<p>fyi:</p>
<p>he took the last part of cpa last friday.</p>
<p>my friend's profile:
1. went to a 3rd tier school in the States (major: finance)
2 worked as an accountant for small busines in the last 7 yrs
3. very good at what he does; but not good in math in general; he had a degree in general business in hong kong and had the option of going to mba instead of second bachelor degree but he scored low on gmat.
4. started studying hard after memorial weekend; from what i learned from him; this part is typically the most technical, hardest, and where the "real' accounting is tested.<br>
5. only relied on cpa studying guides and software. i never saw him use any textbook. </p>
<p>what he said about the test:
1. spent 2 hours in the first 3 sections, thinking he needed 2 hours for last 2 sections (simulation) just to be safe cos simulation typically is long
2. was surprised by how basic the "simulation" problems were: one of them was FIFO, LIFO, and weighted average of a basic inventory accounting problem. you learn that in the 1st semester of principle in accounting. i took an intro accounting at ucla extension in the fall and we had an exam question just like that! anyway, they were so simple that he had to reread the problem statements few times to convince himself he didn't misunderstand anything. :) He had 20 mins left and wish he could go back to the first 3 sections cos he felt he could do better if he spent a bit more time. but overall, he felt the best about this one; he took one section at a time and he didn't feel as positive about his previous 3 sections but he passed all of them anyway.</p>