PICPA Boards and Blogs

I was looking into taking the Becker CPA classes locally and was wondering if anyone has taken them. Are they worth the cost? Did you learn more than you would if you would have studied individually?  If anyone can assist me that would be great.

 

thanks

kelly

I was the Becker campus rep about 10 years ago, so I got to take the course for free, although I didn't finish it, because I wasn't taking the exam then and I gave it to someone else in my classes at college. At that time, the exam was still on paper, and the thing I liked about Becker mainly was the chance to learn an exam-taking strategy. I was in my Master's program at the time, so the content wasn't as useful as it would have been if I had taken Becker later after I finished college, before I actually took the exam. It helps a lot to have some feedback on the writing portion, because sometimes it is hard to evaluate your own writing as a grader would. Becker is most useful if you have been out of school a while, as a refresher, and to get you in the habit of studying on a schedule. I don't think anyone that goes in and tries to take the exam cold without any preparation does very well.

I passed the exam in 2005, but I only used a paperback prep course from a bookstore. If you are very self-disciplined, you can do it that way, but I did miss having a chance to take practice tests on a computer - just my 2 cents worth...

I have taken the Becker review course and found that it prepared me to successfully complete the exam.  The instruction was top notch and the ability that  the course organizers had to tke the breadth of information and provide it in bite sized chunks was well worth the cost for the course.  What made the course great was the guarantee with the online instruction.  The guarantee was if you dilignetly did the work and did not pass, the software would be provided at no extra charge.  Through the classroom instruction, the audio of the earlier classes and the computer simulation, I was definitely ready to complete the course.  Our exam had a practice exam where we spent a Saturday in the test room, that allowed for us to simulate the test. 

 In short the exam was passable because the instructors worked with us for several months leading to the exam.

I don't know if he is still teaching, but when I took it in Philly it was still The Becker Monette Review Course.  Bob Monette is the greatest teacher I have ever had and he gave me every tool I would need to pass that part.  I can't speak for the other parts, since I only took one section, but he was the main reason I was able to pass it. 

I highly recommend the Becker course in the CD format.  Maybe I just have an attention span problem, but my only option for the live course is Saturdays, and sitting through an 8 hour course is something I just cannot do!  I used the CDs for Audit and I followed the Becker recommendation of starting on a Monday, viewing 2 lectures per week (1 on the final week), and doing all homework questions.  I  skipped practicing the simulations, but I still passed that section.  I highly recommend doing the simulations.  There were several multiple choice questions from the homework that were on the exam, word for word, and if the same holds true for the simulations I wouldn't have felt so stressed on exam day doing the simulations cold.