MGMT 120A
Intermediate Financial Accounting I
Description: Lecture, four hours. Requisite: course 1B. Intermediate-level course in theory and practice of financial accounting. Underlying concepts of asset valuation and income measurement. Measurement and reporting of current and long-term assets, including cash and marketable securities, inventories, plant assets and depreciation, and intangibles. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - Just to start off, I have never written a single review prior to this class, but I feel like it's necessary for other UCLA students to know how terrible this professor was. In my quarter, the class was composed of a single midterm, final, and project, so there wasn't a lot of flexibility with grades, which is fine but it means that our grade were composed of the exams that were unrealistic, seen by the test averages of the class that were never above passing. Just to give some context, I took 1A with Gardner and 1B with Woo and received As, but I decided to take this class P/NP. Berges is a great person; this review has nothing to do with her character but just her poor teaching. Her lectures are all powerpoints with no application of the material, which I feel like is one of the most important parts of learning accounting, and as a student, I didn't feel supported by the professor at all. I highly recommend taking 120A with either Lu, Woo, or literally anyone else. Avoid Berges at all cost, unless you really need to take the class and are taking a very light class load. The class is not impossible for sure if you self teach yourself and spend a good amount of time every week studying (6-8 hours of studying per week of the quarter minimum), but if you're handling any job or harder class load the class would be a huge time waster.
Fall 2023 - Just to start off, I have never written a single review prior to this class, but I feel like it's necessary for other UCLA students to know how terrible this professor was. In my quarter, the class was composed of a single midterm, final, and project, so there wasn't a lot of flexibility with grades, which is fine but it means that our grade were composed of the exams that were unrealistic, seen by the test averages of the class that were never above passing. Just to give some context, I took 1A with Gardner and 1B with Woo and received As, but I decided to take this class P/NP. Berges is a great person; this review has nothing to do with her character but just her poor teaching. Her lectures are all powerpoints with no application of the material, which I feel like is one of the most important parts of learning accounting, and as a student, I didn't feel supported by the professor at all. I highly recommend taking 120A with either Lu, Woo, or literally anyone else. Avoid Berges at all cost, unless you really need to take the class and are taking a very light class load. The class is not impossible for sure if you self teach yourself and spend a good amount of time every week studying (6-8 hours of studying per week of the quarter minimum), but if you're handling any job or harder class load the class would be a huge time waster.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - I'm taking the time to write this review because when I took this class the Bruinwalk was totally misleading and it made me judge the professor and the class unfairly. I took Borman's class after taking Ravetch for 1A and 1B, and I have no idea what anyone in the review section is complaining about in terms of difficulty. He may have restructured the class this quarter, but there were 2 quizzes, 1 memo assignment and 2 homeworks. He expects you to read the textbook before class, but if you're smart and participate in class - you can get away without it. Quizzes were easy, open note and text, and pretty much the same as the practice midterms. The material is made considerably easier because he doesn't expect you to do any hard calculations, and lets you use Excel for quizzes. You have to be certifiably stupid to do badly on this class. It may get a little boring at times because he does rely solely on the lecture slides, and his lectures can get a little monotonous - but honestly, what else do you expect if you're taking an accounting class? The most important part of this review is that Borman is the nicest professor I've had at UCLA, mainly because HE. CARES. SO. DAMN. MUCH. Absolute gem. Literally helped me with any and every thing. Took appointments during his lunch hour. Let me confirm my answers to the homework during office hours, and even showed me how to do the things I couldn't understand. He told us at the beginning of the class that he doesn't care about grades, and is more than happy to give us credit for problems we get wrong on the midterm if we can demonstrate an understanding of the concept fairly. Take my word for it, and take this class. You won't regret it.
Winter 2020 - I'm taking the time to write this review because when I took this class the Bruinwalk was totally misleading and it made me judge the professor and the class unfairly. I took Borman's class after taking Ravetch for 1A and 1B, and I have no idea what anyone in the review section is complaining about in terms of difficulty. He may have restructured the class this quarter, but there were 2 quizzes, 1 memo assignment and 2 homeworks. He expects you to read the textbook before class, but if you're smart and participate in class - you can get away without it. Quizzes were easy, open note and text, and pretty much the same as the practice midterms. The material is made considerably easier because he doesn't expect you to do any hard calculations, and lets you use Excel for quizzes. You have to be certifiably stupid to do badly on this class. It may get a little boring at times because he does rely solely on the lecture slides, and his lectures can get a little monotonous - but honestly, what else do you expect if you're taking an accounting class? The most important part of this review is that Borman is the nicest professor I've had at UCLA, mainly because HE. CARES. SO. DAMN. MUCH. Absolute gem. Literally helped me with any and every thing. Took appointments during his lunch hour. Let me confirm my answers to the homework during office hours, and even showed me how to do the things I couldn't understand. He told us at the beginning of the class that he doesn't care about grades, and is more than happy to give us credit for problems we get wrong on the midterm if we can demonstrate an understanding of the concept fairly. Take my word for it, and take this class. You won't regret it.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - Professor doesnt understand when to draw the line on when to stop the course content. There is an insane amount of course content that was taught in 10 weeks. His exams are insane, 24 questions in 50 mins fo midterm and 34 questions in 70 mins is beyond insane to expect from students especially for a class like this which requires heavy memorization. This class should only be taken for thoese trying the CPA.
