<p>I hope to pursue CPA after I get my degree in accounting.</p>
<p>I'm currently a community college student in Virginia,</p>
<p>so I'm hoping to transfer to probably Virginia Tech or UVA.</p>
<p>I know UVA is a pretty good accounting school,</p>
<p>but does anyone knows where does VT rank for accounting majors??</p>
<p>UVA is more than pretty good. It is one of the best undergraduate business programs in the country.</p>
<p>Accounting is accounting at pretty much every school (I’ll probably get ripped for this). You just need to know that accounting firms recruit the school and you are golden. If accounting firms recruit the schools then it says that the school teaches the material well enough.</p>
<p>In the short-term that statement is true. Accounting is accounting and quite a number do get recruited by Big 4. But, in the long term, better schools win out. Why? </p>
<p>1) You gain a much better skill set to be used when you actually get that Big 4 gig. Better skill sets allow one a much better opportunity to excel relative to his or her co-workers, and thus upward mobility is much easier to achieve.</p>
<p>2) More prestigious programs get recruited to larger markets. For example, the University of X recruits to Fairfield USA’s Deloitte office. But, going to UVA makes bigger offices such as Deloitte’s New York office a possibility.</p>
<p>@kaihsu24 I got accepted to Vtech Pamplin and when I was doing the research, I found that Vtech has a decent accounting program. However, I really do think if you go to GMU (if you don’t get into W&M or UVA), you would be better off than at VTech because it is right next to DC. Vtech is in the middle of nowhere. </p>
<p>I’m in a similar spot. I got into U. of Illinois and they got a great accounting program, but as goose7856 said, as long as major accounting firms hire there, you are okay.
It is worth spending $80K to transfer to Illinois for 2 years because they have a better accounting program? Or should I stay at my current school…not Top 50 but big4 does recruit there and I’m only paying $20 a year.</p>
<p>Kaihsu24 - Va Tech has an excellent accounting program. However, if you have the choice I would recommend UVA over Tech simply because its college of business is more prestigious. All B4 accounting firms recruit at both Tech and UVA. There’s no difference between the two in getting an opportunity to work with the B4 in say the DC office versus the NY office. If you pass the initial on-campus interview you will be invited to the office for the second interview. </p>
<p>Yes, GMU is close to DC but that has nothing to do with the quality of education at Vtech or the many businesses that come to recruit. </p>
<p>ggfang123 - IMO you should save your 80k. You will never recoup the extra tuition. The B4 isn’t going to pay you much more to come out of Illinois versus your current school so why bother?</p>
<p>It’s business program is ranked 42nd among 500+ accredited business schools in the nation.</p>
<p>as a former CC student who applied to both UVA and VT and currently attends VT, i wish you the best of luck transferring to either institution. McEntire (UVA) is tops in our state and is a tough school to get into but if you can get in, more power to you. i applied with a 3.9 GPA and was waitlisted whereas i got into Pamplin (VT) immediately. </p>
<p>i’m an accounting major and i can tell you that the Big 4 plus all the regional+smaller firms recruit VT all the time–i swear, my e-mail is constantly bombarded by invitations for firm meet-and-greets where we’re given free meals and prizes (iPads, t-shirts, etc.). compared to my friends @ ODU, i’ve never seen a place where alumni actively came back to campus, spoke to you in your classes to convince you to work for their firm!</p>
<p>most of the firms that recruit are primarily from MD, VA, and NC with the major cities being the DC metro area, Richmond, Hampton Roads and then Charlotte. if you really want to work for a NYC office, i’m sure requesting to work there wouldn’t be a problem with a Big 4 firm. </p>
<p>as for rankings, the better gauge is the most recent Public Accounting Report (2009): UVA Accounting undergrad is #13 whereas VT Accounting undergrad is #24. for accounting graduate school, UVA ranks #15 while VT ranks #22. to be quite honest, i wouldn’t be so hung up on rankings. accounting is a tough major and as long as you’re doing well at a top 25 school, you won’t have any problems getting a job. </p>
<p>i can’t vouch for your statement on GMU having a recruiting edge on VT because of location/proximity but our accounting alumni base is much deeper and loyal to the university than GMU’s. when you compare a commuter school against an in-residence university, there’s no contest when it comes to the alumni loyalty factor–VT alums come back to campus in droves to help out other Hokies in the business school. funny thing is, i actually met three students in my accounting classes who transferred from GMU because they wanted a “real” university experience and felt the classes were better in Blacksburg than they were in Fairfax (their words, not mine). </p>
<p>one more thing–in Pamplin, Business Information Technology majors get their pick of whatever jobs they want with Accounting majors coming in at #2.</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who graduated from VT in accounting. VT will definitely get you there, and its not that hard to get into public accounting from VT.</p>
<p>I’m working for B4 this coming fall, and a lot of my colleagues are from Vtech and JMU.</p>
<p>How is Vtech for getting the Big4 positions at NY or LA?</p>
<p>I know a lot of people doing big four, and as to the big four in NYC/LA, trust me, you don’t want that job. </p>
<p>The big four pay entry level employees about 5K more than they pay those in Detroit or Minneapolis. That doesn’t even come close to covering the cost of living difference. Consider that finance employees who might be making 55K in Michigan are making 70-75K in New York City. So, in short, you could go to the the New York/LA office of a big 4, but you’ll live like a poor man until you pass your CPA and make manager.</p>