[CPAGRIND]

NINJA Question –

I want to get serious about taking the CPA exam. My last review course was Roger. It expired and I did not pass any exams. I wanted to buy Becker at that time, but decided to go the cheaper route by choosing Roger.

Right now I’m thinking about getting Gleim or Becker. Everyone raves about Becker (I know most firms choose this program and employees get reimbursed).

This is not the case for me .I will have to use my own money. I can afford it ( it is a lot of money though!!).

Should I go with Becker ? Is it worth it? Is it really better than other review programs?

[tuanxn]

I wouldn't necessarily say it's better. Try the Becker demo out and see if you like it.
I know for sure Becker lectures are a lot drier than Roger lectures.

What do you feel like didn't work for you with Roger? Was it the lectures? What was your study plan?

If you're looking for the best value, I would recommend Ninja. The MCQ is top notch.

[monikernc]

i used only ninja book and mcq for audit. the mcq's are great and the book had everything i needed. i did watch blitz while it was available and i read a lot of the actual standards to supplement my understanding of some concepts and prepare for the sims. i have started BEC now and plan to do the same thing. will do the same for reg. if either result in a retake i will consider roger cram for additional supplements. i put in a lot of time. from reading becker user posts i don't think i would like the method. seems to spoon feed and the videos seem to be essential and i would struggle to get through them. it depends on learning style. i don't want all the fluff and i just want to pass. someone mentioned wiley has a free 2 week trial. see if that is true and decide for yourself. whatever you get, supplement with ninja mcq – they are good and you will learn a lot from reading everything that comes up with the answers to both questions and sims.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[Anonymous]

Before you buy anything else, I think you need to figure out the answers to some questions:
– Why didn't Roger work for you?
– What about Becker makes you think it will be better?
– What outside of review course do you plan to change to have different results this time around?

From having been on this forum for over 2 years (and long before the NINJA program was developed – back when it was just a couple supplements), I am far from convinced that Becker is in any ways superior. In fact, from the experiences of users that I've seen here, I would consider Roger to be a better curriculum overall. However, the key is that everyone's experience with each of them varies…and the important thing for everyone is finding the curriculum that matches their learning style, abilities, preferences, etc.

For example, Becker seems like it touches the highlights and and makes you memorize them – not just remember them, actually literally memorize them – then tells you to skip some of the nitty-gritty. For some people, this is best – they can memorize a limited quantity of information, but they will be overwhelmed if you teach it all to them. So, Becker users often report that on the exam there were several questions on topics that they'd never seen in their review materials and they had zero clue on so couldn't even make an educated guess…but I guess for the ones that they knew something about, since they had it memorized, they could more confidently answer correctly. Then something like Wiley is more like “it's all here; take what you will”. For me, that's better. I did not memorize a single thing out of Wiley (unless you count a couple formulas that I didn't even use), but because I'd seen it all, I had at least an inkling about the topic on every question on every exam. Does that mean I knew everything and got everything right? Heck no! But, with minimal study time I was able to pass and feel like I could at least make an educated guess on everything. For me, that was better – throw everything at me so that everything is familiar, instead of telling me to memorize this list of stuff and leaving me clueless on the rest. But for others, giving them a certain list to memorize and keeping their minds uncluttered with the rest is better. It's a difference of styles.

I think Becker and Wiley are pretty much the two extremes in those regards, so if you're identifying with what I said about Becker, that doesn't mean run out and buy it. It could be that someone else offers those same aspects but has lectures you prefer more, or a price-point that suits you better, or something. But most importantly, you need to answer the questions I started this post out with first, and make sure that if you buy Becker it's because you have a solid plan worked out and a solid reason that Becker is the only way to fulfill that, not just that you're throwing money at a problem. After all, we're accountants; we know that money doesn't grow on trees and that money doesn't solve problems, just create them. 😎

[ocarina]

I think buying Becker is what drug me through this process. I also bought the final review for a couple tests.

I think it depends on how much you need as far as study options goes. Or maybe you'll be motivated by the investment cost to not waste time? That's what got me to stick through it. Becker plus the tests themselves are very expensive and I felt very motivated to spend as little money as possible. I did also utilize supplemental materials from Ninja with extra study questions and the Notes. Whatever keeps your mind going through the material and gets it done.

FAR - 78
AUD - 82
REG - 79
BEC - 78

Study Materials: Becker Self Study, NINJA Notes, NINJA MCQ for review
Started March 2015 and finished December 2015 all on first attempt. Licensed CPA Jan 2016.

