UC Davis or UC Santa Barbara for Economics Major (Accountant)

Hello, I am thinking about doing a TAG to either UC Davis or UC Santa Barbara as an Economics major (Economics and Accounting at UCSB). Attending which school is better in terms of getting the CPA and an Accounting job? I know UCSB has a notorious ECON 10A class that you need to get a B in to get into the major. Is taking the ECON 10A class a huge risk or is there a backup?

I live in the Bay Area, so the distance to UCD (2 hours) is half compared to UCSB (4 hours). I have visited UCD campus since my brother attended there and it was alright, but nothing too special. For UCSB, I haven’t visited it yet but I heard the campus is very beautiful. Is housing at UCSB more abundant and cheaper than UCD?

If you’re great with economics and believe you can get a B in that class go to UCSB. Accounting is great at UCSB and I’ve heard there are a lot of recruiters from big 4. If you have doubts and want to ensure you get into the economics major, just stick to Davis. It’s not like you won’t get a job after college, it’s experience and connections that will get you the job.

You can check out the rates for housing from each campus online.

@FrozenBuns Maybe you already have planned to apply to Cal Poly SLO Orfelalea School of Business. They have a strong accounting program and the Big 4 actively recruit there.

Hello @atanger, Cal Poly SLO doesn’t seem like a bad idea. However, UCSB has a guaranteed transfer, so it is easier to get accepted.

If this helps, this past summer, S has an internship with Deloitte. UCSB is one of the 5 targeted schools in the West Coast that the Big Four Accounting firms recruit from. The other 4 targeted schools in the West Coast are: UC Berkeley Haas, UCLA Business Econ, USC Marshall/Leventhal and the University of Washington Foster. Targeted schools mean more hiring slots are available to students from those schools than the other colleges. This does not mean that if you attend a school in the West Coast other than the mentioned 5 targeted schools, you don’t have a chance in working in Big 4 Accounting. Big 4 accounting may not be the best for everyone and there are other great firms outside the Big 4 if you want get a CPA license.

In addition, which ever school you attend to major in accounting, whether it is the 5 schools mentioned above or another school like CPSLO, UCD, UCI Business, or a CSU or private, etc., there will be “weed out” courses in accounting because it is very competitive to pursue the CPA route. Just do your best.

@UCBUSCalum : Could you share a bit more info. about “weed out” accounting courses ? While I am familiar with this practice in many econ programs throughout the US, I am not familiar with the practice of “weed out” accounting courses. Thanks in advance for your reply !

@Publisher Most undergrad business program require Financial Accounting:The identification, measurement, and reporting of financial effects of events on enterprises, with a particular emphasis on business organization. Preparation and interpretation of balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flows.
and Managerial Accounting:The uses of accounting systems and their outputs in the process of management of an enterprise. Classification of costs and revenue on several bases for various uses; budgeting and standard cost accounting; analyses of relevant costs and other data for decision making. If you do not do well or grasp all the concepts in these intro accounting classes, it’s going to very difficult for you to get a CPA because the exam test you these concepts in a very demanding way.
If you choose to “emphasize” accounting and your University offers other accounting classes such as Federal Income Tax: Determination of individual and corporation tax liability; influence of federal taxation on economic activity; tax considerations in business and investment decisions.,
Intermediate Accounting:This Course introduces the student to concepts, theory and applications of financial accounting. The topics covered include accrual accounting concepts, financial statement analysis, inventory valuations, capital assets and their corresponding depreciation and impairment. Attention is given to examples on current reporting practices and to the study of reporting requirements promulgated by…
and Advanced Accounting:Sources of long term capital; funds statements, financial analysis, accounting for partnerships, consolidated financial statements, adjustments of accounting data using price indexes; accounting for the financial effects of pension plans; other advanced accounting problems.
If your ultimate goal is to get a CPA, a Big 4, national or a regional public accounting firm will give you the hours to fulfill the hours required to sit for the CPA exam.
Good luck to all, GO BEARS!

@atanger: Thank you for your thorough & informative post. I am an adult poster with some knowledge regarding Big 4 firms, accounting major & CPA licensing requirements.

My question was & is with respect to the concept of “weed out” courses in an accounting majors. This differs from the concept of difficult courses as my understanding of a “weed out” course is a course or courses made unnecessarily difficult in order to reduce the number of students in a particular major–somewhat common in economics programs. However, as I think about it, it is not unlikely that an accounting dept. would use “weed out” courses in order to achieve or maintain a high pass rate on CPA exams–especially in the home state jurisdiction. Further complicating things is the fifth year requirement which would seem to make weed out courses unnecessary as only the best & most dedicated students are likely pursue a fifth year of undergraduate work or a masters in accounting followed by CPA review course & CPA exams. In short, it seems as though weed out courses in accounting would be unnecessary due to the lengthy prep required for one to become a licensed CPA. Nevertheless, I am asking as I really am unfamiliar with the practices at the top accounting schools (such as Texas-Austin, Illinois & those mentioned in this thread).

