Who does not want to pass the CPA exam on the first try? However, the CPA exam has a notorious reputation as one of the most difficult exams with a pass rate of just 50%. In this blog post though, I am going to introduce you five (5) study techniques that can help you pass the CPA exam on your first attempt.

Technique 1: Make Your “Cookie Jar”

When it comes to studying for your CPA exam, a cookie jar is a list of your major or minor accomplishments, both academic and extracurricular, you have achieved in the past. 

Examples are:

• Aced a school project
• Ran a half marathon
• Quit smoking
• Elected as the president of a student association
• Got promoted at work
• Anything that you worked hard for and successfully achieved the goal

As you remind yourself of your previous achievements, you will have more staminas to work toward getting the CPA license even when you face obstacles in the exam preparation journey. 

Study for the CPA exam is partly a mental game. As long as you don’t give up and put in the hour and work, you will eventually get the 3-letter title. 

Technique 2: The 5-minute Rule

Try the 5-minute rule when you feel lazy and don’t want to study. 

When you feel lazy and less motivated to study, tell yourself that you are really just going to study for 5 minutes and you can decide whether or not you will continue studying after 5 minutes. 

Do you know Newton’s First Law of Motion? According to Newton’s First Law of Motion, an object at rest stays at rest; and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless interrupted by an unbalanced force. 

Similar to the First Law of Motion, once you get into the study mode, it will become harder for you to stop and do something else. The trick for the “5-minute rule” is to “hack” your brain and convince yourself to get started with studying for as little time as 5 minutes. Once you start studying, hopefully it will make you continue studying for longer.

Technique 3: The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique is to break your study time into multiple 25-minute sections separated by 5-minute breaks. In short, we call it “25-5”.

Repeat 4 cycles of 25-5, then let yourself have a 30-minute break in which you can do whatever you want, whether you are going to watch a show, play video games, go for a walk, or grab ice-cream - it's totally up to you! 

This technique is generally used to boost productivity. You would need to minimize distractions during the study sections, including social media, text messages, TV shows, etc. and be 100% focused in the 25 minutes of study time. But you will have a chance to take a break or catch up with the news or messages from social media or other sources in the 5-minute break time. After 2 hours of study, you will award yourself 30 minutes of “ME TIME” to do anything you want. (Trust me, the feeling is the best because you have done with your study and you can enjoy yourself now with GUILT FREE !)

There are countless “Study with Me” videos on YouTube and many of them use the Pomodoro technique. Block 2 hours out of your day when it’s possible, and pick a YouTube video to follow along. Just like many people find this technique very helpful in their study, you may find it valuable as well.

Below is a “Study with Me” video on YouTube that uses Pomodoro technique, with a background of the amazing Tokyo Skytree Tower. I find it very peaceful and relaxing to watch & listen to and think you may find it beneficial following along when studying. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JPTlqRRf1w

Disclaimer: The owner or the YouTuber who filmed this video is an unrelated third party of the author of this blog post. This blog post is by no means sponsored by YouTube or the owner or the YouTuber of the video. 

Technique 4: The Active Recall Method

Active Recall is a method of remembering specific study materials where you actively test yourself and stimulate your memory to search for the information in your brain after learning new knowledge.

Every time when you try to retrieve information from your brain, you will in fact reinforce your memory of the specific information. That’s because it makes your brain more engaged in cognitive effort to search for the information among all the materials you have learned. Therefore, the more you use the Active Recall method in your study, the easier you will remember the materials. 

Below are two of my favorite ways to apply the Active Recall method in my study. 

1. Make questions when you are taking the lectures. (Instead of notes taking, try making questions that are related to the study materials.) Later on, you will test yourself on the questions you made. 

For example, when studying the materials on S corporations, you can make the below questions for your review:

• Eligibility requirements of an S corporation
• Requirements to elect the S corporation status 
• Taxation of the S corporation

Technique 5: Remember to Have Fun!

The CPA exam is hard - no one who took the exam questioned this! Just think about the pass rate of 50%! Preparing for the exam takes a tremendous amount of time and effort. There could be tens of things that try to get your attention while you attempt to study. You may get distracted by everything else in the world. You may not be able to study as you wish when your personal commitments, work schedules or health issues get in the way.

Before you start the CPA exam journey, please do this:

• Have a study plan
• Apply the strategies above to your study 
• Don’t compare to others and do it at your own pace 
• Create a personal journal to record this journey 
• Also remember to reward yourself for the effort you put into the CPA exam preparation 

For most of us, the goal to become a CPA is to better prepare yourself for more career opportunities so that you will have a successful career and live a more fulfilling life. But please don’t forget you can in fact start living a wonderful and fulfilling life before you become a CPA.

Remember this:

Happiness is a choice and the choice is up to you. 

If you have read through here, I can tell you are a determined CPA candidate. I wish you all the best on passing the CPA exam. I have created my CPA exam review notes with all the key knowledge points on each part in a concise and easy to follow format. The review notes will be served as a great compliment to any main CPA exam review material you are using. As the CPA exam review notes have helped hundreds of CPA candidates pass their exams, I believe the notes will also help you pass the exam. The review notes come in Digital Download copy as well as Printed & Shipped copy. Feel free to pick the format you prefer. 

Best of luck! 🍀

You got this, future CPA!