So, I am currently a community transfer majoring in business admin or accounting (depends on which uni accepts me - hopefully will major accounting). My parents want me to go to a UC system, but given that they don’t have an accounting major, I plan to go somewhere else. My question is that would having a BA/BS in business admin affect my chances of getting accepted to a graduate school if I want a MA/MS in accounting? As a matter of fact, how will it affect my chances if i want to go to a famous graduate school, lets say - USC? How can this also affect my chances of getting an accounting internship?
for note, I do not excel in academics. I think that I actually under perform. But I do excel at work for some weird reason. My plan to get into grad school as of right now is to keep my gpa alive ~ 3.2ish - 3.4ish in college and heavily relay on the letters of recommendation, essay, and interview. I don't know if this piece of information helps, but I have included it just in case.
USC is extremely competitive so you definitely want to keep that GPA over a 3.4 if you can. In regards to if undergrad is important, yes and no. As I’ve mentioned, you will need a strong undergrad GPA to get into a good graduate school for accounting. Gradaute schools typically look at undergrad GPA, professional experience, test scores, and letters of recs for incoming students. You don’t necessarily need a BA/BS in accounting in undergrad to get into a good graduate program, but you definitely want to be in a related major.
–I am confused…are you saying no school in the UC system offers an accounting major? I don’t believe that is the case.
–Undergraduate academic accomplishments play a large part in grad school admission. Also important will be essays, LORs, standardized tests (as of now).
–Some MS in Accounting programs require a BS in accounting, some others don’t but the ones that don’t require an accounting degree are often longer programs or have a lot of prerequisites that must be fulfilled.
UCI has undergraduate accounting in their undergraduate business school. For graduate accounting (Masters in Accounting or Accountancy), UCI and UCR each have masters program in accounting. Yes, USC’s program is the most competitive in California and also the most expensive of top schools. UCB and UCLA do NOT have masters program in accounting, but instead offer MBA’s (requires work experience to apply) which you can take accounting courses.