Howdy, I’ll be transferring in a year and have been having difficulty finding “hidden gem” accounting programs. I understand what all the target schools are and that there is a correlation between size, big 4 recruiting, and funding. My problem with those schools are their size and somewhat their locations. I would like to go to a college with about 4000-9000 students, very close or in an urban area. Program wise I’d like the possibility of a 4+1 macc program, with at least a little but of big 4 recruiting maybe only 2 firms recruit a few times a year there, and heavy midsized regional firm recruiting. Some bonus points would be mild weather, somewhere in the north, Midwest, south or Mid-Atlantic. If anyone who knows of colleges that fit that description and possibly have even gone there through their accounting programs please lmk. Thank you very much for future answers!
Bryant. Bentley babson. The three bs in southern New England. Warm weather. No. But it’s 80 today
Second for the Three B’s. Especially Bryant, a hidden gem for accounting. Big 4 loves it.
I’m not sure about 4+1 programs, but here are three that otherwise meet your criteria, I believe (except that Omaha Is cold and Richmond just under your cutoff).
William and Mary and Richmond: Both have beautiful campuses and outstanding business schools. Richmond is obviously a city school (actually in an upscale suburban area just a few miles from downtown), and Richmond and William and Mary host national recruiters, with many students going to work in the DC area.
Creighton is practically adjacent to downtown Omaha, which is a vibrant business center (Warren Buffett). It’s very well respected, especially in the Midwest.
https://business.creighton.edu
Good luck!
smu gets all big 4 plus andersen tax and bdo for smaller ones.
Tons of great accounting programs out there. What can you afford (merit aid is tough to come by for transfer students)? what are your academic stats?
Good ideas above. Also lots of the Jesuit colleges are mid-sized universities in urban areas and many have good b-schools. If a Catholic school would be OK you can look through the list as well as at Villanova and Providence for academic/geographic fits. http://www.ajcunet.edu/institutions/ The thing to be careful of is that these schools typically have a large core curriculum so be sure you can fulfill all the requirements and graduate on time. I’d look into Tulane as well even though it is a bit bigger than you want.
When it comes to academic stats, my high school ones aren’t the best, at best they’d probably be dead center in a colleges averages. My SAT was 1220 with a 3.73 uwgpa. Finishing freshman year, I’ll have a 3.85 of all transfer eligible credits, I’ll be transferring with 74 units at the end of two years but there’s usually a maximum these private universities accept which is around 60 units. I do have lots of ECs and on par interviewing skills. I would expect at most a couple thousand a year in merit aid just because like you said there isn’t much for transfers. I do have a list of safety schools that I can afford and graduate with barely any debt not including grad school but most don’t come close to my wants in size and location. I wouldn’t like to graduate with more than $60k in debt including a one year Macc program. Thanks for the links too!
TCU ?
Lehigh has an excellent B school and is a major target for Big 4. Villanova, BC, BU.
If you can’t go to the big-name schools (for whatever reason), perhaps it can help to attend a good-but-not-great school that’s literally in the shadows of places you’d like to work at.
For example, Virginia Commonwealth U. Is a solid, no-frills school that’s a stone’s throw from countless banks, investment firms, etc. in Richmond’s bustling downtown. Likewise U of Nebraska at Omaha. U of Michigan at Dearborn is literally just down the street from dozens of automotive companies’ offices.
Sometimes companies in the less-glamorous cities have been burned by recruiting at big-name schools because the recruits are eager to move on to NYC (or Chicago, Boston, etc). They are therefore sometimes happy to get a hard-working guy from a local school who will be happy to live in that area.
How do you plan to pay for it?
Roughly, 20k from efc 15k from me, and the rest (about 15k-25k) will be loans assuming no merit aid.