<p>Hi everyone, I am interested in a summer internship with the big 4. However I’m not sure if my school is one of the schools that are recruited from. I have done some researching but have no idea. Does anyone know if UGA is a school of recruitment? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure UGA would be recruited, it’s a very large and well known school in the south. Check with your career center.</p>
<p>will do, thanks ruso.
I hope I don’t get crap for asking this… but what does it exactly mean when you become a partner with a firm? Does this mean you start your own firm that branches off of the firm you are partnered with?</p>
<p>Hello! Another question for the veterans on this forum - - how difficult is it to get into a MSA or a MAcc program without an accounting background? I know of programs near me that will accept non accounting majors (SDSU in particular). But as I have no job experience in accounting and no classwork in accounting what are the chances of getting in? And since I’ve been out of school for a while, I’m concerned about how I will perform in classes.</p>
<p>I am considering taking an intro to accounting class at a community college so that I can learn the basics and get a good letter of recommendation from the professor. Is this a good/bad idea? Is it necessarily? Would what I learn in an intro to accounting class give me a good foundation for the masters classes or are they unrelated? If intro to accounting is not super relevant, can anyone suggest some community college classes that are?</p>
<p>When companies look at your GPA are they referring to the GPA of your major coursework, or the entire GPA you graduated with?</p>
<p>I have a question regarding the CPA exam.</p>
<p>Is it updated once a year on January 1st or are the updates rolled out periodically?</p>
<p>The reason for this being that I have started to study for the FAR and BEC sections with 2011 study materials, and I want to know if I need to take the exams before 2012 for my studying to be relevant. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Panderso, it’s probably a good idea to take Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting at the CC level. They are foundation classes that would give you lots of relevant information. If you have no formal accounting job or education experience, I would think you would HAVE to take those classes first.</p>
<p>A masters will not make one “overqualified”. Samantha just like I told you before it is better for you to stay doing insurance. You will be an old wrinkly grandma before you break 100k in public accounting. The firm you work for will not care about your sales experience and your age. The firm will not care you are a mom. They will work you 60+ hours a week for less than 60k a year. Even in high priced areas like SF the starting pay package is only 55-65k. You will work long hours for these wages. Also you will spend 100s of hours studying to pass your CPA test. Your boss at a large national or regional firm could be half your age!</p>
<p>Jace companies will look at both. My firm looks at cumulative and major GPA.</p>
<p>Panderso</p>
<p>Beware of community college CPA curriculum. I went to a community college before transferring. Firms like some of the classes you can take their like quickbooks and peachtree classes. They do not like to see intermediate and advanced accounting courses from community college. Firms will not recruit at community colleges either!</p>
<p>Where did he say ANYTHING about taking upper level classes at a CC?</p>
<p>Besides, most CCs do not offer intermediate/advanced acctg courses. Firms don’t typically recruit freshman or sophomores at 4-year colleges either. </p>
<p>panderso,
If the masters programs you are looking at don’t require any backgroud in acctg, you don’t necessarily need to take intro to acctg courses before you enter the program. In some of these programs, intro and intermediate courses are part of the curriculum and are not prerequisites. It all depends on what program you are looking into. I would ask them or look on their websites.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts guys.</p>
<p>Here’s some info for other people who are researching masters for non accounting majors: Most Masters programs for non accounting majors that I’ve researched don’t require you to have already taken accounting prereqs. However, if you don’t have your bachelors in accounting or finance they have a list of accounting prereqs you must take. Or if you’ve already taken them you can petition them.</p>
<p>I don’t see how taking the intro classes at a CC is a bad idea. I’ll have to take them either way, and if I take them during the Masters program it will cost me a lot more in tuition. They are lower div classes so why pay masters tuition for them. Plus if I am going to have to find letters of rec and slog through a statement of purpose, having taken those core classes are really going to help in both departments. And I can ensure that I truly do enjoy accounting before dropping $5k or more on masters tuition. Kill a couple birds with one stone.</p>
<p>ValleyAccountant I think you are misunderstanding the classes I am talking about. I am not talking about waiving core masters curricula. I am talking about low level financial accounting and managerial accounting. Accounting 201, Accounting 202.</p>
<p>These are classes that you don’t even take at Masters level if already you have a bachelors in accounting or finance. So how could firms hold it against me? Do they check people’s bachelors transcripts to ensure they took their entry level classes at a university instead of a community college? Obviously you know more than I do if you work at a public accounting firm but that seems strange to me. Can anyone else chime in?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.smc.edu/StudentServices/TransferServices/AreasofStudy/Documents/Major_Sheets_for_AA_Degree/accounting_aa.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smc.edu/StudentServices/TransferServices/AreasofStudy/Documents/Major_Sheets_for_AA_Degree/accounting_aa.pdf</a></p>
<p>Check it out they offer enough units to sit for the exam. Just take your 2 lower division courses at community college and you will be fine. Firms will not care if you took your lower division curriculum there.</p>
<p>Working at big 4 read this previous post by ponderso.</p>
<p>"This seems like a pretty active thread so I was hoping you guys could give me some guidance.</p>
<p>I have a BA in political science from UC San Diego and my goal is to become a CPA. My degree is not going to get me anywhere (I’m currently a project coordinator for a non profit). I don’t have any work experience in accounting.</p>
<p>I am considering
A) A certificate from a distance learning community college like Santa Monica College (best looking CC program I’ve seen).
