Prepped for UFE success

By Yvette Trancoso
Illustration: John Sapsford

Being prepared was the key to success for Toronto’s Baoqin Guo, who achieved the highest standing in Canada for the 2004 Uniform Evaluation (UFE). “It was a really nice surprise,” says the 24-year-old winner of the Governor General’s Gold Medal and $5,000 cash prize. “No one expects something like this; I was just hoping to do well. It’s the best feeling.”

Guo, who works at KPMG, credits the firm’s great support system and her participation in a UFE prep course at Densmore Consulting Services Inc. She worked with a mentor and a study group of other first-time writers — all of whom passed. “I started studying in August and studied up to the week before the exam,” she says, adding that it was “almost like a job.” She studied from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as suggested.

A Queen’s University alumnus, Guo studied commerce. In her third year, she secured a summer job at KPMG that later led to a full-time position with the firm.

Other gold medal honours go to Michael Chubb of Vancouver, who had the highest standing in Western Canada; Jean-Pierre Collette of Gaspé, Que., and Nicole Henneberry of Dartmouth, NS, for the highest standing in Quebec and Eastern Canada, respectively. Each also takes home $2,500.

This year marks the first time that candidates were allowed to bring a laptop to the exam. The computers were required to be preloaded with a “lockdown” software program called Securexam (CA), which allows the candidate to access approved reference materials and do calculations using Excel while disabling access to other files, programs or peripheral devices.

The percentage of first-time writers who passed the UFE — formerly known as the Uniform Final Examination — increased to 78.4% from 69.6% in 2003 and 71.7% in 2002. The percentage of all candidates who passed also increased throughout the country; to 74.5% in 2004 from 65.5% in 2003.