My son’s ultimate goal is to be in the FBI. He is aware that this is his dream and might not be a reality. He wanted to major in Criminal Justice in the Fall. After the advice of people on here (thank you) and recently at career day at his high school, he was told has a better shot of being chosen for FBI if he majors in something like finance or accounting. He officially changed his major and has been accepted int the accounting department at a very reputable public university.
A few things…my son hates math! He took accounting junior year and got a 91%. He was not interested in it at all and said it is so boring. He has gotten B’s in all of his Math classes (Alg 1,2,Pre Calc) but just does not like math at all.
He said he is willing to major in accounting if it increases his chance of being chose for the FBI.
How hard is the accounting curriculum? I know it doesn’t entail a lot of traditional “Math” but he says the curriculum looks so boring.
Do you think he will be able to stick it out? Is it a very hard major?
His gpa is 3.6 SAT 1220 ( 620 on Math) average student.
Accounting requires the use of arithmetic that would have been learned by the 8th grade if not earlier. Finance requires algebra and in advanced courses: calculus. Courses in both majors are such that you must keep up with the work on a class by class basis. You cannot goof off and then cram for the midterm and final.
As with any major if he doesn’t like it or considers it boring just from looking at course descriptions then he will not likely succeed.
The math required to get the degree is far, far more (in both quantity and difficulty) than just about any accountant will ever need. The software does it all. Quants working on Wall Street might be a different story.
I’ve heard the same about computer science too. The degree requires far more than most actual jobs.
My daughter is a CPA for a Big 4 firm and has worked there for 6 years. She has seriously considered working for the FBI as well. She was told that forensic accounting is a pretty popular gateway into the FBI and that the FBI prefers CPAs who have experience in public accounting/forensic accounting/internal audit.
In other words - they prefer a CPA with 1-3 years of experience. It’s tough to get into the FBI straight from college, especially without a CPA.
I can’t speak to the math part, but I can speak to the “curriculum looks so boring” part. If your son thinks the curriculum looks boring now, how would he feel about those 3 years of post-graduation accounting experience? My daughter loves her job, but she’s weird that way.
Even though many top undergraduate business schools (accounting is normally under the business school) require a year of calculus to get admitted, calculus is not used in accounting classes or in many business disciplines. The critical thinking and analyses are important in accounting classes. Accounting concepts can be difficult but it is not “rocket science” like hard science and math (chemistry, physics or advance calculus). Master the accounting concepts and he should be fine.
I started off doing accounting at college too and it bored the heck out of me, so I switched majors. I have to say, in subsequent years I met many accountants in my industry who had also been bored at college but were by then doing interesting, well paid jobs that they loved.
My response is subjective but I’d say… surely there is something else he can do that would get him entry to the FBI and interest him in college?
I find this to be an odd decision. Why switch majors to something that he finds boring? He may not even get hired by the FBI and then he has a skill set for a career path that he doesn’t like.
–At most business schools a semester of business calculus is required.
–He should have an opportunity to take introductory level classes in a number of business disciplines before he has to choose a major. If he finds accounting boring, he may want to consider a different major. I would think there are many paths to get into the FBI.
@eastcoaster1: From what I have heard, he may find the FBI boring.
Ask your son why he wants to be in the FBI. It may be that a career as a DEA agent / Treasury agent or as an assistant District Attorney / Federal Prosecutor are more in line with his interests. Or maybe a career in the US Coast Guard.
The US Coast Guard Academy is free & provides some of the best training in the world. And they actually do exciting stuff in very beautiful locations. (Plus Coast Guard Academy cadets / students get to socialize with Connecticut College students.)
I totally agree with @Publisher. What does he imagine doing at the FBI? If he majors in accounting then that likely leads to a career in an office delving into financial reports to find wrong-doing. Is that what he envisions? If not, then this is not a sensible route to the FBI even if it “works.”
Thank you all for responding. My son wants to be a DEA agent. That his his ultimate goal. He was told at career fair that the best way to do this is to go to college for Accounting. He does not want to be a police officer/patrol officer first if it is not necessary to be DEA.
He was also told that getting a criminal justice degree is a dime a dozen and if he gets an accounting degree, he has more to fall back on. He had one year of accounting in high school with the oldest teacher in the school and he said it was boring. He did fine in the class though.
Im torn on having him change his major back to Criminal Justice ( the university just accepted him to accounting/school of business). The Criminal Justice classes look more intersting to him than accounting. I’m afraid to spend lots of money on his education for a Criminal Justice degree which might be harder for him to get into the DEA/FBI.
His dream is to be a DEA agent (without spending years and years as a patrol/police officer).
I just don’t know how to guide him on this one. Maybe when he starts classes in the fall he might like them? I am at a loss.
I would advise against accounting if his goal is to be a DEA agent as he will find the content quite dull. Regarding the math issue, the math in accounting isn’t difficult at all, it’s the concepts. The concepts go quite deep and are technical in nature. One really needs to understand the concepts being taught (and then the math is simple).
We have a family friend who is a CPA. He says with accounting “you either get it or you don’t “
We figured my son would get it because he is a natural at math and he got an A in accounting in high school.
Well, at his major public flagship Accounting is known as the”weed out” for the business school. He had to complete Accounting 1 and Accounting 2 for his core curriculum. It was a MAJOR struggle. He managed to squeak by Accounting 1. He almost had to retake Accounting two but managed to very barely get his passing grade.
He hated accounting and is thrilled to be done with the two hardest courses he took at his school and he has taken Calculus and Calculus based physics.
So I would say if he likes accounting and “gets it” go for it. But if he really does not like Accounting he absolutely should not choose it as a major.
@bhs1978 has it right. the weed out accounting / business school prereqs are very difficult. S attends a top school where everyone is very bright. Many, if not most, struggled with intro accounting. S did well but said that course required a couple hours of prep every night to keep up (“because once you fall behind it’s over”). Several of his friends dropped out of the business track because of it (a shame because they weren’t going to major in accounting - but they didn’t want any more of those classes). He’s a finance major but has to take 5 accounting classes to satisfy the major and he’s not looking forward to those. Loves his finance classes though. Necessary evil.
It is worth noting that the two universities attended by the above two posters’ sons are quite demanding academically (Ohio State University & Wake Forest University) and may not be representative of the vast majority of business programs.
Best to try introductory accounting courses to see for oneself.
Also, consider exploring accounting via online offerings & community college business fundamentals certificate programs.
P.S. Check Amazon for basic accounting books. (Accounting Made Simple; Accounting for Non-Accountants; Accounting QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide To Financial & Managerial Accounting; etc.)
