<p>Out of curiosity, I have a dilemma in that I graduated with a non-accounting degree with a GPA of …GASP…2.75. But I’m planning on getting a Masters in Accounting and have taken CC classes already, which Im doing really well in. I know I don’t want to work for a Big 4 Firm and so would it be possible for a national/regional/local firm hire someone with that kind of undergrad GPA? Would a high GMAT score and graduate GPA compensate for the low undergrad GPA?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I met half my experience requirements by graduation from working at an internships. There are two types of certification in california though: a limited licence(not audit) and an attest license. The latter requires at minimum of 500 hours of attest. CPA experience requirements vary greatly by state. </p>
<p>Master degrees programs are great. Anyone who says otherwise is full of ****. A masters degree in tax or accounting from USC with a 3.3 gpa would get your foot in the door anywhere you wanted if you interviewed well. Age will be a big downer though they don’t like old people like I said. Old people don’t want to work the hours because they have children and old people cannot relocate because they have mortgages.</p>
<p>I am currently an accounting junior in the process of seeking an internship for the spring of 2013, but so far no luck. Why have I been getting rejected for interviews?</p>
<p>I have a 3.86 overall GPA as well as a fully completed 4.0GPA econ minor, and I thought that would at least be enough to get my foot in the door. I will also have enough credits and become CPA eligible in May 2013. I am not super old, I am only 19 years old. I go to a top undergrad accounting school, which is AACSB accredited. I am also a member of SAS, an accounting club, and I tutor intro level accountancy courses for a part time job 15 hrs a week.</p>
<p>So what am I doing wrong? Is it because I need to be in the masters program? Or that I’m not black/latino? My goal at first was to get an internship with a big 4 to experience big 4 culture, but now I don’t see that happening at all. So far half the firms that I applied for, including KPMG, has already declined me for an interview.</p>
<p>boom, if you PM me your resume I can check it out</p>
<p>ValleyAccountant, thank you for your info. DD is interested in the full license (with attest), is an audit internship counted towards the 500 attest hours then?</p>
<p>As a CSUF accounting student it looks like I will need to work just a bit harder during interviews to prove my worth to big four recruiters if big four is the path I end up choosing. I will be a junior next year, 2012, though the upcoming changes to the CPA make 2014 graduation interesting I will have the 150 units needed to sit for it under pathway 2.</p>
<p>Sadly this is not due to having my Masters degree, but due to a few wasteful years while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. In the end it was worth it because I found something that I enjoy and can make a career out of. I do feel old when I realize I will be 26 by the time I graduate when I will be competing with 22 year olds. With the CPA changes I guess that number could be bumped up to 23 or 24 depending on how aggressive the individual is in their studies. </p>
<p>I guess my real question is at 26 as a Cal State Fullerton graduate with a 3.7-3.8 GPA (currently have a 3.9, but with harder classes coming I can expect to shed a few points realistically) and the ability to sit for CPA right out of school how competitive would I be in a big four market? How competitive in the mid-tier market: Moss Adams, Holthouse Carlin and Van Trigt, etc. ?</p>
<p>Thank you to all who respond.</p>
<p>Verto1: I think you have a great shot. Outside of the Big 4, I’d honestly aim for GT, BDO, HCVT.</p>
<p>I don’t think your age will play a major factor. Honestly, I’d rather see some older/more mature people enter the entry level. 24 yr old brand new seniors tend to power trip and that doesn’t get you any respect in the office.</p>
<p>And why are you even here on the Friday night of 11/11/11? Go out and have a few shots at 11:11p. Live it up and stop being such a nerdo :)</p>
<p>Off to the bar, cya!</p>
<p>It is up to the CPA she will be working under and the jobs she performs. If the CPA refuses to sign off and vouch then it won’t count and if they decide to sign off and log the hours correctly then it will count. Many internships are a disneyland introduction where you don’t actually do real accounting work. If it is one of those I doubt it will count. The big 4 do many of those. My friend who interned at PWC in silicone spent more time at social events than he did doing actually accounting work. Another friend of mine did an audit internship at KPMG and she said it was like spring break.</p>
<p>My accounting internships involved a sink or swim approach. Basically I got a few week crash course in compilation and review in addition to quarterly taxes. After which I was billing clients and doing real work. You don’t have to have a college degree to meet the experience requirements. Many of the bookkeepers at my work would also meet the experience requirements as they do financial statements and taxes. They don’t get paid like CPA’s but do many of the same tasks. Enrolled Agents don’t have college degrees and they know more about tax than many CPA.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the detailed reply.</p>
<p>I have not had the chance to read much of this 100+ page thread…but as a fellow student,</p>
<p>@Verto1,</p>
<p>First of all I think its awesome that you are doing well in your classes and maintaining such a high GPA. One thing for sure is, its not all about GPA. Its also about networking, what other experiences you have aside from school, and how well you communicate either at socials or during interviews.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that some firms will not even give you an interview, even if you have an impressive resume. Why? Because they do not recognize your name from networking events, socials, etc.</p>
<p>But with that kind of GPA, and assuming you did some other things outside of school, you are definitely in the mix for big 4 and mid tier. </p>
