<p>Ahh, okay so deadlines are approaching and I have to make a decision fast.</p>
<p>I'm in a bit of a pickle because I can't decide which would be the better route for me. I want to go into accounting and eventually take my CPA exam. I was accepted to Rutgers New Brunswick SAS for Economics, Seton Hall for Accounting. I wasn't accepted to Rutger's Business School's for accounting, so I can't take it into consideration.</p>
<p>To take the CPA exam, you have to have 150 credits to get your license, not exactly to sit for it. If I go to Rutgers SAS for Economics, I would have to get my Masters in Accounting after in order to get my CPA, If i go to Seton hall for Accounting, I wouldn't necessarily have to get my masters after to get my CPA, because I could also just take the extra credits that I need to meet 150 credits in anything I want and not have to get my masters at all if I chose this route. </p>
<p>Cost factor: Seton hall is 36k a year, and Rutgers is 13k a year, but Rutgers SAS I would also have to get my masters too which would add 20k to that.</p>
<p>So what I'm asking is, taking into consideration time, money, and school name, what should i do?? Should I go to Seton hall and graduate with an accounting degree and not have to get my masters (if i end up just taking the extra credits instead), or should I go to Rutgers SAS for Economics and have to get my Masters?</p>
<p>From what I hear Rutgers > Seton Hall, but i wasn't accepted into Rutgers Accounting program, so it's a hard decision for me.</p>
<p>SOMEONE PLEASE HELP! It would be greatly appreciated!!!!</p>
<p>Also consider that if you are not an accounting undergrad major and/or don’t have a lot of the required accounting/business classes then there is a very good chance you’d need to complete a 60 credit masters degree in accounting to qualify to sit for the CPA exam. In general the 30 degree Masters in Accounting are for people with accounting majors (and possibly accounting minors as well). I’d do some research and be certain you fully understand your choices.</p>
<p>I do think Rutgers is the better option. THere are typically accounting classes offered as electives for Economics majors, and there’s some overlap. Rutgers has extremely high success at placing its graduates into top accounting firms, so getting your master’s from Rutgers after a thorough grounding in economics would led you to a lucrative career at top firms. Seton Hall can’t promise you that.
The only reason I’d choose Seton Hall is if you really don’t want to attend a large school and/or need personal attention.</p>
<p>Its a hard decision. I know Seton Hall has good placement records as well, but you have to be in the 25% quartile of the class, otherwise it is too risky. In other words, you have to be on the dean’s list every year. </p>
<p>Not knowing your study habit and capability. I’d venture to advise to take the Rutgers route. Perhaps if you do well in the first two years, you may be able to transfer to the CPA program. Take my word for it, you need 3.5 or above in GPA to get interviewed by big 4 anyway.</p>
<p>@happy1 yeah, thats why I know if I took the Rutgers Economics route, I would HAVE to get my masters after in order to take the CPA exam and/or be an accountant.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 I have a friend that graduated with an economics degree and got his MBA at Rutgers to get his CPA, and he also told me that I could take some undergrad classes (like 4-5) that would be waived at the graduate school level, so I’m kind of considering Rutgers also because of this…</p>
<p>@artloversplus I’ve heard this also, it’s just the cost factor of seton hall is almost 3x that of Rutgers. I feel like I would be more comfortable with a degree in Accounting, since I read on another forum that it really doesn’t matter where you get your accounting degree, as long as you do well and have a plan + goal in mind. But I also agree with you that Seton Hall seems too risky also.</p>
<p>@physio6 haha RU pride!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the advice! I’m leaning towards Rutgers, but the Economics undergraduate degree and the extra couple of years for graduate school kind of puts me off and makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable. But perhaps, with the Economics degree, it will give me a bigger range of job opportunities? But I can’t see it being any different or better than an accounting degree. Seton Hall, although isn’t as great as Rutgers and is more expensive, did accept me into their business school for accounting, which makes it appealing to me and it would be less schooling, but it’s pretty much the same cost as a bachelors + masters degree at Rutgers.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard that as long as the Big4 recruit from your school (and they do recruit from both Rutgers and Seton Hall) that it would be fine.</p>
