[Anonymous]

I’m studying for BEC right now and plan to take it for the first time on Oct 23rd. Out of all 4 parts, this has to be the least tedious of the 4. While it certainly is not easy, I thought the other 3 parts were a lot harder because the materials on FAR, REG and AUD were not only more difficult, but the amount of material was A LOT more.

So, I must ask, why does BEC have pretty much the same pass rate as the other three parts? What’s the catch? Are the questions on the real exam a lot harder? Is it more competitively graded, meaning there’s no curve?

I ask this question because I want to know if I’m going to be hit with any surprises later on, such as… the exam might be a lot harder than I expected or my score will end up being a lot lower than I expected.

[Minimorty]

I was kind of wondering this too. I think its partially luck of the draw too. If I took the test today and got mostly theory questions, I am pretty sure I would pass. If I got a calculations heavy exam, pretty sure I would fail. I need to tighten up everything over the next week.

[nolifecpa]

i've said this before but BEC is no joke! it is the lowest passing score for a lot of passing candidates

i'm one of the one's that struggled with BEC. i've heard it being the easiest but it's probably been the hardest for me

as you can see i barely sqeaked by

i've learned to respect BEC

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[kandisjoy]

I think that part of the reason BEC pass rates are on par with the other exams is because people underestimate it and go in without studying enough. That's what happened to me first time around, at least. 🙂

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[kobebryant168]

check my score history,

it's absolute non-sense…I m still scratching my head how to pass this part

My primary school teacher was right, the easier u think, the easier u make mistake…

[Anonymous]

I honestly do not think BEC is a joke. The IT terms are difficult, there are a lot of formulas to memorize, and a lot of questions (especially the Economics ones) require a lot of analysis. So, this is definitely a tough part. But what I went through with the other 3 parts was a lot worse. So, it kind of baffles me why BEC doesn't have at least a 60% pass rate. I'm not saying BEC is a joke, but since it's not as hard as the other three parts, I was expecting a slightly higher passing rate.

[rgibson3rd]

BEC is no joke…They can test on micro, macro, international trade, IT, cost accounting, Financial Mamagement/Analysis. This is new material for a lot of candidates. I had just finished my MBA and thought this would be a breeze…I narrowly passed and got lucky with a lot of easy theory questions.

BEC (11/10) 77 (Bisk)
FAR 7/2 - 63 11/5 - 80 (Yeager - Fail, Becker - Pass)
Reg (08/11) - 78 (Yeager)
Aud - 11/29 - 78(Yeager)

[nolifecpa]

IT sux! its like memorizing a freakin dictionary

i tried to take notes on that section and ended up rewriting the whole wiley book word for word

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[rmm91909]

@nolifecpa I have scored the same as you and I will be taking BEC for my 5th time on 10/20. Do you have any advice on what you did differently? I just got a 72..

[SarahS]

BEC is hard. The items do not interrelate like the other exams so the information does not build off of itself. So far this year they have added new content every quarter. WHO KNOWS how they score written communication. There are a lot of equations to memorize. FAR was a breeze compared to BEC for me. Everyone is different though.

AUD - 74,79
FAR - 77
REG - 81
BEC - 70,69,74,75 - DONE!

[nolifecpa]

rmm91909

this time around i switched from becker to yaeger as my main review. i listened to the lectures, took notes, read the modules and took more notes, did all mcq in wiley book and software and took more notes, typed my notes in word doc and rewrote the notes (all 60 something pages) by hand. i also listened to the IT lecture again, i didn't write notes on the IT section, just read the chapter over and over. i supplemented with becker on areas i wanted more practice in

for WC, know how to write in proper form (intro/body/end), it is true that your answer doesn't have to be correct. on 1 of the WC i purposely put an incorrect answer cuz i just wanted to fill in something cuz i didn't know all of the correct answer (might of been pretest tho, who knows?)

also, i gave myself plenty of time to study (march-july) so i would feel prepared and just barely made it over the hump

hope that helps and good luck!! 5th time's a charm!

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[goodluck2everyone]

Honestly I found BEC to be easy, the key is to LEARN the concepts and not just memorize them. BEC contains a ton of pitfall answer options, it is imperative to avoid these if you want to pass. Thats why so many people think they did well but end up failing because they fall prey to pitfalls.

BEC- 80
REG- 68, 71, July
AUD- 61 , 84
FAR- -- 75 🙂

[Anonymous]

I agree with @goodluck. For the non-calculation questions in BEC, you're probably going to feel like you've never seen a question like that before. Sometimes all the answers given look wrong or more than one looks right, so if you learn and understand the concepts in enough detail (not strict memorization), you are able to make a better guess at what the right answer is.

[MikeInMIA]

For me, BEC was basically a combination of everything I cared about least while in college. I didn't fail but I could certainly see how someone who under estimates it could.

[Peanut]

Do. Not. Under. Estimate. B.E.C. She's a sneaky mini beast.

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Herbieherb]

I think a lot of first time cpa exam takers start with bec because it has the shortest prep time. If you aren't serious about cpa would you rather commit 200 hrs of study for far? Or like 80 for bec? Just looking at the wiley books will make you choose bec first if you are the lazy type…so maybe its a lot of unprepared candidates who haven't used a review course, studying college style

NEW YORK- DONE

[Author]

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