[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I am new tho this forum and I greatly appreciate those that replied to my last post.

I will be taking my first exam in late Feb 2015 (FAR). That said, I spoke with the Controller at work (CPA, MBA) and she suggested that I attend a live review course which is offered at a university that has a well respected undergrad accounting program in Illinois (I did enroll). I believe their school mascot is a dog of some sort. She also stated that they don’t use a lot of mnemonics, but rather present the topics.

I have heard mixed reviews about Becker, Yeager and others. Yeager would put me to sleep, and i am not sure I would pay 3k for someone to read the book to me. I went on their sites to view their demos.

Kindly opine on this matter. Thank you all!

[Anonymous]

Any thoughts ? Jeff and Co. ?

Thanks.

[mla1169]

It really depends on how you learn. Some people need live classes, others do just fine by reading a book. I just used cpareviewforfree.com for FAR, Wiley books only for BEC and REG, and Wiley book plus ninja notes for AUD.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

Think about how you learned in college and do that. Yes clearly the CPA is more difficult than anything we did in college but learning is learning. I learn better when people explain things to me but I also need flexibility so I did the Becker self-study. I did blindly jump into that because it's what “everyone” told me to do but it's worked great so far so no complaints.

Whatever worked for your Controller may not work for you. Follow your learning style.

[Anonymous]

Yep, do whatever works for you to learn. I was told that I couldn't possibly pass the exams without taking classes and the nearest classes were probably about 1.5 hours away, so out of the question. A few months later, I'd passed them all with just the Wiley books, because that was how I could learn, even though it wasn't how the guy who told me I'd have to take classes could learn.

If you're not sure how you learn best, then pick a hobby and seek to learn it, then see how you learn best – YouTube videos, articles online, etc., and translate that to learning the CPA exams.

[xmas]

Check out Roger and supplement with Ninja… if feeling sleepy is your problem.

[leglock]

A Huskie I'd bet. I went with Becker but considered going with NIU. I chose not to do NIU because they weren't as close to where I lived, and also I felt that NIU makes it's money as a college institution and therefore Becker had more incentive to provide a better review class because it was not an alternative revenue stream for them.

I took live classes with Becker here in Illinois last year. Even if you sign up for the live classes, you do not have to attend them. You have full access to the online lectures.

One good thing about Becker is that all parts of a section are not necessarily taught by the same instructor. It seems some specialize in certain topics. The 2 who taught governmental were phenomenal. One was a Dr. of something and had prepared his own synopsis of the governmental/nfp funds via a handout he gave in class. He had wacky mneumonics that he presented in such a weird manner that he acted out that you are guaranteed not to forget them. So in essence, he put alot of his personality and his own time in giving additional study materials that really helped. There is a lady Jenny Norton who teaches auditing who is phenomenal as well.

Having said that, there is one insturctor who is an attorney and a CPA who is horrible in my opinion. He literally reads the book to you and seems as though he does not know the material too well. He joked about failing the CPA exam 6 or 7 times. If you see him, thats a day I highly recommend going home because there's nothing from him that you are gonna learn. As an aside, I asked him what was harder, the bar exam or cpa exam and he said the cpa exam is more difficult.

So if the live classes don't explain, you can supplement with the online lectures. The instructors are also very accessible as well. Becker is by no means without fault, but I would recommend them.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for your replies to my inquiry. Yes, the review course is provided by NIU (Northern Illinois University). It will tak me about 1 hr to arrive at Naperville, Il from where I reside.

The controller suggested that I pound countless of MCQs as this was the method she used to pass the exam, and she suggested not read the material at all; it is a waste of time in her mind. The best way I learn is by seeing how something works and by being hands-on. Explaining someting too me at does not click.

How can I implement that strategy in FAR? It seems obvious, but someone may explain or give an example that I would of not thought of.

I feel blessed to have found this forum. Thank you all.

[Anonymous]

How can you begin to understand what a question is even asking you without some background first? Fair enough if you don't want to dedicate a lot of time to reading the material but I would think there would be value in reading it at least once (especially for REG and AUD).

[mla1169]

Your controller suggested live classes and skipping the reading? She sounds full of hot air, truthfully. I did only MCQ for FAR without reading any material but I was (a) in school at the time and had been for 7 years straight, (b) exceptionally naive about what the exam entails and (c) very extremely lucky to pass my first time. It worked for me but I would never recommend it as a strategy.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

Solely doing straight MCQs and no reading for FAR sounds like banging your head against a wall. A big concrete one.

How do you even know what to solve in the problem without having a foundation for what it even slightly relates to? Is it just trial and error through guessing and reading the correct answer explanation? Again, sounds like hell.

[Author]

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