Finance or Accounting Major?

<p>I'm a senior and nearly done with the year I have only applied to 2 colleges (very stupid of me) which are William Paterson and NJIT. I got into WP for business management but I have decided it's not really what I want to do because I'm not a leader, I'm more of a calculate things and figure things out kind of guy.
Engineering is completely out of the question I struggle with Pre-Calculus as it is just getting by with an 83 average I can not see myself doing complex math for 4 years in college let alone for the rest of my life as an engineer. The reason I am getting into business is because my father already owns a successful contracting business that gets bigger each year. He told me I can take over one day when I'm older and understand the business much better. That is my plan but I really can not decide should I do finance or accounting?
I'm interested in finance because I like working with money, it makes me really motivated somehow and I noticed these days anyone who is a "banker" happens to own a huge house and nice cars so they seem to all be doing very good and I do like percantages. I found it the easiest thing to learn, in 7th grade i picked it up on the first day but I find any other math challenging but I'm fine with basic algebra just not calculus. Bankers also seem to fall in the same category with Doctors and Lawyers.
However I also read you can start your own practice or business with finance and my dad's accountant seems to be doing well too he has two nice BMW's he switches around with throughout the week but I know that I'm not guaranteed 2 NICE BMW'S if i become one too. I really would like a job that does not require complex math.
I can't decide an accounting major or a finance major becasue I really do like the idea of being a banker and issuing loans to companies or helping people with their mortgage but I want to know how complex is their math and how complex is accounting math? When its January 1st I plan to apply to Montclair Business school but i wasnt sure if i should go with Montclair or William Paterson? Also do any require public speaking class? Because i have never done that and really do not want to get into that ever.</p>

<p>Thank you and I'm sorry for any errors I may have made.</p>

<p>Also which major would be more helpful to me and my situation and a better thing in general to get?</p>

<p>Bump…</p>

<p>oxygen92, what is ■■■■■ baiting?</p>

<p>stillthinkin, You should look up which classes you will have to take at each school you plan to attend. Some schools will have a liberal arts core, and a business core that you will need to complete. Depending on which school, you might have to take public speaking. </p>

<p>Start with finance, you will most likly have to take an accounting class in your business core. If you really love accounting after that, just switch.</p>

<p>I wouldnt put to much stress on which major to chose right now, you will have time to take both classes (accounting/finance), and see which one really fits before you decide.</p>

<p>Thank you guys, Im actually thinking of going to passaic county community college for two years then transfering out to something bigger like rutgers. And thanks again oxygen92 and southey16 I think I will go with finance. And sorry the way I post sound like trolling but it’s not, I just need to start taking things more seriously.</p>

<p>stillthinkin, </p>

<p>Lol, you have a lot of “demands” for what you will and will not do and you have yet to go through the trenches to achieve anything. On top of that, you are discussing material things that someone has TODAY as if they didn’t have to go through the trenches and do an assortment of things that they didn’t want to do lol. Just wanted to point out that on the process of becoming who you want to be you will have to do a number of things that you rather “not” do but you have to see the big picture. </p>

<p>Now let me break some things down for you, when you say “banker” you are using the term interchangeable with a number of other terms such as “mortgage broker” and “loan officer”. A Loan officer works for a general finance company and handles applications, chases applicants for paperwork and calls on clients (sometimes cold calling, etc) to gain new clients for loans (personal or commercial). A mortgage broker works in the same fashion. A “banker” is an investment banker and those types of positions are very difficult to obtain and are usually given to those who come from the top ranked colleges/universities. </p>

<p>You don’t like math? Get out of finance then. </p>

<p>Should you major in finance or accounting? Doesn’t matter, either works, what’s more important is what certification(s) are you going to obtain? CFA is for finance positions like the investment banking and underwriting positions, CPA is more for all other positions but can also be used of course for the finance positions. </p>

<p>Does any require a public speaking class? You don’t want to do public speaking? Lol, then don’t get into ANY business position, because a major part of your position might be to secure new business and you will have to master the “art” of doing presentations sometimes in front of more than 20 - 30 people. </p>

<p>You are focusing on the wrong things right now looking at BMWs lol, you need to focus on the following:</p>

<ul>
<li>What are your talents?</li>
<li>What are your passions?</li>
<li>Where are the market opportunities/demands now and for the next 25 years?</li>
<li>How secure are those demands/opportunities?</li>
</ul>

<p>You need to be focusing on creating a quality career plan, not on BMWs. Because I can tell you with your focus as it is in this post, you probably won’t stay committed to either subject because your heart is focused on the wrong thing at this point.</p>

<p>Lol, oxygen what? How am I trying to shatter his dreams? My point is that there is a ton of money to be made in our industry but it doesn’t begin to steam roll until you have “paid your dues” so to speak. Just don’t think you are going to come in here and the BMWs along with the “hefty paychecks” are going to start rolling in immediately, you are going to have to end up doing a lot of work that you more than likely prefer “not” to do as well as build up experience before the big money is made.</p>

<p>I’ll be double majoring in Finance and Accounting over the next few years. I’m curious what people mean by “paying dues”? I understand that the first few years will be tough, I have no problem with working hard. But what exactly should I expect? Long hours, low pay, ****ty people, certs? Please elaborate what this means (based on your personal experience). Thanks.</p>

<p>When I say paying dues, in the first couple of years when you first begin work, you are still technically “green” and don’t know hardly anything, so a lot of the work you will be doing for the employer more than likely will be small busy work. You will also (unless you are working for a large corporation straight out of the gate) be making about $30,000 - $40,000 a year but working long hours of 50- 70 hours a week. This continues for the first 3-4 years before you “move up” to a better position making more money in the range of $65,000 - $100,000 plus with still the same amount of hours committed which is about 60-80 hours on average. </p>

<p>This is for most Accounting jobs and most Finance jobs (except i-banking and other specialized finance positions), understand with me personally I’m in Commercial Finance/B2B sales so my progress was even harder before I began making the decent pay I make currently. </p>

<p>Now the $30k average starting amount is considered the entry level position, for most accounting related positions to qualify for the entry level position you need to bring 1-2 years of prior experience to the table. So while in college you need to do some low level bookkeeping job, internship, volunteer job, or something similar to obtain the relevant experience. </p>

<p>Accounting and Finance positions are very highly paid, but that’s only to the experienced and talented professionals. The entry level individuals do not make a lot of money in this field, which is why it always ticks me off when government officials do limited research and keep telling everybody to major in Accounting. Now you have the Accounting majors skyrocketing but a large chunk of them never graduating due to their lack of talent in the area, or completing their degrees but moving into a different industry due to not being able to handle the large amount of stress/work hours.</p>