Over my course of career as a CPA faculty for the last decade or so, I found that students could
be broadly categorised into two groups- one who clear CPA exams within 14 months and the
other who drop out after 14 months without taking a single exam! So, what determines the gap
between the two.

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In the next few articles, I will try to cover some of these mistakes in hope to bridge the gap
between the two categories.
Mistake 1
Delaying the evaluation process
The biggest bottleneck for taking the CPA exams for international students is fulfilling the
evaluation criteria which essentially means mapping the foreign (Indian) educational degrees to
the US equivalent. The minimum credits required to be eligible to take the exams is 120 and to
apply for license is 150.
The process entails getting the transcripts from both undergraduate and postgraduate
educational institutions (along with attested marksheets and degree certificates) and applying to
NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES). The entire process may involve anywhere
between 8-12 weeks to get completed (depending upon how soon the transcripts can be
obtained from Indian colleges) and cost $ 225 currently.
The most common mistakes committed by students in this process are:
1.     Filling up the NIES evaluation form and paying the fees upfront without getting the
transcripts in hand.
The evaluation cannot begin without the transcripts. Many students, unknowingly, end up filling
the evaluation form first and paying the fees upfront and then realise that they do not have the
transcripts handy. They feel misguided by their educational partner and start doubting any further
guidance provided by them.
2.     Being too casual about the entire process
Many students join the educational program for CPA preparation and feel they have enough time
to get the evaluation done later. By the time they are ready to take the exams, they realise that
evaluation is taking far more time than what they had expected. They end up not taking the exam
as per their original schedule and lose momentum. Lagging behind the batch they enrolled with,
they soon lose track.
3.     Enrolling for the CPA program way before the eligibility criteria is met
There are many students who mistakenly sign up for the course, even though they do not meet
the eligibility criteria, in hope that somehow, they will qualify by the time they are ready to take
the papers. Inability to do so delays the entire examination process.The students end up feeling
demotivated especially because the exam pattern and content is really dynamic and keeps
changing over time.
How to avoid these mistakes?

  1. Be proactive from the start.
  2. Communicate directly with NASBA to avoid any confusion.
  3. If you wish, you may consider NASBA’s “Education Verification Option” (chargeable
    seperately) that helps you with the transcripts issue process.
    Have you committed these mistakes or know somebody who did?

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