Spring 2022 - Professor doesnt understand when to draw the line on when to stop the course content. There is an insane amount of course content that was taught in 10 weeks. His exams are insane, 24 questions in 50 mins fo midterm and 34 questions in 70 mins is beyond insane to expect from students especially for a class like this which requires heavy memorization. This class should only be taken for thoese trying the CPA.
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Most Helpful Review
Natarajan was a GREAT professor!!! He explained everything very clearly and also posted lecture notes online so that you don't even have to read the book. He also gives out homework problem solutions and practice tests with solutions. He really tries to prepare you for his tests. His tests were very fair and straightforward. He really tries to test you on what you learned in the class, instead of trying to trick you. If you attend lecture, read the lecture notes, and do the homework problems, you'll do well on his tests, unlike Ravetch where you study like crazy and still get a bad grade. I really recommend him for 120A!
Natarajan was a GREAT professor!!! He explained everything very clearly and also posted lecture notes online so that you don't even have to read the book. He also gives out homework problem solutions and practice tests with solutions. He really tries to prepare you for his tests. His tests were very fair and straightforward. He really tries to test you on what you learned in the class, instead of trying to trick you. If you attend lecture, read the lecture notes, and do the homework problems, you'll do well on his tests, unlike Ravetch where you study like crazy and still get a bad grade. I really recommend him for 120A!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - The best class in the accounting minor I've ever taken. By far. She uploads all her lecture videos at the start of class, so you can watch everything at your own pace. Pretty helpful. She goes through the notes with you in "fill-in-the blank" style, so lectures are clear and helpful. No complaints at all about the lecture style or clarity. Homework is only recommended, but those that did it tended to do better. You probably don't need to do ALL the recommended questions (she recommends more than necessary); just do at least one from each topic. If you choose to completely skip the homework, it might be hard to get an A. There are 3 quizzes, each worth 33%. If you pay attention to her lectures, take good notes, and do at least some of the recommended homework, you should be more than fine to get an A. Sometimes the book/homework contradicts what she teaches in lecture (since the book sometimes uses weird accounts), but always remember to use what she taught us as a rule-of-thumb in these cases. Quizzes were also multiple choice and non-cumulative, which helped. She also gave us an Extra Credit Opportunity worth 3% of our grade, which is a pretty substantial chunk and certainly helped push some students over the edge for an A. It seems as if most of my peers were successful and enjoyed this class. I certainly did. Highly recommend Woo for 120A.
Winter 2021 - The best class in the accounting minor I've ever taken. By far. She uploads all her lecture videos at the start of class, so you can watch everything at your own pace. Pretty helpful. She goes through the notes with you in "fill-in-the blank" style, so lectures are clear and helpful. No complaints at all about the lecture style or clarity. Homework is only recommended, but those that did it tended to do better. You probably don't need to do ALL the recommended questions (she recommends more than necessary); just do at least one from each topic. If you choose to completely skip the homework, it might be hard to get an A. There are 3 quizzes, each worth 33%. If you pay attention to her lectures, take good notes, and do at least some of the recommended homework, you should be more than fine to get an A. Sometimes the book/homework contradicts what she teaches in lecture (since the book sometimes uses weird accounts), but always remember to use what she taught us as a rule-of-thumb in these cases. Quizzes were also multiple choice and non-cumulative, which helped. She also gave us an Extra Credit Opportunity worth 3% of our grade, which is a pretty substantial chunk and certainly helped push some students over the edge for an A. It seems as if most of my peers were successful and enjoyed this class. I certainly did. Highly recommend Woo for 120A.
Most Helpful Review
I added this course a week late in the summer (giving me only 4 1/2 weeks to learn the material), and still found it somewhat easy. I did put in my fair share of studying, but his exams were pretty easy. Except for one problem on the midterm that you had to work backwards through, the questions were somewhat trivial. Yoon was a good lecturer in that he took his time to make sure we understood topics. One downside of him taking his time was the fact that he lectured the full time, every time (with a very small break.) I do not think he grades on a curve either, but that isn't neccessary with his tests. One person below mentioned he had "Ravetch-like exams." I have not had Ravetch yet (taking him for 120B), but if his exams are like Yoon's, then I don't know what all the bitching is about. Maybe the reason for the easy final was due to the fact that it was a summer course, who knows. Bottom line: I highly recommend Professor Yoon. You will learn a lot, and get the grade you deserve!
I added this course a week late in the summer (giving me only 4 1/2 weeks to learn the material), and still found it somewhat easy. I did put in my fair share of studying, but his exams were pretty easy. Except for one problem on the midterm that you had to work backwards through, the questions were somewhat trivial. Yoon was a good lecturer in that he took his time to make sure we understood topics. One downside of him taking his time was the fact that he lectured the full time, every time (with a very small break.) I do not think he grades on a curve either, but that isn't neccessary with his tests. One person below mentioned he had "Ravetch-like exams." I have not had Ravetch yet (taking him for 120B), but if his exams are like Yoon's, then I don't know what all the bitching is about. Maybe the reason for the easy final was due to the fact that it was a summer course, who knows. Bottom line: I highly recommend Professor Yoon. You will learn a lot, and get the grade you deserve!
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