[barfmode]

Hello All,

Anyone taken Rogers’ CRAM courses? I am taking Rogers’ full course, so I’m wondering how it stacks up against the full program, and how well it prepares someone taking a test in four weeks. I’m taking AUD for the second try in less than a month. I have AUD and FAR left to go.

Any reviews would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

– Barfmode

[WannaBeCPA1Day]

I did Roger's full courses and cram courses for REG and FAR because I disliked and was bored by CPAExcel's REG and FAR courses (I used CPAExcel for AUD and BEC and passed on my second and first attempts, respectively). With Roger, I passed REG on my first attempt and FAR on my second attempt (Note: I only used and got through the entire full course for FAR on my first attempt because I ran out of time. I used the FAR cram course, Roger's IPQs, and NINJA MCQs for the second FAR attempt). While there is definitely some overlap, it helped me mentally feel like I was more prepared by spending 7 to 10 days leading up to exam day going through the cram course. It helped me focus on the main topics and my weak/trouble areas. For both REG and FAR, I definitely think the cram courses helped me pass. I have been out of school for almost 20 years, so I needed more than just a review and LOTS of repetition with REG and FAR. I don't regret spending the extra money because, as of September, I have passed all four sections.

I wish you all the best!

B: 80
A: 87
R: 77
F: ** (6/21/16)

[Anonymous]

I am using Roger right now as well, but I don't plan to invest in the cram courses. They're another $250-300 apiece and I don't think he introduces any material that wasn't already introduced in his very comprehensive lectures. Here is the thing, especially nowadays – you don't know what the CPA exam is going to throw at you. Roger doesn't know either. He has as much information about the exam as you and I and everybody else does. The exam questions we get are decided by the AICPA. As far as preparing for the exam, Roger gives you everything you need to do that – almost. If you do all the IPQ/SIM questions, that's more than half the battle. Go back and study them again and again, that's the other half. But more importantly, take notes and go back over them. As I have done those questions, I've taken a ton of factoid notes – bits and pieces of trivia that I know are going to help me later when I cram on my own. I've talked to many people who never used any cram courses and passed fine, and they were not accounting geniuses. If you need more practice problems, you have but to go online and find them. Guess what? Some of the practice questions appearing in the review courses, including Roger's, are VERY old questions. I found a few recently that were also on an old *typewritten* CPA exam given in 1988 in the Philippines!! I was in doubt about the correct answer to a particular question in Roger's book so I googled the question and found the exact same question on this super old exam.

BTW – cramming for the CPA exam is not advisable and I think it's terrible that professional exam review courses promote cramming and sell “cram” products as another way to make money. Why? Because knowing the material on a high level is required to pass the CPA exams and exams like it (the MCAT and BAR exams come to mind). To get that high-level understanding, you have to study the topics repeatedly over time, not just in a couple/few weeks. Whenever I've tried cramming for an exam, I found that it did not pay off and more than once, I got a below-average score.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck.

[Author]

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