Introductory/Lower-Level vs. Upper-Level Accounting Classes

<p>Ideally, I plan to transfer to Drexel University, or Rutgers, but my question would pertain to any university.</p>

<p>I'm currently a community college student taking a Financial Accounting course and plan to take Managerial Accounting before I transfer. These two classes would transfer over to the university to their equivalent courses of "Financial Accounting Foundations" and "Managerial Accounting Foundations" courses, which I'm assume are their lowest level introductory to accounting type classes.</p>

<p>The only issue I have right now is that the professor is way to easy, and doesn't really go in-depth with the material, and all the homework and exams are online, which makes me feel as if I'm not getting any useful knowledge out of it.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>So I was just wondering, exactly how much of the knowledge and material covered in the average introductory accounting classes at other universities compare to the actual upper-level accounting classes that is required for the degree?</p></li>
<li><p>Do accounting classes follow a sequential order of required knowledge? Does each accounting course pick up where the previous course left off? Like does "Managerial Accounting Foundations" pick up where "Financial Accounting Foundations" left off?</p></li>
<li><p>If so, is it possible to "retake" a course when I transfer, cause I ideally would like to get the most out of these introductory accounting courses before I progress through the Accounting major at the university.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>There is some sequential knowledge. Taking the intro class(Principles/Concepts/Financial Accounting I or whatever) teaches you certain basics you’ll need to know for everything. Like how to do journal entries and make T-accounts. Basic stuff you will learn no matter how easy the class is. </p>

<p>Cost Accounting will involve a lot of reiteration of Managerial. Intermediate I and II will reiterate things from Financial Accounting. </p>

<p>Don’t worry. If you think that the class is embarrassingly easy then it probably means you’ll do just fine in the upper level classes. It’s not that you are some kind of genius, it’s that the upper level classes really aren’t that hard but they are filled with people that don’t like accounting, don’t get accounting, and are too scared to graduate with a marketing or women’s studies degree. Relax. Just stay a chapter ahead in the textbook and you’ll be okay. If you have real go-getter professors maybe they’ll just assume everyone knows everything that should be covered in the intro courses, but your intermediate and cost accounting textbooks will assume you know basically nothing. So you can just use the first few chapters of those for a refresher.</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply.</p>

<p>Well, since I mentioned the exams are online, it’s basically open book, lol. So that’s why I’m concerned about how prepared I will be when I take other accounting courses.</p>

<p>Are you taking an online course? I never heard of an open book tests in accounting. If not, then you have a problem with your professor. I took principles of accounting at a community college, and even though the professor wasn’t strict, I feel that I learned from him a lot, but I never had an open book tests.</p>

<p>My current tax class is open book.</p>

<p>Tax exams should be open book, as the Code & Regs are constantly changing. My husband has a MS Tax and all his exams were open Code/Regs. Tax is about interpreting, not memorization. (except of course my professor where we did have to memorize all the stuff - I still hate taxes to this day).</p>

<p>I have taught intro accounting a few times and do not see what benefit open book would be for most problem sets, as you need to know how to approach a problem. If you are talking MC on theory - it should NOT be open book.</p>

<p>All of my tax tests were closed book. They were brutal.</p>

<p>Closed book for my tax tests as well. What good would taking a class open book be? Can’t take the CPA exam open book.</p>

<p>Mind you this is also at a top 15 accounting school. All tax classes are closed book in the MS program. I guess that’s something employers look favorably upon since the MTax is recruited in every corner of the country.</p>