<p>I am currently taking accounting in Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and since its a relatively unknown school, I plan to move to Univ. of Missouri- Columbia which is ranked relatively high in the US news rankings. Does the reputation of the school really matter when in comes to accounting or do they all teach the same thing?</p>
<p>recruiting recruiting recruiting, find out if the big4 recruits there and if a good number of kids get offers</p>
<p>Yeah, I think it does. Connections and respect help you out in the buisness world.</p>
<p>But then, accounting is accounting, which is, yes, accounting. Accounting is a specialized procedure, kind of like medicine. Accounting is basically accouting which is basically accounting whether you learn it at Wharton or Podunk U. But recruiters might beg to differ. :)</p>
<p>haha i'm from the town next door-- :) i've heard it's pretty easy to transfer out of farleigh dickinson so g'luck</p>
<p>for accounting it doesn't matter what you school you go to
Just get your CPA and your set</p>
<p>Why is going to a big 4 accounting firm better than doing accounting at a local business? Is the pay better? Does it look better for Grad school?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.hollandcpasearch.com/survey.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.hollandcpasearch.com/survey.htm</a></p>
<p>The pay is better for the most part. But as the chart shows it really gets better once you are there for a while.</p>
<p>Wow, that is really helpful, thanks a lot. That is really awesome. I will be majoring in accounting and 4 of the top 5 most recruiting companies to my college will be the big 4.</p>
<p>thats great! yea i think the CPA exam makes the difference in one's competitiveness.</p>
<p>my accounting one teacher went to an ivy league college and is now teaching us accounting principles at the community college level! he also has tons of field experience. i think the quality of the education is a teacher-by-teacher thing, but i would assume that of course the more highly ranked schools have the more valued professors...</p>
<p>cheapseats, what college is that?</p>
<p>Its UMD-smith. </p>
<p>"Top Hiring Companies (in terms of number of students hired)"--I can only assume in order because it is not alphabetical. </p>
<p>PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Deloitte
KPMG
Accenture
Ernst & Young</p>
<p>IBM
Reznick Group
Beers & Cutler
Booz Allen Hamilton
T. Rowe Price
General Electric
Northrop Grumman</p>
<p>The CPA exam doesn't make you more competitive--recruiting will be done long before you take the exam. All the Big 4 care about is that you're elligible to sit.</p>
<p>People do not go to the Big 4 because of the pay. While the pay at the Big 4 is usually better than the smaller public firms, there are several jobs in private accounting that will pay much better starting salaries. The reason people go to the Big 4 is the experience you get--you will be auditing firms dealing with big-time and unique issues or assisting with tax issues that small firms don't deal with. That experience is gold once you're finished and you're very likely to end up working for one of your firm's clients. In fact, you'll find that most of the job postings for accounting that you read require Big 4 experience.</p>
<p>^^^ if someone wanted to go to a good grad school, would working at a big 4 company look good?</p>
<p>It certainly wouldnt hurt. Join a big 4 b/c you want to, not just for exit opps or grad school. If accounting is your passion, then gaining acceptance into a top b-school would not be a must for advancement.</p>
<p>That is my problem. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do. I am starting college next year so I have time to decide but it is all so hard. A few weeks ago I thought I would be majoring in MIS because I would like to work at an IT company and thought the knowledge would be helpful but I don't want to work on computers. I would like to work in management positions. I have interned at an IT company, while in high school for about 9 months, and I loved it. They would negotiate big contracts and it was a small business but still brought in 10 figures. I worked in accounting, HR, and contracting. I liked all of them but really wanted to work with the upper level management but never got a real chance, just things here and there. </p>
<p>Right now I will be duel majoring in accounting in management, are there any job opportunities that would value both majors? I have always liked the idea of consulting.</p>
<p>You seem to have a wide range of interests. Narrowing your interests down to one or two majors can be difficult. I am sure you have heard that college students change there major on average about three times. A dual major in accounting and management would be a great combination for a management accounting position with the big 4, which sounds like a perfect match for you. Unfortunately, you will need prior work experience in order to gain this position.</p>
<p>"...management accounting position with the big 4..."</p>
<p>What do you mean by mangement accounting position? I'm not aware of any such job title within the Big 4.</p>
<p>Maybe I shouldnt have linked the title, management accountant, directly with the big 4. Mangagement accountants are known mainly as corporate or private accountants. They work closely with the executives on key business decisions. For instance, they can be used in the planning process when a company chooses to launch a new product. In this line of work your focus is not strictly on making the financial statements, you are the one analyzing and interpreting them (getting behind the numbers). Since my original statement was not accurate in the context that I used it in, I will say that there are management positions available with the big 4. So in a since you will be a management accountant. Chances are that if this is the case, then you will not be given the title management accountant.</p>