[mrxtat]

Hi guys, new to the forum and found this site as I desperately tried to find answers/suggestions/opinions for my current situation.

My current situation: I started a summer accounting intensive program at a university that goes from Jun – Aug 10′ and covers the 6 courses that are needed to sit for the exam. I am completing the last course which is taxation this week. This program has been HELL for me to say the least. Each course is completed in 8 days and we go through 2-3 chapters a day. When I started the program I had high hopes of landing something at a firm but as I progressed through the program, I struggled to keep up with the material. The other students however seemed like they were doing fine and it was quite discouraging for me because I was putting in twice the amount of time to study. What were they doing that I wasn’t that was impeding on my success to master the material? I even started studying with them but they would breeze through the material and pretty much have everything down before the sunset. After 10 weeks of hell, I’ve maintained a “C” average after countless all nighters. We had a small career fair at the end of July and a lot of my peers have been getting interviews and I’m super excited for them. It’s pretty bittersweet that I’m not there along with them going through the process held back due to my grades.

Finally, after this long drawn out post of my ramblings is my current situation. I plan on taking the CPA but I’m worried I didn’t retain all the material I’m suppose to have to pass the CPA exam. I’m most definitely going to take a review course, probably Becker since most of my friends who actually have passed the CPA took them. Would it be better for me to take the Becker exam right after this program or would it be beneficial for me to take another accounting program that spans a whole year that is offered by another university? I’m worried that because I didn’t fare so well in this program that if I took Becker right away, I might not know how to work out a lot of the problems since Becker assumes you have prior knowledge of the material being covered. And thus by me taking another program that spans a year, I’ll be a lot more familiar and well versed in most of the material and better prepared to understand the material from Becker. The downside of this plan is that it’ll take another year and $$$.

Any opinions / suggestions / answers would be very helpful in my current state of mind.

I wonder if I’m even cut out to be a CPA because my peers make these classes look like we’re in grade school.

If you actually made it through this long boring post, I sincerely thank you.

A little background on me if you want to know: Graduated Dec. 2008 in Poli. Sci – enjoyed studying it but never saw myself pursuing politics/law and knew I always wanted to be in the financial world. The idea was also strengthened when friends and other family members who also studied social sciences and landed financial analyst positions at very respectable companies. Then came the latter part of 2008 when everything came crashing down. I went through many recruitment cycles without any response. I finally was able to find a loan processor position after 5 months of searching and worked there till this June. For me, this was a temporary job as I looked for something that would enhance my career. Thus I chose accounting for its fundamental foundation.

[Sam2k]

Forgive my ignorance, but are you sure that completing this 10 week course qualifies you to sit for the CPA exam? Each state has different exam requirements; but for example, Arkansas requires 30 credit hours of upper level accounting courses or 20 hours of graduate level accounting. I can't imagine all that being crammed into 1 10 week course. I supposes it's great if there actually is such a course.

As far as Becker vs. a year long accounting program goes, you're going to need to do a review program rather you do the extra schooling or not. Additionally, Becker does not assume that you have more than a basic understanding of broad accounting concepts. The very first lesson for FARE they literally tell you that they are going to assume that everyone who is taking the course has forgotten pretty much everything they have learned in school.

Good luck!

FAR - 98; AUD - 94; REG - 95; BEC - Waiting;
Becker Scholarship for Success (I got it free :))

[mrxtat]

Thanks for the reply – Just to clarify, I'm here in CA and the program is designed for people who need the upper-div units. It encompasses both Intermediate Financial I & II, Adv.Acctg, Cost, Audit, Tax.

I completed Financial and Managerial at my local community college awhile back. I have all my business-related units completed as well.

[Anonymous]

If you did not do practice multiple choice during your summer program, I'd suggest taking a review course. AUD & BEC do not require much prior knowledge but FAR does require (at least I think so). I heard from people who used Yeager that it is longer so it's more like a college text. There are some good deals on Becker now since the exam changes in 2011, my frind purchased a brand new set of 4 sections for $700 on cpapassmaster.com or something like that.

It's a very intense program, in college we cover 1 chapter a week x 5 classes. Nothing compared to ur program and some still struggle. If your classmates had some knowledge of accounting, you shouldn't even bother to compare yourself to them.

I took my first accounting class at a community college and honestly, I learned more from that course than from my whole prestigious business school experience. It is in part because community college profs actually “lecture,” not just powerpoint you all the way. Maybe take some classes at a community college this fall semester then shoot for the CPA in 1st window of 2011?

BUT if you feel like you understand financial accounting, I'd take the CPA right away. I mean BEC & AUD you can learn from Becker book, REG you can also learn from Becker. Look at the AICPA released questions, and if you can answer 40-50% now without reviewing, in my opinion, you can pass the CPA exam with Becker only.

