[jaycpa4]

I have been out of school for 4 years. Graduated in 2014 with Masters in Acct and in the last 4 years have not worked in the accounting field. When i was in school i passed 2 sections barely with Becker but failed FAR twice with a score of 70. I felt i knew the material but not detailed (level of difficulty) and my fundamentals were weak specifically for Govt. and Non Profit and stimulation part of the exam which was challenging. Given my background i need a course which is comprehensive and one that goes over the fundamentals since i have been out of school. Need something which sort of guarantees i will pass and i am willing to put in hours. I have heard mix of reviews please if folks with similar experience can share.

[MIsconnie]

If money is no issue to you (or you have a discount) Becker is always a good option.

If you are on a budget, Gleim will whip you into shape (sims and MCQ's are on another level, but great for over-preparing)

Neither will guarantee you to pass, even if they have some sort of “guarantee”. The real key to guaranteeing your success is like you said, putting in the time.

Good luck

[TommyTheCat]

It all depends on your learning/studying style. For me Roger was the key to success. I had been putting these exams off for about 10 years, not really finding myself needing the CPA license in order to advance until just recently. I had started and stopped studying a dozen times in the last 10 years. I had free access to becker when i was at PWC and just chose not to focus my time there.

When i did finally get serious about the exams i spent 2k or so on the full roger package and I followed his 12 month study guide to a t and passed all 4 on first tries with plenty of clearance over the 75 score.

If you are as dedicated as you say you are and you learn well by watching engaging lectures and taking some notes as you go, and working ALL of the MCQ and simulations he provides, I think it's about as good a guarantee as you can get.

Good luck to you.

[Anonymous]

Roger.
I graduated a LONG time ago and didn't work in accounting for a while. I tried Yeager first and basically paid for someone to read line by line out of a book. Over explains things.

[aaronmo]

Not sure how anyone, or course, can guarantee you'll pass, but Becker is essentially guarantied as long as you meet the study requirements and watch all of the material.

Not everyone can/will pass the exams.

[itooshallpass]

I also recommend Roger, and he definitely lays the fundamental groundwork. I have supplemented it with Ninja's test bank and have passed 2 on my first try so far.

[Joetse]

Unfortunately, there is none, but I think reading your school textbook is the most effective in terms of time. I think Becker is a waste of time for LEARNING the material. What it's effective at is Sims that are representative of the exam, as well as the newer multiple choice. Also, the pass keys are great. Those will get you points on the exam. But as far is gaining a DEEP understanding of topics like test of controls, substantive procedures for audit, and revenue/expense recognition and journal entries for FAR, you gotta go with your school textbooks. Simply just can't take shortcuts on that. Becker's review is more like an outline of FASB and GAAS. Honestly, I learn more about Regulation from the IRS publications on their website and read about 3x faster than Becker's reg. Becker is good for hammering m/c and sims, so I still recommend you use it, but getting through the material in Becker is torture. Class textbooks and you will learn the material 100x better, especially for Reg and FAR.

[Anonymous]

I was four years out too, and love Roger. I was so burned out from my masters program, but finding Roger was the best because his lectures are so engaging. Roger always says, “If you study you WILL pass.” which is “sort of” a guarantee =) I know more about accounting by studying Roger for 16 months than I ever learned in five years of class, and I really understand what I'm doing in calculations now.

Do free trials of all the big ones (Roger, Wiley, Becker, Surgent, etc) to make sure you find the right fit for you, but all the big ones will definitely treat it as if you never took a class past 101.

[Anonymous]

Nothing can guarantee you will pass, except countless study hours and very strong self-discipline. For me, Becker and Ninja MCQ was a winning combination.

[Anonymous]

Gonna agree pretty much with what everyone else has said thus far. There is no course that will guarantee you pass. It's all on you for getting and staying serious about studying.

I used exclusively Becker, but this was mostly because I had a huge discount on it through my school ($500 for all 4 sections). I felt that it did a very good job overall, and I didn't feel that I needed any outside resources to pass the tests (ask me again on June 28th LOL).

As others have suggested use free trials if you can. If you find one of the programs to be annoying, boring, or not interesting don't get it. Remember, you will likely be spending 500-1,000 hours using whatever review course you buy especially if you aren't fresh out of school.

[Author]

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