[Anonymous]

Hi,

I’m about to start my Senior year and have been hearing that I should start reviewing for FAR so that I can take it next summer before I start work. I don’t want to purchase an entire review package just yet but was thinking of just buying a 2011 FAR book to skim over throughout the school year. Any suggestions? I’v seen a couple cheap FAR 2011 books by Wiley on amazon.

Thanks!

[kettik]

A lot of this stuff is gonna be in Intermediate II which you'll be taking this year I guess. So pay attention. I've been out of school for a year but I still find my college classes pretty helpful.

As for the review material, Becker is kinda the best out there, that's what they say anyway. Everybody I know are using Becker. Check ebay. Just make sure you get Course Disk (lecture and homework DVDs won't run without it). Getting only a book probably won't do much. You need to see how to use all this info to answer questions.

Getting something cheap for now just to see what it's like and then getting something that you're really gonna be using to prepare for the exam… I wouldn't waste my money.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the advice! I will search Ebay then.

[Anonymous]

I realized many of the used books I've come across are Final Review books, which is different from normal review books, right? I have found one on amazon that is being sold as a brand new Financial book for $200 which includes a 2011 text book and financial lecture cd. Does this seem right? I really have no idea what should be included in a CPA review, so any guidance would be much appreciated! And as a side question, I was looking at Becker's site and it talked about a self-study, live, and CD class. Do people usually buy these books and and CD's in addition to classes? And would self-study just consist of the text book and lecture CD? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

bruinbear617,

As a recent college grad let me fill you in. First, if you have a job offer coming (you did an internship or are going to be interviewing for a full-time) with a big firm I would recommend holding off. Most big firms pay for your study materials. As soon as I had my full-time offer I could order Becker and the firm paid for it.

Becker you can take a live class or get the self-study CDs. Most people I knew did self-study and said they liked the flexibility so thats what i got. It is the same as a class as you watch the lectures and take notes during it, then have plenty of hw, quizes, practice exams etc. Also, if you don't pass a section you have the material still and can just jump back into the lectures when you need to.

I have spent my entire summer studying before starting full-time, and while it sucks….im dreading studying around working even more.

[Anonymous]

Bstudyin2,

I did just get an offer for Fall 2012 but I've been getting nervous about passing FAR. I've heard from a couple people to take that first, over the summer before work starts so that you can focus on it more. Is that what you've heard too? I just was worried that wouldn't be enough time. How has your studying been going? Do you think it would have been helpful to start reviewing during the school year? Thanks for your post.

[kettik]

If you take live classes you still get a text book and lecture cd.

It all depends on the professor but usually they say they would talk for half the class then play the cd lecture.

I've had three different professors and they all took full 4 hours explaining stuff and giving advise on passing. I still watched the cd lectures bc it helps hearing how two different people talk about same stuff (different details). So imho if have time in summer go ahead and take live classes.

But if you decide to get material on ebay you'll need text book, lecture CD and course disk. Course disks are usually sold with one or two installations with a certain expiration date. But you can find a brand new one i guess.

[kettik]

If your company doesn't pay for CPA exam (and you should find it out cuz not all of them do) you could get a live course from Becker, take it in summer. Then get all other parts on ebay without course disk (you'll have one from FAR, all other parts will run with it), they're gonna be around $150-250 for a part (text book and lecture cd).

[Author]

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