[Oceanman]

For those that use Becker CPA Review…defend it

I just finished taking FAR a couple of hours ago and that test was a beast. This was my first of the exams and I prepared using Becker.

I should preface by saying that I understand every exam is different. I don’t mean to scare anyone about to take the test either. I think that the Becker review is ok, and you will do fine, just not as good as advertised.

My question is for people that have used Becker for multiple exams and believe it is worth it. While I’m not saying that I failed, I really don’t think I did as well as I should have considering how much I studied (pretty much 5-6 days a week for at least 5-7 hrs per day for 7 weeks). I also have a very strong academic background for financial accounting classes. After taking the test I feel that the actual Becker review did not help very much. Most of the subjects that the class really emphasized were not heavily tested. Some were not tested at all. I understand that it is a broad test of an extensive list of subjects but I feel that it did not adequately prepare me for the exam. How well I did on the exam had most to do with the knowledge I had before I started studying as well as picking up little details from the Becker text that weren’t emphasized or even covered.

My point is that while I understand they cannot prepare you for every single possible question, I don’t believe it was worth nearly the $3000 I pd for every section of review materials. I think I would have been just as well off buying the cheapest review book and reading it over several times on my own so that I would have as much knowledge as possible. Rather than wasting time listening to the lectures I could have read and re-read the text to focus on the small details that I felt were so important on the actual exam. I also think that the practice m/c questions were ok but by no means extensive and I wasted a lot of time learning how to do problems I never saw on the exam

Has anyone else felt like this after an exam? I have done some research into other reviews but can anyone else suggest another one that they felt was good? I am taking auditing next (in this window) but am strongly considering returning Becker for the above reasons.

I know it’s a rant and a half but I really don’t feel great about my exam experience relative to my preparation.

Created with Compare Ninja

FAR-92
AUD-94
REG-87
BEC-(April)

[Anonymous]

I recommend Becker to everyone I know that's taking the CPA. It is VERY expensive in comparison to the other materials but I passed all 4 the first try, while working full-time and without putting in a huge effort. It's worth way more to me not having to re-take any section that spending than the extra $$$. If you're re-taking a test a few times, you're not really saving any money and think about all the extra time you're spending re-studying, etc. No one feels good walking out of a test no matter what materials they use so I think you should probably wait for your scores. I swore up and down I failed every single one. In regards to the comment about there not being alot of stuff tested from Becker on the actual exam, material makers aren't fortune tellers. You can't expect every topic in the book/lecture to be on the exam and vice versa. They base all review topics on past exams. Becker gets to the point and doesn't fill your head with useless, extra information. It's called a review for a reason. Before taking the CPA, you should already have a good foundation in accounting from college courses (hence the required 150 hours).

[Anonymous]

I am going to repeat what other were saying. Becker is a review course. It requires you to have a base of knowledge of concepts. From school, experience etc. So, financial accounting, cost accounting, finance and auditing were taught so well in my college – Becker just organized and enriched my scattered knowledge for those sections and shaped them to fit the CPA exam passing purposes.

I had one taxation and one business law classes in college. Unfortunately taught not too well. Becker just couldn't fill out those holes and I needed much more learning and many more MCQ than they offer. That is when I turned to Yaeger and Wiley.

As far as price is concerned – my company paid half and then I paid the rest over 6 months, I didn't even feel it.

[weareallone]

I too used Beckers. (+Wiley as supplement)

I paid out-of-my-own-pocket for the Ridiculously Expensive Review Package (RERP).

I passed all four sections on my first attempts.

Here is my view:

(A) Beckers is VERY expensive; however, try comparing Beckers, which is the most expensive review material out in the market, with Wiley, which is the cheapest. You will learn to appreciate Becker's well-organized and concise material.

(B) Now, how valuable is your time? how valuable are your feelings? how much would you pay to not have ‘doubts' about the study material that you are using?

