A successful final review is critical to performing well on the CPA exam. Many students slog through their CPA review course for 1-2 months straight, only to get overwhelmed and rushed at the end and eventually fail the exam. To maximize your chances of passing the CPA exam then you need to ace your final review.
If you follow these 5 steps then I have no doubt you’ll maximize your chances of passing the CPA exam!
Contents
Stay Organized
Make sure you take organized notes throughout your CPA review course.
Having accurate and well-organized notes will help you refresh your memory over key topics, definitions/rules, mnemonics, etc., during your final review.
The goal is to make things quick and easy to recall when you read back through them, so if you want to take better notes then try a note-taking system or bullet journaling. I didn’t learn about either of these until long after I got my CPA license, but I wish I did!
Assess Your Strengths and Weaknesses 1-2 weeks Before the Exam
To set yourself up for success, aim to finish your CPA review course 1-2 weeks before exam day. This will give you much needed time for final review and to address any areas that need improvement.
Next, identify any topics that were particularly challenging for you. Most CPA review courses track your performance on multiple choice questions and simulations and can offer great insights here, along with any notes you kept.
I also suggest you take a comprehensive mock-exam at this time. Your stats and notes may tell you one thing, but a comprehensive practice-exam will give you the best view of what areas still need to work on.
Hammer Out Multiple Choice Questions and Simulations
I can’t stress this enough. Once you identify which areas you need extra work on, spend a few days hammering out multiple choice questions and simulations just on those topics until you can routinely get 80-90% of them correct.
You can re-read your textbook and notes and re-watch lectures too, but hammering out practice questions is the best way to quickly improve your performance in your weak areas.
As a rule of thumb about 50% of your final review time should be spent on this step, so don’t rush it. For topics you’re still struggling with, make sure to read the explanations to each answer and understand why you got it wrong, then keep quizzing yourself.
Things will eventually start clicking and pretty soon you’ll be able to turn these weaknesses into strengths!
Read Through Notes and Highlighted Material
Remember all those detailed and well-written notes you were supposed to take throughout the course? Well this is where all that good work starts to pay off!
At this stage you now want to scan through the ENTIRE curriculum and quickly recall the key concepts, rules, formulas, etc. covered in each topic. If you notice some areas have slipped out of your memory, take a deeper dive into the course content for 5-10 minutes and refresh yourself.
Try not to get bogged down into watching entire lecture videos and re-reading entire chapters from the study guide. You want to perform this review at a brisk pace to train your memory recall for the exam environment. Better to take quick notes of what you need to remember and keep moving.
To get the most out of this step I suggest repeating it 2-3 times, if possible, so plan to set aside a few study sessions for this.
Finish Strong With a 2-3 Day Cram Session
This is when everything should come together for you. You’ll probably still have some areas to improve on, but that list of topics should be much smaller and you still have plenty of time to address things.
Your cram session should be a mini version of the final review prep you’ve done already: Assess your strengths and weaknesses, hammer out practice questions, and scan through the remaining content. Rinse and repeat. You should also run another 1-2 simulated exams during this period so you can get used to the pace and time limits you’ll face on exam day.
The goal here is to be laser-focused on the objective, which is to have a solid working knowledge and quick recall of the vast majority of the course content.
To maximize your chances of passing the exam, aim to routinely score above 85-90% on your practice quizzes and questions at this stage.
You’ll also really need to minimize distractions and outside stress at this point. If you have a full-time job then I suggest taking all of your exams on a Monday so your cram sessions align with the weekend. Aim to spend as much time as possible on exam prep, but make sure you get plenty of rest and don’t burn yourself out!
Don’t get to this point!
Here’s an example final review cram schedule I suggest, assuming your exam is scheduled for a Monday:
Friday: 4-6 hours of study time (assuming you work a 9-5 job)
Saturday & Sunday: 6-8 hours of study time each day, with a few healthy breaks each day to recharge
Monday: Study 2-4 hours in the morning. Take exam in late morning / early afternoon.
Bottom Line
Preparing for the CPA exam can be a long and difficult process. Make things easier for yourself by sticking to a consistent study schedule and saving enough time for a well-organized and well-rested final review.
Some of the best CPA review courses offer condensed study materials specifically for your final review, but these aren’t always necessary. All of the CPA review courses covered on this site come with plenty of study material to get the job done. Do some research on the courses that best fit your learning style and try a few out so you can make an informed decision.
Best of luck on the exam!
Featured image courtesy of Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay.
