Degree route advice please.

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>I live in California. So as of now I'm entering high school as a senior after this summer. Afterwards I plan to enter Ohlone Junior college with at least 30 credits from AP testing in high school and then hopefully transferring out to a University a year early (Mainly shooting Irvine or Davis, if I don't get accepted to Berkeley). I plan to get my bachelors in either managerial economics or economics.</p>

<p>Now here's my question. Where do I go on from there to pursue towards a CPA and MBA. I understand all the requirements and prerequisites. What I do not understand is how I will lay this out, considering work experience is needed along this path.</p>

<p>My understanding from researching:
1.I would get my Bachelors in Economics.
2.Then enter an MBA program, get that 30 credits to fulfill my 150 hour requirement(I saw that the 120 requirement will change as of 2014).
3. Pass the CPA exam. </p>

<p>Now from here since a CPA requires 1+ years of work experience.
Would I pursue my MBA first or pursue the work experience first to get the CPA license? Or do I start my MBA program after I get a CPA? Or would I be working while earning my MBA. I also have heard that work experience is also necessary being a competitive candidate in a Business school.</p>

<p>I am very confused and I appreciate any response. As much information as possible please. If my route or understanding is flawed in any way please tell me. I have looked around as much as possible and I still really need help map out my way towards that CPA and MBA. If there's any recommendations of major, schools, or course please feel free to post as it will help me a lot.</p>

<p>I also would like to ask if anyone would recomend any certain book titles for me to read to get myself a head or ready for my field.</p>

<p>Though my goal is to earn both a CPA and MBA, I would like to get this done with the least amount of time possible. I am willing to put the work towards my goal.</p>

<p>If it makes any difference,
My AP's from High school are Environmental Science, Psychology, Calculus ab, English literature and comp, Biology, Physics B, US Gov and politics, Statistics, Micro Economics, Macro Economics, World History, US History, Language and Comp.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>I strongly advise you not to get an MBA until you have at least 4 years work experience, and then try to go to a Top 10 MBA program. </p>

<p>For undergrad, major in Economics (managerial economics sounds too woolly!). Also, take as many Accounting courses in college as possible, so you can sit for the CPA exam as soon as possible.</p>

3

<p>I appreciate the post. Thank you so much. Would my CPA required work experience count towards that 4 years that you mention. Also all I see around is talk about work experience. What is this work experience referring too? An internship? Or am I just basically applying for a job with my Bachelors and coming back to school afterwards for my Masters. </p>

<p>Also would that mean I would have to grab an extra year after my Bachelors considering the 150 credits require to sit for the CPA exam?</p>

4

<p>^You get a normal job. And who knows? Maybe after four years in the field (or however long you work), you will realize that you don’t need an MBA for advancement (career paths vary for each person), and might decide not to get it. C-level executives without MBAs are not uncommon.</p>

<p>Is the reason you are thinking about getting a CPA because you want to be an accountant?
It just seems to me that a CPA is only needed if you want to be an accountant, and an MBA is only helpful if you want a business role outside of accounting - just my uninformed opinion.</p>

<p>You should clarify your career goals.</p>

5

<p>Yea, afer some more googling, I understand the concept of work expeience. I am really iffy about my specific career. I do know for a fact though that I want to be in the business field. My though was to be an accountant and have more open doors to consulting later with an MBA . Something like marketing analysis.</p>

<p>All this time I kept thinking it was simple as it used to be, how you can just go from a 4 year straight into a 2 year masters program. I was thinking after my bachlors I could sqeeze in a CPA while earning my MBA.</p>

<p>I just though it could all be done in 5 years. 1 year of general education at ohlone, 2 years for My bachlors at a UC and then 2 years for my MBA</p>

<p>But now I know that thats no possible considering theres about 1% that get in right away from an undergraduate school.</p>

<p>A problem I also found was that during my work experience, I may not want to quit it after those 2-4 years just to go back to school.</p>

6

<p>So I read around and saw many people saying majoring in Econ is very hard to go from accounting from majoring in econ. So in that ade what other major would be more suitable for me becoming an accountant. I prefer UC Berkeley, Irvine, or Davis.</p>

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<p>^ 150 units is only one of the requirement for CPA lisensing. You also need to meet certain units requirement in accounting and business subjects. That’s why most opt to major in accounting or business w/ accounting concentration to have the full access to accounting curriculum. Berkeley/Irvine both have accounting curriculum meeting the current 24+24 requirement. I don’t think Davis has enough acct courses in the undergrad division.</p>

8

<p>Irvine does not offer accounting as a major. And business administration is not available through TAG and it is also quite competitive considering the limited amount of space. Would I take business economics as my major? In the situation where I do not get admitted to Berkeley and fall back towards the TAG program.</p>