Let's say My opportunity cost for studying was $20 bucks-per-hour (Your opportunity cost can be whatever you want it to be, you can be a homeless person and say 1-hour of your time = $100, and I will take your word for it), and let's also say I studied a total of 800 hours to pass all four sections. I have absolutely NO DOUBT whatsoever that if I had used Wiley, it would have taken me X1.5 the study time to complete my studies compared to using Beckers. Shall we do some math? So 0.5 more time = 400 hours in my case.

400 hours * 20$/h = $8000. I could have paid $200 for Wiley and not $3000 for Beckers, but in the end, I would have PAID A PRICE FOR STUDYING EXTRA HOURS, and thus lost money by studying MORE hours and making my life/youth suck (perhaps you love to study unlike me haha). <- I just think this is a good way to think about it if you are doubting the cost v benefits. It helped me feel better about my decision!

In addition, to not have doubts about ‘what would it be like to study with the most well recognized review material out in the market', which Beckers can also be priced as well. How much would you pay to not have doubts when you get stuck – when I was stuck with Beckers, I told myself, “if I cannot understand it with Beckers, then I bet I would not have been able to understand it with another review program” This helped me sleep better at night too.

(C) Walking out of the first exam, I too felt like I had failed = this is normal (Everybody I know + a lot of bloggers on this site seem to say this); my advice for anybody who has not taken the exam yet would be to “Over-study” for your first exam….

(D) Lastly, I must say, one thing for sure is that I will never “thank Beckers”.

First, I see a lot of people thanking Beckers for their success. For me, thanking is something you do when you feel like you are in debt. For example, if I were at a bar, and I buy my friend a drink for $4, and in return, my friend disappears, then comes back with two hot chicks (lets say one of them looks like Jessica Alba), then I would thank my friend and feel in debt. I would thank him.

But as for Beckers, I won't be like “Thank you Beckers for helping me pass! <3” or “I will recommend Beckers to anyone because it is so wonderful!” because it is more of a deal = I pay Beckers good money for its RERP, and Beckers hooks me up….

REG[5/18] - P BEC[8/5] - P
FAR[7/9] - P AUD[8/30] - P

[75 CPA]

Becker has a lot of overhead in promotion and YOU pay for it. I have a friend who is a Becker representative. His job is to go to the colleges and to set up a Becker promotional network. You are paying for his salary and expenses plus the money that goes to the professors to run the “live” Becker classes, etc. All I needed was a $300 – $365 review course by a good teacher and the Wiley book to pass all of the CPA exams.

[mbvpia]

I used BECKER and paid for it myself. It was a steep investment, but my scores defend it!

I have been out of school for 8+ years and do not work in public accounting.

All I did was watch the videos and do all the MCquestions and a couple of the sims.

I have a hard time understanding how anyone could not pass using Becker.

AUD(Aug-5)=95
FAR(Aug-29)=96
BEC(Oct-11)=90
REG(Nov-8)=90

[Anonymous]

Troll?

[mbvpia]

No intent to Troll…or offend.

I just think Becker is that good. I would have probably made in the 40's on all the sections if I took them cold, but with 3 weeks per section on Becker…I passed. The course is easy to use…they spoon feed you the info. It is just what I needed!

AUD(Aug-5)=95
FAR(Aug-29)=96
BEC(Oct-11)=90
REG(Nov-8)=90

[thorsbew]

Wiley book for all four tests = $160 expense

Passing rate = 3 out of 4

Payments on your tests = $260 average

Don't need to pass the BEC exam to figure out why I chose Wiley! 🙂 And for me, it's not enough to pass. I want to feel like I deserve it and truly know the small niches of the exam.

Aud - 65 + 79, BEC - 82, REG - 89, FAR - 86

[mbvpia]

If we were only talking about actual $ spend, we would only recommend studying without a review course. That is the cheapest…and you can pass the CPA exam that way. But the time investment for most of us is as important (or more) as the expense.

Wiley Books = $160 + 1,000 (250 per test?) hours of total studying? Having to take (and pay for) a test twice and scoring mid-range scores when passed (=more stress).

Becker Self Study = $3,000 + ~200 hours (50 per test) of total studying. Passing all the first time with room to spare (=less stress).

For me, Becker, made more sense, but for those with considerably more free time in their life…Wiley is probably the better option.

