[Editor's Note: this article is in reference to the old paper-based exam, not the computer-based exam that is now in use.]

Robin M. Sydorowycz, a young CPA with Ernst & Young, LLP, who has "been there and done that," lists some tips and strategies to reduce the stress of studying for the CPA Exam.

• Take a review course and go to all the classes. If you have to miss a few, make them up. The two points you remember from a particular class may make the difference.
• Start studying at least four months before the exam. If you wait, you will be overwhelmed and won't be able to pace yourself.
• Outside of classes, do multiple-choice questions on your lunch hour. You will see some of these on your exam.
• The night before the exam, stay in a hotel so you won't have to worry about traffic or being late.

Newly licensed CPA, Deborah R. Barneman of Cowan, Gunteski & Co., P.A. recommends:

• Writing important topics on five-by-seven index cards. They are easy to flip through when studying.
• Studying no later than 7:00 p.m. the night before the exam. If you don't know it by then, you're not going to. Then do something fun to help take your mind off of the exam.
• Making sure you take at least an hour per day for yourself during the months of preparation for the exam. If you don't reward yourself for studying hard, you may come to resent studying and burn-out more quickly.

Lowell Kirschner, CPA, of J.H. Cohn LLP, suggests these concise tactics:

• Start early and study for approximately three hours a day.
• Do not study on the day of the exam.

Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Society of CPAs. The NJSCPA publishes Tomorrow's CPA, a newsletter for accounting students.