NcarolinaCPA-

If your company will pay for your review materials, then Becker is probably a good choice.  If you are paying for your own materials you may as well use Gleim and/or Wiley.  All review courses have the same or similar questions.  Most of the Becker questions quoted on this site were also in Gleim and CPA Excel.  The difference is in the presentation and structure of the study units.  The key is to figure out which material works best for you.

I did not use Becker simply because of the cost.  It very well could be the best thing on the market.  It is endorsed by the Big 4 as mbushnell stated.  However, I think one can pass with a lower cost provider. 

My job did pay for CPA Excel.  The materials are less than $1,000 (4-part self-study course).  CPA Excel quotes a high pass rate.  However, this is only for students that actually complete the course (or score 90% or higher on the course).  Gleim and Wiley materials combined probably cost less than most of the review courses.  

Honestly the review material is less important than the study intensity and dedication.  You can pay thousands for review materials.  However, if you do not study and practice questions you will probably fail.  Anyone that has passed an exam will probably recommend their review course.  Conversely, someone that has failed a section will probably not recommend their material.

A good question to pose to those that used Becker is: "would you still use Becker if you had to pay for it yourself?"  For what it's worth I probably would not have used CPA Excel if I had to pay with my own money. 

If I had it to do over I would just use Gleim and supplement with Wiley (or another low cost material).  Then I would focus more on working problems.  Gleim's CD question format is almost identical to the actual exam. 

You will get various opinions on which material is best.  The best material is the one that gets you a passing score.  You can pass with any material out there if you work hard enough.  Good Luck!    

Thank you for your replies mbushnell and rd4bu!

My employer is putting up some money for my review course. It seems that becker will be my choice. I might purchase the gleim cd's as well for extra practice.

I think its going to come down to working as many problems as I can. That was the only way we learned it in school. By doing.

Thanks for your help.