Nothing can stop you if you have determination to Pass - CA Deepika

It is not a story of a visually impaired person qualifying CA,

It is not a story of an All India CA Ranker,

It is not a story of a person, who cleared CA after 30-40 attempts,

It is just a story of an average student who qualified CA because of her hard work.

Where do I start…????

·        The day I decided to join CA was when I was in 10^th standard, or

·        The day I chose MPC in my intermediate (reluctantly, because a CA aspiring student should ideally be choosing MEC), or

·       The day when I finally joined CPT against the odds.

Let’s start here.

Everyone was busy checking their Intermediate results and so was I. 
I achieved 93%. However, I was not very happy with the result; rather worried about the next step in my career. My parent’s choice for me was to join some degree college in my hometown, as I would’ve received scholarship based on my academic record. 

My dream of becoming a CA had faded away by then. 
As a ray of hope, my aunt and uncle helped me financially to join CPT. 

I joined CMS for CA on June 23, 2011 and I told myself, “Now that I am into this, I shall give my 200% come what may”.

And the journey began…

New subjects, new friends, new atmosphere away from home. But, I always had only one thought on my mind, ‘To clear CPT’ without which I am sure I wouldn’t have been continuing my CA.

I started my preparation well in advance with those daily exams, mock tests, study hours from early morning till late night. Hard work paid off.I cleared CPT.

Many students join CA without a clear understanding of the course. They somehow pass the multiple-choice CPT exam using the trial and error method. However, they get stuck in IPCC where they have to actually understand the concepts/subjects. 

Therefore, my sincere advice is to learn the basics, understand the concepts, which will not only help you in clearing the exam but also to have an overall understanding of the subject.

The same strategy “HARDWORK’ worked for both IPCC and Final as well. I attended coaching classes for all the subjects, and followed institute materials for my preparation. It was not easy to get into a reputed firm for article-ship. However, I was lucky enough to join a reputed firm where we had enough time for attending classes, and 3 months of preparation leave; which was reasonably enough to prepare for, and attempt both groups.

Here is a list of few learning out of my experience,

1. Revision- The more you revise the subject, the more you get hold of the concepts.

Revision does not mean reading it repeatedly without any value addition. Every time you revise, you will have to take a fresh look at it. Read it as if that question is going to come in your exam and think how you will write an answer if the same question is asked for 2 marks or 16 marks. Make short notes when you revise. These revision notes are the ones, which will help you on the day before exam to cover the whole syllabus in 1 day.

2. Practice - I learnt this one thing from my failures. I never had the habit of practicing the practical subjects because of which I always ended up getting low scores in those subjects. The more you practice writing, the easier it becomes to attempt in your exam. It is one of the most useful habits you can develop to clear the practical subjects like FR, SFM, and Costing. Also for theory subjects like ISCA and Audit, unless you start writing the answers you never know your mistakes.

3. Presentation:-

The most important tip and my all-time saviour is presentation. It is not about how beautiful your handwriting is, or how neatly you draw the margins, it is all about how your knowledge is perfectly portrayed on the answer sheet (simple and neat) in the given time.

DO NOTs: Unnecessary filling of pages, over designing with too many colour pens and margins, entire answer in one big paragraph.

Dos: Short and sensible answers in a legible handwriting would be sufficient.

To add on to it, for theory subjects like LAW and AUDIT, writing answers in points with a heading to each point would definitely add more value to your answer, making the evaluator’s work easy to read and understand.

4. Write as many mock tests as you can. Be prepared to have an answer for any kind of question they ask in the exam.

The day I cleared my CA was the day of an achievement. At that time, we don’t realise the importance of that moment, people will congratulate and all that stuff. In the following few days, I saw my books and there was a strange feeling as if something was going out of my life. A peaceful feeling. For once, it made me feel that I had no worries in my life. I was very happy for my new name, CA.Deepika. Currently, I am working for one of the Big4 Audit firm and I am happy about it.

I always suggest one thing to my friends, always aim for 100% marks and do not settle for just pass marks. It is just a course and not rocket science. 

When you can score 90%+ marks in your school/college, why not in CA. Give it a try, it works.

Remember, Failures are temporary.

It is Okay if you use social media during your exam preparation,

It is Okay if you sleep for 8-10 hours a day,

It is Okay if you are taking a break for a day or two,

It is Okay if you attend your cousin’s wedding,

It is Okay if you could not complete 4-5 revisions before the exam,

Nothing can stop you from becoming what you want if you are confident. Believe in yourself and the success is all yours.

ALL THE BEST.

- CA Deepika 
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#If you have a story to share , feel free send it to TrollCA1122@Gmail.com , your one story can boost up many fellow Students .