Discussion:Study guides EA exam
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| 27 October 2009 | |
| I am ready to buckle down and study for the EA exam. I've researched a number of software guides: Phoenix, WiseGuides, ExamMatrix, & Gleim. I've seen a lot of information from these duscussion groups and it seems that WiseGuides & Phoenix are a good road to follow for studying. I've also seen ExamMatrix demos and that looks pretty good also but can't find anyone out there who's tried it. Looking for some info' to help me decide, right now I'm leaning toward Phoenix. Thanks. | |
FloridaTaxes (talk|edits) said: | 27 October 2009 |
| I have taken Parts 1 & 3 with Phoenix and am currently studying for part 2. I think their course works well. There are some annoying things like typos and occasionally the software will contradict the study cards, but not too often. This course works well if you want to learn and practice the same concepts and really know the answer to each. There are not thousands of questions in their software because the focus is on learning what you need to know and repeating it.
Gleim I have heard has thousands of study questions. If you use Phoenix I recommend you get the entire package. With any of the options, be sure to review the information on Prometric's website and look anything up you feel isn't covered by the course. It seems all of them miss something. | |
| 27 October 2009 | |
| I used Phoenix Tax materials in 2007-2008 and passed each Part on my first attempt. The computer simulations were the best part. They get just $230 for the complete package, so how can you go wrong? | |
| 27 October 2009 | |
| I bought WiseGuides texts and software. I like the flexibility of their software: being able to test each topic at a time and then as full test simulations. I would recommend it.
I bought Phoenix software. I was disappointed in the software on three counts. 1. It has one mode: all topics at once. 2. Question selection is by random draw. Even though they have hundreds of questions, I soon realized that I kept repeating the same questions. As the pile of previously asked questions grows, the more likely you are to repeat those questions. The new unasked questions become increasingly rare. 3. But more insidious was a bug that if the program did not close properly, it corrupted its database. The outcome was that the same set of questions were repeated, but in random order. It takes a while to realize your spinning your wheels. The company work around is to uninstall and reinstall the software. | |
| 27 October 2009 | |
| Wow! I don't think I had any problems like that! Meaning the corrupted data base and question selection. Phoenix does throw all manner of questions at you in any given simulation, like the actual SEE does, but I didn't see that as a problem because the program breaks your score down into subject areas after you're done with the session. Anyway, Wise has a good reputation too and is (I believe) even a bit cheaper? | |
| 27 October 2009 | |
| I bought Gleim study guide on CD and book and passed all three in February..it was very helpful as I had no real tax law experience..just starting doing tax return 2 years ago and needed the designation...I liked the way they go topic by topic and you get to see the kind of questions that you will seeing on SEE...good luck.. | |
| 29 October 2009 | |
| I'm using a mixture of Gleim Book/CD and Phoenix cards. Passed Part 3 with Gleim only and will take Part 1 in a couple of weeks. I have no tax experience (yet), so I'm starting from scratch. Gleim's CD is great. You can decide what topic you want to test on (for example: filing status) and can manipulate the questions where you only see certain topics or questions you missed previously or even questions you've never seen before. You don't waste time going over the same questions (unless you want to).
The Gleim book is good and has the material in outline form and then a series of questions after the topics. My only complaint on Gleim is that the book (Part 1) has a ton of mistakes (eg. phaseouts that didn't get changed, etc). Also, I didn't think Gleim did a very good job on Part 3 because it was missing a lot of information that was on the test. I bought the Phoenix cards only, since I already had the Gleim Book/CD. I like sitting down with a stack of cards and reviewing the material. The Phoenix cards and the Gleim text book have almost identical information. I like Gleim for studying and Phoenix for reviewing. I bought all 3 sets of cards for something like $50. | |
Sjpaccounting (talk|edits) said: | 30 October 2009 |
| I used the Gleim books and cds...and they were very helpful! I passed all of them with no problem! | |
