JammY

Chester, - Here is what i really dont like about the legal profession. I have great respect for the field, but the fact that the profession is heading towards all these mega merger 1000+ attorney firms, the worship of the almighty profit per partner ratio, the billable hour reqs, the almost nonexistent track to partnership, lack of work/life balance, and the absolutely ludicrous costs of attendance of law schools (which would require me to work in one of the mega firms i mentioned) are some of the main reasons I am deterred by the field. Also, the fact that none of my coworkers could say to me unequivocally that they were happy with their career decision raised a huge red flag. Not one could say that they really enjoyed practicing law. I realize that what i value most is career stability, a good work/life balance, and good opportunity for growth and advancement. And by just doing a simple cost/benefit analysis...seems that a track in accounting would be better for me than law. Ideally, i may want to go to LS later in my career just for personal fulfillment.

Vector- I dont think my end goal is to get an MBA, although it is an option. I was considering trying to get into the business field in terms of obtaining an entry level job. But this is very difficult when employers require that you have a general business, finance, or accounting major. Many dont like the Poli Sci background. Simply put, the jobs that offer positions to liberal arts majors seem to be those with little room for growth and advancement and dont provide much of a chance for "leadership experience" that top MBA programs look for. Accounting on the other hand seems to open up so many doors, to a CPA, to excellent jobs with leadership opportunities, and eventually a chance to go to a top MBA program. So it seems to be that if i were to go back to school, I might as well go for the major that will open up the most doors for me.

Taxguy-most of the schools seems to require the prereqs (anywhere from 13-18 ug courses) plus the masters level courses for their MS in accounting. Therefore a masters would take much longer for me and seems that it isnt required to get an entry level job in an accounting firm. Also, Towson and UB programs are jointly run. UMD is the same prereqs. My circumstances require that i stay around the Baltimore area. At this point im leaning towards Towson. The accounting program there seems to be very good and as an instater, would be affordable. I think I could finish the program in 1.5-2yrs. I would also then meet the 150 credit requirement and be eligible for the CPA credit wise.