<p>So I’m going to be graduating as an undergraduate UC student with a BA in Anthropology. Completely random, but it was a major that interested me. </p>
<p>I want to be an accountant but I don’t know the best way to do this.</p>
<p>-Should I go ahead and take a Master’s in Accounting at Cal State Fullerton?
-Should I take online classes, like GGU to complete my Masters?</p>
<p>Ideally, I would like to save time and money. Also, I would like to be efficient in how I do this.</p>
<ol>
<li>Would I fulfill the overall 150 units because of the classes I took in my bachelors?</li>
<li>Would a MA at Cal State be a waste of time? Also if I plan to work full-time after I graduate and then take Master’s classes at night…would that be a good plan?</li>
<li>Would taking online classes at GGU be looked down upon? In general should I even do online classes? I understand that GGU has a good alumni base and recruiting season, but not being located in Northern California worries me. </li>
</ol>
<p>Any help would be nice.</p>
<p>Also another friend is looking for this advice too, so you’d be helping two people!</p>
<ol>
<li> Most likely.<br></li>
<li> A completed masters degree is the only way you’re going to get an accounting job.</li>
<li> You should not take online classes unless you can pretend you weren’t taking online classes during recruiting.</li>
</ol>
<p>If anyone could give me a quick response I would appreciate. I have a low cumulative GPA of 3.23, but an institutional GPA of 4.0 at Florida State University. Being that I transferred from a CC into the accounting program, all classes I have taken are upper level accounting classes and therefore have an Accounting GPA of 4.0 (4 classes so far). Am I in good standing for a Big 4 internship?</p>
<p>^yes. They mainly care about concentration gpa from what I hear.</p>
<p>Hi I have a pretty good gpa 3.7 but am going to Fail a class this semester which will bring it down. I am an accounting major looking to work for the big 4. But my school has this thing called academic renewal in which you can repeat a class you failed and the new grade will take place of the old when calculating gpa but the old grade will still be shown on the transcript. Will I still be good for the big 4 if I get an A the second time around and have around the same gpa(3.7ish)</p>
<p>Hi biggumt, so long as your gpa is high enough with a good resume and cover letter, you will probably still get an interview. How you explain the F will be something to consider.</p>
<p>deztructi0n, I believe they only count your grades from the school you graduate from…double check with your college advisor. If you get that far in the interview process and they want the other transcripts then make sure you have a good explanation. Good luck!</p>
<p>Just read the original post, and I must say, I feel much better about son’s friend’s decision to switch from mech eng to accounting after reading this. He’s got the extra 30 credits under his belt after lots of APs and a year and a half of engineering coursework. He did great on his ACT and SAT, and is an excellent test taker. And, he’s a great writer. </p>
<p>Hoping he won’t get discouraged by the hard work and weedout nature of the major. </p>
<p>Even though the original post is three years old, I appreciate the encouragement and honesty it gives to those considering accounting as a major.</p>
<p>Hopefully some qualified people can shed some light on my situation:</p>
<p>I’m a UCI graduate in poli sci with a 3.7 GPA, taking my intro accounting classes at community college. My goal is to get my CPA cert and work at Big4 for a few years to gain experience to help leverage me into a CFO position in the private sector. I didn’t take any business classes in college (or accounting classes). What I do have going for me is 2 years of experience in the health care industry in a job with growing responsibilities/ management opportunities. So my question is if I want to work at Big4, what would be the best option from the following choices:</p>
<ol>
<li>MBA from UCLA, USC, Stanford, Berkeley with an emphasis on accounting. This is expensive, but I am confident I will be able to get accepted into one of these programs. This would also help knock out the business units required by the CPA board.</li>
<li>MSA from USC, CSUF, Cal Poly Pomona: Somewhat cheaper, but I would need to take the business classes somewhere else, I assume. It’s also a faster route. </li>
</ol>
<p>Note that I would eventually want an MBA anyway. So far I’m leaning towards MBA. Any thoughts.</p>
<p>If I had a MBA from Anderson, GSB, Haas, or Marshall, I sure as hell wouldn’t take it to a Big 4 and start at HALF the starting salary that average MBA’s coming out of those programs make.</p>
<p>Saltricks you are either naive about the admissions process at these top MBA programs, ignorant about what kind of jobs people get coming out of these programs, or you are setting your goals at the lowest possible level. </p>
<p>The Big4 do not recruit these MBA programs because outside of Deloitte consulting MBA grads don’t even take a whiff of Big4.</p>
<p>Would quitting my job in order to attend a master’s in accounting program make any sense in this current economy?</p>
<p>Also, does this career path sound reasonable? MS or MSB in accounting -> do not take CPA exam -> goverment job or business/financial analyst position in the private sector.</p>
<p>Ok, that’s what I was thinking. My thought process with an MBA is that I don’t see a point in getting an MBA from anything except the top 25 and in California, so those are my options in that regard. I know that I’ll be getting an MBA at some point, so I figured I could kill 2 birds with one stone and knock out my accounting units for the CPA at the same time. I just finished the GMAT with a 760 and have work experience at a top pharmaceutical company so I figured that I had a shot at top tier schools. I really like accounting, and I figured that Big4 was a step to experience and success in that field. Good to know that I should perhaps wait to get an MBA if they don’t recruit from MBA programs. </p>