<p>As an economics major, you could take accounting as if you are an accounting major. If you can survive the weed out classes in accounting, you should be able to transfer to that CPA program, I bet you 10 to 1 that there will be weeded out students after the 2nd year in the CPA program. In my days it was Taxation and Intermediate Accounting. </p>
<p>@artloversplus I forgot to add that I would be transferring to these schools with an associates degree already under my belt, so I actually wouldn’t be able to transfer to the business school for accounting after the 2nd year because that would already be the time that I will suppose to be graduating.</p>
<p>I know big 4 pay scales very well. At the entry level, the Master in Accounting do get a little bit more in salary, it is not going to be significant, but you do get a boost at the gate. However, you know 50% of the entry level in Big 4 do not survive the first year. So it is not an easy path to be a big 4 accountant.</p>
<p>Masters in Accounting do NOT get additional salary in the audit staff, there can be a bit of a premium if you go the tax route. (My S has a MS in Accounting and started at a big 4 this past year so I know from his and his friend’s experiences). </p>
<p>happy1 your anecdotal story dose not have statistical facts behind it. As a 10 year veteran ex employee from KPMG, I do know the Masters get a slight edge on salary at Big 4, it may be 2% maybe 3%, insignificant in total scheme and it is NOT an overall application.</p>
<p>@artloversplus My story IS 100% based in fact. I know beyond any doubt that in 2013 my S got the exact same salary offer with a MS in Accounting from a top school as his friend who started with a BS at the Big Four firm they both currently work at. My S’s salary offer was the same at each of the three firms he had an offer with (including 2 Big 4, and the fifth largest firm) I have no comparable first hand data about KPMG in particular as in his year (2013 graduation) as the firm was fully staffed from their intern program and did not interview anyone who did not intern there (at least for jobs in our location) but he said his friends at KPMG had the same starting salary offer as he got from other firms.</p>
<p>And for the record, I am a 7 year veteran of a Big 4 firm and have friends who are partners at two of the Big 4 firms. There used to be a differential in the order he noted between BS and MS new hires years ago, but now that the MS has become more common (due to the 150 credit rule) and the fact that all new employees have at least 150 credits with or without the MS, that salary differential no longer seems to exist.</p>
<p>@happy1 @artloversplus thank you for the information! </p>
<p>@happy1 did your S graduate with their bachelors in Accounting?</p>
<p>Would anyone happen to know by any chance, if the MS in accounting holds more value than an MBA with a concentration in Accounting for someone that wants to work at the Big4? </p>
<p>I’m hearing that as long as you take your cpa exam and pass, the masters would be irrelevant except just look good on one’s resume. I’m not too sure if this is correct though.</p>
<p>@AccountingG - yes he had a BS in Accounting as well. He then attended a one year 30 credit MS in Accounting program. I do suggest that you research MS in Accounting programs because you may need to attend a 2 year MS program if you don’t have a BS in Accounting (or at least have taken a core group of accounting/business courses). </p>
<p>I don’t think there is much of a difference between a MS in Accounting or a MBA in Accounting. It is just important that you take the classes you need to meet the CPA requirements. </p>
<p>You don’t need a MS to get a Big 4 job so I really think you can have a fine career without the masters degree. Whether more and more companies look to hire people with a MS as they get more common (with the 150 credit requirement) going forward is yet to be seen, but I think the most important things will be getting the CPA certification and experience at a good firm.</p>
<p>I’ve decided to go with Rutgers Bachelors in Economics + MS in Accounting instead of Seton Hall. Although I would graduate with a bachelors in Accounting at Seton Hall, I would still have to fulfill my 30 credits to meet 150 for the CPA exam anyway, so that would be 2 semesters (1 year) of extra schooling anyway, I might as well get my Masters while I’m at it. </p>
<p>Although there’s the opportunity cost of not working for a year and also being in school an extra year for my masters at RU, I find that it’s better than being in 50k worth of debt from Seton Hall with just a bachelors degree. I figured if I’m going to be in debt, I would rather be in debt with a masters degree than just a bachelors.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your advice! It really helped :)</p>