A CPA review course can be indispensible to a student who's preparing for the CPA exam. The ideal CPA review course should make study time effective and efficient while maximizing the odds of passing the CPA exam. However, picking out a CPA course that meets the said qualities can be tough considering how many different courses are available on the market today. Some of the things you should think about when deciding on a CPA prep course are listed below.
Though all courses explain similar accounting concepts, every instructor clarifies them differently. You should be on the look out for courses that are taught by instructors who are capable of making the toughest concepts easy to understand. Also, a good instructor will spend more time on tricky concepts and just touch on the simpler ones to make lectures more effective. The best CPA review courses provides free lecture samples that you can watch before making the decision to buy. The portability and accessibility of the media the class materials are available in should be taken into consideration when evaluating a review course.
Also, when hunting around for a review course, be sure to note any expiry dates for the course materials. Some questions and simulations software will become disabled at a certain time after activation. As well, some courses have lectures that are only provided to a student for a certain duration before the access expires. The best sort of course materials and software is the kind that does not require access to the net to view or use, and so does not expire. If you've got to purchase the type that does expire, make sure that you will have ample time to digest the materials before it expires on you. 2 ) Practice Questions
Having studied the class materials, the student is generally provided with practice questions to drill the knowledge into their memory as well as apply the ideas they have learned to real case scenarios.
Obviously, this situation is far from ideal also.
If you have a tendency to be a question-asker and prefer to talk to instructors over the telephone, then be sure to select a review course that has that kind of service. On the other end of the range are courses that have minimal support, and in the middle are courses that let students to e-mail questions to the trainers. Some review courses provide notice boards and forums to allow students to interact with instructors and with each other. Before buying a review course, make sure that it will supply the level of support you need.
4) Frequency of Updates
Some review courses update their course materials and practice questions more frequently than others, so be sure to take this into consideration when selecting a course.
One factor that many folks take into consideration, which has not been discussed, is price . However , considering the typically substantial pay-raise that is experienced by many accountants after they become CPA-certified, it is advised that you select a CPA review course based mostly on its quality and level of support from the instructors, instead of on price. Considering that the average pass rate for the CPA exam is only 47.49-49.10% (pass rate for Uniform CPA examination in 2008 ), failing one or more sections is not unlikely. You will not wish to re-study for and re-sit sections of the exam just because you made a decision to save a few bucks by getting a lesser quality review course. The sole exception is when the course costs will be remunerated by your employer, in which case you may wish to take advantage of this, even if it would mean having fewer options to choose from.
For unbiased reviews of the top CPA review courses, including
Yaeger CPA Review Reviews, please visit his
CPA Exam Blog.