Why the CPA exam if I may ask? Just wondering cause there are a lot of different financial qualifications equally as good(CMA, Series 6, 7,63,66, CIA, EA, CFA…)

[mrxtat]

Well I probably would've chosen that paths you've mentioned if I would've been hired by a financial firm/company. But given the nature of the economy when I graduated and having a social sciences background, I don't think the financial companies/firms were all that convinced that I had enough background to work in the field. I was looking non stop for about 5 months and sending out resume's part time while I was working my loan processing job but no takers. So I finally decided that attaining a CPA license would be a good investment all around and I wouldn't need a sponsoring firm for me to take the exam.

[potatogun]

I agree with doing CC classes if you want to have a class room background first before getting a review course. And, yes, prestigious of a school has little to do with teaching accounting. The basics are the basics…

So CC is probably the cheapest route to beef up your background.

FAR 92 - AUD 91 - REG 94 - BEC 86

[75 CPA]

Short Answer based on my experience:

Do NOT take more college classes. You need a TEACHING course like Yaeger for FAR, REG and BEC. Do NOT buy Becker like your friends did. Becker is a high speed, low drag REVIEW course. Becker is only for those who have a very good background.

The CPA exams are the best game in town. The AICPA has all of the angles figured out to discourage you and to make you quit. Once you make up your mind to NEVER QUIT, you will become a CPA. These exams are about ENDURANCE, not how smart you are.

Long Answer:

I realize that I never will be “perfectly ready” like I was in college. It is very frustrating for me to miss multiple choice questions because I did not understand the call of the question, etc. The examiners are infamous for using unfamiliar verbiage, using distracter information, etc. I keep reminding myself the perfection is the enemy of good enough, and only the examiners know what “good enough” is. I do not have a clue.

College was a piece of cake. I can teach anyone to be a 4.0 student. These CPA exams are something that I have never faced, however. I am teaching myself 75% of the material and with good review materials, like Yaeger, learning the material is not a problem. The problem is the volume of material to learn. It just never ends.

Short-term memory will not work with these exams. Only long-term memory will work. One of the major points of long-term memory is to study a little every day, even if it is only for 10 minutes. It is better to study 10 minutes for six days than it is to study once for 60 minutes. Additionally, I am using more than one review program. After I finish one program I go into another review program.

Do not think for a moment that college prepared you for these CPA exams. The CPA exams cover twice the material that I had in college, but not in the same depth. I literally needed three cost accounting texts to cover all of the variance analysis questions on the business exam. Additionally, I had four intermediate accounting texts to pass the financial exam. If you just waltz into these professional exams like this was college, you will limp out of these exams with a failing grade.

All of the CPA candidates who took Becker with me have failed. They failed because they used the same study habits that they used in college. They crammed with Becker. That will not work. The CPA exams are not about short-term memory. These professional exams are about long-term memory on more subjects than Becker covers.

Pick your review materials carefully. You will not pass the CPA exams without good review materials! If I had to pick the best review course, I would pick Yaeger. No one matches his personal help. Yaeger is the only review course that drills down to the multiple choice questions.

Be flexible. This is not college. You will never feel like you have mastered the material. These exams cover more material than what you had in college.

Schedule two exams at a time. Study FAR first BEFORE the 18 month clock starts ticking. FAR takes the longest preparation time. Be sure to take FAR before AUD.

Accountants are perfectionists. We want to know EXACTLY how many hours it takes to study. There is no answer to that question. Study until you feel comfortable with the material or until you run out of time.

[michelle119]

@mrtaxt — from my experience with Becker's and the reviews here about Yager, Yager is probably a better fit. There were many areas that I supplemented with my notes from my acg classes that I took in the last few years at a business school. Thankfully I had great professors and was smart enough to save my notes and books…..

FAR 7/2 - 88
BEC 7/30 - 87
AUD 8/27 - 80
REG 11/12 - 96

[Trevor]

I agree with michelle that Yaeger would fit you better. As a current Yaeger student I can say that they are very good at explaining the material to someone who has no background. Now you do have some though… If it were me I would say no to taking more classes, buy Yaeger (even if its just 1 part for now) see where you stand…

A little background about myself so you can relate… I consider myself a smart individual, not too smart though. I feel like I have both common sense and book smarts – so that middle ground somewhere. Until college I was that guy who never applied himself fully to anything (except sports…). I probably continued this for a while in college, I have never been a studier (HATE it). I have never done more than 50% of the HW assigned (in HS or College), however I would do well on tests (I knew the stuff just didnt want to take anytime to get the BEST grades..) I came out of college with a 3.6 GPA at a pretty good school.

Why am I going on and on? (Note – I have never taken Becker or any other review course) Yaeger allows for a slow paced study program (sometimes I found it too slow), it is definitly for a beginner accountant. I think it will fit you well, just think the CPA exam is for “entry level accountants.” Believe it or not lol – it is definitly attainable for anyone…

BEC: 73,81(7/6/2010); AUD: 75(5/24/2010); FAR: 76(8/31/2010); REG: 77 (10/18/2010) - DONE!!!!

[Author]

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