- This topic has 22 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 4 months ago by
jeff.
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July 2, 2018 at 1:23 pm #1861642
cpaplzgoaway
ParticipantHello another71 family,
This might be a stupid question but does anybody use Surgent CPA course? I just want to see some Surgent CPA Review reviews. The pro and con and maybe success stories
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July 3, 2018 at 11:51 am #1863700
cpaplzgoaway
ParticipantBump-
July 3, 2018 at 12:28 pm #1863751tangerinemdr15
ParticipantI used Surgent! I used for all 4 parts and passed.
PROS: Cost, adaptive questions that will target your weak areas, short lectures, downloadable lecture notes, practice test has been updated to more closely align with the exam, can take as many SIMs as you want, SIMs were very close to exam
CONS: the text book was too technical and terrible to read and didn't really give me any more answers than the lectures and MCQ, the REG lectures were brutalYou can see my score breakdown in my signature. I only switched to Becker once and received a 73 on REG. After I came back to Surgent i got an 80.
I supplemented with Roger audio for REG.Good Luck!!
July 3, 2018 at 12:55 pm #1863772cpaplzgoaway
ParticipantMany thanks for your insights, do u follow their nonlinear study approach?
July 3, 2018 at 1:07 pm #1863781tangerinemdr15
ParticipantI did follow and like the approach. Because this was my first and only study course, I didnt know there was a linear method to other study courses.I saw the linear approach in Becker and I wasnt a fan. In Surgent Every single time you study, you get questions from all areas, unless you specifically drill down. This helped me because I tend to forget topics after a few weeks of not seeing them. I liked the drill downs too because close to test time, I was only answering questions from my very weak areas. I also made tons of note cards based on the explanations from the MCQ.
July 3, 2018 at 2:17 pm #1863943The Imp’s Delight
ParticipantI used Surgent and passed all 4 on the first try. I only really used their adaptive setting towards the end for a general review. I did all the MCQs for each section first.
The fact that it doesn't expire is a huge plus in my book.
July 3, 2018 at 2:39 pm #1864006cpaplzgoaway
ParticipantMany thanks guys! Hopefully i will find similar sucesses with surgent. Is there wy to reset thr progress for retakes just like in ninja?
July 3, 2018 at 2:42 pm #1864015Nikki374
ParticipantI used Surgent and passed all 4 parts on my first attempt.
Pros: Cost (I bought it during a sale and I'm pretty sure it was less than $1K), It never expires, adaptive study sessions, user friendly layout, free flashcard app, downloadable lecture notes, a lot of SIMS (esp for AUD and FAR)
Cons: The REG lectures are super BORING. They really need to do something about that lol. And I wasn't a fan of the 400 or so MCQs that you had to do for the software to determine your level of knowledge to map out a study plan.I followed their approach loosely. But mostly, I watched every lecture and did all the MCQs for every section. For FAR and AUD, I did all the SIMS as well. I didn't do any practice exams.
July 4, 2018 at 5:59 pm #1865518Kimberly
ParticipantSurgent helped me when I was stuck with FAR. It user friendly and, in my case, having taken the exam twice before, I knew a lot – not enough, and the non-linear format was helpful to me. I also went back to use them for REG, so I was able to finish my last two exams with them.
And call me crazy – but I liked the opportunity of having a coach. Someone may completely hate that, and it's optional, but apparently I liked someone else having confidence in me too. It worked, that's all I'll say. But plenty of SIMS and MCQs and super easy to see, likable format.
July 6, 2018 at 8:52 pm #1868686joe.torbey
ParticipantHas anyone went through the nasba experience verification??? If Yes, what is the interview about??
July 9, 2018 at 7:43 pm #1873444sdollen64
ParticipantGood evening! I purchased the Surgent material because like many, liked the idea that it never expires and lifetime updates. I took the assessment for FAR and basically it said I suck. Which, hey, that's pretty accurate as I've been out of school over 12 years now. So, when you refer to the “non-linear” approach, what do you mean exactly? Also, did you go through the lectures using the “Daily Surge” on the dashboard OR did you go below it where they have the 4 main areas and unroll the first area (Conceptual Framework, Standard Setting, etc.) and go through the videos under that in that order?
Watch the videos and then do questions on that area?
Any advice / help is seriously appreciated.
Have a great evening.
July 11, 2018 at 5:52 pm #1880830sdollen64
ParticipantJust a bump – hoping you all our still out there and can see this thread. 🙂 Was curious if you might have feedback to my follow-up questions for you. Thanks in advance!
