[Anonymous]

My FAR exam is coming in a few days. Just as everyone says, the Becker final exam is really not a confidence booster. I really don’t know what I know or don’t know at this moment and I’m already thinking about what to do if I fail this time. My Becker material will also expire by the time I know my score.

Anyone knows if the Wiley books alone have enough practice questions? =)

[Anonymous]

Have you thought about purchasing the Wiley online test bank? You can get it through this website. It has a study mode where it will tell you why an answer is correct. That might be good for you to do during your final few study days.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I did look into it, but since the book is still cheaper if bought on websites such as amazon.com, and I'm really sick at staring at a computer screen, I'm just curious if the Wiley book itself would suffice. I do hope I won't have to worry about it though. 🙂

For these few days before the exam, I'll just stick with Becker and browse through the notes I made and keep my fingers crossed. 🙂

[kandisjoy]

I think that the Wiley books definitely have enough information in them to help you pass… They are just really boring books to study. Like, I'm talking bored to tears after 15 minutes of reading. The font is tiny, the pages are super thin, and there's a lot of extra information in there. If you are super SUPER dedicated you might be able to do it.

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[jeff]

Your study time is better spent using a course that highlights what's important in the Wiley book.

[Minimorty]

you are going to spend more money retaking sections of the exam than if you just purchase some decent review materials to start out. Just whip out the credit card and make it happen. Consider it an investment in yourself.

[Anonymous]

I think two of my co-workers passed using just Wiley books, and the books seem to have good practice questions (I don't really know how well they explain the material), but I agree it's generally better to invest in more than that. Better safe than sorry!

[kandisjoy]

I pretty much agree with everything Minimorty ever posts. lol

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[Minimorty]

lol kandis. I appreciate the vote of confidence. I seem to have clicked with a few people on this site (seems like we are always on the same page). Most of this stuff just seems like common sense to me.

ps. I like the new pic.

[kandisjoy]

🙂 Thank you!

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the feedback!

Since I'm already using Becker and have read their text, watched their videos, done all the hw MCQs, final exams and most of the sims, I'm curious if just the Wiley book is enough to brush up in case I need to re-take. It's not like that's the only material I'll ever have used to prepare for FAR. =) I'm asking this because I've also known 1 person, an extremely dedicated person passing the exams with just the Wiley books, and that was years ago. I just don't know if it contains sufficient amount of practice Qs for the 2011 exams.

On the Becker final exams, I've been getting around 75% on some testlets but around 55% on others (about half and half). My prior experience with the Becker final exams was different – if i got somewhere in the 50s, it'd be pretty much consistent on all testlets and I'd never walk into the test center with a simulated test scores in the 50s. That's why I'm really concerned this time, especially as my Becker software is about to expire in days… (blame on my laziness and business for the past year)…

Anyway, I haven't made my decision on the study material yet, but posting this and reading what you've all said just somehow made me more motivated to pass it this round… lol… I should stop giving myself backup plans and just do it… !!!

Good luck to everyone who's also taking the exams soon!!!

[mla1169]

I've passed (FAR) using only cpareviewforfree, and BEC and REG using only Wiley. Hoping I passed AUD using only Wiley too.

That said, I do believe I could have gotten better scores, and with less tooth and nail fighting using a real program like Yaeger or Becker.

I think its kind of like the difference between buying a loaf of bread for a buck or spending 15 cents on flour and yeast. Yes you can make your own bread from scratch to save the 85 cents. But is your time better spent than watching dough rise? And when your dough doesnt rise or your loaf burns do you want to have to go buy a loaf anyway?

(queen of analogies)

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[jelly]

Wiley and Becker (and probably all the other test prep companies) share about 85% of the same test bank questions, b/c they're AICPA-released questions. The 15% differential is stuff the companies make up themselves (b/c it's expensive to write and test questions). I remember Wiley being really good at covering smaller topics in BEC that Becker was woefully short on (and that I got tested on!). But I regarded Wiley as an additional test bank source, and used Becker as a teaching program, where instructors pointed out important concepts or patterns, or told me corny mnemonics, which I found really useful.

Couldn't pass again!

[kb24]

I started out with the Wiley text and struggled. Not only is it turgid prose in small print, but it's cumbersome to use. It's written with the premise that you've read the outlines of the relevant standards in the back of the book (and preferably the complete text of the standards) prior to reading the module. I graduated a little over 5 years before I began studying for the CPA exam so I was a little rusty and realized after a couple of weeks of studying that I needed something with a little more explanation than Wiley. Luckily, I got a copy of the Becker text from a friend, and that filled the gap for me. However, I used Wiley as an additional resource because there were some topics that it covered better than Becker. Also, I thought the Wiley problems were very helpful. I did all the problems in the Wiley text and test bank and found them to be an excellent resource.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Smile1981]

I used Wiley for BEC and I liked it. It definitely prepares you for the exam but trust me you will never see a single question on the CPA exam that any of these reviews have. The questions are concept based and they test your concept understanding. No matter it's wiley or becker it does not matter. You know I liked cpareviewforfree.com practice tests. The way Joe answers as to why a particular question is right or wrong really helped me strengthen my understanding. I have not checked their FAR section…..but it's worth a try.

P.S. if you are having trouble on understanding any particular concept then search videos on youtube. I did that for TVMF for BEC and found pretty good videos.

[Anonymous]

Graduated 5+ yrs ago as well and my experience was different than that above person..Albeit a tough read at times, I felt that Wiley did a better job covering the subjects and concepts (in more detail). I passed AUD FAR and REG with the wiley books… using it for BEC now. Depends on the person but i grasped the concepts more with Wiley.

[Author]

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