Posted on 19th Apr 2010 @ 12:48 PM

A Tale of Two CPA Exam Candidates

By Paul Lambers

Over the last 44 years thousands of students have taken the Lambers CPA Review program and reached their goal of becoming a CPA.  Most students put their lives on hold for a year or so, study hard, then take and pass the exam.  Every so often a student has a unique story on how they passed.  I would like to share a few of these stories with you.  In the first story the student  had a unique ritual before class, and the second story is one of perseverance.

Betsy took the Boston Lambers CPA Review class in June of 1996, at that time the CPA Exam was given in November, so students would start class in June and attend up to the November Exam.  Every class day I would arrive early to set up for the students’ arrival,  and Betsy would be sitting in the hallway with her Lambers books open, eating carrots and studying.  She did this before every class from June until November, I would joke with her that if she passed the exam, all the CPA Candidates would start to eat carrots before class like she did.

In February 1997 the grades were posted from the November Exam, and I noticed that Betsy had not only passed the exam, but she had received grades in the 90s for all four parts!  I called the Massachusetts State Board, and confirmed that Betsy had won the gold medal, which is awarded to the highest scoring candidate in the state.  I am sure that Betsy’s success was the result of hard work and hours of studying, but seeing her eat those carrots before every class I can’t help but think that had something to do with it.  If you feel overwhelmed while studying for the CPA Exam, head to the store and pick up some carrots, it certainly helped Betsy!

John took a very different route to pass his CPA Exam.  John would attend every class, ask questions, participate in class and keep up with his studies.  The only thing was that even though John knew the material, he was just not a good test taker.  He would come very close to passing each time he took it, but could not get the score that he needed.  The thing the John had was perseverance, he took the exam 9 consecutive times, and each time he failed he got more and more motivated.  Then in August of 2001 he got the result he wanted, he passed the CPA Exam!  I was so happy for John I actually gave him the desk he sat in for all those times he was in the review class,  it is displayed in the lobby of his very successful tax practice.

These students took different paths to pass the CPA Exam, but the bottom line is that they did it.  They set out to become a CPA and they succeeded.  You never really fail the CPA Exam until you stop taking it, so if you fail  the exam a few times just keep working hard and you will reach your goal of being a CPA.

Lambers is a regular contributor to www.cpareviewmaterials.com.  You can learn more about Lambers products here.