July 12, 2018 at 6:29 am #1881238Anonymous
InactiveI have been using Surgent for the past month and a half or so to study for my REG test on Tuesday and I like it. However, I completely abandoned their “Daily Surge” thing (they recommend you do an MCQ session, watch a lecture and read from the book). I sort of like the linear approach, but since I'm fresh out of school, I don't really need the in-depth and long lectures Becker or Roger has. So I first went through all of the videos Surgent has and took notes, then did MCQ sessions on each specific area until I got up to around a 65% or so (while still taking notes on the ones I missed), and am now doing MCQ sessions on all of the material. Their adaptive technology I think is really good and helps you focus on problem areas, plus the price is great, but don't waste your money on buying the physical books or flashcards. The book is more like an encyclopedia and something you can't really study from. If you're thinking of supplementing with NINJA solely for NINJA's MCQ, I wouldn't only because based on the 200-300 MCQs that I did from NINJA, a lot of them were word for word the same as Surgent. So I just used NINJA for their notes and audio, which was helpful. So overall…
Pros: cheap, good adaptive technology that lets you focus on problem areas, the 450 assessment test is a pain in the ass but worth it IMO, I personally liked all the videos I watched for REG (but I've heard people who think their videos are crap so), never expires, probably cuts down on some study time vs other courses (if you're fresh out of school), format is really nice (but idk how the other courses look so)
Cons: physical textbook is useless, flashcards are nothing to write home about (a coworker gave me his Becker REG flashcards and if you can get your hands on some, you'll be in good shape; they're amazing), if you're a linear learner (which I sort of am), you'll have to sort of take what Surgent gives you and create your own little system for studying rather than doing their Daily Surge
Good luck!
July 14, 2018 at 1:37 pm #1884076sdollen64
ParticipantThanks for that response Austin. I've noticed that the MCQs seem to be similar across many of the review courses. I have a 2016 Wiley FAR textbook and most of the problems are the same as the Surgent ones. I'm sure it's because they are old questions so most of these review courses probably just pull them and slap them in their course.
When everyone mentions a “linear” approach, are they referring to going through the material in the order it's in and working MCQs as they go through it? Linear being – watching the videos, taking notes, doing MCQs, reviewing – in the order the material is presented?
Hope you kick butt on Reg this Tuesday! Good luck.
July 14, 2018 at 8:06 pm #1884472Kimberly
ParticipantI had used Wiley and Surgent. In Wiley you can formulate a study plan and it will literally block off days on a calendar with multiple lessons that you have to do. You complete them in a pre-set order if you follow that pattern and it's very guided. So as for REG, going from Regulation, to Business Law, to Tax, to Entity Tax, etc. It didn't jump around. You read the study notes and/or watched videos, did MCQs on that area and repeat. That was linear as in there was a set order – learn one topic, move to the next.
I used Surgent after I had used other courses, and their pattern is, by definition, non-linear in that after you do that initial 400/450 question pre-test period, you are free to choose what to focus on. So say you (sorry to use REG again) found you crushed the Business Law section in the pre-test, you may choose to avoid those daily surge requests to watch that video in that area, or read that section in the notes. It's supposed to tailor to your needs. The MCQs in daily surge however will keep pulling from all areas to keep the topics fresh, which I did find helpful. In another linear course you would have to manually seek out to do this by going back in your lesson plan or going to a test bank and selecting all areas to study/review.
For FAR, I did the assessment, and then I did the daily surge every day, and watched those videos in the areas I knew I needed more help in. I'd reference the book only if I needed to. I really followed their plan with FAR, hitting MCQ numbers daily (it recommends how long you need to study a day – 1 hour 2, hours), getting my trending up, watching their video recommendations, operating all the SIMS at least once, some twice, and doing one practice exam. The whole thing.
So I hope this answers your question a bit. I never used Surgent from the start – instead I used it to pick up what I needed more help with after having missed w/another program. I really did well with it. I think the bottom line is you can make it what you want to be. And they have free coaching if you have a section or the premier pass and I really liked talking to them once or twice throughout to get an idea of how better to use the course to my advantage.
This was long, sorry! Best of luck to you!
July 16, 2018 at 8:11 am #1885924Nikki374
Participant@sdollen, yes, you are correct. A linear approach would include watching the lectures, reading a book, taking notes, MCQs, and review. If you prefer that more systematic, linear approach then Surgent may not be a good choice. When I used it, I didn't use the daily surge on the dashboard. I watched all the lectures after doing that 400 question assessment. Then I did MCQs section by section while taking notes and making flashcards. Then I did the SIMS. It does a good job of assessing your knowledge and adapting the questions to your struggle areas.
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