[Anonymous]

Recommendations on whether or not Becker live reviews are worth it?

[Anonymous]

It depends on the individual.

Personally I did not like the Live Review and ended up switching to Self Study. The Live Review is very fast paced and they are a solid 4 hours each at the end of the day. This made it very difficult for me to retain information after about two to three hours. I also found that I couldn't keep up with their schedule. When I went Self Study I would average 1.5 chapters a week but I just couldn't hit that 2 a week that the Live Review pushed for. I also needed a lot more time to review the material than Becker gives you before starting into the next section.

I took Live Review for FAR and switched to Self Study after that. I thought that I'd like the structure of a formal live class setting but it didn't work out like that. Nobody asked questions and after working all day it was hard to stay interested or focused on the material. I often described it as having Accounting “thrown” at me for 4 hours straight…

[leglock]

I did live review and it helped immensely because most of the lecturers were very good and did more than just recite the book. My governmental lecturer was absolutely phenomenal. He took the time to prepare his own study materials and gave quirky mneumonics that when he acted them out in class, you literally could not forget them. For this reason I personally recommend the live lecturel

However,

I did have one lecturer who was a cpa and an attorney who was the absolute worst. He literally read the chapter to you and was not even knowledgeable when asked a question, which surprised me because he was an atty and cpa. In my area, I advise anyone who sees him walk in to teach, to pick up there things and leave because it's a total waste of time.

PS he said the cpa exam was harder than the bar. He believe he failed the cpa exam 7 times.

[jlee1086]

I did live class for FAR and liked it. They gave out study strategies and go beyond Olinto/Gearty in terms of telling you what to focus on (or not). Just so you know, I went to those classes for my 3rd try.

But whether they work for you depends on two things:

1. How you learn. I have a friend who likes recorded lectures because she can go back and rewind. I'm the opposite of her. I pay more attention when the teacher is in front of me.

2. Location, location, location. I live in NJ and judging from my experience, the live classes in the NYC area are good. Some areas don't have a good average instructor quality.

Leglock, did you have Ira for governmental? Guy with dark curly hair? I will never forget GET SMART PALS for college revenue/expense. As a bonus, he ended class 1/2 hour early.

FAR 57 (11/2014), 64 (1/2015), 79 (7/2015)
AUD 68 (2/2015), 79 (11/2015)
REG 79 (1/2016)
BEC 81 (4/2016)

[Author]

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