<p>I am a Marine veteran back in school to get an accounting degree. It is AACSB accredited in Accounting and recruits Big Four heavily. I’ve got a few questions.</p>
<p>I had some bad grades(mostly due to dropping out of UIUC to join the military around 2003…oh well). I am however an excellent student(1580/1600 SAT’s, I’ll have a 4.0 on my last 37 hours at a local community college in Texas and before as a summer transient at UIC over the past year). I start at business school this summer and have 60 hours to go for my BBA. Should be done with that in December 2010. I suspect I’ll have a very good GPA since the school isn’t really that selective and my work ethic is pretty good nowadays.</p>
<p>So a few questions.</p>
<li><p>I’m about 6 or 7 years older than my peers. Will that be a problem with the Big Four? Do they just want unattached kids to work to death and mold to their will or what? I’m single for now. I know another guy was told he’d have a hard time getting a Big Four job because he was just starting college at 28. I look younger than I am, for the record. </p></li>
<li><p>I have basically no private sector experience. I have some leadership experience in the Marines in the war. I was in the infantry so it’s not really applicable to anything beyond the basics. I know some people have been having trouble getting internships because of zero work experience. Is that because employers are afraid they won’t show up on time every day and obey authority and whatnot or is it more than that? </p></li>
<li><p>I have lots of excess college credit that won’t be used towards my BBA. History and economics credit and whatnot. I could maybe get an economics minor done easily but it would require an additional semester possibly. The main issue with this extra credit is that if I take just the required courses to finish my BBA I will still have enough excess college credit to take the CPA exam. Assuming I have gotten an internship and a job offer somewhere will getting a Masters in Accountancy help me in the long run more than an extra year of experience actually working? Remember the GI Bill will pay my tuition, buy my books, my rent, and a little bit extra. I figure I’d be living off of 20k tax free vs 50k pre-tax with a job. Is it worth it?</p></li>
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