<p>Just wondering, does it look bad, if you want to be an accountant, and you major in something other than accounting for undergrad (but still a related field like economics, IT, finance, etc.) but then attend a masters program for non-accounting majors to get your CPA? The more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that I enjoy econ and the theoretical side of it, but I'm wondering if I would be looked down upon to some extent because it looks like I'm wavering between career choices or something like that, or I don't have as much knowledge as someone who did UG in accounting AND a masters in it. Have you found this to be true, or is the CPA the great equalizer basically? Also, could having a slightly different background be beneficial to some employers, or would most just prefer a straight accounting degree?</p>
<p>No, this does not look bad at all. Just explain it in your cover letter and interview. It’ll make perfect sense. I didn’t even take the MSA and I’ve seen most of the stuff on the CPA before. Doing both is redundant, hence why I am not doing an MSA for my 150 credits.</p>
<p>Sorry Dawgie, I’m a bit confused as to what you’re saying. What do you mean by doing both is redundant? Do you mean doing both accounting UG and accounting MA, or doing econ/finance UG and accounting MA? Also, do you have any recommendations as to what is the best major if one plans on doing a MAcc anyways? What is a good major that will complement the MACC and help later on in one’s career?</p>
<p>I meant doing UG Accounting and MSA is redundant because you already see most of the accounting topics you need for the CPA (Good benchmark) during UG. A good major will depend on your long term career goals. It never hurts to have a good quantitative background.</p>
<p>“Well, I’d like to basically climb the corporate ladder or become partner at the law firm, so would econ or finance be a better choice for that?”</p>
<p>If you want to be a CPA then a partner at a law firm…I think it would make more sense to do accounting as undergrad, get all your accounting and business classes out of the way…and then go to law school and take the CPA once you’ve got your 150 hours…getting an undergrad degree in econ, then getting an Masters in accounting, and THEN getting a J.D.(maybe then an LLM In tax!!!) is a lot of school.</p>
<p>A laywer can make very good use of a CPA in a lot of jobs. It really does open some nice doors at that level. I know CPA lawyers who charge almost a thousand dollars an hour doing consulting work that requires both degrees. However, they are the very best.</p>
<p>That said, the main reason to major in accounting undergrad is that you can often get into an integrated masters program where you save yourself a year of school. That’s a year you can spent earning good money rather than paying for tuition, room, board, books, etc. You’ll need to take finance and econ classes for an accounting major anyway, and it wouldn’t be that much harder to double major or get a minor in economics or finance.</p>
<p>I’m planning on doing the 5-year MPA program at McCombs (it’s ranked #1 after all!) I would like to do law school as well, but UT is 1 spot out of the T14 law schools, so I might as well fork it over and ditch the public ivy for a private one at that point.</p>
<p>Hmm what are CPA lawyers called? Tax attorneys? What exactly do those people do, because I’ve heard that come up a few times on this board? And by integrated masters, do you mean a MAcc/JD program or something? I’m guessing for Tax law, you’re still basically required to go to a T14 law school though to get a good job, huh?</p>
<p>@creamgethamoney - Integrated programs allow you to get out of school faster. For example, San Diego State University Accounting program has an BS/MS all in one program that, rather than going back to a master’s program after your BS degree and taking some classes over again, you add 1 extra year past your 120 unit degree to get a master’s and the extra 30 units for the CPA 150 unit requirement. </p>
<p>SDSU even goes a step further to allow “Double Dipping” into a few classes and apply the units into both degrees. This means that you only do 144 units but get credit for 150 by applying two 3 unit classes twice.</p>
<p>Doesn’t look bad at all, but this is coming from someone who prefer and plan to study economics, than accounting. Though no, majoring in economics can be applied to many fields.</p>
<p>The only thing I’m really worried about with this is that if I don’t get into a really good program (like UNC for example), then I’d be stuck with a worthless degree, especially since I’m from a non-target. I enjoy econ, but it would be really hard to get a good job in econ from the school I go to. That’s why I also really need to know how much your masters in accounting’s prestige matters? I know that accounting is less of a prestige-whore industry than i-banking, but would going to a lesser program be detrimental to my career?</p>
<p>Also, anyone know some other good programs for non-accounting majors besides UNC and USC? I really need to decide quickly because I’ll be declaring soon.</p>
<p>More prestigious MSA = more likely chance to get hired by Big 4 and other large companies. Typically, they come looking for X number of students from a prestigious school.</p>
<p>I’m curious about what you mentioned earlier. I will be applying to UCSB and CSULB this Nov. and was wondering if you know off the top of your head if the aforementioned colleges offer an accelerated program similar to SDSU’s.</p>
<p>Well for starters, I’ll post the excerpt directly from the SDSU Catalog so people can understand what I meant.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The BIG 4, all of which have San Diego Offices, recruit out of SDSU and the 141 units for the master’s count as 150 for the cpa exam, so says the department head.</p>
<p>As for the other schools you mentioned, UCSB & CSULB. </p>
<p>I had some trouble navigating the UCSB website so I may be wrong, but it appeared to me that they do not offer a master’s in accounting at all, and the undergrad accounting was listed as an emphasis of economics. I would double check those results though.</p>
<p>As for CSULB, I get the impression that they might, but was again unable to secure any hard evidence. If you email the department head, they may provide you with that information. With SDSU, I got the information at the transfer day event during the accounting presentation. Sharon, the SDSU accounting department head, made it seem semi rare, so unless you find out for sure, don’t assume that a college will do it. </p>
<p>Everything About SDSU accounting is designed to be accelerated. They don’t have Intermediate Accounting I, II, and III as discussed in these threads, they have Integravtive accounting topics I, II, and III. They call it integrative because it is literally 3 classed in one, intermediate accounting, Taxation, and financial for the first semester, then 3 other classes in one for the next. Each one being a 6 unit class.</p>
<p>Sorry I couldn’t be a bigger help, but I hope that my explanation offers you some more insight.</p>
<p>OP economics is not a worthless degree at all, and in such instances if you didn’t know, economics, along with accountaing and finance have been known recently as degrees that are not difficult to find a job for. Though if you see economics as a worthless degree then in all, simply do not major in it.</p>
<p>I meant integrated MAcc and BBA on the first page. </p>
<p>It is not redundant to do accounting undergrad, because you can often do a 5-year masters program, such as the McCombs iMPA (integrated Masters in Professional Accounting) which you apply for during your junior year in undergrad. You don’t take the same classes twice, instead you start working on the requirements for a masters degree in your first four years.</p>
<p>^^^^ Doesn’t that make all that talk about saving an extra year on tuition and getting into the real world faster make more sense, now?</p>
<p>I also was talking about some tax consultants, not attournies, who need a CPA.</p>
<p>EDIT: In response to the post above me, economics isn’t hard to find a job for because it’s the “business” degree of top schools without business programs, but in a school where accounting and finance are offered, those students will have first pick.</p>