<p>Now regarding an MSA: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m seeing prices around 30k-40k(USC) for the program. I guess I could stomach this, if I had a good chance to get recruited to Big4 after finishing. So my question once again is:</p>
<p>If I do well at USC, CSUF, Cal Poly Pomona (did I miss any good MSA schools?) will I be able to get interviewed and hired at Big4, or should I be looking to something else? Remember I was not a business/accounting major in undergrad and would probably have to take business units at CC.</p>
<p>I’m curious as well if CSUF (close to my home so preferable) has Big 4 and/or other prominent local/national firms come recruit for their master’s accounting class. This is a deciding factor as to whether I will be applying there this upcoming year.</p>
<p>"Now regarding an MSA: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m seeing prices around 30k-40k(USC) for the program. I guess I could stomach this, if I had a good chance to get recruited to Big4 after finishing. So my question once again is:</p>
<p>If I do well at USC, CSUF, Cal Poly Pomona (did I miss any good MSA schools?) will I be able to get interviewed and hired at Big4, or should I be looking to something else? Remember I was not a business/accounting major in undergrad and would probably have to take business units at CC."</p>
<p>30-40 K in tuition? I couldnt stomach that. </p>
<p>Also, doing great in a great program will probably, although not always, get you some interviews. Getting hired, takes more than that though. Also remember, that your GPA going into the program is often more important than your GPA going out, because they evaluate you on your cumulative GPA as of the interview date.</p>
<p>^CSUF is only 10k actually. Really not bad. My GPA coming into the program isn’t bad (3.7), but it is in political science. I am taking business classes at CC to help fulfill the requirements for CPA, and I’m thinking of finishing up with a MSA. </p>
<p>So the question is what else do I need to get interviewed at least? Join leadership clubs etc.? I’ve heard that networking/GPA is what gets you the job…is there something that I am missing?</p>
<p>If you’ve gotten laid before, you probably have the skills to pull it off. After all, whats the point of going to a Big 4 when you don’t have the game to bang an intern?</p>
<p>I think you’ll do just fine at any MSA program. Just don’t come across as a social idiot and you’ll get hired. </p>
<p>I don’t think you understand what you are signing up for. Let me be very clear - I don’t care how much you think you like accounting, it is not an appropriate profession for someone with the intelligence to score a 760 on the GMAT. </p>
<p>You’ll shove numbers around from one place to another and turn on your brain for maybe 1 or 2 hours a day, max. It is literally that bad. People use it for the experience before moving on, but that’s because they went to CSU-Nowhere and have no other choice if they hope to step up to management positions in multinational corporations. With a 760, you have MUCH better, more direct options to suitable work and a good career path.</p>
<p>Now, I know you won’t believe me, but at least now you can’t say you weren’t warned. See you back here in a couple years.</p>
<p>Acaden. Please tell me how his GMAT is going to help him get a job, because it seems that you are directly relating success in a job search to the GMAT. And as everyone knows standardized tests have proven over and over to be great indicators of success, right ? /endsarcasm. </p>
<p>Acaden, so you’re saying that people only work in accounting because they’re too stupid to work somewhere else? So all of the partners that have been working for hundreds of accounting firms are only there because they weren’t smart enough to work in a different field? Really? Then explain why some of the most recruited schools in the country are not your typical CSU-Nowhere schools, but prestigious ones like USC, Texas, Illinois and BYU. FYI, unless you’re at the top of the top in a CSU, good luck getting a job with any decent sized accounting firm (I’m not even talking about the Big 4).</p>
<p>760 -> Berkeley, etc. -> job. I thought this was obvious.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No, but if you’re good enough to work in a more selective business profession accounting is a terrible financial and intellectual decision.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The CEO of McDonalds started working at a McDonalds. People recognize talent, and you eventually get the position and rewards you deserve. But that doesn’t mean you should take your BS in accounting and start at McDonalds.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>1) These schools are good but not great. 2) These are the most prestigious schools the Big 4 can get anyone to accept an offer from. What does that tell you? 3) Most Big 4 employees still come from CSU-Nowhere.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You don’t need to FYI me about this stuff, I participated in recruiting every year at both Big 4 firms I worked at.</p>
<p>I should mention there is good work at the Big 4, just not in the general audit and tax service lines. It’s in advisory/consulting/specialty accounting practices. And if you look at the realized bill rates for each practice, you’d see the huge difference in sophistication and value add.</p>