<p>^Not necessarily, you can become rich by doing trading faster than by owning a business. And who said that doctors are not rich? Many doctors these days have their own practice, and clinics, which shows that they can also be entrepreneurs in their own field.</p>
<p>I had been wavering throughout my time at the community college on what to major in, but after this past Spring semester I ended up getting my associate’s degree in general studies. I had heard many good things about IT and accounting, but I didn’t really care for the IT courses I took so I’ve decided to go for a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Moving forward, here are a few things I’m wondering about accounting:</p>
<ol>
<li>Any recommendations for schools with the best accounting programs in the Pittsburgh area(I’d prefer to commute to cut costs)? </li>
<li>I’ve read that during the busy season of an accounting career, 60 hour work weeks(or more) aren’t uncommon, but how many months does the busy season usually last? In your experience, just how hard is it to still have a life outside of work during busy season?</li>
<li>I’m preparing to take more courses over the upcoming Fall semester at the community college to bring up my 3.3 GPA and take more of the courses that will be required for admittance to accounting programs at other schools; my school is accredited(CCAC), so does this mean that all the credits I earn here will count toward the 150 credit CPA requirement?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Ha u wish busy season was only 60 hours/week.</p>
<p>Everything you post gives me the impression you are a little kid with no working experience who knows nothing about the real world. I am talking about what is likely to make you rich not what can make you rich. Trading is a crap shoot since no one really knows what is going to happen with the market. A tiny fraction of the top 1% got rich off of trading. The majority are either business owners or high level professionals. The latter group eventually ages out of their professional while a business with a going concern will continue operating. </p>
<p>So what jobs have you held Tosh? How many client’s records have you seen? I asked you this before and never had this answered.</p>
<p>Ryogen like I have said before. Don’t ask licensing questions there are 50 states and a couple of territories that all have different licensing requirements. Go talk to your state board. These licensing requirements change all the time.</p>
<p>Here’s a decent article on how people get rich from inc.com</p>
<p>[How</a> the Rich Get Rich | Inc.com](<a href=“http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-the-rich-got-rich.html]How”>How the Rich Got Rich | Inc.com)</p>
<p>It’s all about owning businesses and capital gains. Never really heard of anyone getting “rich” off trading especially day trading, you’ll probably lose money really. Unless your talking about hedge funds which really isn’t “trading”. This in all honesty could be a difference of thinking what rich is though. I don’t consider a doctor’s salary really rich.</p>
<p>Hi guys,
i Have a question. How is Lehigh University’s reputation on accounting? I already read that the school doesnt matter, but i would still like to hear opinions.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>ValleyAccountant,</p>
<p>First of all, I didn’t say that trading was the most effective way to get rich–I said that it was the quickest. </p>
<p>“Trading is a crap shoot since no one really knows what is going to happen with the market. A tiny fraction of the top 1% got rich off of trading.”</p>
<p>Trading is not a crap shoot, but there is a huge risk involved. Anyway, I guess we all agree that no one becomes rich without a risk. Trading is not like playing lottery or gambling, where you generally have less than 50% chance of winning. You invest based on the market research you make, and you definitely have less than 50% chance of losing money, since there are only 3 conditions: when a stock goes up, down, or stays at the same level, which is rare. (but in that case you are not losing money anyway) </p>
<p>“The majority are either business owners or high level professionals.”</p>
<p>Nobody argues with that, but you have to remember that all business owners face a high risk of failure too, especially in the US, where you have so many regulations (financial, environmental, safety etc.) that prevent businesses from growing or even putting them into bankruptcy. For instance, in order to sell a lemonade on the streets, you have to get various permits, spend months of filling paper work, and paying thousands in legal fees. On the other hand, in many other countries, you could just sell it in your backyard, which is not allowed in the US. </p>
<p>Numbah0ne,</p>
<p>“Never really heard of anyone getting “rich” off trading especially day trading, you’ll probably lose money really.”</p>
<p>Yes, you always lose money when you trade, but good traders, at the end of the day, have a net gain instead of a net loss. Hedge funds are even better because they trade with other peoples’ money and carry no losses, for they generally retain 20% of gains.</p>
<p>“I don’t consider a doctor’s salary really rich.”</p>
<p>I don’t either, but as I mentioned before, some doctors have their own clinics, and running a clinic is like running a business.</p>
<p>
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/magazine/dont-blink-the-hazards-of-confidence.html?pagewanted=3[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/magazine/dont-blink-the-hazards-of-confidence.html?pagewanted=3</a>
</p>
<p>
taxguy: I think current college students have a lot of interest in professional majors like accounting. The first graduates from that group should have started entering the job market.</p>
