The way to Rate and judge the CPA Exam Review Courses

The way to Rate and judge the CPA Exam Review Courses

Have you been considering among the best CPA Review 2014 courses for your AICPA exam? Allow us to look into why candidates are willing to spend lots of money in these CPA exam review courses, plus the weaknesses and strengths for each and every program.

Can CPA exam review courses improve your chance of success?

Yes. While official statistics indicate a passing rate below 50% each year, all the major CPA Exam review courses that publish their passing rates have an average well over 85%, using the highest at 88%. Based on this statistics you may expect an extremely higher potential for success should you join one of the programs.

Which CPA review course should you choose?

So that you can facilitate an objective evaluation, I've generate a rating system for CPA exam review courses with the following 5 attributes:

 Quality of the lecture
 Quality of the lecture notes
 Quality of the practice questions
 Quality of customer service
 Reasonableness of tuition

Let's assess the major CPA review courses 1 by 1.

1. Becker CPA Review

Becker is regarded as the popular courses for CPA exam preparation. I took the Becker class myself here is the evaluation based on first hand experience:

 Quality from the lecture: 3
 Quality with the lecture notes: 5
 Quality of the practice questions: 5
 Quality of customer service: 4
 Reasonableness of tuition: 1

I have to repeat the lecture notes and the practice questions are fantastic, and also the customer care (that we define because the quality and speed of questions being answered) is good enough, given there are lecturers inside the live class.

However, the live class in general is a big disappointment as the is too much time and boring and the lecturers haven't much value-add.

Lastly, this course is overpriced in my opinion - At a price that's almost doubling its competitors, I do not think her cost effective of income.

2. Wiley CPA Review

 Quality of the lecture: n/a
 Quality of the lecture notes: 2
 Quality from the practice questions: 5
 Quality of customer care: 3
 Reasonableness of tuition: 5

Wiley CPA can be just about the most popular review books for your CPA exam review. There's no lecture course available, however you can easily discover the books and use software in main bookstore around the globe.

The Wiley CPA software programs are very comprehensive and i believe it's an excellent selection for those who know accounting , nor need any guided review. In reality, many Becker students choose the software as a supplementary study material.

The internet help desk for that Wiley CPA software programs are also helpful, but weaker compared to other courses where your queries can be answered straight away.

The greatest weakness of Wiley will be the books. To start with, the font is simply too small and all pages are too thin - I feel like reading a dictionary. Also, the ebook is simply too comprehensive so they cover topics which are unnecessary for that exam.

3. Gleim CPA Review

 Quality from the lecture: 2
 Quality from the lecture notes: 2
 Quality of the practice questions: 5
 Quality of customer care: 3
 Reasonableness of tuition: 5

Gleim is really a CPA exam review course that delivers a full means to fix CPA candidates. The lectures have been in DVD format, and you will buy the lecture notes and practice questions in a bundle with deep discount, or buy everything separately.

As you can see, Gleim and Wiley share the identical strength and weakness. The Gleim lecture and books have a similar problem as Wiley - it's so comprehensive it overprepares you. For busy candidates, studying excess of necessary can be a disaster.

The Gleim software programs are similarly comprehensive but it is a good thing for practice tests, as you know you're ready just try to complete all of their exercises. In terms of pricing, the Gleim software costs around $60 for every section, which I think is very reasonable.

4. Yaeger CPA Review

 Quality with the lecture: 4
 Quality of the lecture notes: 5
 Quality from the practice questions: 5
 Quality of customer service: 5
 Reasonableness of tuition: 5

Amazed at the rating? You might not have heard of Yaeger, however it is one of the "hottest" CPA exam review courses out there. Past students are already passionately advocating the course, and its website boasts an extraordinary passing rate of 88%.

Why do so great? To start with, Yaeger chooses an old-school approach. Rather than powerpoint slides, the DVD is showing real teachers who write about the white board and explain quite concepts at length. Yaeger also uses Wiley's software (referring free with the course) and that i applaud their decision to make use of the very best product on the market instead of creating their own.

But the most impressive aspect of Yaeger may be the customer service - they offer live phone help so if there is something you don't understand within the video, just pick up the telephone where there is going to be teachers (many times it's Phil Yaeger the founder himself). This sort of personal, high-quality customer support is rare within the review course industry.