Hello,
I just finished my BA in Special Education, and have decided the stesses of the job outweigh the positives. I can’t see myself doing it for more than a few years without burning out. I feel it’s best to change now. Would it be foolish of me to add a 5th year to add an accounting major? (I have taken Macro/Micro Econ, Statistics, and Accounting I and II btw). I have an interest with business and feel an Accounting degree can help me qualify for many business jobs. I thought about the business administration degree because it would only take one more semester (along with 2 summer courses), but feel that degre is quite worthless after talking with others unless I specialize I accounting, finance, marketing, or information systems. I would be spending another $10-12,000 on private school tuition for the extra year and probably won’t recieve grants. I’m also 22 if that helps and good with numbers and people. I realize I could do entry level business jobs with my BA, but I just want middle class salary that is secure. I was considering CPA someday after a few years, but obviously 1 year is not enough time to prepare. I’ve never had depression until now so really appreciate your help.
Unfortunately, I don’t think you could complete an accounting major with just one more year.
Thanks for your help. I could actually, I did a plan and could finish May 2017. It’s 48 credits and I have 12 already. I would need 2 summer courses now. (Marketing and Human Resources)
There are MS in accounting programs for non-accounting undergrad students. They normally require 3 semesters to complete.
Yeah thanks for the suggestion. They are usually quite expensive and I feel like an undergrad would be a better start since the classes are probably easier and I have no business background I should add. I have heard if you are CPA they don’t care if you have your bachelors or masters and you need 24 general business courses which I would get best through an undergrad program. Would it be going backwards to get second BA? I gave teaching 4 full months and I’m regretting it very much.
Also I have almost zero loans if that helps because of my scholarships and student grants.
Get the accounting degree if you like accounting. Sounds like a good plan if you don’t like special ed. Finance is also a marketable degree in business, one to consider.
I thought I could do special education really and then do my own business on the side and in the summer. It’s not even about the pay in teaching, I’m fine with middle class salary. The stess, paperwork, lack of respect from students, parents, the community, very challenging kids who don’t care, it’s all too much for me.
Define “almost zero loans”. If your total loans for all five years is less that the direct student loans limit then your idea sounds feasible. Are you planning on teaching at all?
Where would you get the 12K in loans? I do not believe you are eligible for a student direct loan since this is for a second BA degree. Do you have a cosigner for a private loan? I would post this on the FA board to see what your loan options are.
My sister got her BA in Special Education about 40 years ago. Burn out in two years. It is a tough job. I think that if you have doubts about teaching then your plan makes a lot of sense. If your other debt is low then 10-12K for a second degree in your case sounds reasonable. I am curious where you found a private school that cost 10K per year.
Sounds like accounting in 3 semesters (summer, fall, spring) is a doable idea since you don’t have loans.
Anyway you could take ESL instead of special ed for your certification? It’s in high-demand too and may be less stressful?
My private University scholarship covers everything except $10,000-$11,000 a year tuition. I have $2,000 in loans, but have some money saved where I could pay for the next years tuition and rent no problem while taking out the $7,000 federal loans that seniors can take out.
Also no I don’t plan to teach. I thought about it for 1-2 years, but feel like I would get burned out easily and the middle or high schoolers don’t want a 22 year old teache who doesn’t wanna be there because he’s stressed to the max and not appreciated.
Curious what your sister did besides teach? It seems like such a specific degree that it’s hard it use it outside teaching.
ESL sounds like a great idea. Maybe someday. However, I realized that teaching is not as rewarding as I thought it would be. Very exhausting, low social status, tough kids, long work days, unappreciative parents, lesson planning, low pay, no opportunity for advancement or for other similar jobs. I could go on. 2 months summer break is not worth the sacrifices in my opinion. I know any job is stressful, but I feel like I can’t handle this anymore, so the sooner I change fields the better.
You need 150 credits to become a CPA. You can take it at a BA level or on the MS level. Most people I know take it on the MS level. Is it possible for you to do an online MS in accounting? That may be an affordable way to do it.
Actually I have 145 already now already since I was pre-OT. I took 21 extra credits for that. I thought about doing masters online, but thought since the exam is very hard, learning in person is probably the best way to prepare. I feel like this would also give me time to decide if there is a specific field of buisness I could specialize in during grad school. Also I would have courses only 3 days a week so I could do an internship or a part time job 10-15 hours week.
I feel like some of those advanced accounting courses would be very difficult to self teach. And it be very easy to become lazy.
I’ve heard if you are CPA, a MS or BA degree matters little.
It can’t just be any 150 credits. The breakdown of the classes are very specific. How many Accounting credits do you have?
No the BA or MS doesn’t really matter as long as you got the required credits to sit for the exam and get the license. It just for the extra year most accounting students just go for the MS.
6 accounting credits now, just both the intro courses. Yeah I know 24 upper division accounting credits in my state. With the program I would need to take 18 more. I could do the 6 remaining on my own online through a CC or public university.