What's Harder, CPA Exam, Bar Ex or MStat Thesis?

Tom McEvoy is/was a CPA. Mason has(I believe) a Master's Degree in Statistics(as does Mickey Appleman, along with an MBA).


I've heard that while ~2/3's of applicants pass the bar exam on their first try, only about 3% pass the CPA exam.


So, is it "harder" to become a CPA, lawyer or a Stat Master?


BTW, IMO, both the CPA and Math GRE exams should have reading comprehension and writing clarity sections, but never mind.

Can only comment on the bar exam. I have taken it in two states and am two-for-two. It is not particularly difficult if you understood what was going on in law school and bother to study. It is a pain to sit in a room with hundreds of people for two or three days answering boring questions though. I think if you take a prep class and can't pass there is something wrong with your test-taking ability. I think law school is easier than some other forms of grad school though, and is run differently. I can't imagine having to do a thesis and getting approval from some professor you can't stand. I liked reading the book and taking a three-hour anonymously graded exam. The less you have to go to class the better. /images/wink.gif

"What's Harder, CPA Exam, Bar Ex or MStat Thesis?"


"So, is it "harder" to become a CPA, lawyer or a Stat Master?"


These are two different questions

You pass! /images/smile.gif /images/smile.gif

First I have a masters in math, not statistics. I was in a non-thesis option and had to take a thorough oral exam that lasted about four hours. I studied for it for over three weeks a minimum of 12 hours per day. It was the hardest and most comprehensive thing that I have ever done in my life, but after I passed I knew that I was a real mathematician and no one will ever be able to take that away from me. However, in grad school I had almost enough additional hours for a masters in statistics as well, and when I was employed (with Both The United States Census Bureau -- 6 years, and the Northrop Corporation -- 5 years) I always worked as a professional statistician. (Both of my degrees are from Virginia Tech -- go Hokies, beat Syracuse and then Miami.)


I believe that McEvoy was an accountant, not a CPA, and I know nothing about Mickey Appleman.

The title of your post asks one question, the post asks an entirely different question.


Do you want to know which test is harder or which profession is harder to enter?


Jeff

I think your pass/fail figures are probably wrong. I passed the CPA exam the first time, and I certainly wasn't at the head of my class. Most of my friends passed it the first time also. But I knew lots of people who had to retake the bar exam.


Of course, this was a long time ago, so maybe things have changed.

That hard to answer both? /images/smile.gif

The difficulty of bar exams varies considerably by state. Also, California lowers the average because it has about half the unacredited law schools, so many applicants with less than stellar pedigrees compete with some of the best grads in the country on a hard test.


I took the NY bar out of school after studying all summer and it still felt like torture. I took the Utah test 4 years out of school after studying on the plane during a ski trip. It was dumping a foot out the window during the test so it still felt like torture. Both times I was surprised that I passed.