[ACCRUAL_WORLD]

Sometimes lots of people turn out with 80s-something scores despite thinking they failed.
Sometimes it seems like scores are generally low. Like below passing score.

Q1 and Q4 pass rates are lower than Q2 and Q3. Is that indicative of some quarters being ‘tougher’,
or is that just because the majority of candidates having less study time or something?

[Unknown]

Hmmm, i'd start my saying i am among those who thought they totally bombed an exam and passed with 80+ score whereas on exams i thought i did well, i made only 76 as you can see LOL. Anyways, i believe what is tough for some people might not be tough for others. Lets take FAR for example, some people enjoy Gov expect of this while others don't. If Q1 exam is heavily Gov Acct, you can see how some might say Q1 is tough and others won't? My point is, it all boils down to the subject/topic you are more comfortable with. I am been unlucky with BEC because each Quarter I sit, I get a ton of Cost Accounting while others breeeze through the exam with only bare minimum. So yes, i suppose you can draw your conclusion from this.

[thunderlips]

i ignore those posts that ask “did i pass” and “i feel like i failed” as i feel those threads are worthless – based on historical trends average overall scores are the lowest in 4q and 1q – i assume due to holiday season and tax season leaving many with less time to study

[Anthony]

Tough quarter as more unprepared candidates? Sure, but is not relevant to what you can control. Worry more about learning and practicing the material as best you can than the statistics that you see.

[ACCRUAL_WORLD]

Huh that's interesting.
Say if a candidate earned a given amount of points. Or got a given number+combination of questions right. Anyway let's assume that value is n, which will translate up to an AICPA-knows-what point value.

If the exam IS curved, and average overall scores are lowest in Q1 and Q4, will our candidate end up with a higher possibility of n being 75+? Bc of everyone else's scores being lower than they would've been in other windows.. and that n being comparatively higher up on the ladder that it would've been.
Or will that n be just n independently regardless of how everyone else did.. I know it's a silly thing to think over but it's score release waiting period lol guess it does things to one's state of mind.

[vbmer]

No, there is no such thing. The only variability in the difficulty of the exam is whether the questions you get play to your strengths or weaknesses, but if you really know the material, that should not be a problem.

Q1 pass rates are lower because it's busy season, so many Big 4 candidates, whose pass rates are in excess of 80%, don't attempt a section. By Q2/Q3, you have public accounting candidates and fresh accounting graduates (with fresh knowledge and time to study) taking the exam for the first time, as well as people retaking that year's version of the exam. I don't buy the excuse that holiday season affects Q4 pass rates, as December 10 is 2 weeks from Christmas. It's more likely that many of the candidates who entered the pool in Q2/Q3 have already passed, and it leaves more perennial takers left in the candidate pool by Q4.

[PDiddy2000]

@Vbmer hit the nail on the head. I don't believe that the AICPA grades on a curve either. Why would they do that AND put pretest questions on the exams? They are essentially eliminating the need for a curve by testing the viability of future questions that may or may not be on future exams.

[coffees56]

@vbmer, where'd you get the pass rate statistic for Big 4 employees?

[thunderlips]

i disagree with vbmer – it makes no difference being with a big 4 or not. a canidate is a canidate and big 4 definitely does not have a higer passing rate compared to the rest of the population

[jeff]

80% pass rates for Big 4 is news to me.

I've never seen pass rate data broken down by employer type.

Is this data publicly available?

[bigstakk]

I have heard that many at the Big 4 share details of the exams. Not sure how true it is and I am sure it's all done quietly. It is a very competitive environment, though, so could just be close friends within the company doing this. Also, most Big 4 candidates are likely very strong academic performers historically so they just do better because they have always been straight A students, so makes sense they would perform much better than average.

[Author]

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