Anonymous wrote:1997 grad - Very few people got jobs with the "Big Six" accounting firms that year - was a tough year in that industry, and if you couldn't get a job there, it felt like failure. Only 1 person in my entire university got a job with AA that year (4.0/president of accounting school).
So, I went to a non-first tier law school and still make doo-doo money.
What part of the country were you in? My DW is from Raleigh, North Carolina and graduated that year with an accounting degree and IIRC the big firms hired a number of graduates. She could have gotten on with a big six but didn't like that environment so she wound up working for a local firm.
FWIW - I think universities are overeager to push public accounting and especially the big four (is that how many are left?). Those places can be like white color sweatshops and burn out people quickly. There's a lot more that you can do with a CPA besides public.