JammY

I graduated from my state's flagship university about a year ago with a degree in Poli Sci. I have a decent gpa - 3.5. The plan was to go to law school and I decided to work in a law firm for a year to see how I would like the practice of law. I was accepted to many good schools ranked from the 30-70 range with good scholarship offers. The problem is, I hate the legal profession. During my year off, i got what a bargained for and saw that the legal profession is in a miserable, depressed state and is something I want no part of. So, I decided to not go to law school.

The problem is, here I am with a liberal arts degree and work experience in a field I want no part of. I am seriously considering going back to school and obtaining a BA in Accounting. Ive been looking for jobs and cant find anything with a good opportunity for growth or that isnt in the legal/paralegal field. I took a few classes on business, basic accounting, business law and found that auditing financial statements of companies and assuring their validity to be interesting. But in all honestly, I seek career growth and financial stability. Something that has become abundantly more important to me as I sit here unemployed. Many of my friends in UG that majored in accounting are working in Big 4s or other respected firms in the region and I kind of wish I had done the same.

It would take me 1.5yr to 2 yrs of additional education to do this at about $10/yr cost of attendance (tuition, living (with parent), food, etc). I know I can go for an MBA as well without a business degree. Yet i cant get any good, substantive business related opportunities that will give me leadership experience with my liberal arts major. This is understandable - i have no real world experience reading financial statements or anything else really related to the business field. I am good at research, writing, qualitative thinking, etc., but to be frank, have no real business acumen.

So I guess my question is, should I just bite the bullet and get an accounting degree? How competitive is the field after graduation in terms of obtaining employment in a respected firm? Thanks for the info.

Jim