<p>According to [the</a> 2011 AICPA report](<a href=“TSBPA - Welcome to Texas State Board of Public Accountancy”>TSBPA - Welcome to Texas State Board of Public Accountancy), my perceptions are accurate. The number of accounting degrees granted has been on a noteworthy upward trend (see graph, pg 18) and has almost reached pre-2000 levels. Meanwhile, enrollment has steadily increased (see table, pg 11).</p>
<p>I’m curious: are you seeing the beginnings of a glut in the supply of accounting grads? Has the pendulum swung too far?</p>
<p>Valley, thank you for your response. Let me give you some more information. My bachelor’s in accounting will be from the University of Tennessee, which claims to be ranked fairly high in the field in the country. I have consistently taken 12 hours per semester throughout my education but I have also worked full time in retail management as well. I am very outgoing and have quite a bit of leadership experience, but just not in school organizations. Most of my experience comes from my job. I have not taken the CPA exam yet but I absolutely will as soon as I am eligible. </p>
<p>Also, I have not yet had an internship with any firms but I am working on that now, as Meet the Firms will be coming back to UT soon. I am trying my best to get my GPA up but I really am curious to know from someone that might have large firm experience like yourself (or any others here that might), if the majority of my core business classes had higher grades and my lower GPA comes mostly from lower scores in classes such as statistics and science/history classes, will the firms care so much about the overall GPA or that I did well in my business and accounting classes?</p>
<p>If I undergrad major in economics and minor in accounting, does this make me eligible for the CPA exam? Or do most schools not fulfill the credit requirements at the minoring level? Because then I may rethink my plan and flip-flop my major/minor</p>
<p>@janedoeski
It probably won’t but you will need to check with your state requirements. A lot of schools don’t offer a accounting minor also. If your planning on taking the cpa why not major in accounting? What do you want to do with economics?</p>
<p>Is accounting a bad choice if you don’t like to do much traveling</p>
<p>Do Big 4 ask for official transcripts or Unofficial transcripts? My school charges $8 for each official transcript but the unofficial ones are free. Also how many times do they look at the transcript? Thank you!</p>
<p>I was looking at the website for AACSB accredited schools and I was wondering about AACSB accreditation in business vs. both business and accounting. I feel like the latter would be the way to go, but only a small fraction have both business and accounting. Would it matter, to say, a Big 4? Let’s say two candidates have basically the same credentials except one went to a business accredited and one went to a business and accounting accredited school. Thanks.</p>
<p>Website for reference: [AACSB</a> Business and Accounting Accreditation](<a href=“http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/accreditedmembers.asp]AACSB”>Search Accredited Schools | AACSB)</p>
<p>Here is how I would describe travel</p>
<p>Tax- almost never you sit on your ass all day for at least 40 hours a week and sometimes as many as 80. Last week I billed 73 hours and worked 80 it was a really bad week. I only travel for training. Once I make manager level i may travel to meet clients. </p>
<p>Audit- I don’t work in audit but I have friends that do and they travel 3/5ths of their time all over the state and the country and live out of hotels.</p>
<p>In my experience they will ask for your transcripts twice. Once for an interview and then after you graduate. My firm does both. If we make a fall offer and then you go from a 3.7 GPA to a 3.0 by getting nothing but C’s between your offer and your start date your ass is getting dropped. If you lied about your GPA then you will get dropped too. HR checks the first time and then the CPA licensing team checks the 2nd time to make sure you are CPA eligible in your state and maybe markets in other states. </p>
<p>If you are going to interviews be prepared to show a transcript every time. Especially with accounting firms as they are concerned with your CPA eligibility and merely possessing a bachelors in accounting or even a masters in accounting may not mean eligibility.</p>
<p>The new 2014 California requirements would permit people with accounting undergraduates and extra business units to be licensed while a person with a BA in a non-business field and a masters degree in accounting may not be eligible. You basically need 78 units of business and accounting to be eligible. You can fulfil these at community colleges though. The board wanted an education barrier but did not want to economically discriminate by requiring a masters degree that typically costs 5 figures. All you need is a BA to be successful as an accountant. A masters is not necessary but is typically preferred in the tax field. In the audit field the majority only have a BA degree but in the tax field a majority of partners have masters of tax or a law degree.</p>
<p>Many firms will pay for a masters of tax degree for their tax staff.</p>
<p>“If we make a fall offer and then you go from a 3.7 GPA to a 3.0 by getting nothing but C’s between your offer and your start date your ass is getting dropped. If you lied about your GPA then you will get dropped too. HR checks the first time and then the CPA licensing team checks the 2nd time to make sure you are CPA eligible in your state and maybe markets in other states”</p>
<p>Have you ever seen people get “dropped” for less extreeme reasons?</p>
<p>Also, what about when you start working…Do you find that alot of 1st years get dropped? and for what reasons?</p>
<p>Is the MIS - Accounting double major still a smart choice to be able to sit for the CPa and get into IT auditing?</p>