Accounting/Finance Major. Very loaded question

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I'm currently a junior studying Accounting and Finance. I just recently added finance as I discovered I'd be a wee-bit shy of 150 credits and since it wasn't that many more credits I figured why not shoot for the double major. There's a program at my school that ties in with finance and it's called the Financial-Markets program. In it you study securities and finance but much more intensely then you would if you just did the Finance BBA.</p>

<p>Part of the program is drafting investing proposals for an investment fund that is roughly $600,000 at the time of this writing. Throughout the year there are rebalancing periods where you present your proposal to a board and if approved they'll put your advice into action. You also get access to a lab/classroom where you take more advanced classes and get to use different investment software. Finally, you get sent to Chicago and Minneapolis to meet with with executives and visit trading floors. To make a long story short it seems like a very strong education opportunity. </p>

<p>Of course I'm not guaranteed that I'll be accepted but I talked with a few instructors and they believed I had a very good chance.</p>

<p>School for me is currently very cheap as grants cover my cost of attendance and I just need loans to get by for living expenses. At one point I'd like to go to law school. This isn't a dead set action yet but I've heavily contemplated it since I was a young teenager.</p>

<p>My school is not ranked that high and my GPA is currently 3.167 over 82 credits. When this semester's grades are posted it will be 3.233. If I do extremely well for the rest of my college career landing a 3.5+ GPA is not out of the picture. I also thought about redoing some community college classes I took in PSEO and got C's in.</p>

<p>Here are my questions/views:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Due to my school not being ranked high does this program seem like a good way to get my feet wet in the finance field and perhaps get it in some doors?</p></li>
<li><p>If I stay in school for the extra year to do this program it seems like a good way to allow myself more time for GPA repair.</p></li>
<li><p>If I retake college courses I got a C in will it replace the grade or average the two out? It seems like a wise idea to me as community college is cheap and will repair my GPA.</p></li>
<li><p>Do programs like this appeal to law schools or is it mainly LSAT/GPA? I'm not asking if it will outweigh a poor LSAT score but say I'm on edge of acceptance would something like this help?</p></li>
<li><p>Anything over 13 credits at my school is free. I'm currently signed up for 21 credits and at $435/credit that's a lot of tuition saved. I'm starting to think I should drop one class if my goal is GPA repair. Should I do this or stick with 21 and focus 100% at school? I'm 22, did the partying thing, so I don't mind buckling down and putting all focus into it.</p></li>
<li><p>Perhaps forget the extra year of school to do the Financial-Markets program and get off to law school 1 year sooner if I know for sure I want to do it? This relates to question #2 because perhaps that extra year of schooling will allow my GPA to improve that much more if I do well and allow me into better law schools.</p></li>
</ol>

2

<ol>
<li>Due to my school not being ranked high does this program seem like a good way to get my feet wet in the finance field and perhaps get it in some doors?</li>
</ol>

<p>Response: It depends on the doors. If you want investment banking, you will have little chance. They generally take kids from the top schools with the top grades. For other opportunities, your lower school ranking doesn’t matter! Say that five times. Your GPA will matter though!</p>

<ol>
<li>If I stay in school for the extra year to do this program it seems like a good way to allow myself more time for GPA repair.</li>
</ol>

<p>Response: If you love this program , go for it. Generally, I can’t see you substantially raising your GPA substantially unless you get 4.0s, which is very unlikely.</p>

<ol>
<li>If I retake college courses I got a C in will it replace the grade or average the two out? It seems like a wise idea to me as community college is cheap and will repair my GPA.</li>
</ol>

<p>Response: This is dependent on the policy of the college. Some colleges average the grades and some replace the grade. Call up your school registrar and ask that question. </p>

<ol>
<li>Do programs like this appeal to law schools or is it mainly LSAT/GPA? I’m not asking if it will outweigh a poor LSAT score but say I’m on edge of acceptance would something like this help?</li>
</ol>

<p>Response; If you did a modicum of research on this, you would see that law school admission is totally about the LSAT and GPA and NOT about your major or your school ranking.</p>

<ol>
<li>Anything over 13 credits at my school is free. I’m currently signed up for 21 credits and at $435/credit that’s a lot of tuition saved. I’m starting to think I should drop one class if my goal is GPA repair. Should I do this or stick with 21 and focus 100% at school? I’m 22, did the partying thing, so I don’t mind buckling down and putting all focus into it.</li>
</ol>

<p>Can’t answer this question for you. Generally, it isn’t wise to stay in school longer just for credit repair. However, this is a personal decision that only you can make.</p>

<ol>
<li>Perhaps forget the extra year of school to do the Financial-Markets program and get off to law school 1 year sooner if I know for sure I want to do it? This relates to question #2 because perhaps that extra year of schooling will allow my GPA to improve that much more if I do well and allow me into better law schools. </li>
</ol>

<p>Response: Really think about whether you want law school. It is VERY expensive to go to law school and the job prospects, especially from a non top 10 law school are DISMAL!</p>

3

<p>Thank you for the thoughtful reply Taxguy.</p>

<p>This leads me to a couple more questions:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If I did 21 credits this fall/spring coupled with what I’m taking this summer I could finish my accounting degree by June 2013. Is doing this program worth another year in school? Part of me says yes, while some says no. It’s not the best job market, it’s hands on experience, it’s more to add to my resume, and school is cheap.</p></li>
<li><p>I asked about law school as I’ve seen where 4.0/180s have been turned down from Yale/Stanford/Harvard. Granted I’m not in this league but there must be some soft factors at play here that gets a 3.9/178 in and a 4.0/180 denied.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I would only attend law school in if (1) I do extremely well on the LSAT and get into a T14 or (2) do well enough to get a strong scholarship from say University of Minnesota, etc. In this situation do you see it as a feasible choice to attend?</p>