I’m waiting for my exam result – should I start with the other Part(s)?

After taking an exam, students frequently ask if they should start studying for the next part right away, or if they need to wait for their results first. If you feel that you did well on the exam, I suggest that you should start studying the next part, and here’s why:

• Even if you do not pass, you will not have a lot to re-study, so you would be able to re-study while you continue studying for the next Part.
• Once you have studied for an exam, you are the habit of studying. If you take more than a week or two off, it will be harder to start studying again later than if you just continue studying without a long gap.
• You will need to take all of the Parts eventually, so there is nothing to gain by waiting.

If you leave the exam knowing that you failed or did poorly, then I recommend you take a short break (no longer than a week) and start preparing to re-take that same Part, and then you should retake that same Part as soon as possible.

During your break, you should also think about your study materials and try to determine if your study materials contributed to your poor results. If there were questions on the exam that you did not think that the material covered, or covered poorly, then you might want to consider looking into other study materials for your second attempt.

If you determine that you need some additional materials, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Most of the question banks are going to be very similar among all of the providers because all providers should be using the same previously released exam questions as the basis for their question bank. Therefore, you normally should not purchase a second question bank.
• If you have a textbook from one company, it might be a better investment to purchase videos from another company instead of a second textbook. If the videos cover the entire syllabus (like the HOCK Videos do), the Videos will not only provide a different approach to some of the topics but also provide a different style of learning, which may be useful.
• If you decide to purchase HOCK materials as additional materials, be certain to take advantage of our “Switch to Hock” Discount. We know materials are expensive and want to help you when you are purchasing a second set of materials.

The time period after you take the exam and before you get your results is a period of anxiety. But, you can use this time wisely by preparing to either take the next exam or prepare to retake the exam that you just took. Whether it is the same exam or the next exam, we are confident that HOCK can help you pass the exam. Learn more about our CMA, CIA, and CPA exam materials and start studying today!

Brian Hock, CMA, CIA