<p>Hi, I'm an undergraduate at the Stern School of Business. My career interests, as of now, are in the finance area, particularly ibanking. As preparation for that, I've decided on double-majoring in Finance & Accounting (which I heard are the two majors that give you excellent background for the field). However, starting this year, Stern is offering a 5-yr program in which one would potentially graduate with a BS in Finance and a MS in Accounting as well as be prepared for the CPA certification. So, I'm a bit unsure of which path I should pursue. If I'm not going to go into the accounting field, is a CPA certification and a Masters in that area useless, or does it actually give me an edge over other job applicants or give me something that will help me in my career. Also, would the MS degree affect my salary, as shallow as that sounds? Also, bear in mind, an extra year at NYU is getting close to $50k, and thats the current rate.</p>
<p>I would definitely do it, it's a great opportunity. I myself asked a student advisor who told me some bad news. The MS is only offered to class of 2010, and I'm currently a soph =[</p>
<p>Check the CPA certification rules in the state that you plan to work in carefully. In most (all?) states, the rules have changed such that passing the CPA exam only entitles you to use the qualifier CPAC, rather than CPA, unless and until you have also fulfilled the work experience requirements and been certified.</p>
<p>You may be able to fulfill the experience requirements in ibanking, but you will need to be supervised, more or less, by a CPA. So if your goal is to be able to put CPA after your name along with CFA and whatever else, you need to consider more than the extra year of school.</p>
<p>You might want to conduct some informational interviews to determine whether this would be of any value before you commit to one course or the other. Then again, the CPA qualifying course provides some additional flexibility if the ibanking plan doesn't work out as you expect.</p>