Probably the most unprofessional professor I have ever had at UCLA. I wish I had filled out her evaluation so that she could see this. She's a decent lecturer and has engaging activities during class to help us learn but do not listen to a word she says about what will show up on the exams. For our midterm, she assured us she would provide us with a list of ratios and we would NOT have to memorize them, only know what they do and whether we prefer that the ratio is high or low. Specifically, this is what her email said: "For Chapter 13, I do not expect you to memorize ratios introduced here. If such ratio is provided in exam you should be able to identify ratio and it's purpose and conclude as to it's meaning for company." Guess what? Big fat lie. She did not give us the ratios. One of her TAs told me that when she learned that students were pissed off about this, she told the TA she did not care because it's her exam and she can do whatever she wants.
Bottomline, not a good professor at all in terms of honesty. I would not take her again. Still better than Gardner though I guess.

Lecture-wise, Berges is a pretty mediocre professor (just repeated info on the slides with little to no expansion) but is generous with extra credit/the class curve. Although her EC opportunities were nice, the only way to get an A on the exams was to grind your ass off. I studied at least 30 hours for the final alone just because we had to memorize eight chapters of material on a 65+ question 3-hour final.

The material itself is not difficult to comprehend if you put the time into it, and while she gives no practice exams, the "quick study" and "exercise" type questions in the textbook (John Wild, Ken Shaw, Barbara Chiappetta - Loose Leaf for Financial and Managerial Accounting-McGraw Hill) were pretty helpful.

I'd avoid taking this class with this professor if you can since she makes the class much more difficult than it needs to be to effectively teach the material. However, an A is definitely doable if you grind hard. Best of luck to anyone taking this course :)

Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. Never met a ruder person who DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF HER STUDENTS. It does not matter how hard you will try! Very soul crushing, honestly. Anyway, good luck keeping up with the business econ GPA requirement :( cuz she will tank your GPA.

Bad, bad, bad, bad. Professor is an actual witch, I wouldn't be surprised if she disintegrated if you threw water on her. Incredibly rude to students and her own ta's. Midterm was actually the worst test i've ever taken and there was no way to review because she doesn't give ant practice tests. The final was easier but that's only because I spent 40 hours studying for it. Worst professor ever, if you do have to take 1B with her study for her tests for a very long time, but at all costs avoid this woman.

The first half of the class was a mess. Two TAs of the class were extremely unreliable (one of the TA told students that ratios will NOT be provided on the midterm, but Professor Berges later sent an email to us indicating that ratios will be provided), not know what they supposed to do, and horrible at teaching the materials. Btw, I’ve emailed twice to the TAs and Berges, but they never respond to my emails, so I guess you better go to their office hours for any questions.
In terms of grading, there are 300 points in total, in which midterm is 125pts, individual project is 25pts, and the final worth 150pts. The mean of midterm was 63%, while the final mean was 82.2% (including extra credits). The midterm was harder than the final, but the final includes 8 chapters, so you will have to memorize a lot more for the final.
Homework problems were recommended but not graded, yet I’d say to do the problems for practice since accounting require many practice to memorize the materials. Some questions on the final were also similar to the homework problems.
Overall, the class material is not difficult, but you do need to pay the effort for an A. Fall 2023 is her first time teaching lower division class, maybe that's why this class is harder. However, if you have the chance to take another professor, go for that choice instead.

Tamara is a terrible teacher. She does not deserve to be called by her last name. Her class was so unorganized throughout the entire quarter that I heard people considering dropping 7 weeks into the class. Her midterm was the least thought-out midterm I have ever taken. Students had to continually ask questions during the midterm because the formatting was so confusing and her response to it was to become an arrogant dickhead and try to belittle us as if we were inferior to her. Her ego is through the roof and she needs to be humbled. She is super disrespectful towards her students and TA’s and does not take constructive criticism because she views it as a jab at her. I remember in one TA session we were reviewing the midterm and 80% of the discussion period was just talking about how rude and disrespectful of a person she is to everyone around her. The TA even had evidence of her being super condescending towards a student when they asked a clarifying question. She may know what she is talking about content-wise but it doesn’t make up for her lack of empathy toward her students. Her fits were dogshit too. Overall, do not take her under any circumstance. Wait until you can take it with Woo.

She has a major chip on her shoulder. She seemed to view her students as in an adversarial relationship with her. During the midterm, multiple people asked her about what a question meant and how it was supposed to be answered, and she essentially publicly demeaned those asking, and seemed in disbelief that someone could possibly misunderstand her question. The question was very poorly written, by the way, and I've never seen a multiple choice question handled this way.

Speaking of the midterm, I've never taken an exam less fair. She tested on materials that she explicitly said beforehand that she wouldn't. We weren't given nearly enough time for it, and it was very difficult. Taking the exam, I actually thought I had walked into the wrong room. After getting spammed by emails by students, the next class, she essentially put all of the blame on us, for 'not being able to put in the time to study.'

The final exam was a little better. I had time to finish, but barely. The short answer section was mostly memorization quizzing how accurately you know how to format certain tables. It was at 8 am, 3 hours long, closed note. Why in the world is this closed note other than to annoy students.

After the midterm exam was a statement of cash flows project. It barely had to do with what we were studying, and in my opinion, the deadline to do it was too short, especially considering this was during midterms week.

There is extra credit in the class. Nobody knows how much. The extra credit is essentially a way for the professor to force students to come to class. Speaking of class, she goes way too quickly. The only way to understand what she's actually talking about is to watch the lectures and pause and skip around. She gives a lot of rapid fire information with no big picture. I was lost by the first lecture, haha. So, why exactly am I being forced to come to class? This was especially unfair for me, because I was sick for half the quarter, and since it isn't mandatory attendance and is extra credit, too bad for me I guess. The extra credit opportunities aren't even given every single class, by the way. Once, she grossly underestimated the amount of time that one would take and gave the entire thing for homework.

She expects her students to read the textbook before classes and do a ton of homework problems after, which she doesn't grade. This is unreasonable to expect out of an average student, and this is one of the only situations where I think that homework should be mandatory, because without it, your ENTIRE grade is based on the midterm, final, and 'project'. And she's also a harsh grader.

The thing is that, take away all these problems, and the course is actually alright. I asked her for her help for a class example once, and she was really sweet and patient, and I understood the topic almost immediately. And actually reading the textbook, you'd think that the course is actually kind of fun. But unfortunately, due to these problems, this course is terrible, and I would not recommend to anyone who doesn't already know the material.

I love the material in the class itself, when you really apply yourself it is not that difficult, but regardless this class is difficult. Its 1-2 ch of reading a week, but you have to memorize a lot of info for the midterm and final. Take time and start studying from week 1. Everyone did pretty bad on the midterm, it was unnecessarily long, difficult, and just unexpected. Took the final today, did not have time to finish either the final nor the midterm. Extra credit if you show up to class and do the examples. She's an okay lecturer, if you can take Woo, do that. If she's your only option, you'll survive but it'll be a bit difficult.

Go to class to get some extra credit opportunities. She is a qualified lecturer on the subject but makes some unreasonable decisions regarding exams. Overall, she is a pretty strict grader based on the predicted curve she said she would give.