<p>Hi! I’m interested in pursuing Accounting. I am going to be a Junior this Fall but I want to fix up my GPA before pursuing my desired field of study. Although I can go into Business and Accounting this year, my primary GPA is just a 2.26. I want to get rid of all my remaining D’s and my only F and fix my GPA so it’ll be at the 3.0 margin by the end of my Spring semester. This will cause me to fall back a Semester and graduate within 5 1/2 years total. (4 1/2 undergrad, 1 Masters) I can’t afford summer courses so this seems to be a better option. (Financial Aid as Full-time pays for my tuition) I just have a few questions about this course of action. </p>
<p>1) Does the Big 4 discriminate against those who take courses over again when considering GPA? (I heard some companies ask for transcripts and actually analyze if you took courses over) If this assumption is incorrect, will they be biased against me for graduating above the normal amount of years needed?
2) I heard that the Big 4 firms select their candidates for Internships before the Winter for Juniors. Is this true?
3) I also heard that they will consider your internship as a long job interview. Is this also true?
4) If #3 is correct, do the Big 4 firms accept Seniors into their Internship programs? I would probably be doing a local internship next summer instead.
5) I remember hearing that Big 4 firms allowed candidates to work while attaining their Masters degree for the CPA. Does that still follow in NY? I know they changed things… (I would have to go on loans during my Masters b/c of the tuition costs) </p>
<p>My reasons for doing Accounting are because I enjoyed my 2 Into Accounting courses more than my peers, and I enjoyed my (very short) VITA experience. But being the cautious person I am is there any way I could actually see a Big 4 Auditing firm in action this summer before school? I also enjoyed learning Economics (more than Accounting), but I understand that majoring in Economics from a public University is akin to suicide and double majoring in Accounting and Economics is impossible time-wise. So I want to be that extra certain that Accounting is right for me. </p>
<p>Thank you for your comments! I highly appreciate them! =)</p>
<p>^I don’t mean to put you down but with that GPA you don’t have a chance. The Big 4 usually looks for 3.4 and above. Just pulling up to a 3.0 will not help, and I do believe they ask for a transcript and when they see multilple Ds and Fs they will not give you an interview. I’m sorry I had to be so blunt but these companies are for the best accounting students from each college and that GPA is not going to get you in. You should look at small local companies for internships, and unfortunately that will also be tough with that GPA.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What did you get in these two classes? If you struggled, you won’t make it past intermediate.</p>
<p>plscatamacchia, I enjoyed intro to accounting and managerial (got A’s in both). I also took these at my local community college which I assume are comparatively easier than if I took them at a 4-year Uni. I will graduate with my diploma & AA and will transfer as a junior (the year of intermediate accounting). I understand how grueling intermediate is (40 hours of studying a week/practicing HW 10 times blah blah). My question is am I at a disadvantage taking these classes at an easy CC and then transferring to say McCombs. What advice can you give me to make the transition a bit easier (i.e. knowing the intro classes like the back of my hand, any other prep). This is pretty much the only thing I’m worried about cuz I’ll be a 18 year old in the junior level accounting program and im not used to working my ass off (not saying that I can’t either)</p>
<p>anyone else with some input? I’ve googled this to death and cant seem to find any advice on the subject. All you accounting grads!..help out the little guys :).</p>
<p>No, you won’t be at a disadvantage. The intro accounting classes are VERY broad. Intermediate takes you MUCH deeper into the topics you covered. I can promise you that your CC intro classes are not much easier than 4 year classes, they should both be VERY easy to accounting majors (no matter where you take them). </p>
<p>The best advice I can give you is to not put to much hype into Intermediate…IF you truly want to do accounting. Too many people go in saying “Oh my god this is going to be so hard”. I went in thinking “I’m ready to work”. I did, but I can honestly tell you I never had 40 hour study weeks for 1 class. Pay attention, do the homework, do MORE problems than the homework requires and read the text and you will be fine. </p>
<p>You’ll be 18 as a junior? Or am I missing something? If you are that’s very impressive and you should not think of it as a disadvantage. Think positively! Think about how awesome it would be to be upstaging the older people in your classes. </p>
