[Anonymous]

I don’t know if all is bothering me today but talking o a friend, he said this stuff was “easy”. Of course he has other designation but not this one.

Why people talk about things without thinking?

I’m in the bad mood today…

[Kls238]

The only time the exam gets easIER is after you've studied 1000+ hours and have done thousands of MCQs and even then it's still hard. This is exam is hard for anyone who takes it, no matter if you've been out of school or just graduated, have a job or are unemployed, have kids/husband/wife/etc or are single, have 20 years experience or none.

It really bothers me when people say the exam should be easy. It's even worse when they claim it should be easy under certain circumstances than others. We all have to dedicate a significant portion of our life to these exams and work our butts off. People who say ignorant things are either jealous, they just want to inflate their own ego, or just simply don't know what they're taking about.

Passed all sections.

[Kls238]

The only time the exam gets easIER is after you've studied 1000+ hours and have done thousands of MCQs and even then it's still hard. This is exam is hard for anyone who takes it, no matter if you've been out of school or just graduated, have a job or are unemployed, have kids/husband/wife/etc or are single, have 20 years experience or none.

It really bothers me when people say the exam should be easy. It's even worse when they claim it should be easy under certain circumstances than others. We all have to dedicate a significant portion of our life to these exams and work our butts off. People who say ignorant things are either jealous, they just want to inflate their own ego, or just simply don't know what they're taking about.

Passed all sections.

[Mayo]

I agree. It's not rocket surgery. But I'd respond with “It might be easy stuff, but it's incredibly boring to study for. I'd rather stab a gorilla in the eye with a rusty corkscrew and run for my life than read another tax regulation.”

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Mayo]

I agree. It's not rocket surgery. But I'd respond with “It might be easy stuff, but it's incredibly boring to study for. I'd rather stab a gorilla in the eye with a rusty corkscrew and run for my life than read another tax regulation.”

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Anonymous]

I get it every so often too when people ask what I am doing with my life. I tell them I'm currently studying to sit for the CPA exams and I get the classic “Man that's not too hard at all, I have a buddy who is a lawyer that says he looked through the materials for it and said that the CPA looks way easier than the bar exam.”

[Anonymous]

I get it every so often too when people ask what I am doing with my life. I tell them I'm currently studying to sit for the CPA exams and I get the classic “Man that's not too hard at all, I have a buddy who is a lawyer that says he looked through the materials for it and said that the CPA looks way easier than the bar exam.”

[RayHCPA]

In addition to trying to become a CPA, I am also a CMA. From my perspective, the CPA exams were definitely more difficult than the CMA exams, just by the sheer volume of testable information. The CMA exams to me were like an extended 2 part version of BEC, and did not touch on many of the topics from the other 3 CPA exam parts.

All of my CPA exams were taken in a 6 month period, which added to the challenge, but I think I would still feel the same had I had longer to study for each exam. Ultimately, I don't think anyone can say whether an exam is easy or hard in general. It really depends on the experience and background of each candidate. I personally felt that REG was the hardest exam but I have had others tell me it was the easiest.

CA Candidate

AUD - 7/8/13 - 85
REG - 8/20/13 - 67, 12/5/13 - 73 2/27/14 - 78
BEC - 10/1/13 - 86
FAR - 11/24/13 - 87

[RayHCPA]

In addition to trying to become a CPA, I am also a CMA. From my perspective, the CPA exams were definitely more difficult than the CMA exams, just by the sheer volume of testable information. The CMA exams to me were like an extended 2 part version of BEC, and did not touch on many of the topics from the other 3 CPA exam parts.

All of my CPA exams were taken in a 6 month period, which added to the challenge, but I think I would still feel the same had I had longer to study for each exam. Ultimately, I don't think anyone can say whether an exam is easy or hard in general. It really depends on the experience and background of each candidate. I personally felt that REG was the hardest exam but I have had others tell me it was the easiest.

CA Candidate

AUD - 7/8/13 - 85
REG - 8/20/13 - 67, 12/5/13 - 73 2/27/14 - 78
BEC - 10/1/13 - 86
FAR - 11/24/13 - 87

[Anonymous]

Ask him if he still does as many drugs as he did in college…because only a drug addict or a mega-genius would say such a thing. If his IQ isn't 190 then clearly he is a drug addict.

[Anonymous]

Ask him if he still does as many drugs as he did in college…because only a drug addict or a mega-genius would say such a thing. If his IQ isn't 190 then clearly he is a drug addict.

[Anonymous]

Others have touched on this, but remember that the difficulty of these exams varies from person to person. For some people, they're the hardest thing they've ever done or will ever do; for others, they're a challenge but easy compared to some other things. For example, my boyfriend and I studied for the HAM radio exam. There's a pool of I think it was 320 potential questions that could be on your exam. We ended up having scheduling issues actually taking the exam, but for me, BEC and AUD were easier than the HAM exam, despite the fact that I had all possible questions and answers in front of me! I think the HAM exam has something like a 90% first-time pass rate. But, it wasn't something that was easy for me. I don't say this to insult anyone that struggles with BEC and AUD, but to indicate that each person's strengths and weaknesses are different. I try to avoid saying things like “That exam is easy” regardless of what exam it is or who is taking bit…but even though I don't say it, in my experience, AUD was a (relatively) easy exam. So if I said that, it wouldn't be out of insecurity or denial of the hundreds of hours i spent studying…but rather out of recognition that I only spent about 50 hours max studying and passed with my highest score, and that for me, it wasn't that hard. It would be a fact in my experience. But in someone else's experience, it could be totally different. Like with the HAM exam – if I had taken it, and failed it, then my boyfriend could have just as validly said “That was easy” even though I struggled with…and even though he would have struggled with my CPA exams.

