getting into the whole thing, lessons, you know, cover everything. But then the
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questions really just ask about maybe three or four things from that whole lesson. And so
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yeah, it just was like way faster way of doing it. Um, So that was a good overview
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So you would click through the questions, not caring about whether you're getting them
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right or wrong, because obviously you've never seen the topic. And that's, that is an idea that it's really hard for people to grasp that
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When I say like, listen, you're using the questions when you go through, when you go through
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it first as a learning tool, just like the video, you know, but people have this hang up with like
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Well, no, if I'm going to do the questions, I need to, like, be getting them right. And, you know, it's like, okay, you got to, you will learn faster if you can kind of set that
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aside, that mentality of, yeah. And I think that's hard for accountants because we're perfectionist type people
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And we most likely did pretty well in school. And you like to see those passing scores or like high scores or whatever
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But it's hard to just be like, just forget about it. Yeah. Just learn, learn the material
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Okay. Yeah. So you would, you would click through the question. questions and maybe take some notes, just see how, you know, maybe read the question
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Like, okay, for this, this is how the calculation is done. And then once you kind of felt like you understood it, you would then start the questions
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over and try to actually answer them. That's a really good, yeah
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Go ahead. Yeah, just like memorization tools. So, and then probably would end up going through them like six times, which might be excessive
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I don't know. I, but that may not work for everybody, but that was kind of something that I was like
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okay, this will help me stick and whatnot. And then would you do the, like a daily set of re-review questions pulled from everything
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Yeah, totally. I think, well, I think it was like once I got to the end of the chapter, well, because they
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do have those questions. As far as you've made it, they'll have like questions that line up with what you had, right
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Well, yeah. So this is terrible. Well, no, it's, yeah, because it was like three years ago, if 2019
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But so one of the main things that are in those videos is to, you do your first 90 minutes
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you know, going through the questions first like you described. And then the last 30 minutes of the two hours would be you generate a set of 30 from all
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the chapters you've previously been through. Yes, totally. Yes. And then that would keep you up on like past things
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So that way it's not just, you know, you learn this chapter really well. And then you move on to the next one and you forget it
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Exactly. Yeah. I feel like our school system has taught us to do that really well. Yeah
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Yeah. Okay. So you would do that. And then you also mentioned you would study at night for an hour or an hour and a half
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What would you do at night? Just multiple choice. That's all I did was that multiple choice
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If there was something that like that I thought I should learn the theory a little bit better
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I would go into the textbook, into Becker and just read through it. I didn't really waste my time too much
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Like I said, with the videos, because I felt like they were kind of slow. And you can't just like click right to the point
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Like if I wanted to learn, oh, man. Yeah, just some topic
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I can't even remember. What was on that? Like, so, yeah, very specific subtopic
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You can't just click right to it. So then I would just go to the Becker manual because essentially those videos are them
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reading off the manual. Yeah. And I would just read through it a couple times until I felt like
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I understood that a little bit better. And then would move on
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Yeah, just a lot of multiple choice. And that's what I've told people that I work with
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Moab is kind of a funny office. There's a lot of people that join the office as like an accounting services member
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So they're just like doing accounting for different businesses in town. And they don't have their degree yet
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So then they start going to school. They get their degree. Then they do their master's all while working
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And then they start studying all while working. and they have families. They're a little bit older, like not your traditional straight out of college kids. And so that's what I told them. I'm like, just do the multiple choice. Like, that's all you need to do. And I don't know if they quite believe me, but honestly, it works. Yeah. I know. It's a lot of people really want to torture themselves and watch every video and read the chapter. What about the practice Sims though? I'm assuming you did those at least a little bit or how'd you work those into your process
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Yeah, so I did those for Reg and Farr at the beginning
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I heard a lot about BEC is just like writing. And I always felt very confident in my writing So as long as I could make a point then I felt okay with that But then I realized that like the Sims in like it was just kind of a coin toss what you were
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going to get. Like, it may line up exactly, or you may get something that you've kind of seen
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before, and it may be something that you're just, like, have no idea. And I felt like the multiple
