<p>^^^theres a cpa website…and accounting classes in most schools</p>
<p>edit: most states have a cpa state website for kids. society or something. theres a quiz on them usually</p>
<p>Also is sandiego state a good school for accounting and is it hard to get in too. And what about UC riverside. I have a 3.3 gpa, 25 ACT and 1680 SAT.</p>
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<p>google or search this forum</p>
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<p>You won’t really know for sure until sophomore year in college when you take the two intro classes. Fortunately you have a long time until you officially have to declare a specific major within business.</p>
<p>As stated above, you really won’t know if you like accounting until you take the two entry level classes. There are no tests to see if you would like it, and even the two entry level classes are just classes. If you are worrying about liking accounting once you get into the field, my suggestion would be to attend some of the accounting club activities on your campus. Many times there will be speakers or panels hosted at your school that will give you good insight into what day to day life is like for various accounting jobs. The main point here is to get out and get involved in the various groups and networking groups once you are in college. One of the posters above mentioned state CPA societies, these are great resources for college students that are not always taken advantage of. Once you are a college student, look into joining your state society of CPAs and or AICPA. Both offer networking groups and many different events for students.</p>
<p>I have read this entire thread from the very first page - It is very helpful! Thank you.</p>
<p>taxguy or Thetaxdad I would appreciate if you could answer two questions I have. </p>
<p>I live in Dallas, TX and will soon transfer to UT Dallas and work on a Bachelor’s of “Accounting and Information Management” (I hope it’s just a different name for an Accounting degree, I compared the curriculum with that of other schools and it appears to be essentially the same)
Anyway, I plan to move to Seattle, WA once I’m done with schooling and CPA certified. </p>
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<li><p>So, I was wondering if I should go for the 5-year integrated B.S. & M.S. ‘Accounting’ degree at UT Dallas, OR just finish the B.S. at UT Dallas & go to UT Austin (McCombs) for an MPA (Master’s in Accounting)
Since I plan to move to Seattle after schooling + CPA, would it be more beneficial to attend McCombs for the MPA? Or would I be just fine getting the 5-year integrated B.S. and M.S. in Accounting at UT Dallas? [Note: I have no intention of working at a Big 4. Mid-sized/regional firms would do for me. What concerns me is how easy would it be to get a job over in Seattle, would it make a SIGNIFICANT difference if I attend McCombs for the MPA?]</p></li>
<li><p>Also, how would I transfer the CPA certification over to the state of Washington? I read that there is a ‘reciprocity’. Would the process be hassle-free? It would terrible if I had to take the test again to practice in Washington. </p></li>
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<p>Thank you for your guidance.</p>
<p>This is all great advice.</p>
<p>As for getting involved in the field while still in school, is the H&R Block tax course really worth the $300 fee? My biggest fear is that I will finish the course and not be able to find work preparing returns. </p>
<p>Instead, should I go through the free VITA training and volunteer to prepare returns?</p>
<p>I went through VITA. It was pretty helpful, plus the added bonus is you’re helping underprivileged people. I would say do that.</p>
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<li> The first thing you need to do is check with the state board of accountancy in Washington to determine what the requirements are to sit for the CPA and if your program fits those requirements. If you do know right now that you want to do accounting, then the MS is probably the way to go. McCombs has an excellent MPA program, however, I really don’t know much about it. My guess, however, is that many of the students in that program have a few years of work experience and some/many may already be CPAs, unless they are already in the program at UT Austin as a freshman. But I could be wrong. Also, you mention moving to Seattle after obtaining the CPA, but if you wish to practice in Seattle you will need to get certified in Washington, again, check with Washington’s board of accountancy.</li>
<li> I am not sure about the specifics of transferring certifications, but if you contact the board of accountancy in Washington, they are pretty good about getting back to you in a timely manner.</li>
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<p>My concern is that this thread may over saturate the accounting profession with CPAs:D.</p>
<p>What are your outlooks on the prestige of a CPA in the growing years especially when most colleges are experiencing increased enrollments + the allure of its job security, decent pay, and proven opportunities (if you do it right)? </p>
<p>I imagine this may devalue the profession somewhat. I can’t even imagine what this would mean for the indentured servants at the big 4…an excuse to cut pay? Maybe standards will have to become more stringent. What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>maxed_out, this thread alone will NOT saturate the CPA market. LOL.</p>
<p>Throughout the past 30 years or so, there has been a shortage of qualified CPAs. Yes, the demand had ebbed and flowed.However, overall, there has been a shortage. The reasons are many.</p>
<p>First, many folks find accounting isn’t right for them so they leave the profession. </p>
<p>Secondly, attaining the CPA is NOT for the weak or faint of heart. It is a weed out profession at every stage. In college, the course work is tough and grueling. Moreover, there usually isn’t grade inflation for accounting majors. Thus, at most schools that I have seen, as many as 50% of the kids who started out as accounting majors, change majors.</p>
