[Scottso990]

Many of you may be familiar with the famous Elijah Watt Sells Award. It is probably the most sought after and most respected award given in the accounting profession. Last year 39 out of 92,000 candidates or .04% won the Sells Award. The award is so respected that some firms, including mine, give a $20k bonus to any employee winning the award.

The award is bestowed upon candidates who have obtained a cumulative average score ABOVE 95.50 across all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination, completed testing during the 2013 calendar year and passed all four sections of the Examination on their first attempt. What annoys me is many websites including Becker’s website states that the award is given to candidates averaging 95.5% or higher. But obviously this has not merit

Yesterday I received my grade for AUD, my last exam section. I received a 99. A score that I really did not expect and although I was happy about this it’s bittersweet. This brought my cumulative average to EXACTLY 95.5%. In the 99th percentile and borderline EWS award, but close does not mean anything. It’s very discouraging and this is pretty much me venting.

I plan to talk to as many people as I can about this issue. Im curious how common it really is. I am also going to try and see If I can appeal my lowest score BEC. Hoping that a review of my writing section could increase my score. (Please God)

Anyways, I am happy to be done with this journey, took me about 7 months while going to Grad School to complete the exam. Although very time consuming, this beast is doable. Good luck to everyone! Hopefully there will be a miracle and I will somehow win the EWS award. I have always dreamt about winning this award, and not even for the check. Ill keep this thread updated as I took to various people at the AICPA, State Board, and NASBA

REG - 95
FAR - 96
BEC - 92
AUD - 99

DONE

[WestonM]

OP what firm do you work for that gives out 20k. The folks over at GC covered the 20k myth, and they could not confirm it to being true for the Big 4

BEC: 93 4/18/13
FAR: 89 7/3/13
REG: 90 8/30/13
AUD: 95 11/29/13

DONE!

[NYIACCT89]

I don't work for a Big 4 firm but while pursuing my MAcc I lived with someone who did and actually had a realistic shot at the award for the 2011 year going into his last exam which was a huge motivator for him. Take this FWIW but he told me the bonus was an additional 8k on top of the 5k bonus you get for passing all four parts of the CPA exam within your first year.

FAR - 7/1/13 - 98
AUD - 8/31/13 - 94
BEC - 11/23/13 - 89
REG - 1/13/14 - 86

Study Materials:
Becker - Online Course and Flash Cards

[Anonymous]

Scottso990: This truly sucks! I can only imagine what this feels like… To be so close to having that prestige on your résumé and to be thinking of ALL that you could do with $20k (net of tax of course). I think you have earned the right to be bummed about this! :(. I will be praying that you squeak by and are pleasantly surprised with a big fat check!!

Congratulations on your stellar scores and flying through this process

*hugs*

[barelystayingsane]

@WestonM I know PwC gives a $20,000 award. Not sure about the rest of the Big 4.

[MintsRGood]

If I missed out on $20,000 by the narrowest of margins after passing all my exams with 95.5% average, I would allow myself just one moment to completely flip out, scream, cry, punch a hole through a wall, etc. and get all that craziness out of my system. THEN I would pull it back together and think “I actually pulled this damn thing off and I am a CPA now! Hooray for me, I made it!!!!!!!!!” and go celebrate. Then I would do my best to negotiate myself a fat raise…which really is the gift that keeps on giving! You did the best that you could and it's not like you don't have anything to show for it. You completed your grad program AND closed out the exam, both are major accomplishments that you should feel very proud of!

The award selection process is completely out of your control at this point, so go out and celebrate!!!!!!!! You are done!!!!!!!!

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[GO Hawks]

20grand is worth getting on the phone for.. don't listen to the folks licking their wounds, you're on another level, its worth looking into without crossing the line with anyone.

BEC 88 5/25/2013
FAR 96 7/01/2013
AUD 99 7/08/2013
REG 93 8/01/2013

Straight Becker'in it

[P or F.. I think Im gonna BARF]

Seriously… without doing anything you shouldn't do, it is $20,000. Anything is worth a shot!

Funny story is I was telling my girlfriend about this thread, and she says “Wait! I got above a 95.5% average and I didn't get any award! You think they'll give it to me retroactively?”

