<p>I'm a sophomore deciding my major. I honestly just want to major in something that has good job prospects which is why I considered accounting. </p>
<p>I just want a SECURE and STABLE job that will provide me enough money to live and raise a family in the future. I don't mind crunching numbers all day. </p>
<p>I don't have any specific interests in anything, I just want a job where I don't have to worry about myself when the economy's down. I just want a job that will be recession proof.</p>
<p>Can I major in accounting if my desire is just to find a stable job?</p>
<p>If stability and security is the most important factors for you then yes accounting would be one of the most secure majors to have. In my local area when I look through craigslist or Indeed.com, the accounting field definitely has the most job offers along with medical and computer programming. Have you taken an introductory accounting class yet? If not definitely go for it this semester and see if you like it. Afterwards, prepare yourself for some intense studying once you get to intermediate accounting which is often the weed out course. Good Luck!</p>
<p>How tough is the major? I’ve been doing a little research about the major and apparently I need to study for 5 years before taking the CPA exam?</p>
<p>Gotta have CPA if you have long term career aspirations in the field. You need 150 credit hours, which usually equates to five years of school. At a rigorous biz program, accounting can be top 5 hardest majors. At a standard state school, it can be seen as one of the easiest. The great equalizer is the CPA exam, where students from rigorous accounting programs pass at much higher rates than those at standard state schools. In a nutshell, the CPA is really all the matters, and depending on how much time you put into your major will determine how readily and even if you’ll pass the exam. I know a good number of people who got out of the field because they were never able to become certified.</p>
<p>Is accounting as hard as the science majors?</p>
<p>I’m not sure if accounting will be a right fit for me.</p>
<p>The CPA requires 150 hours of undergrad course work and about a year of work experience or the equivalent of 1,000 hours on the field. The specific requirements, however depend on the state. Passing the CPA qualifies you to apply for the Big 4 firms (which is big money), but the CPA is one of the hardest exams you’ll take in the Accounting career. It really is rigorous. </p>
<p>Coming from a CS background, I can’t say that Accounting is as hard as CS or Engineering, but it’s no joke, it get’s intricate and difficult. It requires at least 20+ hours of studying a week.</p>
<p>Its not mind blowingly hard. In other words, its not like the engineering where you kinda have to be heavily math oriented to even start getting into the discipline. But, its a lot like learning a language. You have to pay attention to detail and at some point it has to “click.” Especially early on, you need to put in extra time in order to conceptualize the basic concepts of journal entries, debits and credits, lines items, relations between the financial statements, etc. These act as the “pre-requisites,” of sorts, before you can adequately dive into accounting concepts.</p>
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<p>In my experience, that has more to do with the students than the schools - someone who was successful in passing after getting a degree from School A would have been successful even if they’d gotten a degree from School B.</p>
<p>(I got my accounting hours - not even a full degree - from a satellite campus of a directional. My mom got her accounting hours - also not even a full degree - from a combination of correspondence courses and the satellite campus of a public university one tier below a directional. We each got a nice award for high CPA exam scores.)</p>