<p>Working at Big 4 was awesome, but I’m over that. That being said, getting a decent GPA is mad easy in accounting or business. Doesn’t require much effort at all.</p>
<p>Dawgie,</p>
<p>It sounds like you are a pure genius at accounting. The school I attend has a very difficult accounting program. One of my professors tests us with CPA problems both simulated and objective. In the objective portion of his exams, he gives us multiple choice questions with selected answers of A through XX (he goes through the whole alphabet twice) and the answers are nothing but numbers. He curves his class so much that you can average a 30% on your tests and still get a C in the class. Like I said you might be a genius or your school may have not been that challenging.</p>
<p>But if what you say is true about your CPA results I’d assume you just get accounting more than the average person. And for that you are blessed with intellect.</p>
<p>Well it’s a good thing I’m not an engineering major.</p>
<p>The reason I say I’m not worried about getting a job is because I have faith in GOD. If you have any faith you should read Philippians 4:6-7 it says:</p>
<p>Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.</p>
<p>This is why I have no worries. Things are happening for me because of him. I have gotten an internship with the Federal Government because of him even with the GPA I have. God is awesome. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37)</p>
<p>I think a lot of professors use CPA style questions. Or CMA in cost accounting. That’s pretty much a no-brainer for them(realistic plus an excuse not to write their own!). </p>
<p>Second, I think you ought to remember that the Big Four recruitment process is a market. If they need 100 people from your school or area, it doesn’t matter how mean your professors are if everyone else was right along side you. If it was all a piece of cake and there were 100 people with 4.0’s then you got your recruits right there. If it was ridiculously hard and there were only 100 people with 2.5 or above, then there you go again. Obviously if you had some kind of epic tale to go along with your bad GPA you might catapult your way into contention, but if you aren’t telling us that your school has unusually low GPA’s across the board then telling us how hard your classes are isn’t really relevant. If KPMG is looking for accounting n00bs and all they see are people with C averages, then that’s who they’re going to have to hire. Your problem I’m guessing is that there’s a ton of people with 3.6’s who are ahead of you in line and absent a mechanism to prove you are somehow wiser or whatever, they’re going to get in the door first.</p>
<p>If your class is curved then it doesn’t really matter if the test was extremely hard, right? While the actual test may be super hard, there will be people who get A’s, B’s and C’s.</p>
<p>Jonahrubin,</p>
<p>You are actually mistaken. There are only a handful of people who can score above a 3.2 GPA at my school. The program is so hard that 40% of the people take intermediate accounting I drop and switch to being a Finance or Business Admin major. Those who can stick it out and get through the program are the elites and are the most driven. Therefore, I fall in this category. I’m not sure how simple or difficult your school is but I know for a fact that my school is extremely hard when it comes to accounting.</p>
<p>And as I said, I don’t care to work in public accounting for my own personal reasons. I on the other hand would like to work in the government because it is more stable and the benefits are more suitable for my needs. I don’t plan to work 60-80 hours a week or even 120 (yes I do know someone who worked this many hours during the busy season). My goal is to work in the FBI. And the steps I’ve been taking towards this career have been promising. Thanks to GOD, and only Him, I have gotten an internship with the FBI. I have Top Secret clearance which looks good on the resume and if the FBI wants me I’m sure a lot more other places would welcome me as well. I’m sure all of us have heard the saying, “It’s not what you know but who you know.” I have found my mentor in the career I chose to follow and I plan to continue to shadow them in the long run. So Jonahrubin, don’t speak to me as if I am an idiot because my GPA may not be as glamorous as yours. Because as you can see I have gotten pretty far with a GPA that is in the mire.</p>
<p>I could really care less, honestly. Intermediate accounting is hard everywhere, the point is to weed people out so the CPA exam doesn’t become the weed out point(after a lot of wasted time and money). </p>
<p>If you are already sure you can get in the FBI then why are you asking about whether companies will employ you based on your GPA? </p>
<p>Also, if you will read my comment, I left open the possibility that your GPA might not be low relative to your peers.</p>
<p>If you read my earlier posts you would have seen that I don’t care to work for the big four and my question regarding the gpa was nothing more than curiosity. I’m an inquisitive person. I ask questions to hopefully get answers even if I am not going to use that information. What it does do for me is that it informs me and then I can tell someone else, later in the future, the answer to the same question I asked earlier. That is why I asked how the big four regard a low gpa relative to the cpa.</p>
<p>Xjis,</p>
<p>You can believe me or not. I said what I meant. I have no reason to lie. I don’t even know you people. I was just curious to know what employers thought. I posted because I felt that someone might know the answer to my question. But I’m done posting. You can believe that what you want about me in whether or not I want to pursue public accounting. I truly do not care what your opinion is of me. And with all that said, I hope you have a wonderful day and career.</p>
<p>I think you are reading way too much into what people are posting. xjis merely posted a simple comment and you are acting as if he is accusing you of lying about your accomplishments. </p>
<p>What I don’t get is if your school has a mandated curve, how is it that people can only score a cumulative over 3.2. The only explanation is that your school’s curve is really strict. My school’s curve is like 20% As and I forget the rest (maybe 30% Bs and 40% Cs). Our average is supposed to be a 2.7, so if you are scoring a 2.7 here, you are basically the average.</p>