Nicholas Tsai wins UFE National Gold Medal

Nicholas Tsai, a 2013 graduate of the MAcc program (at right with Jesse Waltman, President, SAF Alumni Association), revealed some of the factors that gave him an advantage when writing the Chartered Accountancy Uniform Final Examination (UFE). Tsai attributes part of his achievement to the exceptional camaraderie that he encountered at the SAF. “The students are always willing to help one another,” he says, “and grads tend to get significant guidance and advice.”

His co-op experiences also played a major part in his success on the UFE. “Over my four co-op terms, I gained valuable insights that helped develop my problem solving strategy, which benefited me on the final exam,” Tsai explains.

Additionally, while preparing for the examination, Tsai sought advice and support from a mentor, Juliana Yuen (MAcc ’11), a previous gold medalist. “Her help was always extremely beneficial,” he says, “ in that it provided a new perspective on my cases.”

Tsai looks to offer similar support to other future exam writers. He will encourage them to realize that the exam requires more than a one-month build-up. “It does involve a lot of study leading up to the exam,” he admits, “but for students to feel like they can get fully prepared for it just by studying one month in advance is completely unreasonable.” He emphasizes that it’s equally important to learn through experience and to seek the advice of others, as he has done.