Anonymous wrote:Accounting is just not a hard career...go anywhere.

Lol good luck during busy season.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting a big four job is not hard.

We used to say take their pulse and hand them a laptop.

Really an accounting degree is a commodity like nursing or pharmacy. They don’t care about school

Is this satire? The attitudes you’re referring to characterize communications or marketing majors. What kid who “doesn’t care about school” is passing organic chemistry or physics II? Or the CPA exam?

Anonymous wrote:Accounting is just not a hard career...go anywhere.

Great option for B students

Accounting is just not a hard career...go anywhere.

Anonymous wrote:Getting a big four job is not hard.

We used to say take their pulse and hand them a laptop.

Really an accounting degree is a commodity like nursing or pharmacy. They don’t care about school

This is NOT true. I am not saying a big four accounting job is great or anything but the big four accounting firms have target schools and heavily recruit from the target schools. Again I am not saying getting into a target school is difficult. For example, GMU is a target and many GMU kids get the big four jobs through the on campus interviews. On the other hand, CNU is not a target (or it was not a target when I was in school), and it’s much difficult for CNU students to get the big four accounting jobs.

Your daughter sounds great. What is her gut telling her?

My son went to a similar high school and had similar grades. I think so many kids at those schools are gunning for top 20s that the "average" kids get it in their heads that they should, too. My son chose Delaware (not for accounting) and has been extremely happy. He did get into a couple of more selective schools, but choose Delaware because it seemed "just right" as far as competitiveness goes.

Also, I attended a something for work about college admissions and the admissions counselors there recommended that if you are considering grad school it is better to be a big fish in a small pond i.e. go to a school where you can achieve and it will be easier for you to get into grad school.

I’m the pp who works at a boutique firm. That’s great that your dd has goals to be a partner in a big firm. I also have a law degree and when I was in high school I thought I wanted to be a partner at a big law firm. It seemed really exciting and glamorous. I’ve worked at a Big 6 (as I’ve said) and I’ve also worked at big law firms (pre kids). I decided I didn’t want to be a partner bc I didn’t want the lifestyle that the partners I worked for had. I took a long break from the workforce for various reasons but even if I had stayed, being a partner in a big firm is not glamorous and unless you can bring in tons of clients (which is really time consuming) you are basically an employee.

My point is that once she does internships and has some work experience, her goals may shift. She may very well end up being a partner bc it may be the right fit for her. But if she doesn’t become a partner at a Big 4, it doesn’t mean she failed. Each firm has its own culture and she will need to find the right firm for her. Being a partner at the 25th biggest (or 100th or 200th - my point being biggest isn’t better) firm where she enjoys all her co-workers and clients will be eminently more satisfying than being one at a firm where she is miserable but it has more prestige. I have also had friends stay at the Director level bc they wanted more work life balance.

Your daughter sounds very driven and will likely succeed no matter where she goes to school. So she should pick the school she likes the best. She may take her first accounting class and hate it. Good luck to her!

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs to go where THEY will be happy and not what you think they should do. As more and more kids corm home from their first or 3rd semester at school I have seen a real increase in the number of kids who are not going back, why? They aren't happy.

The issue is that the COA for an undergraduate college degree is expensive at private schools and can be for non-residents at public universities. This investment of a large amount of time & funds calls for parental or other knowledgeable guidance.

Anonymous wrote:Getting a big four job is not hard.

We used to say take their pulse and hand them a laptop.

Really an accounting degree is a commodity like nursing or pharmacy. They don’t care about school

To the best of my knowledge, the assertion about getting a Big 4 job is NOT correct--at least for a recent college graduate with an accounting degree. Minimum GPA cutoffs just to get one's resume examined.

An accounting degree may be somewhat commodity like as there are thousands of accounting firms--but just a certain number of Big 4 accounting firms.

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Anonymous wrote:Thank you all. She has a 3.4 from DC private. She did get in a highly regarded (atleast here on the forum). Has decent ACT, she is AA, 2 varsity sports, summer job, etc. i think she is a solid applicant. I just think (not being a college grad) that there would be so much more pressure at a smaller competitive college than say Va Tech…

OP, I hear you. My DC had similar GPA at a DC Catholic school. Did not get into any reaches and ended up at a school ranked well below the top 100. Being a big fish in a little pond has led to many wonderful leadership opportunities. Accountants are well recruited from big national name brand firms even at lower ranked schools.

Correct, but not for all divisions. If you want audit/assurance, then yes, many Big 4 accounting firms recruit at lesser known schools. Not so for consulting/advisory.

Sure, on campus recruiting is convenient, but a motivated student can do her own search. That’s how my kid got an offer in IB.

It is more difficult to get an offer from a Big 4 accounting firm if the Big 4 does not recruit on the student's campus--especially for advisory/consulting as at least one Big 4 conducts campus competitions with the winner almost always getting a job offer in advisory/consulting arm. Boston College is an example of such a campus.

Your kid needs to go where THEY will be happy and not what you think they should do. As more and more kids corm home from their first or 3rd semester at school I have seen a real increase in the number of kids who are not going back, why? They aren't happy.

Anonymous wrote:Do you think it’s better for your solid B student (at hard private) to go to a college where they would be top of the class and get 4.0 or attend a prestigious school like BC, Vandy, etc and have a 3.0. My DC plans on studying accounting and getting a job right after undergrad. Does anyone know how the big 5 ( or whatever it is now) recruit? My DC got into a “ prestigious” school EA ( not Ivy) but I’m I just don’t know if it’s a good fit. Thank you!

Why would you assume that your kid would get better grades at a less prestigious school? Everything I see suggests the opposite; the more prestigious the school, the stronger the grade inflation. The vet age GPA at top schools is ridiculously high.

Anonymous wrote:Getting a big four job is not hard.

We used to say take their pulse and hand them a laptop.

Really an accounting degree is a commodity like nursing or pharmacy. They don’t care about school

+1