Should I transfer/change my major for these career/employment aspirations?

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>Hi everyone. I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I desperately need some "all-of-the-above" advice on my life right now. It pertains to a possible transfer decision, major choice, and career/employers to pursue. My career center has not been much help and I feel awkward talking about transferring with them.</p>

<p>ABOUT ME:
I currently go to a NIU in Illinois and am a sophomore Accounting and IT double major at the moment. I am in the honors program. I will have a 3.85 with 64 credits completed at end of Spring 2013 (4.0 right now and am being safe and figuring in a B or 2), have been very involved on campus as a freshman/sophomore and am currently in a leadership/service club and hold a leadership position in a large (name is nationally recognizable) business club. </p>

<p>I am very interested in working for a big four accounting firm doing IT auditing. Only 1 big four company recruits at my school. It has also always been my dream to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My college experience right now has been okay but U of I has a better business reputation, more fun, more appealing atmosphere, and way more recruiters (quantity and quality). All four big 4 firms recruit at U of I. If the big four does not work out, I would want to do IT consulting.</p>

<p>My interests are general business first, information technology second, and accounting third.</p>

<p>PRO/CONS/IMPORTANT INFO:</p>

<p>Current school:
-top of class, honors program
-accounting and IT degree
-only 1 big 4 and fewer recruiters in general
-feel "eh" about the school I'm at
-5 years to finish. do I change my major and go with a minor instead?</p>

<p>U of I:
-could only have 1 major and I would go with Information Technology (not accounting)
-~12 credits would not transfer
-5 years to finish with only 1 degree but better school
-dream school I wish I went to
-Lose honors program and wouldn't be top of class here
-only 2 big four companies recruit IT majors here but way more employers</p>

<p>END GOAL: IT consulting with a well known company or big 4. Do I transfer? Do I change my major now to a 4 year one major plan? I don't think I would want to solely major in accounting. I do not want to be a general accountant. I want IT with a lot of business and some accounting mixed in.</p>

2

<p>Lifelong IL resident. The reality is that the quality of employers that recruit at UIUC is much higher than at NIU. So my advice would be to transfer to UIUC as soon as possible. It’s better to spend an extra year in college and start your career at a great company then to graduate on-time/early and set off on a path with a mediocre company. Once you’ve started your career at an average company, it can be really hard to jump to a great company any-time soon. </p>

<p>My first job out of college was as an IT consultant for Accenture, so I feel like I’m pretty knowledgeable on this topic. We hire a ton at U of IL, and I don’t think that we do anything in particular for NIU. </p>

<p>Here’s a BIG thing though: if you do transfer to UIUC, do everything possible to “meet the right people”. Join IT / business / accounting clubs, network with alumni, etc.</p>

3

<p>Hey,My dream is also to work BIG 4. I’ve heard that NIU was a good accounting school and was thinking about attending. Now that you’ve said Only 1 big 4 firm recruits there, it doesn’t sound like a good move for me. I’ve been accepted into Depaul but cant attend because I cant afford it. So now I’m thinking about Illinois State. What firm recruits from NIU?</p>

4

<p>For accounting, NIU has a better rep in general than Illinois State. But do everything possible to try to transfer to U of I. It’s in a league far above those schools for ‘business/accounting’ jobs.</p>

5

<p>Yeah, I think I’m going to do U of I for Grad School. I’m so confused now. I’ve read the career and internship fair list of firms that are going to be at both schools. On NIU I didn’t see any big four firms but at Illinois State I seen KPMG, Deloitte, and PWC</p>

6

<p>If NIU has the better rep maybe I’ll be better off going there since I’m planning on UofI grad school anyways.</p>