I really can’t tell you anything other than see what you can your advisors can work out if you do, in fact, enjoy accounting and think you want to go that route. Simply put it seems too late in the game to make such a drastic change in major and graduate on or close to on time. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to graduate with a business degree in the 4 years where you will can expect to continue your undergraduate aid. If it would take you 2 -3 additional years (which may well be unfunded as most undergrad aid is for 4 years – you’d have to check your particulars) to finish a bachelors in business then IMO you might as well get a Masters degree which could likely be earned in that same amount of time. As I noted earlier if money is an issue, which seems to be the case, then you could consider finishing your degree, getting a job, and starting a Masters degree in business part time at night. Be sure to carefully consider the job prospects of any major you undertake in a business school. Those are the options as I see them, but again the advisors in your school would have the best information.
Some MBAs offer need-based financial aids, but they are mostly at the elite level, such as Harvard. Once it comes down to a more reasonable level, such as UConn, need-based aids are much harder to find. Note that a university often treats a graduate degree at a professional school in a different way from its undergraduate degree, particularly for MBA. MBAs are cash cows for most universities. There are very limited scholarships (TAs or RAs) for highly qualified candidates. Universities may help you get loans. You are expected to work for a few years and save money for MBA education.
I was poor when I was your age. I worked 4 years and save enough money and went to a dirt cheap MBA that kindly offered me in-state tuition; they liked my GMAT score. It is a quarter system university and each credit cost me $49.
@prof2dad Yes, so you see the problem with heading to an MBA or masters route.
nowadays each credit is so much more expensive, even at community college it is not cheap. prices have inflated. that is why i am asking for insight. i don’t want to have regrets without armed with many information
@happy1 no doubt about it, if i switch now no way would i graduate in 4 years. even with a soc degree it is 3 or 4 more semesters. as for financial aid, i believe the pell grant can cover 150% max units. sooo for a minimum 120 graduation units, that is 180 or fewer. if i make the switch now , it’ll be longer but it should fall under 180.
if i forget about it and stick with current degree, then say goodbye to grants and say hello to loans and the hope of scholarships (the amount of which is reduced since not undergraduate anymore)
Ok, I have come to a decision, which I intend to do, unless some bullsh!!T university policy tells me i cannot do it because I have too many units to change to an impacted program… please tell me what you think.
I entered college Fall 2013, now I am going to switch majors to impacted Business program and want to major in Accounting.
This semester and next spring semester I am going to take Pre-Reqs , and Fall 2017 , assuming I pass the classes I will have to wait out a semester in order to apply
Then in Spring 2018, IF I get accepted into the major, I plan on taking Business core classes and take Intermediate Accounting I.
If I pass with an above average grade, I plan on taking Intermediate Accounting II and another accounting class during that summer… then classes in Fall 2018, and hopefully I pass everything with solid grades and finish in Spring 2019… Is that a good plan at this point? I am interested in accounting, and I know it is quite challenging. But I want to switch and do it…
my current major is too biased and political.
Back before you were born, I switched my major to accounting at the start of my 4th year of undergrad. I spent a couple extra years getting it done, but it was time and money well spent. I was correct in my assumption that accounting would provided me with job security. I’ve been working in public accounting (= CPA firms) for the last 26 years.
Good luck!
I agree that accounting is a good career (another CPA here and my S is also a CPA). The logistics of how best to get there is something you need to work out with your college. You might also look at the option of finishing up your degree on time and then pursuing a 2 year MS in Accounting.
@arc918 hey, nice to see a different commenter on this thread… any advice on my situation? if you read my post on august 4th. also, what are the hardest things about accounting? ive been studying just merely financial accounting, and it’s quite tedious. and it only gets harder, espically with interedmiate accounting, and the other upper division classes.
how do you recommend i study? how to be successful in accounting classes? i heard that interedmiate accounting can make or break you. thanks!
I currently work in tax and I have not done accounting for a while. In a classroom setting, just learn the basics: Assets = Liabilities + Equity; Debits = Credits; Understand the big picture and the details in the financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement) and the interrelationships in the financial statements. For example, if expenses in the income statement are up, cash in the balance sheet should be down or liabilities are up on the balance and there is a use of cash in the cash flow statement. If revenue is up, cash or receivables should be up and there is an increase in source of cash in the cash flow statement. On the balance sheet, if inventory is up, cash should be down or liability up. Once you learn and understand the basics, accounting is common sense. The difficult part of accounting is that there is a lot of detail transactions and you should keep a big picture perspective of what the transaction is accomplishing.
Generally, intermediate accounting is a weed out course. If you receive a grade below a B, you need to evaluate whether you should continue as an accounting major. However, after intermediate accounting, the accounting and related (auditing, tax, etc.) courses do get easier (or the professors grade easier).
In the real world, the hardest part of accounting is keeping up with new accounting pronouncements and applying them to the company’s situation. The time deadlines also make accounting difficult.
Hey, man I am in the same boat as you. I have also just completed 2 years of college. I began as a biomedical engineering major, but then found out it was not right for me. Ever since I have been taking broad science courses, unsure what I want to do for a career. But right now I am on track for pharmaceutical sciences.
But I am also considering business as an option since it is a four year degree which is valuable in the job market. That is honestly all that I care about. I went to engineering thinking it was going to all good, graduate in four years with a job in my hands but now I see how that turned out. Then I chose a series of potential science majors that I don’t where they will lead me even though they are very interesting to learn about.
So are you on your way to a business major currently and how is it going?
Sorry for the late response, just back from dropping my daughter off for her first year of college!
Accounting is interesting in that certain things seem to click with certain people. I could/can’t/won’t do Cost (Managerial) Accounting to save my life. Others love it and you couldn’t pay them enough to do tax work.
For me, I found learning about accounting in the classroom was much harder than doing it in real life. I remember Audit class was really tough for me to get my head around. Once I started working (on the audit side), it all made perfect sense. That’s just the way my brain works. So talk with your professors and perhaps try applying your lessons to real life. You just have to dig in and get it done. Try to read your lessons ahead of time and show up ready for class.
Anyway, pardon my rambling. I say go for it. Indeed, Accounting 101 is NOT edge of your seat excitement, but it gives your the building blocks to eventually find that which does excite you. Good luck!
@mansun1 , at my school students interested in business cannot declare it, as it’s impacted. so you have to be a premajor, or if a current student, switch to a designiated status to indicated your interest and complete lower division requirements. currently i am doing that, and assuming i pass the classes this semester, able to enroll in subsequent lower division prereqs and pass them the next semester, then fall 2017 i can apply for upper division business major. all in all, if i hold true , and pass the classes and able to enroll in classes, looking at Spring 2019 here… which sucks, but oh well…