<p>My D is a liberal arts major with a late-blooming interest in accounting. She wants to take the CPA exam (we live in New Jersey). She can’t switch to accounting now without transferring to a different school and taking a fifth year of undergrad, so she is looking into post-grad MBA in Accounting programs. We are trying to figure out the most cost-effective way of doing this. Here are some of her options: 1) She could complete most of the coursework for the MBA in accounting program at an AASCB- accredited regional private near where we live without paying tuition because she is eligible for tuition remission there until she is 25 (my spouse works there). 2) She could live at home and commute to Rutgers, which also has an MBA in Professional Accounting program. It’s a higher ranked program and has better recruiting, but it’s not free and would require her to take out some loans. 3) She could attend an MBA program at a very expensive private university such as Fordham or Northeastern. We’d have to pay her living expenses because it would be too far to commute. I really don’t want to do this unless there is some major advantage to doing so. All of these programs are full-time (1.5 years or so) so she wouldn’t be able to work enough to make a real dent in living expenses. How important are rankings, etc. in this decision? Free would be nice but not if the degree would be seriously less valuable. She’s only a junior so we have some time to think about this. Any insight/advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Is she planning to finish at her LAC? First, I’d try to get job recruiting information from the two schools. It would definitely be a big plus to go to a school tuition free and not have loans. </p>
<p>Assuming she is finishing her undergrad at her LAC, the biggest difference is that the Rutgers program is a very regimented program geared for non accounting majors who want to become CPAs – it is about 14 months (2 summers and 2 semesters) so she could start work in the fall right after the program ends. She will start and take all her classes with a group of kids who enter the program when she does. It isn’t cheap as you basically pay for 4 semesters. But it seems to be a good way to kick start an accounting career. I have a friend whose son is finishing up the Rutgers program this summer and he got a great job starting in the fall. My S has another friend who started at Rutgers this summer. In other schools that don’t have this type of dedicated program it would likely take someone with no business background two years to finish a MBA in accounting. </p>
<p>I don’t really know much about Northeastern, but my S got his undergrad degree in accounting from Fordham and we loved the school and felt he got a great education. But we weren’t as excited about the MBA program at Lincoln Center (he went elsewhere for his MS) and I don’t think it is worth taking out tons of loans and going to school for an extra year to go there over Rutgers.</p>
<p>Thanks, @happy1. This is interesting info.</p>
<p>Yes, she is going to finish at the LAC. If she transferred to somewhere with an undergraduate accounting program, she would have to go an extra year anyway. She is also going abroad next year and does not want to give that up. She took an intro to financial accounting course this summer at the local college (tuition-free b/c of spouse’s job) and liked it. She has taken macro and micro econ and statistics at her LAC. Hopefully she will be able to present a genuine interest in accounting if she applies to these post-bac programs.</p>
<p>Forester, you might want to post this question on the Business Major sub-forum here at CC - there’s an accountant there (taxguy?) who’s very knowledgeable about all things accounting.</p>
<p>I thought I’d speak to one of your questions about prestige; in my opinion (and YMMV), accounting does not appear to be particularly prestige-driven, probably because accounting has such a rigorous external credentialing process. </p>
<p>My daughter is a CPA and works for one of the Big 4 accounting firms in the Midwest. You’ve probably never heard of her university, but she had no problem getting internships and job offers. In her workplace, all first year staff accountants in the same specialization make the same salary - whether they graduated from Notre Dame or Illinois or Bob’s School of Accounting (<- just kidding of course, but you get my drift.) I’d say that hard work and good grades count for just as much (if not more) than the school you attend; I will say, though, that the strength of the alumni network at the university one attends can be important when it comes to job-hunting and networking.</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter - my D LOVES accounting, even the crazy hours during busy season.</p>
<p>@Forrester17 If she has taken a couple of courses she will be fine. I think that the accounting programs understand that many people want to go into an “employable” field after their undergrad. She may also try to look for a summer job in a business office to get some “work” experience, even if it is low level work. Good luck. </p>
<p>I am a CPA as is my husband and son (my H and I were both managers at Big 4 firms (back then it was the Big 8) and my S is finishing his first year at one) and I’m from the NYC area so I’m pretty familiar with this. The importance of a “more prestigious” school is that the big firms recruit more at the “higher ranked” schools. That is why I suggested that you ask any school you are interested in about their job placement figures. The top students can get good jobs from a lower ranked school, but it is just harder to do. My S actually did get his MS in Accounting at Notre Dame and about 90% of the students in his program got Big 4 jobs (some chose to do other things), which is a MUCH higher rate than you will find at (to use the same example) at Bobs School of Accounting.</p>
<p>And just so you know, to become a CPA students now need 150 credits anyway so many people, even those with accounting degrees, need to get a MS degree.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Just what I was going to say. '</p>
<p>You want taxguy! He’s your man!</p>
<p>Back in the dark ages, a friend of mine from Wellesley went into an accounting master’s program at Northeastern after a major in art history. A major virtue was the coop aspect. (I may be wrong, but I don’t believe it was an MBA.) When she graduated, she got a job with a big 8 firm and went on from there to a successful career, eventually working for the SEC and so forth.</p>
<p>But more current info from taxguy would be the most helpful. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I’ve posted the question in the Business Major sub forum. </p>
<p>Take free. If it is Rider the degree will not hold you back. My brother graduated and is now a senior level at IBM. Friend graduated from Rider and is now on the board of several major US firms after a very successful career</p>
<p>Both received a Rider MBA…</p>
<p>The Northeastern program used to be an MS in accounting. Now it is a combined MS/MBA that can be completed in 2 years full time, including a 4 month coop at a Big 4 firm. </p>