<p>As you can see I want to major in accounting in college, but for the USNEWS rankings you have to pay, and from what I've heard, Business week rankings aren't very good. I'm a B+ to A- student, so i don't want any Ivy schools, but I don't want any mediocre schools either. Any help would be appreciated.</p>
<p>BW breaks it down to every specific concentration of business</p>
<p>Here's the rankings for accounting for 2008</p>
<p>Undergrad</a> B-School Rankings: Interactive Table</p>
<p>Lehigh University is your best bet</p>
<p>If you're an A- to B+ student, you have a decent chance to get into Lehigh</p>
<p>That is a very poor list with a faulty methodology. For instance, UT McCombs has the top accounting program in the country yet is #36 on the list..well behind the likes of TCU, SMU, and Texas A&M.</p>
<p>UF in the 90s? FSU 30 spots ahead?? Texas in the 30s????</p>
<p>Where the hell did you get these rankings, fantasyland? </p>
<p>Ignore those rankings completely, what a joke they are.</p>
<p>(sigh), I wish folks would reseach topics before they post their questions. These come up time and again.</p>
<p>I will tell you what I have said several times before: FOR ACCOUNTING, THE SCHOOL MAKES NO DIFFERENCE AS LONG AS IT IS PROPERLY ACCREDITED!</p>
<p>Say what I have noted above, five times! The State Boards of Accounting mandate curriculum. From school to school , probably 90% or more of the accounting and business related courses are the same. Even the books used in most schools are almost exactly the same and contain the same chapters and topics. The only extra thing that you might....and I do mean might...want to check out is whether the school has an additional accreditation from the AACSB( The Association to Advance Colleges and Schools of Business.) See AACSB</a> International Home Page</p>
<p>Many of the top business schools have this additional accreditation in order to try to insure high quality among its business offerings. This additional accreditation doesn't generally matter among employers;thus, I have only suggested that you look into it and not emphasized it as being mandatory. It does, however, matter if you were to apply to an AACSB accredited school for graduate school.</p>
<p>However, as for the accounting programs, as long as a school is regionally accredited, the school won't matter as for jobs. Employers usually go to their local universities for recruiting. What does matter a LOT in accounting, however, is your overall and accounting GPA! That does matter. Thus, going to Wharton vs. Baruch. Vs. Fordham, vs. University of Illinois vs. Bentley etc., will generally not get you any more money in accounting.</p>
<p>I don't think it matters that much. My school isn't ranked but we have a BS/MS program and the Big Four recruit here.</p>
<p>Thanks again Taxguy for an informative post. I'm new to this forum and not familiar with researching topics yet. My S is interested in acct but didn't have grades(solid B+/1710 SAT/27 ACT) for top business schools. I worried about the AACSB issue as the school he will probably attend (SUNY New Paltz) is not yet certified but is in the process of working towards this certification. The other 2 schools he was accepted to were Hofstra & Adelphi which both have AACSB certification in general business with Hofstra having its acct program also certified. We weren't sure if there was a strong reason to push him to go to one of these schools over NP and the USNWR rankings ( NP top 100 vs tier 2) further confuses us. As most of this forum is geared toward top 50/Ivy schools ect it is difficult to get info for a more middle of the road kid/school. What are your thoughts on 4-1 programs with MBA or MS acct degrees & AACSB cert? Would it be better to go to the cert schools straight thru for these degrees or do well with BS and then apply to better business MBA programs? Thanks for any advice.</p>
<p>Coskat asks," What are your thoughts on 4-1 programs with MBA or MS acct degrees & AACSB cert? Would it be better to go to the cert schools straight thru for these degrees or do well with BS and then apply to better business MBA programs? Thanks for any advice."</p>
<p>Response: If your child seeks a CPA, which they should, they will need 150 credits for the CPA exam. This can be undertaken by taking an extra year as an undergrad ,which is not recommended, or they can go for a Master's degree,which seems the better route. I, therefore, like the 4-1 programs.</p>
<p>As for the MBA, if you have a Bachelors in accounting, you will find that the MBA is simply repetitive for subjects taken. They are probably, in my opinion, better off with a masters in a particular area such as tax, accounting, financial planning etc. </p>
<p>Interestingly enough, the extra 30 credits beyond the basic 120 can be in anything. It does NOT even have to be accounting related.</p>
<p>By the way, I would NOT send him to New Paltz unless it is pretty certain that they will get AACSB accreditation before he graduates. Maybe he should choose another SUNY or CUNY..</p>
<p>I have taught accounting at a cc for 18+ years. Every so often when the moon and the stars line up just right, I get funding to attend the annual meeting of the American Accounting Association (academic organization for accounting professors). The rankings listed above seemed so disjointed to me from my experiences professionally. Taxguy is right, it doesn't really matter as long as the school has AACSB accreditation. From years of experience, the programs that I regard highly are those that are known for high pass rates on the CPA exam and who have lead authors on widely used texts and faculty who make distinguished presentations at AAA national and regional meetings. No particular order here, but I've always held USC, BYU, UVA,UT, and UIUC in high regard. There are certainly other outstanding schools as well, but those are some whose faculty have made a positive impression on me.</p>
<p>Thanks Taxguy for your response.</p>
<p>It's really easy at my school to do the joint macc program...sometimes even in four years. It's a top 15 accounting program according to BW.</p>