Best schools for accounting? - Page 2

inyczreflex · 04-13-2007, 03:34 PM

Is recruiting at Austin good?

southpasdena · 04-13-2007, 03:46 PM

Yes it is, every school thus far listed in this thread has great recruiting.

Calcruzer · 04-13-2007, 03:51 PM

Recruiting for accounting is pretty good at every school in the top 25 on barron's list above (see the weblink).

There is a real shortage for accounting majors right now--although you need to be aware that the CPA firms will concentrate on hiring those with 3.5 GPAs and above out of college (and the GPA will need to be higher for a smaller school like Cal State San Jose where a 3.8 will be necessary, but less for those in the better known schools like Texas, Berkeley, Illinois, and Penn--like 3.2-3.3 GPA and above).

MaryAnn C · 04-13-2007, 09:09 PM

Is there a list of the target schools where the the big 4 recruit? Do you know if UConn, Delaware, Maryland and/or Fordham are target schools? Is a 3.5 good enough at theses schools?

Truman94 · 04-13-2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

There is a real shortage for accounting majors right now

That's interesting. All those accounting scandals several years ago got a lot more college students interested in pursuing accounting. The statistics a couple of years back indicating the rise in accounting majors revealed that. I haven't checked up on those statistics recently. Perhaps the memory of those scandals is beginning to fade away.

granted_business · 04-13-2007, 10:46 PM

It's best to check the school's business/accounting website to see a list of firms that recruit on campus.

Actually, I would say a > or = 3.0 is typically good enough to get an interview at big 4. The big 4 has a high turnover rate, and they are always looking for fresh hires. There are certain positions within a big 4 firm that have GPA guidelines of 3.3 or greater, but Deloitte, for example, usually is around a 3.0.

I honestly think that the smaller firms, like BDO etc. have higher GPA requirements because they take in a smaller amount of people and usually are more selective.

Cmoss · 04-14-2007, 09:52 AM

That is not true on the BYU provo campus unless they are really bearing it all. true they do have a dress code.

Cmoss · 04-14-2007, 09:53 AM

SoPas do you by chance know the Ballentine brothers?

PA Mom · 04-14-2007, 10:04 AM

Don't limit yourself to the big accounting firms though. There are plenty of great opportunities in the private sector. Check which big companies recruit for accounting as well.

ns347 · 04-14-2007, 12:27 PM

Wake Forest has among the highest CPA passing rates in the nation

Quote:

CALLOWAY GRADUATES RANK FIRST IN NATION ON CPA EXAM ? Graduates of Wake Forest?s Calloway School of Business and Accountancy rank first in the nation for their performance on the 2005 Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, according to the most recent scores available from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). They rank first in the nation on three of the exam?s four sections: financial accounting and reporting (95.5 percent passing rate); auditing and attestation (90.9 percent passing rate); and regulation (95 percent passing rate). On the fourth section, business environment and concepts, Wake Forest students rank second in nation (95 percent passing rate). Wake Forest also ranks first in the nation for the number of candidates who passed all four sections of the exam (88 percent passage rate). Since the Calloway School began offering a master?s degree in accounting in 1997, Wake Forest candidates have consistently performed well on the exam, ranking first in the nation for five years and second in the nation for three years. This is the second consecutive year Calloway School students have been ranked first in the nation since the exam was reformatted in 2004. ?This has become a proud tradition at Wake Forest,? said Lee Knight, director of the Calloway School?s accountancy program and Hylton Professor of Accountancy. Knight says the exam was reformatted to better test the skills required of CPAs in today?s workplace. ?The new exam places more emphasis on research, communication and critical thinking skills,? Knight said. ?The computerized format requires technology skills also necessary for success in the quickly evolving field of accountancy.?

http://www.wfu.edu/news/release/2007.01.10.tips.php

southpasdena · 04-14-2007, 02:36 PM

ballentine brothers?

Cmoss · 04-14-2007, 09:35 PM

yeah a buddy of mine is from so pas and i just thought i would take a stab in the dark

ilovebusiness · 04-15-2007, 01:25 AM

how much would an accountant at big 4 firm make out of texas(austin) the first yr??

Omniscient1 · 04-15-2007, 01:39 AM

UConn is considered one of the 35 to 40 target schools by the Big 4.

Calcruzer · 04-15-2007, 03:15 AM

Truman94,

A lot of those accounting scandals may have encouraged some students to get into accounting, but it also created new opportunities in the accounting area (ever hear of Sarbanes-Oxley or the PCAOB--neither of which existed prior to the accounting scandals?).

In addition to that, it created more opportunities in the legal and finance areas (greater oversight of M&A--and more legal work to advise the top executives how to insulate themselves against lawsuits in this area). Also, the recent options postdating scandal has created a lot of extra accounting work here in the Silicon Valley. Anyway, let's just say that the outlook for accounting careers is quite good at the present time.

ilovebusiness,

While Texas is the top ranked school for accounting, the salaries in Texas are notoriously low compared to other places in the country--and since most of the people graduating stay in Texas, I'm guessing that the average salary for Univ of Texas accounting graduates is only around $43,000 to $45,000. I'll let someone else look the exact number up and post it here.

P.S. I notice that the average undergraduate salary (all business programs) at Texas is $47,500 and that the average salaries for MPA (masters of public accounting) is $51,100 or so--meaning that the numbers above are probably pretty close. It said 77% of the MPA graduates stayed in Texas to work.