<p>Hi parents! </p>
<p>Please give me your opinion. </p>
<p>If someone did below average (3.0 in state school) in an easy major in a state school, would you guys advice that person to stay in college for another 2-3 years, change his/her major in something practical such as accounting or computer science and get good grades or just graduate and try his/her best surviving the real world?</p>
<p>Hope someone will reply. Thanks!</p>
<p>Graduate, get a job – and consider furthering your education down the line – for example, going for a Masters degree. If you are interested in areas like accounting or computer science there are also specific certifications you can get that are separate and apart from a college degree. </p>
<p>But work experience is more important than your college GPA, at least after your first job. So you will do more for your future by taking a job that is not quite as good as you hoped for – and building up your resume – than by spending time in school trying to fix your past mistakes. </p>
<p>You don’t have to put your GPA on a resume – or even list your major. You will probably be asked about it at an interview – but certainly it doesn’t have to be the first thing that the prospective employer sees.</p>
<p>This is a tough year to be going out into the world to look for a job, but switching to accounting or computer science or something else “practical” (and probably deadly dull for you) and getting good grades in it (when you haven’t had much luck in getting good grades up to this point) seems a tall order.</p>
<p>I’m with calmom on this one. It could take you a few tries to find something that you like and that you are good at. But once you find it, then your future schooling can further your chosen career.</p>
<p>I echo ‘ellemenope’ and ‘calmom’ - a major like computer science is a tough major at most colleges so if one had below average grades in an easy major they’d probably fail in CS unless there are extenuating circumstances for the below average grades.</p>
<p>You need to think through what you want to do with your career life. You don’t need a 3.0 to succeed so don’t think you’re shut out. See what opportunities might exist for your desired career path(s). If you end up wanting to pursue accounting, CS, or some other area, you could continue school but plan on making a significant change in studying and performance compared to what you’ve been doing.</p>
<p>I had a friend who completed an impractical undergraduate degree and could not find work. He went to a technical 2-year school and took computer science classes there, inexpensively finished up a less-than two-year degree. With that, plus the B.A., he was very marketable. His career has been in programming/computer science and has been a great success.</p>
<p>If you are close to finishing your first degree, and you finish and find you can’t get a job, this might be an option for you.</p>
<p>I think the title to your original post sums up your feelings! It is scary to graduate. Especially when you feel like you will be graduating and NOT be at the top of the “hire list” AND given all the economic situation. There are many people out there with “practical” and “impractical” degrees. You earned your degree!! Go out and try to find a job that will make you happy. You have many, many years ahead of you to go back to school. You may surprise yourself and find something you love.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>I thought that I wasnt prepared in college. I wasnt able to focus in school because I work full-time in a very horrible minimum wage job just so I could help out with my parents financially. However, I think I can do better now. Recently, my relatives and grandmother reach out to us, and are helping us financially which means I dont have to work full-time. </p>
<p>So, I am deciding between changing my major to accounting, or getting the certificate in accounting in a community college. I could finish the 24 units requirement to take the CPA Exam by the time I graduate. So far, I completed 6, (9 after this semester). If I take this route, I might not find an accounting job. I believe I need to have an accounting degree from a 4-year college. Also, I think I need to show that I am well-rounded. I dont mind staying 2 or 3 more years. I am only 19 years old, and will be graduating at 20.</p>
<p>Are you passionate about the field of accounting? Do you want to dedicate your life to it because it’s your vision of the career that will make you happiest? For some people it is, but I gather that you’re primarily interested in job security during trying economic times.</p>
<p>Find a major that you ARE passionate about. Really get into it, knock yourself out, and hang out with other people who are pursuing their passions. Build your communication skills - written, verbal, and electronic - and get involved in activities that allow you to practice them in groups. Graduate, get an initial job, then start looking into a Masters program. You’re not in this just to get a first job and keep from starving - you’re in it to craft a life that is meaningful, rewarding, and fun for the next 80 years!</p>
<p>are you kidding, nobody is passionate about accounting. find a job that pays your bills and you love. all i can say is good … luck</p>