However…all that being said, there's no need for someone who hasn't taken it to comment on its difficulty, and there's no need for someone who has taken it to make comments that discourage those currently taking it. So to balance my above comments – FAR made me cry more than I'd like to admit, and REG was my worst testing experience ever. At the end of the day, all of us who pass have passed, regardless of how we got to the point of having passed…and hopefully, all of us who complete the exam get those license numbers and get to put those 3 little letters behind our name. 🙂 Just waiting on the KY BOA so that I can start using them…and in 10 years, when we're all wearing those letters around proudly, it won't matter who had an easier or harder time with FAR or AUD, just that we all survived!

[Anonymous]

Others have touched on this, but remember that the difficulty of these exams varies from person to person. For some people, they're the hardest thing they've ever done or will ever do; for others, they're a challenge but easy compared to some other things. For example, my boyfriend and I studied for the HAM radio exam. There's a pool of I think it was 320 potential questions that could be on your exam. We ended up having scheduling issues actually taking the exam, but for me, BEC and AUD were easier than the HAM exam, despite the fact that I had all possible questions and answers in front of me! I think the HAM exam has something like a 90% first-time pass rate. But, it wasn't something that was easy for me. I don't say this to insult anyone that struggles with BEC and AUD, but to indicate that each person's strengths and weaknesses are different. I try to avoid saying things like “That exam is easy” regardless of what exam it is or who is taking bit…but even though I don't say it, in my experience, AUD was a (relatively) easy exam. So if I said that, it wouldn't be out of insecurity or denial of the hundreds of hours i spent studying…but rather out of recognition that I only spent about 50 hours max studying and passed with my highest score, and that for me, it wasn't that hard. It would be a fact in my experience. But in someone else's experience, it could be totally different. Like with the HAM exam – if I had taken it, and failed it, then my boyfriend could have just as validly said “That was easy” even though I struggled with…and even though he would have struggled with my CPA exams.

However…all that being said, there's no need for someone who hasn't taken it to comment on its difficulty, and there's no need for someone who has taken it to make comments that discourage those currently taking it. So to balance my above comments – FAR made me cry more than I'd like to admit, and REG was my worst testing experience ever. At the end of the day, all of us who pass have passed, regardless of how we got to the point of having passed…and hopefully, all of us who complete the exam get those license numbers and get to put those 3 little letters behind our name. 🙂 Just waiting on the KY BOA so that I can start using them…and in 10 years, when we're all wearing those letters around proudly, it won't matter who had an easier or harder time with FAR or AUD, just that we all survived!

[Anonymous]

honestly, i'm not a smart guy by any means, and i have decent short-term memory. i did not take any notes and was able to pass 3 parts on the first time, each to my surprise. whenever i passed an exam, i started to doubt the value of the CPA. i feel this way because i felt like i definitely did not know a ton of questions, but somehow ended up passing — probably due to the curve.

all in all, this is not an intelligence test. it requires maturity — someone who's able to make sacrifices in cutting out their social life and leisure to study day after day. if you can commit the time, you will pass. i was working fulltime with 2 busy tax seasons each year and commuting 10 hours/week while i studied in the off-season.

getting a 75 is relatively easy (if you put in the time), getting a 90+ i'd say, is the hard part.

who those who are judging me by my FAR score — it was my first exam and i only studied 7 out of 10 Becker chapters before i got burnt out and gave up. ironically, it was after I “loosened up” (not trying to study every single detail) that i began to pass.

however, in my head, i passed FAR because I got a “7” and a “5”, just not in the right order.

[Anonymous]

honestly, i'm not a smart guy by any means, and i have decent short-term memory. i did not take any notes and was able to pass 3 parts on the first time, each to my surprise. whenever i passed an exam, i started to doubt the value of the CPA. i feel this way because i felt like i definitely did not know a ton of questions, but somehow ended up passing — probably due to the curve.

all in all, this is not an intelligence test. it requires maturity — someone who's able to make sacrifices in cutting out their social life and leisure to study day after day. if you can commit the time, you will pass. i was working fulltime with 2 busy tax seasons each year and commuting 10 hours/week while i studied in the off-season.

getting a 75 is relatively easy (if you put in the time), getting a 90+ i'd say, is the hard part.

who those who are judging me by my FAR score — it was my first exam and i only studied 7 out of 10 Becker chapters before i got burnt out and gave up. ironically, it was after I “loosened up” (not trying to study every single detail) that i began to pass.

however, in my head, i passed FAR because I got a “7” and a “5”, just not in the right order.

[Anonymous]

@CannotPassAgain “however, in my head, i passed FAR because I got a “7” and a “5”, just not in the right order.” That made me laugh. 🙂 Good perspective! haha. Having good short-term memory is a big help, though. That's the one way that I made it through mine. If you tested me a week later, I'd have gotten a 50 if I was lucky, because it was mostly short-term memory. The other day I was trying to remember the name of the board that made the rules regarding private-company audits and couldn't think of it for the life of me…less then 4 months after passing AUD with a 91…shows how little I actually retained!! So, I think that having a good short-term memory is very helpful for these tests, but that having to commit it to long-term memory is probably much more helpful for your career. Maybe if you have to fight these exams harder, you end up being a better CPA…?

[Author]

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