I’m currently a Finance/Economics (1 degree, 2 concepts) major who wants to work in the Financial Sector in the future (Financial Analyst & Investments in particular), however since I go to a school with a mediocre Finance program (not even seperate from Economics) I’m starting to question if I should keep my major and add a backup to support it, or if I should just swith my major to Accounting (my school has a pretty good Accounting program) with something else as a double since you need a credit limit for the CPA. Ideally I would want to do a double in Fin/Econ & Accounting, however I’m really starting to wonder that if sacrificing the Fin/Econ degree in order to make my employability look better is a superior move. I really have a passion for both Finace and Economics, but at the end of the day I want to get a job out of school, so the mediocre program is really making me question my decision.
Basically the question comes down to, should I keep the Fin/Econ major? And which of the following combinations would be best for what I want to do (considering my schools programs) and employability? Assume that all the the programs other than the Finance/Econ are good and that my GPA is above 3.0
Finance/Economics & Accounting
or
Finance/Economics & Applied Business Analytics
Finance/Economics & Business Information Systems
or
Accounting & Applied Business Anayltics
Accounting & Applied Business Information Systems (which less business and more tech based compared to BIS)
Thanks for the time it took for you to read this, and all the feedback that you give. I really appreciate it!
Accounting is really like having a trade. Like a plumber or electrician. The big plus is you will always have a job. Your best path is to become a CPA which in essence requires a master’s degree to obtain the required credits to sit for the CPA exam. You would want to add the cost of grad school into the mix.
The field of analytics is growing very fast. This would be a great pair to your Finance major if you feel finance is a better fit for you.
Remember. You need to pick a path that is a natural fit for you so that you will enjoy working. It is work, so do not think it will be fun but you do need to find something that you want to do and excel at.
@MassDaD68 Just to clarify, you don’t need a Master’s degree to become a CPA… One needs 150 college credits when a standard bachelors degree is usually around 120 credits. Many do go on for a one year Master’s degree and pick up that graduate degree while they are getting the additional credits (my S went that route). But some people are able to use a combination of AP/IB credits, summer classes, overloading schedule etc. to get to the 150 credits in four or four and a half years (no Master’s degree). So far the big accounting firms seem to hire without regard to a person having a Masters degree or not.
And to the OP – have you taken any accounting classes? do you find them interesting? Accounting is a good field and a pretty employable one so if that is your criteria then it may be a good move for you. But getting through the process to become a CPA does take a big effort so just be sure that you would be happy starting off in that field.
Yes I have taken some Accounting classes, and I find them both interesting and challenging. So this is why I wouldn’t be opposed to changing my major to Accounting. Its just that I always thought a Finance degree was my best path for what I want to do. If I did decide to go down the non-Finance path for my undergraduate, I would then want to pursue a Finance degree for my graduate, after I get a CPA, as it’s a lot more quantitative and math based.
I recommend sticking with your passion and ideal, Finance/Economics and Accounting. Accounting will be the core of what you use in Finance. Analytics is more the realm of Finance than Accounting, making Accounting/Analytics not as useful. IS is always useful, but if you plan on being a systems user rather than a systems manager, then Finance/Accounting is the better major.
One other note, having spent 25+ years in public accounting (CPA firms), I have lots of colleagues who “used to be” CPAs. It always seems to serve them well whatever else they go on to do in business. Typically they spend a few years with a Big 4, then leave to get an MBA.