<p>Thirdly, accounting firms weed out those that aren’t willing to work hard and competantly. </p>
<p>Fourthly: To become a CPA in most states ( and probably all states), you would need 150 credits in total,which requires another year of schooling. This adds a lot more cost to the education.</p>
<p>Fifthly: The CPA is one of the hardest, licensing exams given. It consists of four grueling parts with a number of tricky questions that must be passed. In addition, once you pass one part, you have 18 months thereafter to pass all of the remaining parts or you lose the parts that you previously passed.</p>
<p>Excellent post by taxguy… here are a few more points</p>
<p>The bureau of labor has projected that the accounting profession, especially jobs that require a college degree and certification (CPA) will grow around 18% through 2016. This is faster than the average for all occupations. We can actually benefit from this current economic crisis in that laws are becoming much more intense as corporations are scrutinized more and more (auditing). Also, with the complexity of tax laws and new legislation being passed constantly, the need for CPAs in the business line of work will be a very present force.</p>
<p>Yes accounting is alluring to many, however, it is not an easy climb to the CPA as mentioned by taxguy. WIth an average pass rate in many states of under 50%, this is a very difficult certification to claim. This is an old number from 2006, but in that year there were 646,520 CPAs registered (statistic given via NASBA). This means that less than .05% of the population was a registered CPA. Even with the expected growth of jobs in the CPA profession, the profession itself has not seen a comparable growth in new CPA candidates in the past few years.</p>
<p>Thanks Thetaxdad. If anyone else would like to add anything else, please feel free to do so.</p>
<p>I can’t really agree that the CPA is that difficult, it takes a little dedication to get through the materials but that’s about it.</p>
<p>Well Dawgie, if you didn’t find the CPA tough, you must be one smart, lucky dude. Everyone that I know,which includes some really, really smart folks found the CPA exam rough going and challenging.</p>
<p>Well the thing is, I’m not aiming for 95s. People that score 90+'s on the CPA must be doing some serious studying, because that’s a lot of material for each section. So far, I’ve passed all 3 except FAR. I am still waiting for the results on that. It was the only section of the CPA that I would consider pretty challenging. I walked out of the test pretty unsure of which or not I passed. Then again, I tried to cram it in 2 weeks. I think of the CPA more commitment and dedication more than difficult. The concept itself are easy to grasp except for a couple tricky topics here and there.</p>
<p>^^^whats the cpa like? </p>
<p>does it ask you stupid details about accounting worksheets?(like high school classes)</p>
<p>I don’t know what work sheets you are referring to, but it’s a lot of the college topics and some other stuff that wasn’t covered. It’s very comprehensive.</p>
<p>I think the way accounting is set up, you have to be fairly smart to get as far as the CPA. You have to learn certain things so it’s harder for weaker schools to dumb things down. Really crappy schools are going to have a hard time producing lots more CPA’s.</p>
<p>Also, huge swaths of the smartest kids in the US go to top schools that don’t offer accounting. They can go on to be investment bankers or doctors or lawyers, but not CPA’s. So we don’t need to worry about them either. </p>
<p>I think just about everyone going into decent state school business colleges who doesn’t have a positive desire to be something else already picks accounting by default. Plenty of people who dislike accounting pick the major as it is out of fear of the poorhouse. Who else is there? People that utterly despise accounting taking it? If anything a surge in the general economy might drive the potential accounting majors that find accounting really boring back towards finance and marketing where they’d rather be in the first place.</p>
<p>Junahrubin notes,"Also, huge swaths of the smartest kids in the US go to top schools that don’t offer accounting. They can go on to be investment bankers or doctors or lawyers, but not CPA’s. So we don’t need to worry about them either. </p>
<p>I think just about everyone going into decent state school business colleges who doesn’t have a positive desire to be something else already picks accounting by default. Plenty of people who dislike accounting pick the major as it is out of fear of the poorhouse. Who else is there? People that utterly despise accounting taking it? If anything a surge in the general economy might drive the potential accounting majors that find accounting really boring back towards finance and marketing where they’d rather be in the first place. "</p>
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<p>Response: I don’t agree Jonah, First, those that don’t get a degree in accounting can always get a masters in accounting and be qualified for the CPA. They don’t have to have an undergraduate major in it. </p>
<p>Secondly, you have it backwards, finance and marketing and “general business majors” are many times the default majors for those that failed to make it in accounting.</p>
<p>Moreover, even if what you said were true about accounting being a default major for some folks, picking accounting as a default major usually doesn’t work out. As I noted, it is a weed out major akin to engineering or pre-med. Unless you like it and are good at it, chances are you will not stick with out or will flunk out of it. </p>
<p>Bottom Line:From what I have seen in the past, there are plenty of finance majors and marketing majors who chose THOSE majors by default because they couldn’t make it in accounting.</p>
<p>I’m going to have to agree that finance, marketing, and management were picked because they couldn’t cut it at our schools Accounting program. Intermediate accounting I + II were heavily curved with a high rate of withdrawing. Many were forced into finance or marketing.</p>