Enrolled Agent

[ILLMAS]

Hello, for anyone that has taken the EA exam, which study material do you recommend? I am looking into a used set if possible, so if someone has one I will be interested in it. I have seen a couple on ebay and craigslist, but don't which one to go with.

Thanks

The only CON I see in buying the used material is that I won't have access to their online exam??

[jainen]

>>which one to go with<<

There is only ONE kind of study material, they are all the same, and it's all available free on the IRS web site. It consists of actual tests and answers from the most recent years. Commercial trainers add some level of commentary, but there is nothing tricky or arcane in the test so Pub 17 will serve you as well. In my observation, when there is something I don't understand I do better looking it up myself than reading a brief reminder anyway.

It would be nice to get some insight into the structure of the test, whether you should guess, how to manage your time and energy, and other technical aspects but there is precious little of that sort of thing anywhere. In that sense a real classroom might provide more meaningful help than self-study.

[Catherine]

>>which one to go with<<

There is only ONE kind of study material, they are all the same, and it's all available free on the IRS web site. It consists of actual tests and answers from the most recent years. Commercial trainers add some level of commentary, but there is nothing tricky or arcane in the test so Pub 17 will serve you as well. In my observation, when there is something I don't understand I do better looking it up myself than reading a brief reminder anyway.

It would be nice to get some insight into the structure of the test, whether you should guess, how to manage your time and energy, and other technical aspects but there is precious little of that sort of thing anywhere. In that sense a real classroom might provide more meaningful help than self-study.

So far as materials go, jainen, you are correct. However, I found the ability to take computer-generated sample tests and have them graded extremely useful. They taught me that going back and second-guessing myself almost always gave me the _wrong_ answer, and also gave me confidence as I started to recognize when there was a problem with a _question_ or the choice of _answers_. Made the actual test much smoother -- I didn't agonize over second-guesses, and didn't get confused, upset, or freaked out when the answers didn't match the question or the question was too poorly worded to be clear.

And that would push our original poster to a set of materials that does have test access. Unless MAS learns best in a classroom, or by reading, etc.

YMMV.