UW_Husky88

So basically, while I'm not failing my accounting classes, I'm more in the B to B+ range in my accounting classes, and, realistically speaking, if this continues, there is a really good chance that I won't make it into the Big 4. I'm confident that I'm intelligent enough to get a job at a decent mid-sized firm, but is not making the Big 4 as bad as people make it out to be here? It seems like, unless you make it into the Big 4, you'll never become a partner, a CEO, etc. because all of those things require that you have prior Big 4 experience, so what happens to people that didn't make it for whatever reason? I'm pretty sure there are plenty of very intelligent, hardworking people who might even have had the numbers for the Big 4 that didn't get in for whatever reason, so are they basically screwed, because it sounds like unless you make partner, your salary will be capped at a very low number despite getting a CPA (by capped I mean capped at around 75-80k) and you won't be able to exit to another industry because they all want you to have worked with the big 4. Now I'm not kidding myself and know that 80k is better than most people live, but I was shooting for 150k+ at some point in my working career, and it would really suck if I can't attain what's been a lifelong goal because I didn't initially get into the Big 4. My problem in school is basically that it takes me a while to fully understand concepts, and so I don't always do well on quizzes/tests and only do well on the final, which is what turns me from an A student to a B+ish student. So how screwed are my prospects?

Also, I'm more interested in the private industry and becoming a controller, so unless I go to the Big 4, is that not going to happen either?

thanks

sp1212

You are complaining about B's and B+'s in your accounting classes? Are you serious? That's good enough. The intermediate accounting classes really aren't easy stuff. You should be glad you haven't been weeded out yet. Anything above a C in my opinion is good.

Dawgie

No it's not good enough. Big 4 resume looks gold when you move into private industry. So yea you are limiting yourself big time if you don't get Big 4 experience.

Caution: No where in my post did I say it is not possible to excel in private without Big 4 exp. It's just an ideal situation.

openedskittles

My dad's a CPA who was hiring a CPA for a management position last year. He had to go with a guy with no big 4 experience and says he wished he could have predicted the layoffs so they could snap up someone from a big 4 firm.

I guess it's all about supply and demand. In early 2008, there was a great demand for CPAs, so you would be fine without big 4 experience. Today, there are CPAs with big 4 experience looking for jobs, so you might not do so well.

sp1212

What dawgie said contradicts with the "3.5 or higher is good enough to get interviews with the big 4"


ITS GOOD ENOUGH ESPECIALLY FOR INTERMEDIATE LEVEL ACCOUNTING CLASSES.

Dawgie

sp1212, sorry but are you handicapped? A B (3.0) and B+ (3.3) is not a 3.5+. What's up with always trying to justify and rationalize having a low GPA. I graduated with 3.6 and honestly think it's disgusting and hardly competitive. Mistake on my part though and I am advising otherwise. You don't see me here trying to justify that my GPA is ideal for Big 4, because it is not.

mc2ik

Please dont kick yourself over the B+'s. I know for me, I was so upset this past year when I received a B in intermediate accounting. I also have a C+ in calc on my trascript and was really worried that those were going to ruin me. This past summer I interviewed with two big 4 firms with a cum gpa of 3.63. Both didnt seem to care at all about the grades, and my calc grade always gives me an opportunity to show how first semester freshman year I was not doing well, but motivated myself to come back and second semester got straight A's. It helped me bond with the recruiter, who said she did awful in calc too. So please dont worry about a few B's. With those two items on my GPA i was still offered positions at both Big 4 companies, so I really think that its about how you talk about your experiences in the interview. If your overall GPA is higher, you will probably still receive an interview. GOOD LUCK!

sp1212

The fact of the matter is that with a 3.6, you got into a Big4.

And at some schools, a 3.5 is a B+

Dawgie

I'll take your word for it, I went to 3 colleges during my undergraduate and all of the GPA schemes were consistent. 3.0 B, 3.3 B+, 3.7 A-, 4.0 A

sp1212

What were the grade distributions for each letter grade?

Here it's
90-100 = A (4.00)
86-89 = B+ (3.5)
80-85 = B (3.0)

taxguy

At some schools a B+ is a 3.3 and A- is a 3.66.

Dawgie

LOL must be easy as hell to get a 4.0 at that school.

taxguy

Actually, it is a bit harder to get an A at the school that I mentioned because professors would rather give A- or B+ unless the work is equal to that of what the professor can do.

Dawgie

I was referring to the 90-100 being a 4.0. The grade scale above is more conventional.

jonahrubin

Everyone says Big Four is the best experience and clearly companies hire accordingly. However I think when considering this sort of thing one has to remember that the Big Four gets the pick of the litter. It's not fair to compare Big Four and everyone else but only Big Four vs the small pool of candidates who were good enough for Big Four but didn't go that way for reasons other than lack of ambition or whatever. Consider how successful Harvard and Yale graduates are vs the average idiot from Podunk U. They look great but studies have shown that people who get into top schools and go elsewhere anyway still are about equally successful a few decades later. It's a really tough thing to tease out whether so many CFO's are Big Four veterans because they went to the Big Four or because the Big Four was just the first to spot their potential.