Those that use Wiley cpaexcel only

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #202378
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    They say that 9/10 student passes with Wiley. If that’s the case why do I see people using roger or Becker more. Shouldn’t cpaexcel be popular if they’re claiming high passing rate? If you used cpaexcel and passed, what was the study method you guys used?

    I’m only using cpaexcel.

     
    “roger-cpa-review”/
     

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #779357
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    All the review courses claim really high pass rates. The AICPA publishes much lower pass rates. So, either the AICPA is falsely lowering the rates, the review courses are falsely inflating their numbers, a lot of people aren't using any review course, or there's some instance of manipulating figures to be honest but maybe slightly deceptive. 😉 Personally, there's 2 things that I think play into this:

    1. Review courses only know who passed if people tell them. And not everyone tells them. For example, Becker has the Becker Guarantee that if you don't pass within x length of time, they'll extend your materials or give you your money back or something. Maybe they base their passing stat off the percentage of people who buy their package who don't have to use the Becker Guarantee. Does that mean that everyone who doesn't use it passed, though? Nope. Some people change providers without ever trying to claim the guarantee; secondly, the guarantee requires meeting specific criteria, or just give up, etc. However, Becker might be able to say that only 5% of its customers (just making up numbers right now, I don't know what the actual figure is) claim the guarantee, so they assume 95% pass. Of course the flip-side happens, too – I used Wiley almost exclusively, bought their books off Amazon and their test bank through A71 (back when Jeff sold it) – I've never told them that I passed.

    2. Generally the claims don't say “passed on the first try”, simply “passed”. The AICPA doesn't release an “eventual completion” rate for all 4 sections, but it is generally estimated to be around 80%. So, if 80% of people who attempt the CPA exam eventually pass it, then a review course claiming 80%, 85%, or 90% isn't as impressive…especially since the 20% (estimated) that don't ever pass usually either give up after just a few exams, or have tried several review courses before they're done, so had they eventually passed they would have counted in the pass figure for several review courses all at once. The “eventual pass” rate for each section would be much higher than the “eventual completion” rate for all 4 sections, since there's many people who have gotten a pass on each but not within the 18 months.

    So…my point is, all the review courses claim crazy high pass rates, and I think in one way or another they're probably all telling the truth. But even though I loved Wiley and am a huge fan of it, whether its claim is a few percentage points higher or lower than the claim of other review courses doesn't really matter to me, cause I think that all of their claims are misleading and slightly absurd. They point to the per-attempt quarterly pass rates from the AICPA and say “less than 50% of exams attempted were passed, but we have an 80+% pass rate!”, but they all claim it, and they can't all have a 80% per attempt pass rate. 😐 There's some fishy numbers going on. I think they're “true”, but not “honest”.

    EDIT: Just saw you asked about study method for others who used CPAExcel. I used the materials before CPAExcel and Wiley merged, so I used Wiley when Wiley was on its own, therefore didn't have the CPAExcel lectures to go with it. That being said, I read each book cover-to-cover (except the MCQs and such after each chapter), then tried to get through all the MCQs in the test bank, focusing both in the reading and in the MCQs on learning the concepts. Having a lucky guess on an MCQ wasn't good enough; I tried to make sure that I knew how to figure out the answer, reading through the answer explanation if it wasn't a topic I was comfortable with, etc. However, I really think the most important piece of my prep was reading through the book in its entirety, and I'd strongly urge anyone else who learns well from books to do likewise. The books are long and boooooorrrrrring, but having read all 4 books entirely, there wasn't anything I saw on exam day that I hadn't seen in exam prep (not that I remembered everything, but I at least had a fighting chance with it).

    #779358
    Dage
    Participant

    Wiley claims that 9/10 people who complete the course with a 90% pass. This means completing all of the modules within each section and then scoring like at least an 85 on the simulated exam. They basically say that if you do the whole course 100% and then score high on their simulated exam, you have a 90% chance of passing.

    A lot of people use Becker because it is typically the only one pushed in their faces. Most large firms partner with Becker to make it cheaper or free to use and because of that it is the most well known course. So even when someone does not get it free it is the first one that comes to mind when they think of prep courses. Becker does a great job at marketing their product.

