How I Managed to Pass All of My Accounting Exams
When I got the results of my first Intermediate Accounting exam back and read my failing grade, I was disappointed. My mind began to wander with a few ideas.
“Will I make a poor accountant?”
Will I be able to still obtain employment?
“Is learning accounting a waste of time?”
“How can I go through the CPA exam?”
It would be an understatement to say that I was disheartened. I crammed for this exam and studied a lot. I stayed up late in the library many nights and consumed numerous cups of coffee in one night. Maybe I didn’t study enough? I might only need to study more diligently.
That’s what I made an effort to do. When the time came for my second Intermediate Accounting exam, I made an effort to study “harder.” I stayed in the library for even more hours and nights, frequently remaining until dawn rose. I became even more anxious over my notes. I added more caffeine by drinking Red Bull in place of my coffee. There was no way I could fail after working so hard to study, right?
I passed my second test. I stumbled. I scored considerably lower than I did on my first test.
What did I do incorrectly?
The top students aren’t always more talented or fortunate than the rest of us. They simply know how to learn more efficiently rather than more laboriously. Her study habits helped her grasp the course material more efficiently and in less time than mine did, even though I had studied harder and frequently stayed up later to review the material.
You don’t have to be a naturally talented student to succeed in your hardest accounting classes. I’ll demonstrate a study technique that will effectively get you ready for the test while allowing you to get a good night’s sleep the night before. Getting exam help from experts can save your sleeps and stress. That will lead you to a healthy routine.
Read Through The Course Notes Before Each Lecture:
Read the assigned material carefully and concentrate on grasping the concepts before each lesson. Then, give the homework tasks a sincere but humble try.
You should be able to say to yourself when working on a homework problem that you tried to solve it. It’s fantastic if you can fully resolve every one of the homework problems based on the reading.
But if you’re not getting it just right at this time, don’t worry about it. Don’t spend too much time on homework for just one subject, either.
The objective at this point is to familiarise yourself with the course material well enough to enable you to follow along with your professor’s upcoming lecture in class. You can have a better understanding when the professor goes through the subject in class if there is any course material you haven’t yet fully understood or any homework difficulties you might have overlooked.
In my experience, many accounting professors don’t grade your homework on accuracy. Even if they do, you still did your best, so your mark on the homework is not crucial to your class grade. Your test results will confirm this.
I never read anything before class when I was a little less savvy. I never read any of the required texts throughout my first year of college. In any case, the professor would just explain everything you were expected to have grasped.
In accounting, that didn’t work out too well. I wouldn’t know what the professor was talking about in class if I didn’t complete the readings. Then, to catch up with the rest of the class, I would have to spend even more time going back and doing the reading I was meant to have previously done.
Not a position you want to be in.
Although it is a rather simple idea, this one has the potential to be revolutionary. I stopped sitting in lectures wondering what the speaker was talking about after I started doing this. Instead, I was able to participate in the class discussion and get something from attending.
Pay Attention To What You Don't Comprehend Both In And Out Of Class
Pay attention to the professor’s explanations of the homework assignments during class. If your answers differed from the homework solutions, explain why.On my incorrectly completed homework assignments, for instance, I would always add notes like “Needed to DR instead of CR the inventory account.”
Pay close attention to any concepts from your reading that you did not fully comprehend, as well as anything the professor mentioned that was not included in the notes. Never be afraid to ask questions about things you don’t fully grasp! Although it is cliche, it is true that if you had problems understanding something, at least one other person undoubtedly did too.
Many teachers will either directly state or at the very least imply the kinds of questions you can anticipate on your exam. Like, “You know, this would make a nice test problem” or “I would know how to do this for the exam,” my corporate tax professor would nudge me in that direction.
“This kind of problem will undoubtedly be tested, thus you need to know how to do this,” is the literal translation.
Make sure to ask questions about anything you’re still unclear about in class or during office hours. By definition, you can only review something you already know how to perform or during office hours. By definition, you can only review something you already know how to perform. You’re on the right road when you can look at the homework answers and follow them from start to finish.
If you struggle in your finance class and exam, you can always look up finance exam help and finance class help.
Review Ahead Of The Test
Review your class notes from time to time and go over any assignment questions you got wrong. Review the explanations for why your first response was incorrect, and then try again to solve the issues you encountered. Note the reason for your answer’s difference from the solution if it still does not match.
Once more, you don’t have to be a stickler for detail. While preparing for the test, I repeatedly erred on the same lease and bond amortisation homework questions! Sometimes I even repeated the same errors over and over again!
Yes, it was awful. Yes, it was demoralizing. However, it’s better to make mistakes now than it is to do so during the exam. Every error I made while reviewing made me less likely to make it on the exam.
In my opinion, the proverb “treat your brain like a muscle” holds true. You wouldn’t go to the gym and lift weights for ten hours straight if you were trying to be in shape, wouldn’t you? Similarly to this, staying up late the night before a test to study does not allow your brain to efficiently assimilate the material (when I tried this, I felt like crap the next day and still bombed the exam). Shorter, more frequent review sessions have been more effective for me than long cram sessions the night before an exam.
Last but not least, be sure you’re not simply memorising the solutions to the problems you examine. Since memorization sometimes occurs subconsciously—I frequently wasn’t aware that I was doing it!—avoiding this trap can be challenging.
You are prepared for the test when you can complete all of the homework assignments with few to no mistakes.
Accomplishing Academic Success in Accounting
To show you that there is something you can do if your grades are not where you would like them to be, I wanted to share my experiences with you. Studying “harder” is not always the answer, though.
Without a doubt, a degree in accounting is challenging. There is no need to try to study using a method that is ineffective because it is already challenging enough. The appropriate study habits can make a world of difference.