People ask this question over and over again. May be the only other question closest to it is “which is the cheapest CPA review course?” You just have to look at the forums.
Here is my opinion: passing the CPA depends more on you than anything else. Thus, if you take any of the top 5 or 6 CPA review courses and give it to a good candidate, somebody who really wants to pass, and who will put in the study hours, she or he will pass. First time, no problems. If you give the same (or all of the CPA review courses to a poor candidate, one who is unprepared but wants to pass, or wants to pass with minimum effort possible, I will bet that she or he will fail. So, if I were to advise my brother or son or daughter or mother who was thinking about taking the exam, I would say, pick any of the better known CPA reviews out there, and pick what you think suits your needs. Once you do that, know that you have the best CPA review course in the world, and your only job is to match it. Be a good candidate/student.
Now, the fact that one of the vendors makes so much noise and in the process gets to be well-known does not make it the best. The fact that vendors feature their top students who always say they got 95+ on all parts does not make them the best. The fact that vendors have highly subjective statistics on passing rates, and quote “independent experts”, does not make them the best. Vendors love CPA candidates, and they really want us to pass. However, they love money much more! You know what people will do for money. Some will go for quality and hope to win market share with superior quality, some will lie, some will make noise, some will mock or make fun of the competition.
What if somebody asked me to develop a system for selecting a CPA review course? Well, let’s see how I would go about choosing one. First, I would look at myself to see what my needs are. How long have I been out of school? How motivated am I to read textbooks? Do I need anything in addition to Textbooks? CD? DVD? Live tutoring? How much time do I have to study or attend class or watch DVDs? Do I have access to the Internet? Will I be traveling a lot? Will I need the support of a counselor, or lecturer? What type of customer service will I need? Does it matter to me that the vendor offers guarantees to pass or it will provide free updates until I pass? [Read small print on the offer!] Do I remember anything from my school days? How did I do in school? What type of learner or student am I? etc. Answers to these questions will give you a guideline as to the needs that the vendor you choose must meet. For example, if you don’t have access to the Internet, you may want to stay away from a vendor whose critical parts to your success are all online. If you have access to the Internet, and you hate books, you may want to go with a vendor who has content/items critical to your success online. If you spend a long time on the bus or train, but you cannot open a book while on it, you may go with some Audio CDs or lectures on a jump/thumb/flash-drive. If you love books, and nothing but books will do it for you, you may want to go with the vendor with the thickest books! You get the idea! You are the one who will take the exam, so when you buy the material, you need to buy something that suits you.
Another option, or in addition to the above, I would look to see if I know anybody who has passed the exam and was willing to share his or her opinion, thoughts and experiences on the particular review material that he or she used.
If several vendors meet my needs, I would look at which one appears to give me the most bang for my buck! [That is, maximum return for my investment.]
In my case, I had a classmate who had just passed the CPA exam using Gleim. That is why I bought Gleim the first time I thought I would take the CPA exams. I did not take the exams until a few years later, when a friend encouraged me to go for it. He had used Becker. My friend passed all the sections the first time. I would say our study habits and intelligence is about the same, so I was not sure whether it was Becker or him. He told me he had a study group, and I figured… it was him! I had liked Gleim the first time I cracked the book and went over the multiple choice questions, and even though I had not taken the exam, I felt that they did a good job. So, I didn’t want to move too far from Gleim. I also knew that it had been a few years since I finished my MSA program, so I would probably need some lectures. I Googled something online and in my searches, I found Jeff at another71.com, and he had used Yaeger and he said good things about it. I read his blog for quite a bit just to be sure, and I thought… “this seems like a good program”. I checked a few other programs, but I went with Yaeger because of several reasons: It met my needs, among which was need for lecture DVDs; the pricing was great, as I could get a discount if I bought via Jeff’s website (or he had a discount code); they used Wiley books, and I thought Wiley is a respectable publisher. I also knew that I would be using Gleim testprep CD, which I have always liked. I was willing to give the Wiley 14.0 CD a chance though. Well, everything is history… sort of. I have passed 3, and failed 1 by 1 point. This sounds like a commercial for Yaeger or Gleim (or Becker?), but I just thought I should share my experience.
If you spend enough time on CPA forums (or fora?), or go to various CPA blogs, you will see that people have passed with excellent scores (in my opinion) using RogerCPA review, Excel CPA review, Bisk CPA review, Yaeger CPA Review, Becker CPA review, Gleim CPA review… (I am sure I have missed some other vendors), which goes to tell you that as long as some basic essentials are met (i.e. sufficient content coverage, AND your individual needs), you will pass if you put forth the effort.
A few weeks ago, I wanted to do a chart to compare all the CPA review programs. I think I will do it when I pass my last exam. It is a time consuming project. I faced two main challenges; the packages are different from vendor to vendor, and the pricing is not straight-forward, at least from a comparison point of view (apples and oranges). It is not insurmountable, but it requires a lot of time to correctly decipher. I have seen a few comparisons by the vendors themselves, needless to say I thought they lacked objectivity! So, that’s on my to-do-list, sometime in Dec09 – Jan10, God-willing.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.
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