[cbecken]

I want to share my Becker experience because I wish I would have known about the true format and customer service of the product.

The downside to Becker is they are not flexible with your schedule or sensitive to hardships. I signed up for online courses. Becker has you make your schedule when you enroll, and only allows you one schedule change for the entire time. You choose when your classes will be, and they make you schedule them all in one year. You have access to the material for 18mnths. I tried to ask for suggestions, but they offered none. I had never actually sat for the CPA exam and did not know how much time I really needed to spend studying for each section.

I started my CPA exam journey with my Mom passing away 4 days before my 1st attempt at FAR 2/15. Becker let me make one schedule change (which is allowed to everyone that purchases the material). I had a very unsympathetic representative that was actually rude to me when I requested the change and explained my situation. A few weeks were all I had to accommodate my need for a serious “time-out”. I had to let myself normalize, as much as one can in the grieving process, and push forward. Started studying FAR again at the end of March/15 to test that May/15. I have been having to go ahead and move along with my exams, pass or fail, because my material is only available for 18mnths, no exceptions. The MCQ’s are good but grueling.

Unfortunately, after finally paying off Becker, I am going to have to buy more review material. I have now, with AUD, supplemented with Ninja Audio extensively. I took notes on the audio, and wrote all the notes I could from Becker Outlines and book. I took Jeff’s advice and wrote and wrote. Ran many pens out these past few weeks. I have also had a year to heal from my tremendous loss. Jeff is awesome! Praying for a victory!

BEC 5/16

AUD 2/25/16

REG 11/15 61

FAR 08/15 53 (This one hurt, only improved by 2 pnts)

FAR 05/15 51

FAR 51, 53
REG 61
AUD 58
BEC 62

[Spartans92]

Sorry for your loss. I am sure your mom would be proud of you when you have that certification under your belt! Don't give up.

BEC- PASS

[MaLoTu]

I am sorry you have had such a hard time. I have taken FAR twice with Becker materials also and have yet to pass.

I think that you have not found a way to fully utilize the material in a manner that will be beneficial to you. I didn't figure out what I needed to do to pass an exam until I finally passed my 3rd exam, which was REG. I actually went through all the exams (1 out of 4) before I attempted a retake.

I hope that NINJA works for you. I am planning to switch to NINJA products for my 3rd (and last) attempt at FAR. I totally understand why you feel that the system didn't work for you.

Did you take AUD today? How did you feel about that?

[EuroAddict]

Sorry for your loss. While I like beckers layout of study/video, you are very correct. They are unbending with their terms.

I REALLY hate the fact that their software expires 18 mos after first login (or 24 mos from purchase). So if you get it in, open it day one and start studying, you only get 18 mos to pass all four parts. Ridiculous. I'm pretty sure it is the only software that expires.

With that said, I have used their books/software for every section combined with ninja MCQ and I feel it has been great for me. It's not for everyone and the price SUCKS lol

-----------------------------
BEC - 77, 03/2015 (first try)
FAR - 79, 05/2015 (second try)
REG - 83, 12/2015 (first try)
AUD - 84, 03/2015 (first try)

I got 99 problems but the CPA ain't one.

[cbecken]

Thank you Spartans 92 for the encouragement. My Mom was only 62 and we were very close.

Thank you EuroAddict for the input too. I do think that Becker is a high quality product and I really like the guys that do the videos. They joke around and try to make it as fun as they can. The MCQs are consistently accurate which is nice. They provide a ton of MCQs too, which is also good for experiential learners. Just didn't realize the true effects of the software time constraint and how long it took to study for each section. I feel like they should provide some sort of guidance about the exam. Happy to have found another71.

MaLoTu, Thanks for the encouragement. I definitely agree with you that I have not found a way to utilize the material in a manner that has been beneficial to me. I'm feeling like this latest attempt at AUD is my eye opening experience. Ninja Audio and constant writing was spot on.

FAR 51, 53
REG 61
AUD 58
BEC 62

[cbecken]

I agree that I have not optimized Becker.

I was watching each Becker lecture and then doing the coinciding MCQs in Becker. I would listen to Ninja Audio throughout each week. I also took notes on the Audio.

I have now failed AUD too with a 58 so I am going to try the NINJA method.

Nail the concept (the lectures)
Intense Notes (over the lectures)
Non-Stop Multiple Choice (Do all the Becker MCQ and Ninja MCQ)
Just Rewrite (Ninja Notes and Becker Outlines)
All Comes Together

I think I have been failing because I am not optimizing the Becker materials. I watched the lectures not quite understanding or absorbing all the concepts and then completed the MCQ to grasp the concepts through trial and error. Not the best way to study. Mixing it up with Jeff's latest Podcast advice in mind and hoping for a win! I don't want to have to reapply to sit for the exams.

