Account vs. Finance

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Alright, so I have searched an ample number of threads on this sight amongst many other resources about an accounting major vs a finance major. I go to a non-target school in Florida and I do not necessarily work in NY. I just want a lot of opportunities open to me.</p>

<p>I keep seeing how accounting is extremely useful and would be better than finance because finance is picked up in accounting anyway, but on the other hand it's more rigorous. I'm not saying I couldn't handle it, but my concern is the GPA. At my school, the accounting major is very respected (hence the rigor) and the finance major is so-so. I cannot double major. Also, this is not taking graduate degrees into account.</p>

<p>How useful is accounting over finance from a non-target? Would it be wiser to go for an accounting major with a slightly lower GPA or a finance major? This is for any and all great jobs on and off of Wall Street.</p>

<p>There's a common answer of "If you like finance, major in it." I understand this concept, but in complete and utter truth, what do you really think? From your experience, would an accounting major at all be better than a finance major? Obviously there's overlap, but differences between the two make it questionable as to which on average would have a better quality of life.</p>

<p>Most importantly - Is it true that an accounting major can do a finance job but not vis-versa?</p>

<p>Well, there's my question. Thanks</p>

2

<p>If your looking to work in finance, IMO the most important factors include

  1. School
  2. Networking
  3. GPA
  4. ECs
  5. Major
    From my understanding generally:
    Higher GPA Accounting > Higher GPA Finance > Lower GPA Accounting > Lower GPA Finance</p>

<p>If you are certain you will get a significantly higher GPA with a finance major, then major in finance.</p>

3

<p>finance and econ is all about school, as mentioned above</p>

4

<p>Well, to be honest, Accounting majors can do MOST of what Finance majors can do, but not all. Accounting is a much more versatile degree to hold outside of college.</p>

<p>tdccarpenter hit it right on the spot with the factors that you need to consider if you’re interested in choosing Finance. Most students of Finance will use some form of networking to help them obtain jobs in the future, especially for investment banking.</p>

5

<p>I’m pretty sure all finance majors need to be able to do is use excel.</p>

6

<p>So would it be wiser to take the accounting path and then finance for more versatility despite the lower (potentially) GPA?</p>

7

<p>It would really depend on what you want to do. Getting hired on WS as an accounting major is unlikely. People at many schools favor accounting as it leads to predictable jobs as accountants. If you don’t want to be one, skip it.</p>

8

<p>Quality of life? I work for a CPA, he does everything from home, sets his own hours.
Our physical bricks & mortar office is used for meeting with clients & keeping our files.
We have business clients & regular clients. He is his own boss & I am his only employee.
Maybe some day he will sell the practice, hopefully I can still wear jeans! :slight_smile:
So by becoming a CPA, it is possible to have your own practice & be your own boss.</p>