<p>Georgia Tech: BSBA - Concentration in Accounting. (Cost to attend $35,00/year)
Alabama: BSBA - Major in Accounting. ($11,000 all-in/year)
Texas (McCombs): BBA - Major in Accounting. ($45,000/year)</p>
<p>Do recruiters look at these majors and schools differently? Cost of McCombs being OOS is just too hard to justify. S interested in Georgia Tech's strong intern and co-op program especially given easy access to those internships in Atlanta. Alabama has respected accounting program(and low-cost) but will it get him: Big 4 interview -> Big 4 Internship -> Big 4 offer?</p>
<p>Employment location is not important. Will have no loan debt with Alabama; will have to take internships and study abroad (for in-state tuition) and start as a sophmore (thanks to APS and dual enrollment)to make Georgia Tech happen with no loans.</p>
<p>I’m from Texas, you can’t beat McCombs if you can get in. It literally is the number 1 Acct program in the country and McCombs is always in the top 10 to 15 overall. I ended up at Tamu and I believe it is true that UT and TAMU have rules that OOS students can pay IN-State Tuition if they recieve a scholarship for $1,000. </p>
<p>To answer you question, I would think the biggest difference between an acct major and an acct concentration is being able to sit for the CPA. It Requires a specific amount of acct hours and certain classes, it’s different in different states, but generally a concentration is less hours than a major. So there you go…</p>
<p>There’s really no difference and the terms are basically synonyms. Another word that is thrown out a lot is “specialization” in a certain field. It all means the same thing.</p>
<p>At UT-Austin for example you can get a degree in math with a specialization in statistics. If an application were to ask for my major and I had a degree like that, I would put down statistics as my major and that would be the correct answer.</p>
<p>Sincerely appreciate comments/insight/clarification as decision time is May 1. Knights09, Unfortunately we moved from Atlanta to TN a few years ago. S awarded TN HOPE Scholarship ++ at UT-Knoxville but is not considering that school. </p>
<p>No Scholarship: admitted to Georgia Tech; Emory; W&M; UT-McCombs;TexasA&M-Mays Awarded Scholarship: Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina (auto-admit to #1 ranked Intl Business program, would double major with Accounting); Tennessee.</p>
<p>derekallen: S actually applied to UT and TAMU specifically for the waiver. He was awarded the Aggieland Bound scholarship for $1000 after requesting a scholarship via their “counter-offer” process. I had 2 people at TAMU tell me this scholarship allows for in-state and 2 people tell me it doesn’t. I asked for this in writing (that it allows for in-state tuition) and the final word was that it doesn’t. S knows 2 people that had lower ACT scores of 30 (he has 32 and 34 superscore) and similar ECs and leadership roles and GPA and they were awarded the Opportunity Scholarship. S was seriously deflated how this was handled by TAMU and why bother with this scholarship. </p>
<p>S has $80k in college fund; Parents will pay for Misc. Expenses; $5500/year loan avail
Alabama - Awarded Presidential (full-tuition scholarship for 4 years); Honors College, International Honors college, Private room Honors Dorm; feels like he could manage the GPA needed to get Big 4 interviews; would not feel stress of rushing through in 3 years.
Negative - Tier lower that other schools
Georgia Tech - Would need to start as a sophmore to eliminate one year of tuition
(thanks to 8 APs scoring 4s and 5s;dual enrollment will try summer school); will try to obtain paid internships; would have to study abroad (which he wants to) for one year which would give him in-state tuition; Could try for RA position later and housing would be free. S worried about GPA starting as a sophmore at this school.
Texas-McCombs- No question that this is S’s number one choice school for all reasons mentioned but we are OOS. Have all the details for him to become a Texas resident which is doable after one year but comes with big sacrifice. Also would his GPA be as strong as at Alabama? Understand Alabama to have #15 Accounting program in the nation and am told by staff that they are a target school. It all seems so invisible and S is aiming for viable Big 4 employment no matter what the location.</p>
<p>It seems that your son is not considering South Carolina anymore, but if you have any questions feel free to PM me. I’m a sophomore Accounting major in the Honors College here.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t feel like Georgia Tech would be worth it. Having to start with summer school and rush through the curriculum in three years (no room for electives?) just doesn’t seem worth it. I would not bank on an RA position or anything. Those tend to be very competitive because of the monetary incentive. I can almost guarantee he will have a higher GPA as a freshman at Alabama than a sophomore at Georgia Tech.</p>
<p>In my opinion, your son should go to Alabama and take that Presidential Scholarship. If he is going to try to go Big 4, a CPA is down the road which means he will need to find 150 credits somewhere. The $ saved could pay for a MAcc or something. </p>
<p>Your son is obviously very intelligent. I have no doubt he will excel at Alabama. Take the scholarship.</p>
<p>Knights09 appreciate your insight especially from a current USC Accounting Student! I am actually surprised son dropped USC from his list as really liked the campus visit. Before buckling down with his decision, he thought he wanted USC for the strong International Business program (dad-career is in international transportation logistics and mine was global transportation sales) coupled with his dual German/US citizenship. But as he researched more, he knew he had to go with a more tangible degree and believes that is accounting but wants to consider finance and/or supply chain/logistics. Who knows at 17 what you really want? He does know that USC Intl Business requires a 2nd degree such as accounting. His biggest concern with USC is he is not sure if it is a target school for the Big 4 and how strong is recruiting there + internship opportunities that helps round out the resume.<br>
He does know this: he wants high GPA, a recruiting target school and strong internship.
All around 80-100k. He does not want to come home after a 4 year degree unemployed.</p>
<p>He did get a scholarship that allows for in-state tuition so USC is completely within his budget. He did not get into the Honors College but was accepted into Capstone. Average GPA for Honors was 4.5 whereas his was 3.9 and ACT was a 32. Oh, well.<br>
Thanks for the PM invite and will do so.</p>
<p>With the amount of AP credits your son has I would not be surprised if he could add in the finance/supply chain major requirements so he can do IB, Accounting, and Finance/Supply Chain. I know several IB majors that can do this. </p>
<p>I know several people with Big 4 offers and can put you in touch with someone who can discuss the amount of Big 4 recruiting that happens here. </p>
<p>As far as Honors goes, I was not in the Honors College as a freshman. I wasn’t even Capstone, but I did have one of the scholarships that give in-state tuition. USC does some strong number-protecting when it comes to those communities, I suspect. I think this is because they like to publicize those high numbers so much. I had a 32 ACT but didn’t have a very strong GPA. You can apply to transfer into the Honors College after one semester or after freshman year. I did so after freshman year with a 3.95. It was a great decision.</p>
<p>I hope that helps and will look forward to your PM.</p>
<p>Alabama is definitely a target school for Big 4. Your best long term investment would be Texas, but Alabama, with the full scholarship, is hard to pass up. I say Texas because, down the road, the superior education (assuming in accounting) will pay major dividends when he wants to impress managers to move up the latter. That’s how I justified the steep tuition for Boston College. I know that I could fairly easily get a Big4 job going to my state school of OSU, but the far superior base of knowledge I will have coming from Boston College will help me beyond the first job. The reality is that Big 4 is not very hard to achieve as long as you have some passion for accounting and perform well gradewise (3.5+)</p>