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choice really helped with those two because you kind of know like the backbone of the answers
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at least. And so sometimes I don't want to say like I just won those
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but more likely than not. Like I kind of just won it
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Yeah. Yeah, I mean, a lot of people say that. And it does
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I think when you spend, when you spend the majority of your
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well, going back, what most people do to study and they don't realize
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like if you divide it up their time and percentages, if you watch the whole video
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read the chapter, and then kind of look, you know, do the practice questions
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You're really spending, like 60 to 80% of your time in like presentation, you're learning topics in presentation format
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instead of like in question format. But when you spend most of your time doing the questions
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like you were saying, you do. You just, you learn the material or the topics in the context of
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questions. And it makes the Sims way easier, even if you haven't really spent a ton of time
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on practice Sims specifically. Yeah, that's a good point. During the day, would you use our study tools at all from your phone or you just kind of
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stuck to the morning and night? Primarily to the morning and night just because it was busy season
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So during the day, we just didn't have quite the time. And I think it was my first busy season
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So that on top of it, it was just a fire hose of how to use the software that DeLoy had
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how to, because you come out of your master's program, you're like, oh, I feel so confident
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And then you actually get in the workforce and you're like, this is nothing. Like school, this is completely backwards
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And so, yeah, so I feel like in the day, it was just kind of a, I don't think we'll have time
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But sometimes during lunch I would pull stuff up, but often during the day, I just didn't quite have the time
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Yeah, you're just working. But you also, you said you would read the notes before you kind of jumped into the chapter or the questions first thing
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And a lot of people say that as well, even though I've started telling people to do that because
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I kept hearing that on these interviews. But I was never really, that wasn't like part of our videos back then, at least
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I would just tell people, no, just read the notes throughout the day or whenever you have time
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It's just kind of a refresher type thing. But a lot of people say that they do exactly what you said
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And I think it's just to kind of like get your head on straight or I don't know, kind of get like a heads up of
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what you're going to be learning about. I do remember now, like, thinking back when I was, I'm trying to think
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my commute to work was probably 45 minutes no traffic at that time
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So in the morning, like during Phoenix rush hour, which is not really that bad
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It could take, like, upwards to an hour to get there. So I do remember listening to the podcast version or like the audio notes. Yeah
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Yes, the audio notes, just because it's, just again like reiterating stuff i can't believe i forgot that so i did listen to those a lot just
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to kill the time and yeah whatnot yeah i mean it's it's boring but you know if you do that daily
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that's like an extra hour and a half of just exposure and he just that over whatever six to eight
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weeks is like an extra 50 maybe 100 hours right just time you wouldn't have otherwise yeah
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and you don't have to be looking at anything so while mindlessly driving, it's perfect and sitting in traffic, like what else I'm going to do
21:56
Right. Yeah. And you said that, so another kind of core strategy, and you kind of mentioned it
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when you ran into something that you kept forgetting or struggled to understand or whatever
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you would just kind of write it down in your own words, make notes, even though you didn't do
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actual note or flashcards, but you had some form of doing that practice, basically
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Yeah. And then I would review those sometimes too, like, If I came back to that question, I would look at my notes again
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But yeah, that was pretty much the extent of, like, making note cards, quote-unquote
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I don't think you could really qualify those as them. But note cards never really worked for me in school anyways
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Like, I remember even back in high school, like all the kids with note cards in chemistry and different things
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And that strategy never super worked for me. More just like taking notes on a piece of paper was helpful
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So if note cards work for somebody else, I would like highly suggest that. But that was never really my jam
22:55
Right. Yeah. I think the point is just some way of things that you, again
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things that you struggle to understand or remember, you write it out in some way
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And it just, that's way different than what a lot of people do is they'll miss questions
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And then they read the explanation that's just there on the screen or whatever
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and just think, oh, yeah, I just, I forgot that. But writing it out
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putting it kind of in your own words, it just does something. It's like one level above ineffectiveness, you know, to try and remember
