Thanks for the link.
As you probably know @privatebanker , 2/3 or so of each CSOM class picks Finance for their concentration. But Accounting is so strong - and the career opportunities too numerous - incoming students should consider the department. My son has really enjoyed the rigor of BC’s Accounting program.
CSOM has an excellent and rigorous accounting program. Most students will tell you that all the tracks/ majors are challenging.
Many CSOM students are not going the accounting route due to the economics of the field. The big 4 are lagging in pay scale to start and still basing salary more on a structured system of longevity primarily and results secondarily.
The top finance majors are staring at 20 percent base salary above the Big 4. With much higher bonus potential.
Nonetheless the CPA track is excellent for those who have a passion for it and in times of recession a great place to be.
Happy Valentine’s Day @Igs03 - my purpose in launching this Thread was about highlighting a prestigious ranking attained by a subset of CSOM students.
With regards to the career details you mention above, I suggest prospective BC students and their parents mine the very good “Poets & Quants for Undergrads” website to compare CSOM to other institutions.
HVD ! @Notknot77098
I did not compare CSOM to other institutions.
I wish more BC students took advantage of the excellent CPA track program.
CSOM has long history of excellent success passing the CPA exam the first try and excellent placement with the big 4, and awesome partner track outcomes long term.
Certainly nice to be again recognized by Poets and Quants and yourself with this thread.
Go Eagles !
Sure, top finance beats (most?) other jobs with a bachelor’s. But I would opine that accounting can have a better quality of life long-term. Moreover, many small (and large) companies love to hire Finance folks with a CPA, so they can cover both areas.
Accounting is an awesome career and well compensated.
I hope the Big 4 increase compensation so more Eagles wil take advantage of the awesome program. Many already do.
None the less all CSOM. students are exposed to the accounting department for at least one course.
My reason for comment originally was not to deter from the excellent accounting program at BC. It was to encourage pressure as to not lose so many of these great students to finance.
There’s a new college ranking list/group that’s being discussed in another thread. It is based on starting salaries, total strudent debt and cost of attendance I believe. It’s not perfect and some majors the government data has issues. Ie average age of the students being reviewed. Especially mid career criminal science majors.
But overall BC showed up in the top group in many majors. Really a lot.
Accounting it was ranked number 4 overall, I recall.
^^tbf, the CPA exam is not exactly rocket science, and I would expect smart kids (using SAT-m as a proxy) to perform better than those schools with much lower scores .
@bluebayou Your continuous slam of all things business, and in particular CSOM, gets a bit old.
CPA exam ranks pretty high in difficulty compared with comparable professional tests. 4 part 16 hour exam is truly NOT rocket science but stats say it is harder to pass than the bar exam or the Professional Engineer tests.
Have a nice day.
Huh? I’m a huge fan of the Jesuit education provided by Boston College.
Do I prefer and recommend a liberal arts degree over undergrad biz for nearly all but Accounting? Absolutely, but then I’ve held that position for many years. (It ain’t CSOM-related; I just don’t post much on other college-specific threads, but when I do, I post the same bias for a liberal arts degree, such as Econ, over undergrad Biz. (That said, I’ve also long posted that for a career, Accounting can lead to a great quality of life.)
For kids who have their hearts set on undergrad Biz, CSOM can be a great choice. Personally, I’d recommend that they consider what I consider a more national undergrad schools, such as Wharton, Ross, Sloan, Stern, if they could get in, but if not, CSOM will offer an awesome experience. And for Accounting, national rep matters not as the Big 4 hire from everywhere, even the public directional state Unis.
fwiw: my point in #9 was that BC was chock-full of really smart kids – top SAT/ACT scores are required for admission – so their students should do well in Accounting. And in particular, do much much better than Accounting majors at much lower ranked Unis. For example, most Cal State Universities – which offer undergrad biz/accounting in CA – have a top SAT/ACT quartile which is lower than the bottom quartile at BC. Yet those Cal State grads still pass the CPA exam (~50% pass rate), but at a much lower rate than BC. Is that bcos BC teaches Accounting that much better? Perhaps. But the significant difference is that BC has a 670 25th % SAT math score while a Cal State has 630 75th%. In other words, the top kids at a Cal State would be the bottom at BC – not that they’d get in unless they could play hockey or football. 
Please post the stats or a link to them. I’d love to be educated.
(Hint: overall pass rates is meaningless, as an MBA from the University of Phoenix or DeVry or any other accredited program can sit for the CPA exam, but they cannot sit for the state bar. So the threshold to take the CPA exam is much lower; while lower threshold doesn’t mean easy, it does mean that more won’t pass, however.)
I apologize if you took offense.