9

<p>You can do business econ + acct minor to have the access to accounting curriculum. But acct minor require less acct work, so it’s your responsibility to make sure you have 45 quarter units acct, 57 quarter business and acct related, 15 ethics to be licensed under the new requirement. However, you can sit for the exam with 36 acct + 36 busi + bachelor degree.</p>

<p>You need to first check if school’s curriculum meeting the new licensing requirement. If not, think about how you plan to make it up? Master in acct? MBA w/ acct? Other program that offer those courses? Do you study fulltime to meet the requirement first then work, or you will work while meeting the educational requirement? Or find another undergrad program that meets the CPA requirement upon graduation, work and then MBA?</p>

10

<p>Lookin at the topic deeper here is what my plan lays out to be.
2013-graduate high school
2014-finish ohlone general education (1 year)
2015- attend Berkeley or irvine (business administration) if not accepted I will TAG to Santa Barbara and major in Econ and account. I will be fulfilling the 36acct and 36 business.
2017- bachelors completed
2018- complete 30 credits for my 150 requirements
2019-work experience
2020-work, I will also be doing CPA exam this year
2021-work
2022-work
2023-work
2024-start MBA program
2025-finish MBA program</p>

<p>Any comments or suggestions will help.</p>

11

<p>I go to college in UC Irvine, and many of my friends are majoring in Business Econ. with the accounting minor. Ultimately, they’re going for grad school and then they’re CPA. From everything I’ve seen, it’s a great program with lots of internship and career-building capability.</p>

<p>Congrats on planning early. Foresight is a great thing, and it’s going to get you very far.</p>

12

<p>Looking into business economics looks great, thank you. I thought that grad school really needed work experience though. So wouldn’t it make sense to get a CPA while working towards an MBA instead of afterwards?</p>

<p>I’m also wondering if a minor would complete that extra 30 credits I need for te CPA exam. So that i will not have to complete that extra year after my bachelors. Considering that I have read how those units can be from random courses.</p>

13

<p>What kind of role do you want in business? Do you want to become an accountant, then move into marketing analysis?</p>

<p>If you’re goal is marketing analysis… Why not just go straight into marketing analysis, skipping the accountant/CPA stages?</p>

<p>It is really futile to try and plan out 12 years ahead. It really is. I know I’ve tried way too much. In 12 years you will be a different person with different goals.</p>

<p>Also, is the reason you’re not trying for Haas because you think you won’t get in?</p>

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<p>In fact I am trying for haas, that’s why I said I would apply for Berkeley and irvine and have sb as my back up. What I was thinking was that I was alrdy going to spend years for work experience before applying to a graduate school, during that time I would get a CPA.</p>

<p>And as for me planning this out, I just wanted to see my options as to how I am going to do in college. It’s not a set plan but more as an option for me.</p>

<p>I thought it would be great to have both MBA and CPA. I was think starting out as an accountant first during my word experience phase and last finding a better job. Any comments and suggestion help, thank you.</p>

15

<p>Okay. I was just suggesting that since you don’t want to stay in accounting anyway, you could just aim for getting the job you actually want from the get-go.</p>

16

<p>Now that I looked at these things, I really have to consider how far it is from home. I live in Union City, so Irvine and Santa Barbara are about 7+ hour drives. Hopefully I make it into Berkeyley, but if not I do not really know what to do. Can someone show me any other options? Like any schools near by, I mainly want to be at a UC so CSU are out of the picture. I would really like to attend UC Davis considering its not as far and I have a lot of friends and family there. The only problem is that it does not offer much in undergraduate business. </p>

<p>I am very close to my family around here and expecially my parents and I can’t bare to be away for large amounts of time like this. Can anyone give me some advice? I know this isn’t for another 2 years but I would like to be well informed about my options.</p>

17

<p>^ By limiting yourself to be close to home AND not consider any CSU, you don’t have many options. If financial is not a problem, you can take a look at Santa Clara U. It has a good business school, the accounting program is very well received by the firms in the bay area.</p>

18

<p>^I considered it and I’m like 80% sure that I will be traveling by air back and forth maybe once a month and during breaks. Theres like a discount for Students, so that may solve my problem. So I do not think distance is a problem anymore. </p>

<p>And also I think I may just stay in accounting. If so, would an MBA help in anyway? If not I am really considering just with the CPA.</p>

<p>I wasn’t aware of Santan Clara university.Thank you for mentioning it. I will look into it.</p>

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<p>If you’re in public accounting, MBA is not important. Just focus on getting your CPA first. If later on you do accounting in industry/corporation and feel MBA is necessary for climb the ladder, there’s plenty of part-time/evening MBA program and your company might pay for it.</p>

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<p>^^Definitely check out the business program at Santa Clara U. Great program, plus its proximity to Silicon Valley will give you internship/job opportunities.</p>