<p>You will see in your college career that stressing out about exams or classes in general will only make you do worse. Yes you hear people say they do better under pressure, but the fact is stress is only going to limit you. If you come to a topic that confuses you don’t fry your brain and have a panic attack. Go to your teacher and ask for help, you will find out that forming relationships with professors in your hardest classes will pay off HUGE. I know that you’ve probably heard it 100 times, everyone does, yet somehow you will always see that person in class on test day that is panicking because they are lost and yet the professor has no idea what their name even is.</p>
<p>plscatamacchia, I really appreciate your input. In fact, ever since I’ve been ■■■■■■■■ CC and this thread I’ve come to realize that your posts have been concise, helpful, and sometimes hilarious when you ostracize certain members, not to name names but I’ll name the thread: (the “fun” well paying career thread by sandra). People like taxguy, thetaxdad, dawgie (I find many of your posts hilarious as well), 2VU0609, southpasdena, sp1212, VectorWega and everyone else who has shared their experience deserve some props. They don’t get paid to answer our questions so be patient and most importantly READ THE ENTIRE THREAD BEFORE ASKING QUESTIONS. If I had the ability to rank these members (a feature that should be considered at C.C.) I would give them high marks. Seriously, this thread has been a major help and they all deserve respect and credit!!!</p>
<p>Anyway I digress, plscatamacchia…I live in Florida and my high school allows qualified students the option to earn their AA and HS diploma at the same time by taking classes at the local CC (called Dual Enrollment–I believe many HSs around the country do this as well) so it’s not uncommon for 18 year olds to transfer as juniors to a state Uni. I was told by the University of Florida that over 800 HS students with AA’s applied last year and expect dual enrollments to proliferate like rabbits in the next few years because students are catching on (I’m not sure if this is a good thing for C.C. lol). Here’s an example: Last year I was 1 of 3 students looking to get their AA. This year at my school 35 are doing just that. Research has shown that dual enrollment forces students to basically be open minded and figure out their life. The research I’ve been trying to find is how well these students adapt when they transfer. I apologize for this long paragraph but I’m doing this for future DEs who like to google (I wish I had this information).</p>
<p>Also plscatamacchia, I like the idea of upstaging my superiors (I let out an evil chuckle at this thought)…it’ll keep my attitude positive and competitive</p>
<p>Maxed-Out - As was remarked above, you are way ahead of the curve as far as your peers go, which you should be proud of. I think that you will be fine going into accounting so long as from here on out you maintain a high accounting GPA. You already have a 4.0 in accounting from what I have read, so you’re on the right track. Yes, the Big 4 as well as other firms (even small local firms) will often ask for your transcript. However, if you can get your overall GPA up I think you will be ok. It may be harder to get an interview with a Big 4 firm with a lower over-all GPA, however, if you do decide to do an internship with a smaller or mid-sized firm this summer, that experience alone may help you land the next interview. </p>
<p>As for your classes, you will not be at a disadvantage so long as you understand the broad nature of the material presented in the two intro courses. The main thing that you need to take away is a general understanding of how the debits and credits work, basic understanding of the financial statements, and the basic concepts related to cost for managerial accounting. If you grasp these broad concepts, then intermediate won’t be so bad. I too never had the enormous amount of study hours that other talk of. I think if you do the suggested practice problems and take notes in class, intermediate really isn’t that bad at all. </p>
<p>It is also a good idea to do the MAcc (I am ssuming) since you are going to need the extra year to graduate anyway. As for internships - check with your college’s career center because as you eluded to, internships fill up fast, and far in advance. Typically most firms will recruit for spring and summer internships at least 3-4 months in advance. A lot of the Big 4 as well as other regional firms will post on their websites the dates that they will be at local colleges and universities for recruiting. Check those out and also check with your state’s society of CPAs. It would be a good idea to become a student member of your state’s society of CPAs and or AICPA. The student membership is really cheap, it looks good on a resume, and it also opens up a lot of doors for networking.</p>
<p>Luisg99 – How do you already have an interview with Deloitte scheduled for October? I don’t even see any Deloitte career events posted on their website yet.</p>
<p>Does anyone have advice on how to get started on this? Any advice on how to set up meetings with Deloitte recruiters or job shadow an auditor? I want to get going on this internship hunt ASAP.</p>
<p>Edit – I’ve seen in this thread to check with college career centers; however, I’m still applying for MSAcc programs and hoping to start by January. I do not have a career center at my disposal.</p>