FAR 51, 53
REG 61
AUD 58
BEC 62

[Spartans92]

Mom2five, I agree Becker is high quality but it doesn't work the same for everyone. Sure, you have heard from many others saying find materials that best suite you. Becker isn't quite the best for me either. The lectures are boring with Tim. Definitely, supplement with other materials (Recommend Roger). He is good at teaching the concept but I have heard his Q's are usually easier though. Good Luck! you can do it. 🙂

BEC- PASS

[njvath]

@Mom2five I am so sorry for your loss, I really admire you for picking yourself up and pushing yourself through the CPA exam process! You are one determined person, you can definitely pass!

I have had a similar experience with Becker…I first ordered the materials in November 2014 (I was very lucky in that my company paid for the course). I had just started in a new role at work and at first my new role was awful (I hated it), things were going wrong left and right (I am very Type A and inherited an absolute mess which almost caused a nervous breakdown), I worked with people who had no respect and would rip my work apart if they found things they didn't like. It took me a good 6 months to start to get comfortable with my role and the fact that the people I worked with were awful. I was working extremely long hours for months and was physically and emotionally drained, I literally could not find time (let alone the brain power) to study.

Fast forward to spring 2015 when I finally started to get comfortable with my role and I was working less hours I started studying for BEC (I did the self study option) but I found that I had no idea how to study for this. At first I approached it like a college accounting course: read the chapter, do the lecture, do the homework and Simulations once. This was wrong. I found that it took me forever to get through a chapter (keep in mind I was still working full time+). My Type A was definitely kicking in because I wanted to study the perfect way but I felt like I wasn't retaining information. I work in accounting and fortunately I was able to ask for the advice of co-workers who had been in my shoes. They all said that you don't really have the luxury of studying in the same way you studied during college because you have to get through the material quickly. I got to the second to last chapter in BEC and also had a death in the family and needed some time off to process and mourn and my family had to travel across country for the funeral. By this time it was August 2015.

I called Becker to ask if they would be willing to extend my license because I knew I would not be able to finish by the time the 18 months was up. I was even willing to pay a little (my money) to have the license extended. Also by this time, they had come out with a bunch of new course updates so they said I couldn't just have the license extended and I needed all new books! I almost gave up because they were not helpful or sympathetic at all (like someone else mentioned above, the material is high quality but their customer service is not good). I fully recognize that this is my shortcoming but they were pretty rude.

I ended up getting the “returning student discount” of like $1200 for another 18 month license and new updated books (my money this time). I also signed up for the live courses and I started to get the hang of how I should approach each chapter and how much material I needed to get through in a week).

I took AUD in November 2015 and did not pass (got a 74!) but I just passed FAR in February. I have figured out what works for me as far as studying method (lecture, take notes, do MCQs until you feel like throwing up) and am much more comfortable nowadays.

Best of luck to you on your CPA journey! If I can do it, you can too!!

FAR - 76
AUD - 74, 74
BEC - 83
REG - TBD

[Nessie]

Mom, thank you for your post. I am sorry for your loss and cannot imagine dealing with the death of a parent during all of the studying stress. When you sign up for the CPA, you really are signing up to have no personal problems for the roughly year or 18 months it takes to complete…which is not fair or realistic.

And Becker…..really, they should not recommend their product for anyone who has a full-time job, is a parent, or is in a relationship. I am only in grad school part-time and have no idea how anyone can get through 2 chapters a week as they recommend. I can barely do one chapter a week.

You know you can download all the lectures…not sure about the questions. I had to do this when I had to study somewhere without the internet. Im going to run out of time for BEC, so Im going to download what I can and avoid paying for BEC.

REG Aug 20/15: 88
AUD: Feb 29/16: 80
FAR: Jun 10/16: 80
BEC?

Becker self-study, Becker Final Review & NINJA MCQS

[quid_pro_quo]

jesus christ im so sorry about what youve been through. i think your mom would be so proud of you. you sound like a great person and i know you will succeed. make you mom proud by getting that CPA. Good for you. I am really rooting for you

[Anonymous]

@Nessie

The software bugs out if not connected to the internet for over a week, just a heads up.

BTW, Mom sorry for your loss.

I loved Becker I didn't try anything else because I felt I didn't need to. I NEVER finished all the SIMS or MCQ in any chapter ( I know Im lazy lol) But I did reread the chapters on my own. I treated it like school, yeah I paid attention during the lectures but after I finished them all I reread the book on my own and picked up so much. The books are very well written, but at the same time everyone is different.

Also, I worked full time and it was tough to due during their time frame. However they did extend me 90 days when I called, they said that's their policy to extend once by 90 days. Sorry everyone else had such a different experience.

[Author]

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