<p>Hello, I haven't posted here in quite a while.</p>
<p>I am planning to drop out of graduate school within a few days. I am in a 1-year M.S. Accounting program, two weeks into the second semester. The courses are hard, and I have no accounting experience, no CPA exam, and little experience of any kind. I have no job lined up, the on-campus recruiting I tried last semester (and the before) got me nowhere and there isn't much this semester. On top of all that, I am unhappy with Accounting, and doubt why I ever thought I could do the work or enjoy the career. </p>
<p>It sure seems like I should drop out, but I am curious if anyone has any thoughts, for example on the value of an M.S. in Accounting with no experience (I've tried approaching the Big 4, but can't even get an interview).</p>
<p>Well, if you don’t want to be an accountant, then there’s really no point in getting an MS in accounting.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear you are planning to drop out. Have you discussed this with your advisor? Assuming you passed your first semester classes you are just three months away from graduating with a masters!</p>
<p>I’m just a little curious about your change in plans. You indicate you are in a one year MSA program. If so, that means you most likely majored in accounting as an undergraduate or have another type of business degree and took some extra accounting classes over the summer - non business majors typcially need two years to finish an MSA due to not having the prerequisites. What changed your mind about accounting just now, or are there other factors at play (financial, personal etc.)?</p>
<p>The really good MSA/MAcc programs have near 100% placement of their graduates - are you at a top program with good placement record? If so, even if your most recent interviews didn’t go so well, the school will likely continue to work with you to try and get you placed so their numbers look good.</p>
<p>Finally, just because you major in accounting doesn’t mean you are condemned to a life of bean counting! Accounting majors and CPA’s often eventually wind up in other related fields such as banking, risk management, compliance, consulting, process control evaluation etc. The skills and knowledge you gain are valued in many different roles and industries.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>^All good points. I probably shouldn’t have posted at 5 in the morning - I meant for that to be encouraging (as in don’t feel bad for wanting to drop out), but now that I read it it just looks snarky.</p>
<p>You say that you approached the Big 4 companies - but how did you approach them? Through on-campus recruiting or through a cold application? I’ve heard it can be really difficult to get into those firms without networking or using your school’s campus recruiting mechanism.</p>
<p>Also, are you only aiming for top/competitive firms? That may also be why - perhaps you need to apply to a wider spread of firms.</p>
<p>And yes, you can do other things with an MS in accounting, but I would be a bit wary. Usually you still need to spend some years getting some accounting experience to end up as a manager in the field, and so you will probably wind up doing that for a while. If you hate accounting and it makes you miserable this may not be an option for you. BUT it is true that you could probably take it into finance, banking, or consulting, as well as risk management/actuarial work.</p>
<p>I would just finish up the program. (Would you even be able to get your tuition money back for this semester?)</p>
<p>I agree that an MS in Accounting can open up a lot of doors in the future.</p>
<p>What was your motivation to pursue a grad degree in Acc? </p>
<p>I think you are jumping the gun with regards to employment opportunities. After all, you said you have no prior experience and you don’t have the Master’s yet. You haven’t actually worked in accounting yet to really experience it. I wonder/assume that you went into this program because you didn’t find too many opportunities with just the undergrad degree? So back to square one. And a loss of the price of the program without any gain of a degree.</p>
<p>I think sometimes advanced degrees in business with no prior experience can be a little difficult because you are really only entry level experience with an oversized degree for that position, yet not qualified for an advanced position. So training programs are ideal. I don’t know how much in this area the lack of the related undergrad matters because it just seems impossible to squeeze all that into one year. Certainly it isn’t insurmountable, but don’t be surprised if it makes it a little more difficult or makes for a more extensive search. I think it is unreasonable to expect something after such a short time and relatively little effort, I guess. </p>
<p>I do know someone recruited with accounting undergrad and specialized master’s in taxation from a nice little but not really big name university. Did have internships and passed CPA. After a year at a Big 4, moved on to a related tech area, then into financial services with a pretty impressive position from what I can see at a very young age. There are definitely directions to branch out into. Knowing accounting can also be a plus for many type of business jobs where you aren’t an accountant. I saw from your previous post an interest in the CIA. I don’t know about that but the FBI recruits Special Agents listing Accounting under the priority critical skills positions. But you will have to get a CPA or some work experience.</p>
<p>To me it seems smarter to finish, as said above you are over the hump. Sure it is hard. You should probably be putting everything else on hold except for mental health breaks. Good luck.</p>