[Anonymous]

I have failed FAR twice using Yaeger and I was considering taking a live class from Becker. It will be a pretty big sacrifice because I will have to pay for it out of my own pocket, not to mention drive an hour to attend a 6-10 pm class after work. For those who have experience with both, do you think live Becker is worth the money? Are you ready to test right after you finish the class or are there more self study hours involved after the class?

This is my last one to pass and I just want to get it over with, even if it is a great sacrifice for 5 weeks. I would really appreciate input. Thanks!

[Study Monk]

Personally I think the hours commuting will be better spent studying. The live teacher might suck for all you know. I would just self study with another test bank. Do all of the questions in Cpaexcel/Wiley or Becker/Wiley twice and you will kill FAR. If you have taken FAR twice you should have a base of knowledge to build upon. Your better off knocking out multiple choice questions until your scoring 90% on everything you do. Commuting and hearing some bald guy go through the basics is going to be a waste of time.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

Personally I think the hours commuting will be better spent studying. The live teacher might suck for all you know. I would just self study with another test bank. Do all of the questions in Cpaexcel/Wiley or Becker/Wiley twice and you will kill FAR. If you have taken FAR twice you should have a base of knowledge to build upon. Your better off knocking out multiple choice questions until your scoring 90% on everything you do. Commuting and hearing some bald guy go through the basics is going to be a waste of time.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[NicoleL]

If you are considering Becker, think about doing the self study instead of the live class. This will save you the commute plus you get do it on your own time. I think I would go crazy if I had to watch 4 hours of lectures from Becker in one chunk. At home you can break them up a bit. I would recommend Becker for FAR based on my experience with it…I got a really good score and I've been out of college a REALLY long time so they (their lecture, book and test bank) prepared me well.

FAR - 93 (YAY!!!!)
REG - 93 (Double YAY!)
BEC - 87 (Whew!)
AUD - 96 (DONE!!!!!)

[NicoleL]

If you are considering Becker, think about doing the self study instead of the live class. This will save you the commute plus you get do it on your own time. I think I would go crazy if I had to watch 4 hours of lectures from Becker in one chunk. At home you can break them up a bit. I would recommend Becker for FAR based on my experience with it…I got a really good score and I've been out of college a REALLY long time so they (their lecture, book and test bank) prepared me well.

FAR - 93 (YAY!!!!)
REG - 93 (Double YAY!)
BEC - 87 (Whew!)
AUD - 96 (DONE!!!!!)

[Anonymous]

Study Monk, thanks for your reply. I'm just looking to finish this as soon as possible. My family is losing patience with me and the thought of studying FAR another 3 months on my own seems too much to think about. I don't know if you are familiar with Yaeger but I can't stand Phil's teaching and Cindy goes so fast that I have to constantly start and stop the videos. I passed AUD, REG, and hopefully BEC with Yaeger but felt like I need a new approach for FAR. I have CPA excel and started that before I found out I failed BEC and had to go back to studying that. I was actually hopeful I would have a summer this year 🙁

[Anonymous]

Study Monk, thanks for your reply. I'm just looking to finish this as soon as possible. My family is losing patience with me and the thought of studying FAR another 3 months on my own seems too much to think about. I don't know if you are familiar with Yaeger but I can't stand Phil's teaching and Cindy goes so fast that I have to constantly start and stop the videos. I passed AUD, REG, and hopefully BEC with Yaeger but felt like I need a new approach for FAR. I have CPA excel and started that before I found out I failed BEC and had to go back to studying that. I was actually hopeful I would have a summer this year 🙁

[Anonymous]

Nicole, thank you for your input. I have been out of school a really long time too. I had to go back and get additional accounting classes so I could sit for the exam. I work and have 3 children and everyone just wants me to be done. If I were to self study I would probably just use the curriculums I have, both Yaeger and CPA excel. I don't have the videos for CPA excel though. We are kind of in a bind financially and I really don't want to waste money unnecessarily.

[Anonymous]

Nicole, thank you for your input. I have been out of school a really long time too. I had to go back and get additional accounting classes so I could sit for the exam. I work and have 3 children and everyone just wants me to be done. If I were to self study I would probably just use the curriculums I have, both Yaeger and CPA excel. I don't have the videos for CPA excel though. We are kind of in a bind financially and I really don't want to waste money unnecessarily.

[Anonymous]

I've heard that the classes are just sitting there watching the DVD lectures in a classroom. Unless you know your specific teacher puts extra effort in, it doesn't seem worth it to me.

[Anonymous]

I've heard that the classes are just sitting there watching the DVD lectures in a classroom. Unless you know your specific teacher puts extra effort in, it doesn't seem worth it to me.

[Anonymous]

My boss took the “LIVE” Becker back in the day and she said she just watched the video lectures in a class room. I think the part that you are having trouble with is the discipline and you think being accountable to going to the classroom versus finding the time on your own would be better and it may be. I personally would just set aside that time and hold yourself accountable and watch the videos on your own and do the required homework and get an additional test bank. You would still follow all their rules, but wouldn't have to commute. If you can't study at home because you have kids or something, then just take your videos to work and watch them at work before you go home for the day.

[Anonymous]

My boss took the “LIVE” Becker back in the day and she said she just watched the video lectures in a class room. I think the part that you are having trouble with is the discipline and you think being accountable to going to the classroom versus finding the time on your own would be better and it may be. I personally would just set aside that time and hold yourself accountable and watch the videos on your own and do the required homework and get an additional test bank. You would still follow all their rules, but wouldn't have to commute. If you can't study at home because you have kids or something, then just take your videos to work and watch them at work before you go home for the day.

[Anonymous]

CPA Mommy, thanks for your reply. I don't have trouble with the discipline of it. I am very self disciplined with my studying and get in at least 20 hours a week. This worked well for me with the other 3 sections. The problem I am having with FAR is that it is just so much material to retain that I thought if I could cram it into a 5 week course and take the exam shortly after I might be able to remember everything. The first time I failed FAR I studied around 225 hours, the second time around 200. Honestly, I think it is just the problem of remembering it all, and I'm not a spring chicken anymore 🙂

[Anonymous]

CPA Mommy, thanks for your reply. I don't have trouble with the discipline of it. I am very self disciplined with my studying and get in at least 20 hours a week. This worked well for me with the other 3 sections. The problem I am having with FAR is that it is just so much material to retain that I thought if I could cram it into a 5 week course and take the exam shortly after I might be able to remember everything. The first time I failed FAR I studied around 225 hours, the second time around 200. Honestly, I think it is just the problem of remembering it all, and I'm not a spring chicken anymore 🙂

[Anonymous]

If you're disciplined then I definitely think doing the self study would be the best use of your time. How long you take is completely up to you. I just don't think sitting in a room watching a DVD is that much better than doing it on your own with the same videos. BUT since I haven't taken a live course then I'll let someone else comment on that. Regardless of how you do learn the material I would agree that a short time frame would help with the memorization aspects and not having to retain the information as long. If I could fit everything in to 5 weeks I would go that route because you forget what you learn in the beginning weeks as you stretch out your studies. Unfortunately I work full time and have 3 kids that I can't ignore for 5 weeks and that is what it would take for me to do it in 5 weeks. It sounds like you know what you want to do. Good luck!

[Author]

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