[nepcpa]

Hi guys, I am new in this forum..planning to start CPA exam; I am sure this question was asked before too.. I saw mixed reactions about review course. Is Becker worth paying that much money? What are the other best options..its been 5 years out of school..so kinda worried. Please suggest me..

[NECain]

I recommend Wiley Books and Test Bank combined with the NINJA Notes. Also used Jeff's ELL plan which helped me track my progress. The only thing with this method is that you have to buckle down and dedicate yourself. Becker makes you do homework and score a certain %. With Wiley, it's all up to you. In all, I spent approximately $500 for all my review material. Got all sections passed in under a year with a full-time job, wife and 3 little kids, tax season and all of that mumbo jumbo. A couple of my co-workers are using Becker and unfortunately have not had good results.

REG - 79
BEC - 75
AUD - 84
FAR - 75
Done...Thank you Wiley Books, Wiley Test Bank, and the NINJA Notes

[RedRage00]

I'm with NECain. You have to buckle down and study no matter what review program you use. DEDICATION. So many people post on here about how they're upset they didn't pass. Then when you disect their study habits, they half assed it. “oh, I stopped studying to watch the Longhorn football game!” That doesn't cut it. That's not a good reason to miss studying. I missed almost all of the college football season last year because I was studying. I took my last exam the day before the LSU-Alabama National Championship game so I was excited to watch some football LOL

Texas CPA
Licensed, March 2012

[nepcpa]

thanks guys for the input…finally i decided to go with Beckers..I will be getting my Becers FAR material in couple of days..anyways..what is the strategy? finish watching the lecture DVD first and go through the book and do passmaster. or .what is the effective way? please suggest me ..its been 5 years out of school..need to be in track..thank u all for your time..

[lateralus ag]

@nepcpa

My strategy is to watch the lectures, do the notes and highlighting they suggest. Then, mark the pages that didn't quite sink in. Go back, reread that material and then do the MCQ's in the pass master. I pay attention to all the questions first time through and make sure I read all the explanations for the right and wrong answers. If one of those doesn't make sense, I look it up, either in the AL or in the book. Once I go through all the MCQ's and get them correct, I do the SIMS for that section. I go through all the lectures that way the first time through. Then, with two weeks until test day, I go through the MCQ's again and mark any I still have trouble with. I go through the material in the book and lectures on that topic that I am having trouble with again. This is where I take that information and go try to explain it to someone that is not familiar with accounting.

Then, the last three days I use the Final Review software for my last preparation. Day before the test, I rest, eat well and try to get plenty of sleep. I don't do a lot of the MCQ's in the Final Review software. I use it for a way to go back over all the pertinent material one last time before the test. I use it as a guage. If there is anything that comes up in the Final Review lectures that I am not familiar with, I read up on it some more.

Give yourself at least eight weeks and try to get through one or two sections a week.

Hope that helps a little.

FAR 88
REG 89
AUD 89
BEC 86
DONE!!!
Using Becker Review and Becker Final Review, and Ninja Audio for BEC

[Anonymous]

I also passed with Wiley. It definitely sucks as study material, but the MCQs in the books and testbanks are great.

Their focus notes can be used for studying (or maybe the Ninja notes).

Wiley tests your discipline and is strictly for people able to study well on their own.

I'd never pay $3,000+ for books.

[Author]

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