<p>As to intermediate accounting, I never had the problems or workload that others have complained about. However, I was a minor in physics! I could look at a few solved problems and then solve any related problem no matter how hard. </p>
<p>In addition to what thetaxdad said in post 686, which I fully agree with, you need to have a thorough understanding of the accounting equation of Assets=libabilities + Equity. This equation looks very simple, but it has a lot of nuances associated with it. You need to not only understand this formula very well,but understand how to compute each element that comprises the formula. For example,Cost of good sold= beginning inventory + Purchases- obsolete inventory writedowns- ending inventory. There are other equations for computing ending cash, retained earnings etc. You should learn to appreciate and understand how to flow of cash affects the balance sheet such as net earnings. I have always felt that a student who thoroughly understands the nuances of the accounting equation, will do well in intermediate accounting and won’t even need to memorize all the formulas for computing each item on the financial statement since they can easy derrive it themselves as needed.</p>
<p>I am sure other professors of accounting can chime in and amplify what was said.</p>
<p>maxed_out,
Another important thing for your to do list is to determine the requirements for your college chapter of Beta Alpha Psi and join that when you become eligible. You will have important networking opportunities through this honorary society.</p>
<p>Intermediate I is not that hard. It’s only hard because many people who ought to have gotten the hint in the two intro classes didn’t, and they kept going. Plus lots of kids have probably never taken a hard class in their life. If you never took an AP class in high school(which IMO were far harder than any lower level classes I’ve ever taken in college) and have just taken what business majors are required to take for core purposes(Calc for Dummies, Sociology 101,etc), then Intermediate may be a shock. But if you are reasonably intelligent it shouldn’t be hard. As taxdad said, if you can grasp the fundamentals you can generally figure out a lot of it without memorization. That’s what is nice about the whole Debits=Credits thing. If you can comprehend what a transaction really means, you can usually come up with the journal entry required. The more calculation heavy problems aren’t as complicated as doing a Riemann Sum(I think, it’s been 8 years since I had to do those in class). Just pay attention, figure out what is really going on in each problem and don’t try to just memorize journal entries. If you want to try to memorize formats so you can regurgitate them when you see a few key words, then yeah, you should probably make sure you have lots and lots of free time when you take intermediate to study. Personally I pretty much stopped doing any homework beyond reading(still went to class of course) in the last third of the class and I still got an A on the final and for the class.</p>
<p>Every time something new is introduced in class ask WHY it is done the way it is. Once you realize accounting theory will deal with increases in market value much differently than decreases, and you understand WHY, it will make many things much easier for you. Certain issues pop up time and time again and certain processes apply to many different things. If you make sure you understand everything fundamentally early on, the class will get a lot easier for you and a lot harder for those who keep just keep piling up things to memorize.</p>
<p>What do you guys know about the Cornell accounting program. I am going to major in accounting and I’m pretty set on Cornell and BusinessWeek has it as the 4th best accounting program but it doesn’t seem as if you can get the 150 hours required for the CPA exam. </p>
<p>Can anyone give any information on this? They don’t have the amount of accounting classes as other universities but the Ivy League is a really big opportunity to pass up if I could get into the school.</p>
<p>mburns,
You should the state requirements where you want to practice. In most states the 150 hours are not specified beyond the number of accounting hours required to sit for the exam. You could have a bachelors degree with additional hours beyond. It was the original intent of the AICPA that students could broaden their horizons in other ways beyond additional accounting hours. For example, a student could take additional hours in language if they had an interest in working globally.</p>
<p>I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoy mine. I love working with people and businesses to meet their accounting needs, and working in the business/tax sector is a great way for me to do this. There are times, especially entry level, when things can get redundant, but all in all it is very satisfying.</p>
<p>I am a senior in high school and im interested in accounting. But my question is HOW do i know if i would like it. Is there any like sort of “Test” to see if your interested?</p>