Surgent has over 20 years of experience in education technology and have created a a CIA review course that utilizes their adaptive-learning technology.
Surgent CIA review course is currently written and managed by Ennis Hawkins, DBA, CPA, CIA, CMA, Marianne M. Rexer, CPA, PhD, and James K. Specht, MBA, CPA, CIA, CFE, CISA. With over 2,900 multiple choice questions offered Surgent is a very affordable review course.
I was given full access to the review course and I would like to share my findings with you below.
What I Learned About Surgent
What I found that sets Surgent apart from is their Adaptive Learning Technology.
This learning tool is used by you to identify your strengths and weaknesses by taking practice exams.
The Surgent software tracks your results and based on how well you do on specific areas will identify concepts you are struggling to get correct.
Based on the areas identified the Surgent Software automatically creates a list of suggested readings from their textbook for you to tackle.
This process is the opposite of review courses such as Gleim CIA which focuses more on providing lectures to teach you everything possible that you could see on the exam and then you take practice exams after watching lectures and reading the text.
For many of you Surgent will be much more efficient. So depending on how much on the job training you have received or how recently you graduated from college, Surgent may be all you need to pass the CIA exam on your first try!
Surgent Performance Dashboard
Once you have set your exam date, Surgent helps you go through 3 different stages of studying
Assessment,
Adaptive Learning, and
Review.
Based on your performance, Surgent will let you know how prepared you are for your next exam.
Question Results by Category
As you progress through each topics in your practice exams, Surgent will further breakdown your activity by category.
This is crucial because if you don't know what you don't understand then you won't know how to spend your time.
This makes analytics crucial to your success (and will help reduce your total study time).
Practice Exam Questions
The explanations for each multiple choice question are linked directly to the
All multiple choice question explanations are linked to the text which makes it easy to teach yourself as you progress through the course.
You can utilize the key terms in each question to pull up quick definitions, read further references for additional explanation, and they provide links to the various authorities.
Reading Plan Generated based on your results
This is the most impressive feature of Surgent. After you take a few practice exams a list of suggested pages to read is automatically created for you. You can filter by new questions, missed questions, trouble questions and all questions.
The ability to identify the appropriate text to study is a huge time saver and certainly one of the biggest selling points for Surgent.
Price
Surgent CIA will run you $499 which is a bit steep considering you only get 2,000+ multiple choice questions.
Surgent CIA Review Course Pros & Cons
You Need To Read These Before You Buy!
Adaptive Learning Technology
Adaptive Technology Learning delivers the material you need to know in an efficient and effective manner
Multiple Choice
2,000+ multiple choice
Analytics
Comprehensive analytics that track your multiple choice statistics and identify the text you need to spend your time on.
Software Access
18 months access (full course) 12 months access (individual parts)
Integrated Digital Text
Digital copies of the text included (hard copies available as well)
Lacks Lectures
No video or audio lectures - you will focus on multiple choice and your text.
Reference Books
Reference books don't provide comprehensive explanations for the various topics.
Fewer Questions
Fewer multiple choice questions than Wiley CIAexcel, Gleim or Fast Forward Academy
Final Recommendation:
Surgent is a good option for CIA candidates who need some multiple choice but don't need any video lectures.
The price is a bit steep so I would look at Wiley CIAexcel or Fast Forward Academy CIA as well as the Surgent CIA Review Course to ensure you pick the best course for you.
Try Surgent CIA Review Course for free by clicking below:
NOTE: If you are still unsure how you learn best and whether Surgent CIA Review Course is absolutely the best course for you I would be glad to assist you in your decision in the comment section below.