<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>Just curious if anyone knows how to enter into the Big 4 firms if you attend a (semi?)target school and don't have accounting as a possible major. From what I gather, they don't recruit at our school for such positions. </p>
<p>I'm a rising second-year econ major at UChicago, and although I'll take accounting classes at Booth, it seems like a lot of the internships with the Big 4 only want accounting majors?</p>
<p>A CPA father here. As great a school as U of C is, it does not have an undergraduate accounting program. (It has a highly regarded PhD program in accounting - but that is totally different.) The Big 4 likely doesn’t recruit there because an economics degree will not qualify you to sit for the CPA exam. This requirement is governed by state law. </p>
<p>In Illinois you need a total of 150 semester hours of credit including 30 semester hours of accounting. 24 hours of business classes and several other specific class requirements to even qualify to sit for the exam. While a masters degree is not absolutely required, many undergrad accounting majors simply continue on for a fifth year and get a masters of accountancy degree (30 hours in two semesters)</p>
<p>Now. if you really want to go into accounting, many schools offer a version of the masters of accounting degree that will qualify non-accounting majors to sit for the CPA exam. These programs can take 18-24 months to complete, depending upon the program. The advantage of getting a masters at a target school is that you would be able to participate in on campus recruiting with the Big 4 and other firms.</p>
<p>You might want to check into the non accounting roles at the big four firms too. These are big professional service firms that have many specialties.</p>
<p>Hello ChicagoBear:</p>
<p>I’m thinking of a grad accounting program 2014 fall. Now I’m in UT Arlington MBA program and I’m an international student. Would you recommend some “target” schools that have more internships and good job placement rate? As an international student I can’t really get enough information just from US News or something. Please. Thank you!</p>
<p>Is SUNY at Binghamton a target school for Big 4 in NY area? Thank you.</p>
<p>For an alternative to USNWR I would look at the Public Accounting Report survey results. This survey has been around for over 30 years and is purely an accounting department ranking - no MBA “bleed over”. Basically any of the schools on the list are going to have good Big 4 recruiting. Howwver, use the list appropriately. Where you want to work should come onto play. UT-Austin is #1</p>
<p>Sorry - I was on the train and my phone got cut off mid-post! What I was going to say was:</p>
<p>For example, UT-Austin is #1. But if you want to work in Chicago, not many of the partners in the Chicago offices probably went to UT. They likely know of its good reputation, but there will not be that alumni connection. Most of the recruiting in the Chicago offices are the Big 10 schools (Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin) and other strong Midwest programs such as Notre Dame, Missouri, Northern Illinois and Miami (OH). The firms also recruit at some regionally strong programs such as DePaul, Loyola, Marquette and others.</p>
<p>While I have heard of instances where say the Dallas office interviews a great prospect, but the candidate wants to relocate to say Chicago - and he winds up getting an offer for Chicago - I wouldn’t count on it. The office where you want to go needs to have a vacancy - and no qualified applicant. You also run the risk of not “hitting it off” as well with the staff at the other location. </p>
<p>If you are aiming say for New York, find out which schools the New York partners and managers went to and where those offices recruit - and pick from those schools. In a thread over in the Business Majors forum, there is a debate about Baruch vs Pace. One poster stated that Pace, Baruch, NYU and Fordham account for most of the Big 4 partners in NYC. I have no idea if this is correct, but since you asked about NYC, maybe you should look into that thread.</p>
<p>If you want to stay in Texas, two of the top ten programs are in that state.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>FYI - The 2013 PAR rankings of Masters in Accounting programs are:</p>
<ol>
<li> University of Texas</li>
<li> Brigham Young University</li>
<li> University of Illinois</li>
<li> University of Notre Dame</li>
<li> University of Mississippi</li>
<li> University of Southern California</li>
<li> University of Michigan</li>
<li> Texas A&M University</li>
<li> Indiana University</li>
<li>University of North Carolina</li>
<li>University of Missouri</li>
<li>Ohio State University</li>
<li>University of Florida</li>
<li>University of Georgia</li>
<li>Michigan State University</li>
<li>Northern Illinois University</li>
<li>Wake Forest University</li>
<li>CUNY - Baruch</li>
<li>Miami University (Ohio)</li>
<li>University of Wisconsin</li>
<li>University of Washington</li>
<li>University of Utah</li>
<li>University of Virginia</li>
<li>University of Tennessee</li>
<li>Arizona State University</li>
</ol>