    FAR: 90 October 2015
    REG: 89 January 2016
    AUD: 94 April 2016
    BEC: 86 May 2016

    Ethics: 93

    Wiley CPAexcel
    NINJA MCQ

    #779359
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @bhavik702 – I used CPAexcel and passed each section on my first attempt. I basically would read each lesson and do the MCQs/SIMS after each lesson. I would take some notes, but found that I didn't really review any of my notes other than for FAR. I would then spend about two weeks before each exam doing just MCQs. I watched the lectures for AUD only (my first exam), but didn't watch any after that because I felt like I just zoned out during them and they were a waste of my time. I did add Ninja MCQs to my study plan for BEC and FAR, and thought they were very helpful and possibly my only reason for passing those sections on the first try. It's always good to have more MCQs, because even though CPAexcel has a lot, you do run out and Ninja MCQs also help you learn the material in a different way.

    @Dage – Great to see that you passed BEC! I remember that you were a bit worried about it…but I knew you'd have no problem! Congrats on being DONE!! 🙂

    #779360
    lunar.estra
    Participant

    The short answer to your question:

    Most people, especially fresh grads, get Becker for free or at a very discounted price (50%). It's the most popular review course. Becker is like Toyota/Honda in cars. CPAExcel would be like Nissan or Mazda (ignore the price point as this is a bad comparison, just think of name recognition).

    #779361
    tonypineda88
    Participant

    I'm using Wiley CPAExcel. It looks like they have several different tools (lectures, test banks) but I only used the books. I passed each exam on my first try (except REG — my first attempt will be August 13th). This was my process:

    1. Read the book cover to cover, including all the MCQs and sims. It was extremely time consuming because its BORING but the material stuck pretty well each time.

    2. 3-4 weeks before exam time, I'd do nothing but answer MCQs/sims, and make flash cards (if it was something I felt I had to memorize, like formulas for BEC). I'd only go back to reading if I got to a MCQ or sim that I completely didn't recognize — this was not that common.

    I think if you wanna save money(paid 50$ per book) and are open to reading a 700~ page book cover to cover, this is a great approach.

    FAR: 4/15 80
    AUD: 11/15 77
    BEC: 4/16 80
    REG: 8/25/2016 so ready to be done!!!

    Lost motivation for the CPA exam for a few months after FAR, but ready to finish now!

    #779362
    Matt Douglass
    Participant

    I didn't use CPAexcel “exclusively” because I did ninja MCQs toward the end, but most of my time was spent in CPAexcel. I found the lectures (FAR and AUD) to be just fine. I mean how exciting is someone talking about this stuff going to be?

    My method was/is

    -Listen to lecture, take notes
    -Do MCQs in study mode, writing a one sentence explanation for each whether right or wrong
    -Go back and do MCQs/sims in regular mode.
    -Repeat 225 times in the case of FAR.
    When I was all done I took a practice test then switched over to doing Ninja questions.

    Licensed CPA in Missouri

    FAR 4/16 - 83 Wiley CPAExcel/Ninja MCQ
    AUD 5/16 - 87 Wiley CPAExcel/Ninja MCQ
    REG 10/16 - 76 Wiley CPAExcel/Ninja MCQ
    BEC 12/16 - 88 Wiley CPAExcel/Ninja MCQ

    MS, Accounting - Done!

    FAR - 83 (CPAexcel/Ninja MCQ)
    AUD - 87 (CPAexcel/Ninja MCQ)
    REG - 10/16
    BEC - 11/16

    #779363
    user2701
    Participant

    Friends..

    Any idea ? If Wiley question bank subscription is expiring after an year, will they renew it in case we couldnt clear the exams within a year ? Or will we have to buy it all over again ?

    Link: Current CPAexcel Discount Codes

    CPAexcel CPA Review

    BEC- 43(Feb'16), Retake-June 10, (Wiley text book/WQB/NINJA MCQ)
    REG- TBD
    FAR- TBD
    AUD- TBD

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.