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something you keep missing. Kind of like when they say you don't truly know something unless you can
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explain it to someone else. It's almost like you explaining it to yourself in a way. Yeah. Yeah. In those videos
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I say like literally, if it's something you keep missing, like stop, explain it out loud to yourself
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as if you're until like just keep talking until it like clicks. And that's what you're
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down and it's just you'll have it after that. How did you treat the last few days before an exam
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like your final review process? Yeah, multiple choice, man. I think I would generate those 30
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question packages. I can't even think of what they called them of like all the previous chapters
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So it could be anything from chapter one through I think it was like what 15 chapters of
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bar or rig for example. I can't remember. And just 30 at a time and would just crank through those as much as possible
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And then tried to relax a lot. I think like the hype, like getting into these tests is, it's so stressful
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It's so so stressful. You feel like your livelihood depends on it because it kind of does. And so just like taking time to just relax a little bit because if you're all hyped up
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you're not going to do as well. Your brain just like won't, you know, make those connections
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So I tried to relax quite a bit, not to take things too seriously
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and then just 30, 30 at a time, just crank through them. And then for speed, too
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Because I think that's a big factor of the test. It's like, you have all these things you have to do, but it's only in a certain amount of time
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So just like you see key words in a question and you know what that answer is
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So just click that answer and move through. And then if I'm missing those questions, because if I remember, right, the 30 question accumulated ones didn't give you like the explanation till the end
25:17
Like I don't think it would tell you're right or wrong at the minute. right okay um and so once i was done with those 30 read through even if i got it right read through
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the explanation even if i seen that question a million times read through the explanation just to
25:30
i mean the more the more you see it the more it sticks so right yeah and i was just going to say that
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the uh the time aspect those sets of 30 they just they solve a lot of problems in advance
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obviously the exposure to exactly what you're going to be doing on test day and that's one of the
25:48
best ways to try and deal with exam anxiety in advance. Because if you're just really comfortable
25:55
with sets of 30, then it's just not, it's not going to be something that stresses you out on test day
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And then second, the fact that the Sims, like you said, are kind of a coin toss. You might see
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something that just the way that it's set up is something you've never seen in your practice
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Sims. The number one thing you can do for yourself on test day for the Sims is to be done with the
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multiple choice as quick as possible. And so those sets of 30 help you just get fast
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just like you said. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. And I think something that helped me with stress anxiety to do
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this is separate from super fast EPA, but just making sure, obviously this didn't happen with
26:34
the first time I took on it, but making sure I had all my ducks in a line. Like I had all my stuff
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printed out. I had all my identity, like my ID cards or license and passport and different things
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like in a folder, ready to go. So that way when I showed up, I'm just like
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like pass my folder across the counter to whoever's checking me in
26:52
And I didn't have to worry about that side of things. Because it kind of stressful like sitting there in the lobby and do I have everything I need because the instructions on the test are like if you don have this you can test And that just kind of gives you anxiety thinking about it too So just make sure you have everything you need ready to go
27:09
Yeah, that place, the testing center is intense. Like fingerprinting you when you go to the bathroom
27:16
I just, I never went to the bathroom for that. I'm like, I'm not doing this whole process
27:20
I'm just making sure I can just sit for four hours. But anyways, yeah
27:26
Well, we kind of went through everything. Anything else that we didn't cover or even if we covered it
27:34
if you just summed up your top three tips for people that are still studying, what would you say
27:41
Yeah. I remember another point that you made was like, have a reward at the end
27:45
Oh, yes, you mentioned that. I was going to ask you. Okay. Yeah, that was super helpful. I didn't
27:52
well, okay. So while I was studying and stuff, my husband and I weren't actually married at the time
27:56
but we were dating and kind of getting to the point where we were like, we should get married, you know, we've been dating for a year and a half
28:01
And so that's just like the next step, you know. And I told I wouldn't, I wouldn't get married or like wouldn't even talk about marriage
28:07
until I passed my secrets. Like that was, I'm like, don't talk to me about this, even though it is like something
28:12
that's good and something that we both want. Like don't, don't bring it up. And so, yeah, give yourself a goal, whether or a reward
28:19
I think yours was golf clubs. Is that right? Yeah. Or something. Yeah, whether it's like a financial purchase, a trip
28:26
your next stage in life, like just knuckle down and like put that on your bathroom
28:32
a mirror, put it in your bedroom, on your door, just like, have that everywhere because
28:37
these tests won't last forever, even though they seem like they will. And so put in the time
28:42
even if you have to miss a couple social events, even if you have to stay up late or wake up
28:46
early, just, you know, keep reminding yourself. Like at the end of this, there will be something
28:51
so good that comes. I think I also was like, we're going to go to Hawaii after I pass
28:55
