[John Doe 15]

In my last thread I got a lot of good information about what to expect switching over to accounting and getting ready for the CPA exam.

I just had a few more questions regarding the exam itself.

1. How in-depth is the math and calculations. I remember having a difficult time in intermediate II and just barely getting by. Of course that was a whole 16 weeks of just intermediate II and we went through all the chapters in the book.

2. I remember when we got to some advanced stuff in auditing, taxation, and intermediate II, I was lost with the “big picture” because I had never been an accountant so when they were explaining a lot of this stuff, I had never experienced it myself or seen it myself so it was just memorizing what they were saying and trying to reproduce that on a test. Does the CPA exam prep break the information down more so you actually understand it?

3. Is the pass rate low because of poor preparation or because the test is that hard even with preparation?

Just want to know what to expect before starting the review.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

1. Not in depth

2. Depending on which review course you take, it may be broken down and may not be. Some of them break things down better than others. The problem is, every review course out there nowadays has at least one significant fault or more. None of them are perfect. What is not explained well in whatever review course you choose, though, you will have to research on your own (Youtube to the rescue…or google it)

3. The pass rates are low due to numerous factors. The Law of Multiple Determinants, so to speak. Some people work full time (like me) and haven't the luxury of studying 24/7 like the people who either don't work or are being taken care of financially by Mom and Dad while they prepare for the CPA exam. Some people don't prepare for the exams correctly. Some people have test anxiety and just have to fail a time or two or three before they get comfy with the whole process. Some people – like me for instance – do a very thorough preparation but just crash and burn out prior to the exams because they are so sick and tired of the process. This is only a very, very partial list as to why people fail these exams. The exams are passable. They don't make them so hard that nobody can pass. But – they also don't like very many people to be passing at one time. There are, I believe, quotas as far as number of new CPAs turned out into the market every quarter or every year. Getting thru these exams does not require that you be a genius…it does require that you have the stamina to get through all 4 in 18 months. Intelligence is a huge, HUGE, ****HUGE**** asset. Some people knock them all out in 1 testing window. But the vast majority can't do that. The exams also have subtle ways of unearthing weaknesses in candidates. Many people, myself included, go into the exams expecting a bunch of hard analytical questions…and instead, they get an onslaught of questions that aren't even all that difficult….but on topics that they didn't spend much time preparing for.

Gooooooood Luckkkkkkkk………..

[Author]

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