B) A certificate from a local community college but the classes don’t look as good
B) A post bacc cert from a distance learning university like LSU.
C) Going straight into SDSU’s Masters of Accountancy program.</p>
<p>I am hesitant to go straight to the MSA because I don’t have any work experience and I don’t want to be overqualified from the entry level-ish positions. Plus the extra debt. I am concerned about getting an education that is too theoretical and not practical enough (again!). I don’t need it for the 150 credit hours; thanks to my BA I will have enough with whichever program. </p>
<p>I honestly really like Santa Monica College’s curriculum but am concerned that a certificate from a community college just won’t look that prestigious. Would a post bacc cert look better? And does recruitment even exist with distance learning? Would the big 4 recruit from any of these programs?</p>
<p>Lastly, is there any program or certification that would qualify me to be a financial analyst instead of just an accountant?</p>
<p>I would probably do all of this part time while working, pass the CPA exams, then job hunt. Thoughts? Suggestions? Thank you for your help!"</p>
<p>Ok so im back again. Is there anyone who works at big 4 or worked there and moved to industry that might be able to help me out.
Basically. Im in my junior year and stuck in a tough situation. I can graduate with a bachelors from UF with about 140 hours next spring by picking up a minor or enroll in their 3/2 program and get a masters for an additional year. My problem is the fact that I get federal aid and cant afford the 3/2 program cause they enroll you as a grad student starting in your senior year. Therefore, id have to use loans. I keep hearing mixed stories from recruiters, advisors and professors about the benefits of the masters and how its used only for credits. My goal is to go straight to chicago where the accounting hour requirements is only 24 hours.
Therefore, is it beneficial to start working right away since i cant start studying for cpa in chicago until you have 150 hours and would it be harder getting a job since a majority of people are now getting a masters?</p>
<p>Since the AICPA doesn’t care about where your 150 hours come from, take two or three random online courses at your local community college to fulfill the need. This way not only is your GPA not affected (since no one but AICPA will see your community college transcript), you also only need a C or higher for the class to count. And it can be any course whatsoever, so find the easiest ones you can take.</p>
<p>OK here’s my situation,
I got out of the military and I looked around for a job, and I’m realizing that I’m trained in stuff that just doesn’t translate to the real world. Luckily I have the GI bill, and 2 years of community college classes under my belt. What I would like to know is,</p>
<p>1) I don’t like change and I’m not looking for high pay, I’m looking for stability, long term employment, and a 9 to 5. Can I find a job at around 40k after graduating from an accounting program at ASU?</p>
<p>2) Are there many accounting jobs within the government world? </p>
<p>3) What in the world will school be like? I took financial and managerial accounting classes through my online cc, got a B and an A and enjoyed the kind of puzzle-like problem solving it required. But I am nervous about the calculus, statistics and upper level accounting classes that are needed. Is there a chance that I won’t be accepted to the accounting dept as I currently have not taken ANY math classes during y 2 years at cc?</p>
<p>4) Will a BS in accounting actually make me prepared for the job once I get one?</p>
<p>Is anyone here familiar with Beta Alpha Psi?</p>
<p>I’ll be starting my senior year as an accounting major in the Spring with an anticipated graduation date of December 2012 (my current cumulative GPA is 3.9). I was unable to join BAP this semester due to scheduling issues with one of my accounting courses and the weekly meetings. You’re required to join at least one semester before your final semester (excluding the summer), so I would have to join in the Spring. However, I may have a co-op or internship in the Spring, which would make it impossible to join due to the time commitment required to pledge.</p>
<p>Anyway, my university also offers another accounting organization (Student Accounting Society) that doesn’t require nearly as many social activity/volunteer hours to join. Should I join SAS and pursue the co-op/internship next semester, or should I join BAP and skip the internship?</p>
<p>I wanted to beef up my resume a bit before I apply for the MAcc program, but I’m not sure which route to take. I guess I can always join BAP in grad school if it’s necessary.</p>
<p>Do the internship.</p>