And that didn't happen, but the thought of going was like super motivating to keep study
29:00
Yeah. Keep studying. So what did you actually do? Do you put pictures of stuff like you said or around your house or like what kind of visual
29:10
reminders did you use? I used Hawaii because that was an easier one than like
29:15
I don't know. Marriage is kind of cliche. But yeah, totally put pictures of Hawaii
29:21
My parents or my mom's from Hawaii. And so I like had text from my cousins
29:25
I was like, I'm coming to visit you. And like would just kind of in my mind like prepared a trip
29:31
And yeah, I had little pronounce of like Hawaii 2020, because it would have been the 20
29:37
which obviously wouldn't have happened anyways. But it was like the end of 2019 that ended up passing
29:42
And so it wouldn't have been able to go until 2020. But yeah, that's awesome
29:47
That was super motivating. Like do it for Hawaii, man, do it for Hawaii. So is and then the other part is
29:52
that what you guys did? You got married after you waited and then set up your whole wedding
29:58
and planned everything after you were done. Nice. That's pretty much how the how the cards fell in
30:05
place. I think like the funny thing is so I failed audit. So I failed audit. So I had taken my last
30:14
test, right? I had taken audit. I missed audit and then I had taken it actually taking the test for the
30:19
first time and the one that I failed. And so right after I taken it, my husband's still, or boyfriend still at the time, started talking to me. And he's like, okay, you've taken all
30:25
your tests. We just started talking about getting married. I'm like, no, I want to wait until the score comes out. Totally. I failed. And I was so mad. I was so mad. But yeah. And then he was like
30:35
okay, like, I respect, I respect that you just need to make this one final push and like pass and
30:39
whatnot. And then after that, that's when we end up getting engaged in everything. So
30:43
I mean, that's, yeah, I mean, practically speaking, that's just a good idea, too
30:49
I guess, because trying to plan weddings and stuff with just kind of what this requires
30:55
especially if you're working full time, it really kind of takes up most of your time outside of
31:00
work. That would just be. Totally. And we don't have kids yet, but I know people that studied with
31:07
kids. And if you can do it before you have kids, I mean, I think that that would be all the better
31:12
Right. Yep. Yeah, on one interview I just did. Like we've had several
31:19
people with, you know, full on families that have been on the interview or been on the podcast and
31:23
stuff. And now having two kids, I did it before we had kids, but yeah, it's just, when I did it
31:31
it was more of a, I'm just kind of sacrificing my hobbies or whatever I would normally do
31:38
you know, or sleep, I guess, because I studied in the mornings. And it's just like a personal
31:42
discipline thing. But when you have kids, you know, they don't care that's like, hey, you can't be up
31:48
right now because I'm trying to study. If they wake up at five, you just like, they have to be
31:53
dealt with. Like, it's just a totally different thing. It's not just you making the choice to sit
31:58
down and study. Yeah. Yeah. Way harder. But anyways, so top three, do the multiple choice
32:06
have a reward at the end. Um, relax and get yourself ready before the test. That would be
32:13
Top three. Yeah. They relax. Actually, those last two, I think a lot of people that are just
32:18
starting would kind of scoff at those ideas like you know the motivational tactics like what
32:24
are you what are you talking about it's like okay we'll start start doing this for a few weeks
32:29
and you'll quickly realize that it's hard to just like keep your head in the game type thing
32:34
and then yeah anxiety i get so many emails about that like how do i just like i score good when
32:41
i'm studying at home i go to the testing center and just freak out and so yeah it is it's a huge thing
32:48
to just kind of, however that has to happen, just calm yourself down
32:53
Yeah. And I think I remember my very first exam, getting there, getting sat down at the computer
32:59
and like my mind just went blank. And I was like, oh, this is not the time
33:02
This is not the time for my mind to go play. So I think I took a few, not a few minutes, but definitely a few seconds
33:08
And I played sports like all growing up and during college and like game day, right
33:13
game day anxiety. And that's what I kind of attributed test day to. but my coach would always say like four by four breathing and so you like inhale for four hold it for
33:20
four exhale for four hold it for four and just doing that like I think I did it probably five or six
33:26
times gave myself a second and then I'm like okay now I'm ready to start and you know things came back as like
33:32
questions came up and you're like okay I feel comfortable now but yeah even when you're there at the testing
33:36
center just kind of like you know to take a second breathe it's game day you got to yeah
33:42
yeah I mean that's a very like very simple but practical tip for people that yeah to just take a second so you're you would do that as you
33:53
you've already sat down at the actual station and your time has started and you're just like okay
33:58
i just got to take 30 seconds type thing yeah and only really if like it was i think it was only on
34:05
that first test maybe midway through a couple other tests like you've been sitting down for an hour
34:10
and a half and you know you're just like oh my gosh when will this be over but i don't have enough
34:15
time for it to be over yet and you're kind of feeling those nerves just like take a second breathe i think
34:19
those 30 seconds wasted will actually like pay off a ton more than just trying to push through and push
34:24
through yeah awesome all right sophie well yeah i appreciate you doing the call uh people find these
34:32
people find these really really helpful you know just now that we have almost 100 of these interviews
34:38
uh we just yeah we get a lot of feedback about just the podcast itself how helpful
34:45
hearing other people's stories are. So I'm glad you found us back in 2019 and that it seemed to help
34:53
And yeah, congrats on being done. Totally. Thank you. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me
34:58
This is fun. Fun to relive some, some accomplishing moments, right? Yeah
35:05
So that was the interview with Sophie. Like I said, I'm sure you found that very informative
35:09
especially since we got so specific on the different strategies and what works, what to avoid
35:15
all that kind of stuff. So again, if you found this episode helpful, take a second and share this
35:20
with someone you know who is also working on their CPA exams because these interviews are the
35:25
most helpful free resource available anywhere for someone trying to pass their CPA exams. And if you
35:31
haven't yet, make sure to sign up for one of our free study training webinars and then show up
35:36
at the time you signed up for and invest the one hour. It's completely free. You will have several
35:42
aha moments as you go through that training and see how the strategies fit together and how it will
35:47
make your process much, much more effective and efficient. So thanks for listening or watching
35:52
and we'll see you on the next episode
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