Many accountants who take the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam gain success by using a CPA review course during their preparation. A high quality review course reduces study time and maximizes the chances of successfully passing the CPA exam. The following factors will help you find the ideal CPA exam review course to ensure success.
1) Course Materials
Every course will cover the same topics expected to come up in the exam, however tutors use their own ways. Also, a great instructor will concentrate more on key theories and just touch on the more self-explanatory ones to make lectures more effective. Additionally, the lessons can be obtained from a variety of sources, such as recorded webcasts, CDs, DVDs, or USB. The portability and accessibility of how course materials are delivered should be taken into consideration when evaluating a review course.
Also, when shopping around for a review course, note down any expiry dates for the course materials. Some questions and simulation software will become disabled at a certain time after activation. Some courses only permit access for a set period before terminating access. If you buy the type that does expire, ensure you have enough time to digest the materials prior to expiration.
2) Practice Questions
While this may be a safe route to take, it can also be extremely time-consuming. Many students simply run out of either time or patience, or both, and never get around to finishing many of the sample questions, meaning they are not fully prepared for the exam.
On the other hand, there are courses that fail to offer sufficient practice questions to sufficiently prepare the student for the exam. The best CPA review course will contain popular sample questions normally appearing on the exam. It is possible to restrict options through careful analysis of previous papers and to focus on questions that appear frequently. This method ensures students use their time efficiently and have a better chance of revising questions most likely to show up in an exam.
3) Student Support
Many CPA review courses provide different levels of customer service. On the other end of the spectrum are courses that have minimal support, and somwhere in the middle are courses that allow students to email queries to the tutors. Other courses offer message boards and forums to enable students to interact with tutors and with one another. Obviously, you should check whatever review course you buy offers the right type of support suitable for your requirements.
4) Frequency of Updates
Cost is obviously another thing to consider as it varies from course to course. However, substantial pay rises experienced by many people after becoming certified, it is advisable you choose a CPA review course based on quality and assistance from the teachers, rather soley on price. You definitely don't want to re-sit the exam just because you wanted to save some cash through buying the cheapest course available.
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