<p>Is it harder to get into UIUC as an Accountancy major over a Finance major?</p>
<p>How much would someone in accounting earn for their salary on average (coming from a top school like UIUC) over a Finance major at the same school?</p>
<p>It depends a lot on what you want to do. Both accounting and finance have various career paths.</p>
<p>Most accounting majors go to work in public accounting for a CPA firm (usually a Big 4 firm) to work in audit or tax. Starting salary in Boston is around $50,000 a year. Salaries vary greatly by where you want to work (Boston and New York pay a lot more than Portland). Some accounting majors/concentrators go into consulting/advisory, private accounting, government accounting or a finance-related field. Salaries for consulting are usually higher, the rest usually pay less to start (though not all do--some private jobs pay up to $60,000 to start). It's generally recommended to start in public and then go to private--you'll have a lot more flexibility in terms of where you go when you make the switch (as you should have your CPA by then) and it's very very hard to go from private to public. Accountants are also generally in high demand.</p>
<p>Generally, most say it doesn't matter where you go to school for accounting unless the Big 4 doesn't recruit at your school. I disagree, in that I think you'll be best off by finding a program that will give you the strongest business education but also teach you what you need to know for accounting--that way, you'll have some flexiblity and know enough to do whatever it is you want to do (such as general management, finance, etc.) after working three years in public accounting. If you go into public accounting, your salary is generally nonnegotiable and it won't matter where you came from assuming your school is good enough to get you the job.</p>
<p>Finance majors/concentrators have a larger variety of jobs, from I-banking (which seems to be ALL people talk about here), which pays extremely well but is very hard to get into, to consulting. Good jobs in finance are a bit harder to get and you need to be a very strong candidate or know someone to get a good job. The compensation for the good jobs, however, are extremely high (particularly because many involve large commissions). You'll find, though, there there is a bit of variation between salaries for the different types of jobs and most of them do not require you to have a finance degree (where as accountants pretty much have to have an accounting degree/concentration).</p>
<p>If you have an specific questions about accounting, let me know: I'm in the middle of the recruiting process at the moment.</p>
<p>ryanbis, some students were looking for you. They were discussing Northeastern vs. Boston University. The post is currently on the bottom of page 2 in the college search and selection forum.</p>
<p>A couple of questions... What are the big 4? Are they consulting accounting firms? Are the big 4 the highest paying accounting firms? What is the difference between the public and private sector? </p>
<p>(I don't really know much about accounting since I usual look at Investment Banking threads) </p>
<p>Isn't the CPA a test that you take at the end of your degree in Accounting? Also, if it doesn't really matter where you go to school for Accounting, then is it easier to get a top job in Accounting (Consulting) then getting a top job in Finance (IBanking)?
-Thanks</p>
<p>The big 4 are the four largest public accounting firms. They offer audit services (essentially, they independently determine if the company's accounting policies are what they should be and ok a company's financial statements quarterly), consulting/advisory, tax and various other services. They do generally pay the most. Public accountants essentially work for the public--although you are hired by the company itself, what you are doing (essentially) is certifying that the financial statements are accurate to the best of your knowledge, saying that the public can trust the numbers. Your actual customers are the public. In private accounting, you work for the company and do the actual preparation of financial statements or budgeting or something along those lines. You essentially do the work that is audited by the independent auditors.</p>
<p>You usually take the CPA exam after your undergrad degree is finished or within the first few years you start working. It's slightly different now, in that you need 150 credit hours of education, slightly more than an undergrad degree. Having a CPA makes any job easier to get--it's a pretty in demand certification. </p>
<p>Geting a job in consulting is easier than a job in IBanking, though consulting is rather competitive depending on who you are applying for. In certain areas (like Boston, where there's a lot of schools to feed the Big 4), auditing jobs are also very competitive.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the information. Just one more question... does it really not matter where you get your Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from? I'm instate for UIUC, but I have a full ride at SIU (currently at), so I'm not sure what to do.</p>
<p>I can't tell you where to go, and please don't just take my word for it, but, generally people say that the school does not matter when it comes to accounting education since the curriculum is designed around the CPA exam. I don't fully subscribe to that theory, but it's something to keep in mind. I would still go to the best school I could possibly get into.</p>
<p>You have to take a certain number of continuing education credits every three years and pay a fee to renew your license annually. As long as you do those things, you don't ever have to take the exam again.</p>
<p>ryanbis is pretty much correct about all the things he said. </p>
<p>I would take UIUC if I were you. I got into their accounting program as well, but I was out of state, and they offered little financial aid of any sort. It's a worthy program. If you're in-state (or even willing to pay out-of-state), it's a great accounting school that few can match.</p>
<p>I will share my opinion, which is probably worth two cents. LOL</p>
<p>Accounting will open up more doors than finance. Accounting majors can be found in all areas of business including finance and IBanking. The same can't be said of finance majors. If I were you, I would absolutely major in accounting and minor in finance.</p>
<p>Which field do you find more interesting? Most people would prefer finance over accounting because it's easier and it's more interesting. However, some find accounting very interesting. My good friend in MSU will be graduating with a 3.8 GPA as an accounting major and will be shortly interning for either Ernst and Young or Plante and Moran. He's having a blast.</p>
<p>I think you should really try to decide what kind of job you are looking for. While there is some overlap between accounting and finance majors, they are recruited by different companies for different jobs. Most my friends are finance majors, I am an accounting major, and we hardly ever end up at the same recruiting meetings.</p>