<p>Don’t think accounting is easy! In fact , it is one of the tougher majors in college. Even worse, accounting usually doesn’t have grade inflation. Thus, don’t expect great grades unless you are really good at it.</p>
<p>My niece got a degree in Marketing, worked at a lousy job for a year, and went back to school and finished the accounting degree she started out to get. She switched to M because the classes became too demanding. She has a great job now. Her brother got an easy Business degree, is working at lousy jobs (2 of them) and is talking about getting an accounting degree.</p>
<p>I’ve been in the working world for more than 25 years. Not once has anybody ever asked to see my college transcript.</p>
<p>It matters that you can list a degree completed. Don’t worry about the grades. A 3.0 is perfectly respectable. </p>
<p>What matters more is figuring out what you would be excited about doing with your life, and examining whether the courses you’ve taken and the experiences you’ve had qualify you to pursue that. If not, more college or internships might help. But so would being willing to dive in at the entry level and learn all you can from those around you.</p>
<p>3.0 is above average…</p>
<p>Whoa…
I have spent 20 years teaching accounting at a community college. I teach both transfer students and technical students who get applied degrees that prepare them for bookkeeping positions. The hours you take at a cc beyond the two transfer classes will likely not transfer, nor will they count in many states as part of your 24 hours needed for eligibility to take the CPA exam. Even if you state counts them, have no illusion that those classes will in any way educate you to the level needed to pass that exam.</p>
<p>Go to the business forum and read taxguy’s excellent thread Everything you need to know about accounting … (If that’s not the exact title, it’s close).</p>
<p>I have been working in the accounting field for 25 years and have a degree in accounting. I don’t know that anyone is ever passionate about majoring in accounting, but when I got my degree it was known to be the most difficult of all the business majors. The people who could not make the grades in accounting transferred to marketing or management.</p>
<p>There are many ways you can go with a degree in accounting. I never worked in public accounting, but have always been in corporate finance. I have many friends who are accountants that have worked for themselves over the years and it can be a flexible position for those who have children.</p>
<p>I speak from the perspective of a former Big 6 Assistant General Counsel. </p>
<p>Accounting is difficult - always thought they had the most difficult jobs of the deal making triumvirate - i.e., accounting was the hardest, then the lawyers, then the bankers. </p>
<p>But what bothers me, particularly in the higher ranked private schools, is the lessening of emphasis on accounting. Yes, accounting is hard, but there is a significant public good to it - including that of promoting integrity upon which our markets rely. I never think accountants should look upon themselves as just technicians - there is, I think, a great social good in knowing the dollar of revenue earned in Des Moines is the same as that earned in New York. </p>
<p>It is a bad thing that the best accounting schools in our major state universities? Of course not. Univ. of Texas at Austin is a great school, and so are the Big 10 schools, and so on. </p>
<p>But I wish our Wall Street scions (most of whom come from top private schools) had more appreciation for accounting and just how important it is to bring really bright people into the field. And I wish our top schools spent a little less time on teaching the various isms - racism, classism, and so on…and more time on so-called technical skills like accounting that actually have immeasurable intellectual content (e.g., fixing the marks on toxic assets in a world now filled with them, and intellectualizing with clarity the difference between illiquidity and insolvency - something that we really need to know today). </p>
<p>I’ll hop off my soapbox - but figured I might get a receptive audience here.</p>
<p>I am so grateful to all the people who have posted in my thread. I receive lots of great opinions and advice.So far, the consensus is that it is best for me to graduate soon which I also agree. If the accounting certificate that I am pursuing will not prepare me with the exam, then I hope it will at least help me get a job related to accounting. In fact, I will be taking a class this fall that talks about accounting as a career and about licensure exams in different areas of accounting.</p>
<p>For now, I dont know what my passion is, and in my current situation, all I care about is helping my parents and not being a burden to anyone. Nevertheless, if money is not a problem, I would choose to major on graphic design. I have some knowledge on basic XHTML/CSS and beginning Photoshop, illustrator, web expression program, and I also enjoy the ceramics class that I took as GE. When I have free time, I try to learn C#, so I could start learning to make my own games. I think most people my age have these skills and are interested in arts. I am not very good at it, so I dont think I can compete with the best artists and designers out there. So, this career wont work for me at all. </p>
<p>Anyhow, I have a feeling I will do well in accounting if I study and work hard!</p>