@Publisher I too am an adult with intimate knowledge of the Big accounting firms and recruiting process as I live in a household with said credentials and another that aspires to be a CPA.
I agree with you about the term weed-out, it’s really just comes down to basis accounting principles and if student does not grasp it, they might still major in Business but have an emphasis/interest in finance, mkt, hr, etc. but no CPA.

@Publisher : Just like in the health sciences (not everyone can be doctors, dentists, optometrists, pharmacists, etc.), in the accounting profession, to become a CPA, Big Four Accounting firm positions are highly coveted positions and are very competitive to get hired because the work experience from the Big Four firms can lead to high paying jobs. Big Four experience on a resume is almost as good as getting an MBA from a MBA school ranked from 15 to 30. This is not to say Big Four experience is the gold standard in accounting, but there are many successful people who start their careers working for non Big Four accounting firms and do very well. Accounting firms, especially the Big Four firms only hire the best studenst with the top grades (generally a 3.5+ GPA to at least get looked at by the Big Four, plus other factors such as communication skills, summer internship experiences, etc.). The top grades will get you an interview. Further, in the accounting world, to even get hired by other CPA firms, grades are important. Not everyone can become a CPA or work in a Big Four firm. The business schools cannot give out A’s to everyone and so there has to be a “weed out” process for accounting students, which usually starts in the intermediate accounting courses. There is also a weed out process in certain classes to just get into a business school or econ business or accounting.

OP: In answer to one of your questions : Off campus housing is more expensive in the coastal communities in the Santa Barbara area than in the rural Davis area.

Either UC school should enable a high GPA student student to obtain employment & licensing as a CPA.

@Publisher ; @atanger : what I meant by weed out courses is that the professor will design a difficult test with the highest score out of 100 to be, say 60. From that score, the grade distribution would be bell curved, say 60 is an A., with 5 to 10 % from score in the A ranges, 10 to 15% from that, B’s, etc. The number students receiving A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, etc. would reflect a bell curve distribution. Teaching professors, in at the least competitive colleges, are pressured not give out too many good grades. For all students who are able to make it through this with an accounting emphasis or major, passing the CPA exam is the next obstacle. The CPA exam passing rate for first time takers is around 10% and overall, eventually around 50 to 60% of all candidates pass the exam.

Many CA schools have much higher pass rates

While there are certainly accounting courses which are more challenging than others, many universities offer abbreviated accounting certificates which qualify one for programs offering a masters degree in accounting. This is probably one reason why I was a bit surprised by the concept of weed out courses in accounting majors at large state universities–the same type of school which offers CPA qualifying courses through adult continuing education programs.

As far as passing a state’s CPA exam, many commercial CPA review courses offer charts showing pass rates by section of the of any particular state’s CPA licensing exam.

@Publisher : Maybe the term weed out is not used anymore since it may have a negative connotation. For Example, since not everyone majoring in accounting, who aspires to be hired by a Big Four firm (considered the Gold standard in CPA/accounting field) will get the high GPA to get hired by them, there is this process to filter out the weaker candidates (or weed out which is maybe an outdated term). The initial filtering by the Big 4 is grades.

It is true some of the major universities now offer the 5th year course work (Masters in Accounting) required for the CPA exam or an accounting certificate and a CPA review course. USC and the University of Washington offers both. UCLA and UC Berkeley do not. Some of the lower tier UC’s, such as UCR, UCI, offer the Master in Accounting. Santa Clara University, some of the CSU and UC Berkeley offers the certificate in accounting, but that alone may not meet the units requirements to take the CPA exam…

One additional point: Securing an offer from a Big 4 accounting firm is high competitive. Accounting students have to get into a Big 4 firm’s summer Leadership Program to get hired into the firm’s following summer’s Internship Program. From the summer internship program, that is where most of the full time hires are from. Basically, to get hired by a Big 4 firm, you have to begin the process 2 summers before getting hired. Most full time hires are from the summer internship program. The initially screening is GPA.

@FrozenBuns You may be right regarding a bit easier to get into a TAG program as opposed to Cal Poly: 2017 there there were 1582 applicants(CC) and 110 targeted spots available.
2018: 2014 apps and 101 targeted

FWIW, I still hear “weeder” courses.