How to Pass the CPA Exam - Choose the Right CPA Review Course The ideal review course virtually eliminates the risk of failing to pass the CPA exam and reduces the time needed to grasp the key concepts. With plenty of different courses available, it is hard to select the best one. Below are some of the factors to be considered when selecting a CPA exam review course.
1) Course Materials
Although all courses cover similar accounting ideas, every teacher describes things in their own way. The best courses use qualified lecturers who are able to teach difficult ideas while making sure students fully understand them. Also, a good tutor will spend more time on tricky concepts and briefly touch self-explanatory ones to ensure lessons are more relevant. Leading CPA review courses normally make sample lectures freely available so you can see how the course is laid out. Another way to understand the quality of a review course is by checking out CPA exam preparation message boards and product review sites to see what other people are saying about the quality of individual courses.
Additionally, the lectures can be obtained from a variety of sources, such as live or recorded webcasts, CDs, DVDs, or USB. The portability of how course materials are available should be taken into consideration when evaluating a review course.
As well, some courses have lectures that are available to students for a set periods before they become inaccessible. The best type of course materials and software does not require access to the net to use, and therefore does not expire. If you opt for a course with no access expiration, you need to ensure you make use of the material before it becomes irrelevant.
With practice questions, some CPA review courses take the comprehensive approach by making the student do every question that has a minute of appearing on the CPA exam. While this may be the safest approach, it can also be quite time-consuming. It is far from ideal.
This is possible through analyzing previous exams to identify questions that appear the most frequently. This will ensure the highest rate of return for the student's study time by allowing the student to focus on the most important areas.
3) Student Support
Different CPA review courses provide different levels of student support. If you usually make use of phone support services, it is critical you check the course offers this service before signing up. On the other end of the spectrum are courses that have limited support, and somwhere in the middle are courses that want students to email queries to the lecturers. Other courses rely on interactive support and provide forums or simple message boards where students can interact with their peers and the lecturers. Price is something else to compare as it varies from course to course. However, substantial pay rises experienced by many accountants after they become CPA-certified, it is advised that you choose a CPA review course based on quality and support from the lecturers, rather than on price. The cost of failure the first time is usually due to selecting an inferior review course or lack of effort from the student.
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