The uncertainty of mastering the material is arguably the most stressful element of the CPA exam. As you're studying for the CPA exam and answering questions on Becker you inevitably question how well you have mastered the material. The exam is unique in that the method for scoring the exam is not public knowledge. While the AICPA has stated that the exam is not curved, the organization does acknowledge the fact that candidates are rewarded for completing a more difficult testlet. How much is that reward? What is the standard deviation of the exam scores? Nobody really knows. I know I'm not the only one answering Becker questions, getting around a 65% on the homework, and pondering how would I have performed if this was a true CPA exam.
Generally speaking (here's where the grain of salt comes into play), Becker questions tend to be a tad more difficult than that of the CPA exam. And that's not a knock at Becker at all. They simply want their candidates to be adequately prepared for whatever is thrown their way. It's the mentality of "if you can survive this, you can survive the exam". However, some people have found the CPA exam to be more difficult than Becker exams and homework questions.
My goal here is to provide those who are stressing out about getting 65%-75% on Becker questions some peace of mind. I have attached below a link to a google doc that someone on Reddit put together comparing Becker Exam scores to Actual Exam scores. Routinely candidates score roughly 13% points higher on the actual exam than on the Becker exam. It should be noted that this percentage boost has a high standard deviation (some candidates perform only slightly better,others significantly better, some worse).
While nothing is a guarantee, this document serves as a general reference for those attempting to interpret their Becker Scores.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18h1_IfOBv04SjkKDqUkzcjoj2OdXGMc_hxqot7N2u9w/edit#gid=0
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