<p>I am currently a junior at a UC. I just finished first-round interviews w/ some firms (big 4 (PwC, DT) & mid tier (BDO, GT, HCVT), and I have second rounds w/ 2 of the big 4, and was rejected by 2 of the mid tiers so far.</p>
<p>With your age, I think the only potential issue is, will you be okay taking orders from a senior (or even manager?) who is younger than you?</p>
<p>Awesome thread, lots of good info. I have a question about a dilemma I’m having though:</p>
<p>I am currently in my 3rd year at community college. I have a 4.0 GPA and will turn in my transfer applications in a few days. I’m pretty sure I can get into UCSB next Fall, but I have also considered the fact that I might also have a pretty good shot of getting into UCLA if I stay a 4th year in community college and complete Calculus 2 (something I can’t do in time as a Fall 2012 transfer).</p>
<p>Is it worth it to stay another year (!FOUR!) to try to get into UCLA? Part of me just wants to get this undergrad thing over with and do the CPA/Big 4 thing as fast as possible and part of me wants to see if I can get into a slightly more prestigious university…</p>
<p>I am also from Los Angeles and would like to work in LA after graduating. Do UCLA grads have a higher chance of getting recruited by LA firms than UCSB grads?</p>
<p>^, I would say so. Especially since you will be networking with them ALOT. </p>
<p>But with that said, I believe you can always recruit with firms near your school, and request that you have in-house interviews at the LA office or that LA is your first preference. I do know that the big 4 recruit heavily at UCSB.</p>
<p>In response to Verto1 and others:</p>
<p>I go to CSUF and have just gotten invited to at least two second round interviews with the Big 4 - my GPA is just over 3.4. A lot of people told me they wouldn’t even look at my application/resume due to my GPA not being around 3.7+. I spent the last year networking and getting accounting work experience. Keep your GPA as high as you can - although it’s evident you wont have a problem doing so - and join the accounting society.</p>
<p>Someone in this thread totally knocked BAP. In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth. How else are you going to get invited to office tours, golf tournaments, casino socials, speaker meetings, and the end of term banquet? </p>
<p>If you are a sophomore look into applying to summer leadership programs this semester and next with the Big 4 and mid tier. I found out about these too late I was only able to apply to one.</p>
<p>Also be aware of the CPA requirements changing. The Acct. faculty had a retreat this year and were briefed on all the information concerning this so they are a good place to start.</p>
<p>As for your age, I agree with Moss, shouldn’t be a factor at all.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>question:</p>
<p>I got an offer from Grant Thornton and KPMG.</p>
<p>at Grant Thornton I really got on well with the partners and senior managers and staff, the office was more intimate and congenial, and they extended the offer to me 2 days after my office interview. KPMG didn’t make the offer until more than 2 weeks after I went for the office interview and generally I did get the same sense of fraternity and enthusiasm that I felt at the GT office. compensation was exactly the same. </p>
<p>I went with GT. </p>
<p>did I make a mistake in not going with the Big 4?</p>
<p>I have a question guys. Lets say I major in accounting and minor in mathematics, and start out in audit for deloitte. Will it be easy to transfer to their consulting arm?</p>
<p>@tub05241,</p>
<p>Congrats on your offers! </p>
<p>As per your question… well it all depends on what YOU want out of a career and public accounting. What made you decide GT over KPMG? </p>
<p>@nycdave21,</p>
<p>I am not too sure, as I am a fellow recruit. But I do know that audit is probably one of the most optimal places to start, if you are aiming to branch out to another practice.</p>
<p>@tub05241: At the end of the day, the firm’s prestige won’t really matter if you don’t enjoy working with the people there. While KPMG was probably the better place for your long term career goals, GT is still a great firm and it sounds like you made the right choice. Audit is audit regardless of what firm you work at and it’s the people you work with that really make the difference.</p>
<p>@nycdave21: From what I gather, Deloitte Consulting is unlike the other Big 4’s advisory practices - it’s essentially its own business line. While your chances would increase, I don’t think starting off in audit only to try to go into their consulting line is too smart of an idea. Furthermore, apparently their consulting isn’t that highly respected in the consulting market.</p>
<p>tub05241: Good choice. Many of the GT leaders are ex-Andersen and Andersen was THE firm to work for back in the day. The culture bleeds through.</p>
<p>poserbruin: 4 years at community college! That’s nuts, that’s how long it takes to get a bachelor’s degree. I’d move on and out and transfer…Your gpa is competitive enough for recruiting into accounting firms…and to get into a good enough college. </p>
<p>“Someone in this thread totally knocked BAP. In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth. How else are you going to get invited to office tours, golf tournaments, casino socials, speaker meetings, and the end of term banquet?” </p>
<p>You can do most of those things without being a member of bap. But I agree, being a member is a good way to stay informed of deadlines and when these things are happening (although you can often just look at the bap website). And it’s a great way to just learn about public accounting, so it’s definitely recommended.</p>
<p>Moss: are you being serious or funny? lol people don’t usually base their decisions based off if a firm’s culture is similar to the culture Arthur Anderson had…</p>
<p>rusoboy:Deloitte Consulting is ranked and viewed very highly for management consulting, right behind MBB. Deloitte has its Consulting entity, and also an advisory branch.</p>
<p>You can do plenty of networking without doing that BAP crap.</p>