[ruby-tuesday88]

I remember reading a while back a thread that discussed the possibility that Nasba might have a set quota on how many applicants they allow to pass each of the four exams in one quarter. Now that I have some experience with the CPA exam, this theory is looking more like a possibility to me. Hear me out. when I first started, I scheduled my first two exams towards the beginning of the testing window, with each exam having one of the longest wait times for scores. I studied vigorously for these two exams and ended up with a pass on each. Since then, in order to minimize my waiting time for scores, I have scheduled my last three exams towards the end of each cutoff period for a score release. The result each time has been a fail. On my last two exams Aud (73), and Far(73) I put just as much work into my studies if not more than my first two exams. These disappointing scores, may just be my own doing, but the fact that they were so borderline to a pass, leads me to contemplate that Nasba may be adjusting grades so that they can control who passes and fails. Think about it, why does the CPA exam, a computerized exam, have such a lengthy wait time when all other computerized exams have near instant results, even the BAR exams take less time. The answer may be, that Nasba wants to analyze the scores of the candidates and limit the amount of people who pass each quarter. My thoughts are that Nasba fills their quota on a first come first pass basis. In other words, those who take the exam at the beginning of a score release period (day 1 of 20) will have a much better chance at their exams being curbed in their favor, than say a test taker taking an exam on day (20 of 20) of a score release time frame. This isn’t to say that an ill prepared person will surely pass at the beginning of a period, but that those who actually prepare have less of a curve towards the end of a score release to add to their scores. Please let me know your thoughts Ninjas.

REG-79(7/14)

BEC-76(7/14)

AUD-88(02/15)

FAR-73(10/14), Waiting on score 02/24/15

[OnMyWay732]

Lol I really don't think saying you used it matters… I think it's for collection purposes. I haven't said I used them yet

AUD - July 2014 - 76
REG - August 2014 - 82
FAR - November 2014 - 78
BEC - January 2015 - 81

DONE!!!!

Used Becker online. Who needs a text when you can burn your eyes out staring at the screen for months on end?

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you're hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

[OnMyWay732]

Lol I really don't think saying you used it matters… I think it's for collection purposes. I haven't said I used them yet

AUD - July 2014 - 76
REG - August 2014 - 82
FAR - November 2014 - 78
BEC - January 2015 - 81

DONE!!!!

Used Becker online. Who needs a text when you can burn your eyes out staring at the screen for months on end?

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you're hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

[Anonymous]

Oh it definitely doesn't haha, I'm just supersiticious

[Anonymous]

Oh it definitely doesn't haha, I'm just supersiticious

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't the fact that the scores take so long to come out and at once counter the idea of passes being given on a first come first serve basis? At the very worst, it seems like they're waiting to get all the scores and then curving it.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't the fact that the scores take so long to come out and at once counter the idea of passes being given on a first come first serve basis? At the very worst, it seems like they're waiting to get all the scores and then curving it.

[juuustin]

I think everyone should read this entire FAQ: https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/PsychometricsandScoring/ScoringInformation/DownloadableDocuments/How_the_CPA_Exam_is_Scored.pdf

It gives a pretty good rundown of what goes into scoring the exam. #18 deals specifically with what does into scoring. My general understanding is that during each block of results received by AICPA before a cut-off is examined for question difficulty based both on prior testing results and the current performance of candidates. Each question is then individually assigned a value based on its relative difficulty and that value is then used to weight each question accordingly. This weight then needs to be mapped to the MCQ/SIM weight of the total score, which then needs to be converted to the 0-99 scale.

It is the exact same process for the SAT. The reason there are no conspiracy theories for the scoring of the SAT is they use a completely proprietary scoring scale (200-800) that nobody can misconstrue into a percentage. Inherently, with a scoring scale that appears to mirror the standard “percent correct” model that we have all grown up with, the CPA opens itself up to people speculating about quotas and what not. If the AICPA decided it wanted to map scores to the letters of the alphabet, it would be able to, and quite honestly would be able to avoid a lot of the speculation.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[juuustin]

I think everyone should read this entire FAQ: https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/PsychometricsandScoring/ScoringInformation/DownloadableDocuments/How_the_CPA_Exam_is_Scored.pdf

It gives a pretty good rundown of what goes into scoring the exam. #18 deals specifically with what does into scoring. My general understanding is that during each block of results received by AICPA before a cut-off is examined for question difficulty based both on prior testing results and the current performance of candidates. Each question is then individually assigned a value based on its relative difficulty and that value is then used to weight each question accordingly. This weight then needs to be mapped to the MCQ/SIM weight of the total score, which then needs to be converted to the 0-99 scale.

It is the exact same process for the SAT. The reason there are no conspiracy theories for the scoring of the SAT is they use a completely proprietary scoring scale (200-800) that nobody can misconstrue into a percentage. Inherently, with a scoring scale that appears to mirror the standard “percent correct” model that we have all grown up with, the CPA opens itself up to people speculating about quotas and what not. If the AICPA decided it wanted to map scores to the letters of the alphabet, it would be able to, and quite honestly would be able to avoid a lot of the speculation.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Rocky123]

I have to wonder why the percentages seem to hover around 50% for any give exam at any given point in history.

I don't know. The grading system makes no sense…some questions are weighted more than others… To me it's very subjective. What seems “hard” to them, may be “easy” to me.

When did the “weighted” exam start? When people took the exam back in the day with paper and pencil, was it “weighted” or did a 75 truly mean that you got 75% of the exam questions correct?

The tallest oak in the forest was once just a little nut that held its ground.

AUD-PASS
BEC-PASS
REG-PASS
FAR-PASS

Rocky123, CPA

[Rocky123]

I have to wonder why the percentages seem to hover around 50% for any give exam at any given point in history.

I don't know. The grading system makes no sense…some questions are weighted more than others… To me it's very subjective. What seems “hard” to them, may be “easy” to me.

When did the “weighted” exam start? When people took the exam back in the day with paper and pencil, was it “weighted” or did a 75 truly mean that you got 75% of the exam questions correct?

The tallest oak in the forest was once just a little nut that held its ground.

AUD-PASS
BEC-PASS
REG-PASS
FAR-PASS

Rocky123, CPA

[juuustin]

Rocky: The problem with your second paragraph is “them” is not a group of people deciding what is hard and what is easy. “Them” are statistics that are obtained through pre-testing. A difficult question is considered difficult when it is consistently answered wrong more often during the pre-test phase than the “easy” question.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[juuustin]

Rocky: The problem with your second paragraph is “them” is not a group of people deciding what is hard and what is easy. “Them” are statistics that are obtained through pre-testing. A difficult question is considered difficult when it is consistently answered wrong more often during the pre-test phase than the “easy” question.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Rocky123]

@juuustin

Okay. Thanks for clearing that up. That makes sense. I had no idea how they determined that.

The tallest oak in the forest was once just a little nut that held its ground.

AUD-PASS
BEC-PASS
REG-PASS
FAR-PASS

Rocky123, CPA

[Rocky123]

@juuustin

Okay. Thanks for clearing that up. That makes sense. I had no idea how they determined that.

The tallest oak in the forest was once just a little nut that held its ground.

AUD-PASS
BEC-PASS
REG-PASS
FAR-PASS

Rocky123, CPA

[juuustin]

Rocky: Read #14 in the link I posted. It explains that the “statistical characteristics” of each question is determined in the pre-test phase. Statistical characteristics are defined as Difficulty, Discrimination, and Guessing. These are used to determine the score value for each question.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Author]

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