Learn from mistakes of a small town IPCC student

Hi guys! I cleared my IPCC GROUP 1 in May 2011 in first attempt. In today’s scenario, it may not be a big deal but still, yes, it is a big deal for an average Guajarati medium girl who belongs to a small town of Gujarat named Bharuch having passed std.12 B.com. In Guajarati medium in May 2010 & CPT in June 2010 with a score 136.

Everything was new for me. New place, new house, new people, new class, new teachers, new friends & most importantly the high-tech IPCC course! I was totally shocked when I saw those board books for the first time. Secondly it was very much difficult for me to stay away from my parents. It is called homesickness & many of us, leaving their hometowns for further studies have definitely faced it. 

Today I want to share some of my mistakes with you.

1. SELECTION OF COACHING CLASS:

Please never be misguided by advertisements wherein rankers are displayed as stars of classes’. Most of us are average students. Rankers are far & few. Such coaching classes concentrate mainly on rankers; take the credit, which may not be necessarily theirs. We the average students may remain neglected in such classes. So be careful in your selection.

2. WHETHER TO APPEAR FOR GROUP 1 OR BOTH?

If you feel that you are able to go for only one group, then go for it. Never feel ashamed for it. Don’t hesitate. it is batter to go for Group 1 & get cleared rather than to appear for both the groups, following “ The gheta mentality” & then be butchered by ICAI .But do your best to perform the best in Group1 & have clear concepts by working hard for Group 1.

3. WHAT TO READ, FROM WHERE TO READ?

As class started we have been given lots of reference books for each and every subject. I was terribly confused about “from WHERE to study”. After spending my 3 to 4 months I realized  my mistake & realized that it is better to read from board books and practice manual provided by institute.

*for A/Cs & costing FM

Board book & practice manual are fare enough. What counts are our concepts. If it is clear, we are able to handle any question.

Practice manual is type of compilation only, covering all the past paper questions.   

*for Law, Ethics, Communication

I should have concentrated on this subject from very beginning but I didn’t, more true for Guajarati medium students like me as it is more descriptive requiring good command in English. Secondly, never ignore Ethics & communication. 50% or more questions are being asked from these two topics.

Here Padhuka is a proper book where all the information is given in Q/A format.

*for taxation

It was my biggest mistake, where I used to study from such a difficult reference book - V. K. Singhania. Then I realized that Padhuka was batter, where everything is given in Q/A & table format with inbuilt compilation.

4. ORIENTATION & ITT:

This should be completed in earlier stage of study as soon as possible. It takes a lot time & change and affect our reading schedule drastically.

5. B.COM:

I don’t know really this is a mistake. but I am not a regular B.com student, but I have joined B.com(A&F) distance learning course from IGNOU under special arrangement between ICAI & IGNOU In august 2010.

I submitted assignments before march 2011 & now I shall appear in 7 papers only instead of total 36 papers in Dec.2011.(refer ICAI for more details.). So I had a luxury of concentrating only on IPCC.

I have made a lot of mistakes during those nine months. I’ll use them as my stepping stones towards my remaining path to become CA someday..

These are the mistakes of an average student.