[theilya]

Becker CPA Review cost $3,500. Did anyone pay full price? I have been unemployed for about 2 months now and decided to study for the CPA in hopes that it will help me find a job.

Most of the people I know that used Becker got it at a huge discount or free from their employer.

Do people actually pay $3,500 for Becker CPA Review Self Study?

[lyzgrace]

I paid for my own material, too. Becker was the course that was pushed at my university, but there was no way I was paying over three grand. I use Kaplan (link below) and that in and of itself was a painful investment for me ($1,800). I think it's a great course, though, it includes the manual, flash cards, online video courses, MCQs, testlets, True/False, and my favorite feature, a study calendar. The calendar feature lets you put in your test date, which days you want to study and any days you want to take off and it gives you assignments to make sure you cover all the required material in an order that helps with understanding and retention. I don't know what all is included with Becker, it might have all this and more, but I felt that Kaplan was more than sufficient for my AUD section and I don't have any complaints on the other sections I'm working on.

 

 

AUD: 82
FAR: 78
BEC: 75
REG: 8/1 score release!!

[Anonymous]

Find a friend and split the cost; you can buy the material all at once, but realistically, you're only going to be studying one section at a time.

[acamp]

No job (that would pay for CPA at the time) = Wiley Test Bank + Ninja Notes! Served its purpose for 3 out of 4 exams, all for two or three hundred bucks 😀

Ninja + Wiley Test Bank: [FAR - 81] [REG - 76] [BEC - 88] [AUD - 73](doh!)

Becker Videos: [AUD - 82]

California CPA

[FlipACoin]

acamp: This is going to be my route! I think I'm going to upgrade to the 10pt package and get the Wiley books for backup explanation but as to where I started as a pure Becker guy, the more I thought about it the more I realize that they are really gouging people. The individual guy who doesn't have a sponser is paying for all of those corporate discounts they give. I want to at least give non-lecture style a shot and see if I can get 2-3 knocked out…..

[acamp]

Don't bother with the Wiley books, they were monstrous overkill. Its like someone built them with the idea of being able to say “well we didnt miss anything, anything at all!”

The test bank gave pretty good explanations, and if I needed more I just went to Google. Ninja notes were a nice way to refresh/remind me of areas I also needed to Google

Ninja + Wiley Test Bank: [FAR - 81] [REG - 76] [BEC - 88] [AUD - 73](doh!)

Becker Videos: [AUD - 82]

California CPA

[Anonymous]

I bought Becker on my own with no discount (work in private industry and don't “need” CPA for current job). It was pricey but it got the job done.

[Anonymous]

Sadly I paid the full price plus the final review and the note cards. The note cards was no help and sold them all on eBay. I did there 0% finance for 18 months so it didn't hurt that much paying for it.

[Noct]

I only used the Wiley books. Bought the whole set on Amazon for about $120.

FAR - 79 - 07/2012
AUD - 65, 78 - 11/2012
BEC - 76 - 11/2012
REG - 78 - 01/2013
ETH - 98 - 01/2013

Material: Wiley books

[Anonymous]

Sometimes your state CPA society will offer a discount on review courses- and they are sometimes pretty cheap to join if you are a CPA candidate. I know in IL you can join for pretty cheap and they give you a discount on Becker and some other courses. Just another option- whatever you choose, good luck!

[Keely]

I paid full price for Becker since I didn't have an employer to pay for it or give me a discount. No regrets here.

BEC: (4/2012) 88
AUD: (5/2012) 91
REG: (8/2012) 82
FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

VA CPA #42010

[jsmithsae]

Same here as Keely…thinking about getting some NINJA materials for AUD as well. No price is too steep if the end result is finally becoming a CPA.

BEC-75!
AUD-84!
REG-78!
FAR-83!
Ethics-Passed!
Experience-Got that too

Used Becker 2013 Self-Study & NINJA 10pt Combo Lite(AUD)

[mypetmeatball]

It was free for me so of course using it was a no-brainer. Considering how costly Becker is, I would not have paid for it if I had to pay full price. Even if the other courses aren't as thorough, I don't believe that the benefits outweigh the marginal cost. I have old Gleim books someone gave me for free and while I would definitely prefer Becker, I think I could make due with them.

Note: I'm poor

[MintsRGood]

I was lucky enough to purchase the Becker Textbooks from a friend who passed all 4 parts in 2012. Her employer paid for Becker and she was very eager to accept my cash offer for the books and flashcard set! 😉 She was not into highlighting or marking up the text, so I feel very fortunate that I have excellent condition secondhand books and flashcards for all 4 parts! Personally I learn best from a textbook and my friend was much more into the software (and cash), so it was a win-win for each of us! I'm also supplementing with Wiley Test Bank and Ninja Notes.

I'm trying to make the best use of my purchase so I took and thankfully passed REG before 12/31/12. I am desperately trying to finish off AUD at the end of the month so I don't have to mess with the changes come July! Then on to BEC and FAR as the changes from 2012 to 2013 are minuscule. I think Becker does a great job and offers a quality product!

Good Luck Everyone!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[theilya]

I can get a hold of Becker books for $200-300 from a friend, but not the software where I assume all the MCQ come from…

i Just dont know if the software is worth it…..

Also, I applied to join the society of CPA in my state to try to get a $300 discount, but it takes over 2 months to get approved for some reason..

[SammyJ]

I paid $2,800 for my Becker Material with the aid of a $400 discount from my college. On reflection that was still a very hefty price and I wished I shopped around better. When I was at school, we got taught that Becker was the leader of CPA material. I personally think the Becker material is indeed the best amongst all. However, I dont think its worth $2800. I took the live lectures, but in reality it was kinda a waste of time. I took the 8-hour Saturday course and I was so brain dead after hour 3 already. I was just highlighting the book like a zombie.

I suggest trying cheaper alternatives like the Wiley Test Bank. It offers you a lot of questions, about the same amount of Becker. Becker's system and questions I think are a little better. And also the material I learn from the Becker books I feel are so much more knowlegeable than ninja notes(obviously). However, the price difference between the two is huge.

You should also consider what the trade-off is. Using Becker would increase your chances of passing more than any other material. But if you can save $2000 and risk using lesser materials go for it and especially if you have a solid accounting knowledge, I think you can get away with it. Re-application fees per failed exam is around 170-190 and you gotta calculate the time lost due to restudying too.

I think if you're financially sound, just go with Becker. Especially if you not working. You can actually have time to read the books. The ninja notes are very condensed notes. Overall, the true value is in the multiple choice problems. And several of the multiple choice problems from the Becker system is word for word the same as for Wiley.

FAR-81!!
AUD-69, Retake: 84!!
REG-86!!
BEC-81!!
Education- Done
Ethics- August 2013
Experience- 7 Months of CPA Experience and counting!

[Author]

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