[gladrial]

I currently have a study system I am not happy with however before I take the personally financed plunge that is Becker does anyone have an opinion about which flavor of becker is better? Live course, Self Study, or Online

Reg 76
Bus 82
Aud 70, 86
Far 68 ,79 ten point combo FTW
April Fools day CPA licence WA

[Sequin45]

I personally did the Self-Study and I thought that worked out best for me. I was able to study on my time and go things done when I felt comfortable about them. I studied for a total of 8 months throughout the whole process. Although sometimes it would have been nice to have a teacher to contact and ask questions about things that I had a hard time with, I have a very hard time paying attention while sitting in a class.

AUD - 69, 78
BEC - 80
REG - 89
FAR - 80

[thistooshallpass]

Totally depends on you and how you prefer to learn. I'm using the self study and I love it (well as much as you can love study material). It does have a well laid plan, so its not just “here's the books and software, good luck”. I have stuck mostly to the suggested study plan, somewhat tweaked along the way, and I have passed first try so far on 3. But I like self study, online courses, etc. Prefer to work on my own schedule and am pretty good about self discipline, so it works great for me.

AUD 85 (2/12) Using Becker
FAR 81 (5/12)
BEC 79 (7/13)
REG 85 (10/1)

"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

[Minimorty]

I also liked the self study and thought it was awesome. On three of my exams, I supplemented with Wiley and Ninja notes and found them helpful.

[Red315]

Self study worked really well for me. I passed all 4 parts in an 11 month window with Becker and the flash cards.

Jeanne Aparicio

B - 75 (11/2011, First Attempt)
A - 88 (2/2012, First Attempt)
R - 89 (5/2012, First Attempt)
F - 79 (8/31/2012 First Attempt)

I AM DONE!!!!!! BECKER IS AWESOME!!!!

Licensed Florida CPA 09/2012

[nimmle02]

Self-study works best for me. I like working in my own time. So far I have passed all of my sections on the first try. I have one more next week and if it's successful I will complete all 4 sections in about 5 months. 🙂

src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">

REG - 5/21/2012 - 85
FAR - 7/24/2012 - 86
BEC - 8/27/2012 - 85
AUD - 10/5/2012 - 72....rematch 1/3/13 (waiting)

[Whatdidyou]

Online is best.

Online is the exact same thing as self-study (but with a little extra. You get the same books, same lecture CD's, same software, and are allowed to completely ignore the online class timeline and just do it on your own timeline self study. Additionally, you get more resources. Specifically you get pdf cliff notes version (2-7 pages) of each chapter – MUCH easier & more concise to go over during review than my own notes.

ALso you get a online class structure/timeline (if you choose to follow it – i did not), a class discussion board, and an online teacher you can contact to ask random questions (some of mine went so far as to provide the whole class with their personal cell phone # (!)).

REG - Passed!!
BEC - Passed
FAR - Passed
AUD - Passed

Study Materials: Becker basic course

[jeff]

You will find different people with various opinions … Check each course's demo before purchasing if you're looking at others as well.

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[futuremdcpa]

Self-Study, and supplemented REG with Wiley since it was my first exam, and I'd rather over study then understudy. I found Becker to be VERY good. But that doesn't mean anyone who takes Becker will pass.. Make no mistake, you need to dedicate however long it takes you to pass these exams to studying. You need to put it a lot of time and dedication to studying. I found the questions on the real exam easier then the ones Becker uses in their software. The SIM's are not super-impossible.. but they are definitely more work then the Becker ones, and it sucks that you have a time limit on the real exam vs when you are studying.

For AUD/BEC I only used Becker, and didn't know the majority of AUD, and passed with an 84.. I am studying for FAR now, and I will also be using Becker, Wiley Testbank & I bought the FAR Final Review from Becker. It might be overkill, but it is my last exam, and I want to be done with this monster even if I have to dedicate an extra month of studying. Remember.. these tests are not impossible.. Dedication is key.

REG: PASS || BEC: PASS || AUD: PASS || F: SCORE PENDING..

[Whatdidyou]

My study plan for all of them was self study. However my course type was online for all but 1. I view online as self study + additional set of notes (prob similar to ninja notes?) for each chapter. Anyone who did the self study course could have done their exact same study plan with online. I don't know why you wouldn't choose more for the same price. ?. Unless of course you don't want to have additional resources ( that you can use but don't have to) at your fingertips?

REG - Passed!!
BEC - Passed
FAR - Passed
AUD - Passed

Study Materials: Becker basic course

[futuremdcpa]

@Whatdidyou – I didn't realize you mentioned that online comes with notes!! I would look into that as well. I think condensed notes for each chapter would be HELPFUL.

REG: PASS || BEC: PASS || AUD: PASS || F: SCORE PENDING..

[Whatdidyou]

Yeah, they were great. If you are anything like me, by the time I get to my review stage, I don't have the time or the skill to read the plethora of unwieldy and hard to read notes I took throughout my study period. Having nicely typed and to the point notes that focus on the important topics in each chapter was a godsend and great refresher for some crucial but forgotten topics that I had covered earlier.

All course formats are the same price – I don't know why they wouldn't make these resources available to everyone!! I threw a fit when the customer service rep wasn't letting me have the notes for my current section (for which I stupidly had stupidly ordered self study for months ago).

The ONLY downside I see to the online format is that if you are trying to go for the Becker Promise (I wasn't), they want you to do all the required homework online (as opposed to in your software). I didnt even bother with it and it looks like I'll be fine. Although they do have a way you can upload your progress from your software into the online classroom portal.

REG - Passed!!
BEC - Passed
FAR - Passed
AUD - Passed

Study Materials: Becker basic course

[sarah210]

@whatdidyou– Do you have 2011 Becker, by any chance? Because I'm doing 2012 online Becker, and there are no class notes. I emailed the professor and he said they had discontinued them.

REG- 53, 91
BEC- 88
FAR- 62, 85
AUD- 85

Ethics- 93

[leafs43]

I didn't really like Becker.

It's probably because they ask several questions multiple times to get the concept hammered in your head but go light on other areas that probably need the most work.

For example, Becker's FAR study guide on bonds…..just not in depth enough. So if you're given a test with a lot of bond problems, you're going to struggle unless you have photographic memory of your old intermediate classes.

[ud-cpa]

I did Becker self-study and loved it. I have a lot of friends that did live and fast pass and a lot of them ended up using the self study materials because they did not like the professors or decided that they wanted to be able to study at their own pace and around certain obligations. It also is the best for letting you decide what order you want to take the tests in. I would highly recommend it and I would do it over again the same way! I know it is expensive, but it is well worth it, especially if you don't have to retake the tests (that's expensive too!)

FAR - July 2012 - Passed!
AUD - Aug 2012 - Passed!
BEC - Aug 2012 - Passed!
REG - Oct 2012 - Passed!

[Soundwave]

Hey guys I'm using Becker self-study as well. I like it. I have one question though. I thought I saw that the Becker study schedule had an option where it tells you what you need to study every day? Like it'll tell you what you need to study on a certain day and maybe even give you a day off. I see nothing like that on my program. It only tells you what you need to study for the week. Its not a big deal, but i was just wondering …

[Author]

Replies