Last week was Spring Break, so I spent the week focusing on work and being really excited that all I had to do at the end of the day was go home and relax. I won’t lie, I’m really looking forward to that when I’m done with school and the CPA exam, even though it’s still a ways off.
The week before Spring Break, a representative from Becker came to talk at our Beta Alpha Psi meeting. He ran us through the ins and outs of sitting for the CPA exam, and then told us a bit about how Becker could really help us get through the exam. I’d heard the pitch before, last fall, and while I would love to be able to use Becker to study for and pass the CPA exam, it’s by far the most expensive review course out there. It’s close to $3,400, where the next most popular are in the $1,500 to $1,800 range. Since I don’t have an offer from a firm (yet), I would be footing that bill myself, especially if I want to study for and pass the CPA exam in October or November of this year. Using one of the other CPA prep courses makes a lot more sense, especially since they’re half the cost.
Well, after the presentation, I went to talk to the Becker rep, and explained the above. He said that he completely understands, and that one of the things that Becker is doing to try to promote people taking the CPA exam is to give Becker half-scholarship certificates to accounting faculty that they can pass on to students who want to take the CPA exam but maybe don’t have a firm offer yet or have some other need for the financial aid. He suggested I talk to one of my professors and see if they had one available.
Well, long story… shorter, I spoke with Dawn, the Beta faculty advisor, and she was able to get me one of the scholarships. I’ll get the certificate tonight when I meet up with everyone for the e-board meeting.
It still doesn’t seem quite real, but I’m very excited that I’ll be able to use Becker to sit for the CPA exam, and that I won’t have to (quite) pay an arm and a leg to do it.