IT Auditor/CyberSec Consultant in Public Accounting
Future goals: Learn IT Network infrastructure, obtain CISA & CISSP

[Anonymous]

I bought and use Gleim because my employer does not reimburse study materials. I have the access until you pass feature so it takes the pressure off of needing to pass all the exams before my subscription expires. I think its a great deal. They have counselors to talk to if you're not sure what test to take next or how to move forward if you failed a test. They are really quick to answer when you have questions about anything and will check up on you every once in awhile. The study planner keeps me on track. I have rarely found any surprises on the exams after studying with Gleim. I can specifically recall only one question on my Reg exam that was never discussed in Gleim and I'm assuming that it was a pretest question. It is very comprehensive. So if you get overwhelmed easily, beware. But if you're like me and don't want any surprises on the test, I would choose Gleim.

Definitely run through demos of each product and see what feels best for you.

[CPAGRIND]

Thank you all for your responses. I don't think I put enough effort when I used Roger. But I always felt like Roger was lacking.. it was just not enough. It just didn't feel like a solid review program. I think I am trying to just throw money at the problem! I need a solid plan. I think I'm going to go with Gleim.I just need to buckle down and focus.

[Anonymous]

I had to pay for all my own materials. I did purchase Becker and felt it's just a bit overpriced for what you get. I failed AUD the first time and then got Ninja MCQ. I was amazed at how much better the Ninja MCQ were. If I could do it over again I would get the entire ninja program instead

[Panda Love]

I agree with DoOver, Becker is so overpriced and Ninja MCQ are way better. I also paid for my materials and like DoOver said if I had to do it again i'd buy Ninja MCQ's and use the money i was going to pay for Becker on some Starbucks 🙂

[Anonymous]

I studied using Wiley CPAexcel and some of the NINJA audio for AUD and BEC. What I realized after giving my first exam was that solving questions was equally (or even more) important than focusing on knowing all the material. There is no way to know all the material for the exam, but there are ways to tackle most of the exam questions. You should know how to solve the questions and know about all the tricks that they might come up with. For every question you solve, you look at the reasoning behind all the right and the wrong answers. You might get an answer right, yet the logic could be different than what you thought!

My first exam was BEC and I scored 78, mostly because I was focused on studying the material as much as I could. Then I read several posts on this forum and followed most people's suggestions of solving more questions. Did that, and scored an 80 on REG. Solved even more questions for FAR by separately purchasing the Wiley Test Bank and scored an 85. For AUD, I spent the least amount of time studying (3-4 weeks max) and around 1.5 months just solving questions, and the result was a 96!

My boss used Becker and had similar results, and he used the same strategy as I did of solving as many questions as possible. In my opinion, all review courses are well designed and can help you pass this beast, just put in the effort and the results will delight you!.

Good luck

[waffle_house]

Becker is overpriced. I used Gleim because I love their structure and Ninja MCQ as a supplement for my review.

[red_rose]

Personally, I've used both Becker & Wiley. Becker imo is overpriced. Wiley is cheaper, but its still over $1700 for books & online lectures (basic package). It hurt me soooo bad to press send/pay for that amount of $!! #thecpastruggle!! My job didnt reimburse me, but I said its a small investment that will reap benefits after I'm a cpa. I would say get a study guide, Becker, Wiley or any of them. I've used Gleim before too but I bought an outdated book from online just to supplement. I've so far passed BEC & FAR using Wiley. Do what's best for you. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I love Becker, but if you think you can't afford it, I would buy a cheaper course because people seem to pass with courses other than Becker. Becker gives you details and high level review as well. I tells you exactly what to memorize as apposed to read or understand. It literally instruct you on what to do exactly. You don't even have to think about what to do or how to attack a topic/subject/area. I don't know if other courses do that but it works for me. Also, they repeat/link stuff together which reinforces concepts and information.

[Anonymous]

@red_rose Wiley has lectures now??? Or do you mean CPAExcel? Just wondering. When I took the exams (oh gosh I sound like an old person now) Wiley was just books, then the year after my exams they teamed up with CPAExcel, but wasn't sure if they had their own lectures now too?

[Skynet]

You will be shakened down by NASBA no matter what review course you use.

[Tscape16]

I’m not sure it matters which review program you get, you have to be motivated to get it done first. These review programs, cheap or expensive, wouldn't exist if nobody passed using them. If you’re looking for quality, but don’t want to spend the money for Becker, I think you have your answer in this website. In the end, you’re either prepared or you’re not.

Regardless of what your decision ends up being, it would be good to find a few free or cheap online resources to test your knowledge close to the big day for each section to make sure you’re under-standing the material and not just memorizing answers. Even with 1,000s of questions, my mind immediately went to the memorized answer a lot of times with Becker. I supplemented with CPAforFree 72 hours before my exams.

Using Becker and got them all done on my first attempt. I liked the final exams each section had and although I suggest not to follow the trend of scoring higher on the actual exam by 10-12%, I fell in that statistic each time. My firm also bought it for me so I can't tell you exactly how it would have turned out if I had to purchase the materials. More likely than not, I wouldn't be a CPA today.

FAR - 90 ✔
BEC - 86 ✔
REG - 82 ✔
AUD - 92 ✔
ETHICS - Passed

*Licensed CPA

[Author]

Replies