I agree with the earlier post. I do not “thank” Becker really. I just recognize that they sell a premium product that has a premium price. Trust me, I choked when I found first looked at their prices. If you are under/unemployed and have endless time and a tight budget…Becker is NOT the best choice. But for busy professionals who want to ensure they pass with minimal study time…it is well worth the investment.

AUD(Aug-5)=95
FAR(Aug-29)=96
BEC(Oct-11)=90
REG(Nov-8)=90

[thorsbew]

mbvpia, I agree with everything you said except the 1,000 hours for Wiley books… I've spent maybe 75 hours per book (coincidence?!) and passed all exams that I actually put effort into. The one time I failed was due to rushing a test into January 5th before busy season and “studying” during Christmas.

I think it all comes back to study habits. I'm not a lecture person. I like to read things and figure out why we do them the way we do. It was hard for me to justify Becker when I saw just as many people saying it didn't work for them.

Aud - 65 + 79, BEC - 82, REG - 89, FAR - 86

[GET_IT]

It is normal to walk out of the exam and feel like garbage. I have a very strong academic background too and studied my butt off but, when I walked out of FAR I went straight into a bar where I drank away the frustration. However, I just got my score last Friday and passed. I think you will be surprised with your grade.

The problem is that most people taking the CPA exam have a strong academic background and are used to taking tests where you know all of the answers. The same cannot be true with FAR, the breadth is far (no pun) too large to know every question.

P.s. I used Becker and feel like it did an okay job getting me ready. However, there definitely were some subjects that it didn't even address that I ended up having on my test.

FAR: 86
BEC: 84
REG: 2011
AUD: 2011

[PSU06]

I disagree with the idea that Becker is so good that you have no doubts going into the exam. I think everyone must feel some doubt at least for the first test. I know several people who used Becker, and they felt doubtful and uneasy about all parts of the CPA exam. I used the Yaeger review course, and I had doubts with my first exam because I had no idea what the exam would be like.

Also, if you do a cost analysis of Yaeger, I feel confident that Yaeger would prove less costly than Becker.

FAR - 7/7/10 - 94
BEC - 7/24/10 - 77
AUD - 8/17/10 - 97
REG - 8/31/10 - 80

[killaking]

All I say is find someone that took Becker and use their “Becker Promise” paid 1400 for all four parts

FAR: 7/17/10 missed exam FML reschedule 8/29/10-77 EPIC!
REG: 5/31/11-73 SMH, 8/31/11-85
BEC: 4/15/10-72 : retake 10/3/10-80
AUD: 11/28/10-74, 02/27/11-71 FML, 8/1/11-80
Ethics 10/22/22-80, retake 11/28/11 - 88

[Sam2k]

I'm too lazy to read all the really long posts in this thread, but I reviewed with Becker. To me, the Becker lessons are nice (certainly not perfect), but the M/C are what's really useful. If you can work all the provided M/C like they're not M/C (solve the problem then find the answer), you shouldn't have any problem doing well on the exam. I don't know how many M/C the other review books provide, but Becker has tons and tons.

And in defense of Becker's honor, I did do pretty well on the exams that I've gotten scores back from. 😉

FAR - 98; AUD - 94; REG - 95; BEC - Waiting;
Becker Scholarship for Success (I got it free :))

[Liz317]

I've heard a lot of people say great things and not-so-positive things about virtually every possible study material out there. And all of us know that ultimately your success on the exam depends on YOUR commitment to it, not a review course. That being said, we would all probably also agree that the review course certainly plays a part in your success because of how it aligns with your study habits & needs (videos, audio, questions, text…). The idea is to find what's best for YOU. Ultimately any of them probably would help you pass if you had unlimited time/money/energy. But since you don't, you have to find out the most effective & efficient one and go with it. It sounds like after taking one part you have a good idea about what would work for you. My advice is go with that method and see if it works for you for the next part.

FAR - 92 --- AUD - 87 --- REG - 80 --- BEC - 87
A licensed CPA in Louisiana!!!

Dear CPA Exam, You are a beast. But you WILL be defeated!

[Author]

Replies