Anyhoo… best of luck! It can't hurt to exhaust all options before being content with a “pat on the back”

B - (08/29/2013) Passed
A - (07/02/2013) Passed
R - (10/17/2013) 73 - Rematch
F - (05/29/2013) Passed

[evesocal]

What kind of a cut off is 95.5, anyway?? That is seriously weird. Why not 95? Or 96?

Don't get the fraction lol.

Hey, take a shot at the re-scoring, why not? Nothing to lose.

B: 75
R: 80
A: 77
F: 81
Ethics: 84, 92 and done!
Licensed in California

[Scottso990]

Thank you to those of you that really took the time to reply to my post. It really means a lot and that is what I love about this CPA community. I wish all of you still on this journey the very best of luck.

As for the requirements for the award, when the exam format was changed they changed the criteria for the award from the top 10 scores to the 95.5 average. I have confirmed that this will also be the criteria for the current year. I made a few phone calls to the AICPA and I was able to trace down the email for the individual in charge of the EWS award. This was all before I received my AUD score. In all honesty that score was a big surprise to me. She specifically told me “An exact cumulative score of 95.5 will not qualify you for the Sells award. Secondly, taking the exam again to improve your score will not qualify you for the award either.” As I was considering retaking an exam.

I am working at a Big4 firm that awards the bonus. It was actually in the paperwork when I received my offer that any employee winning the Sells award would receive a 20k bonus. This is aside from any CPA or signing bonus. Im waiting to here back from someone at the State Board who is contacting NASBA for me about an appeal. I had talked to them (Before receiving my audit grade) about an appeal of my BEC score. Apparently I was the first appeal request for an exam with a passing grade. They told me I could not appeal a score unless I failed the exam, so I had to talk to the state board about it. So here I am! Still happy but might as well be in the 300 club

This week I will try and contact some people higher up in the process at the AICPA and NASBA about the appeal process. My goal is to get some kind of fee waiver given the circumstances. That would be fantastic lol

REG - 95
FAR - 96
BEC - 92
AUD - 99

DONE

[barelystayingsane]

https://www.aicpa.org/BECOMEACPA/CPAEXAM/PSYCHOMETRICSANDSCORING/SCOREREVIEWANDAPPEALS/Pages/computer_faqs_rescore.aspx

According to the AICPA, an appeal does not include the written communication, although this might fall under a score review. It also looks like for the score review process, you can only request a review of scores from the previous window, so I hope you took BEC in April/May. In addition, all score requests go through NASBA or your state board. You've already gotten an answer from the AICPA, so I would leave them alone.

Also, I would not press my luck by asking for a fee waiver on the review. That seems mighty pretentious to me to ask somebody to review your exam just so you can see if you can get a $20k bonus and then ask them to waive the fee for the review.

[quittingcpa2013]

@scottso, $20k is worth fighting for, so GL!

But just playing devils advocate here: you're going against people who go out of their way to make it confusing to even figure out how these tests are being graded… So i wouldn't hold my breath.

Also because asking for $20k from a bunch of seasoned accountants is a funny joke in itself.

[GO Hawks]

As someone shopping for a car… 20k makes me salivate. keep us updated, at the very least it will be entertaining to hear about the process.

BEC 88 5/25/2013
FAR 96 7/01/2013
AUD 99 7/08/2013
REG 93 8/01/2013

Straight Becker'in it

[superwario]

congratulations on your accomplishment! this is off topic, but I was wondering about your audit experience. did you leave the testing center feeling great on both mcq and sims? how did you do on Becker practice tests? I hope you get the award!

FAR - 89
AUD - 98
BEC - 86
REG - 10/02/13

[Scottso990]

@superwario I left the testing center feeling fairly confident that I had passed. Really didnt expect a 99. I felt that the MC were fairly easy, very similar to Becker but some of the Sims were pretty tricky. I score in the mid 90s on the 1st audit exam and somewhere in the 80s in the second if I recall correctly.

@GO Hawks Exactly! It would be the down payment on the new Audi I've been wanting!

Thank you for the good luck wishes everyone. So far it's not seeming to promising

REG - 95
FAR - 96
BEC - 92
AUD - 99

DONE

[Tncincy]

@Scottso990,

Hey, those scores are outstanding, even if the appeal does not leave you with the award, please share with us your study strategy In a blog or separate post. Of course many of us are jealous, struggling, and wishing that the passing God's were upon us (at least for a 75) , but what you have done is absolutely remarkable.

Good luck and well wishes for your future. Maybe we will see your name on one of these review courses.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Author]

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