[NYaccountingstudent]

(I typed this all from my iPhone so I’m sorry if there is a typo or two)

I live on Long island new York

I rly messed up freshman year and I got a 2.7 gpa.

I have been slowly building it up sophomore and junior year. I now have a 3.2 but I’m taking intermediate acct 2 and cost accounting in July. I’m hoping to get As or A-s in these classes because I cut my

Hours in work for July and my manager agreed it was ok.

My grades in accounting so far are:

Financial B+

Managerial A

Intermediate 1 A

So if I get As and A-s in July I’m hoping to start my senior year with a gpa between 3.2 and 3.3 with an accounting gpa of 3.8

If i go through my schools recruiting and go to the school aren’t fair do I have a good shot of interning at big 4!

AUD - 75
BEC - 78
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 75

One shot to pass FAR or i lose credit for REG

[Anonymous]

The GPA in your major is the most important when it comes to your GPA. The fact that your are over a 3.0 cumulatlivley means that you really do not have much to worry about. I would focus on the CPA exam, as soon as you have the credit hours to at least sit for the exam, do it. If you have a section or two already knocked out by the time they begin recruiting, you have nothing to worry about, that in and of it's self will trump anything you have done in undergraduate school. It looks like you still have a little ways to go in undergrad school anyways, just keep getting A's.

[HFinn]

i have to disagree with the above comment. The GPA that's most important is the GPA the firms will screen for in your university career center. If you're at a top university it's very possible that 3.0 might be good enough. Many times the cutoff is 3.5, so just be aware of that.

However, like CPAWannabe mentioned, having some parts of the CPA exam passed would be a huge leg up during recruiting. Also, if you have a good connection with the recruiter (s) you talk to the GPA thing might be less of an issue, and they can drop the filter. I'd contact my career center and see if there's any way to find out what the minimum GPA is.

[futuremdcpa]

Anything under 3.2ish for your cum. GPA is most likely not going to land you an interview. They have a screening program that weeds out the low GPA students, and this takes into account your overall GPA, not major GPA. If you don't put your overall GPA on your resume when submitting it, they will know its because you have a low GPA, and they will def. not like that. I would include both GPAs.

By the way, im not sure how it works in other states, but in my state you need to apply towards the END of your first semester of senior year. They usually get back to you and make interviews scheduling towards the beginning of your last semester of being a senior.

Unless you want to go the experienced route, which is a bit harder… it requires your graduate, work somewhere else and get your CPA and then apply to the Big 4. But like I said, thats a bit harder.

All I did was apply, to a few got interviews with the few I applied to, went to the on campus interviews, already decided who I wanted to work for.. I let the partners and recruiter during my dinner/interview know why I wanted that particular firm.. Lo and behold I got the job.

Honestly the interview is easy.. just getting past the screening part.. Keep up your GPA.. and by the way, they really CARE how you do in intermediate/tax/audit… not so much about other classes. I had both my GPAs on my resume, and they noticed it during the partner interview. When I interviewed my resume was: Cum. GPA: 3.83; Major GPA: 4.00 (I already took all tax, inter. 1-2 & cost, financial and managerial classes.) After I graduated My Cum. GPA dropped to 3.73, and my Major GPA dropped to 3.95 or something like that — I blame this on my boring a*s audit class…

Keep trying to improve your GPA, and thats all that matters.

Also I disagree with the above comment. The recruiter will not drop the filter. They want the best and brightest, and no offense but if you have a low GPA, they don't want to waste time interviewing you. It shows dedication.. However, there is always that one or two that might get a pass… Ya never know..

Hope this helps.. I was bored doing Wiley MCQ's.. Sorry for the long reply!

REG: PASS || BEC: PASS || AUD: PASS || F: SCORE PENDING..

[mgoloubenko]

I believe I had about an overall 3.4 and did relatively well in all my accounting classes except intermediate which I had a B- in for both semesters. That was pretty much the average grade in the class. However, I had been working on recruiting for a quite a while prior as I got involved with my firm via a summer leadership program my sophomore year which then landed me an interview junior year. Being proactive allowed me to circumnavigate that GPA filter since they knew I was interested and dedicated.

FAR 4/9/12- PASSED
BEC 7/13/12- PASSED
AUD 8/16/12- Ughhh 71, Rematch: 90!!!
REG-12/6/12 PASSED

USC MAcc- Fight on!

They say good things come to those who wait, but only those things that are left by those who hustle.

[HFinn]

@futuremdcpa, good post, but I only mentioned dropping the filter because that's what they did for me. Had some extenuating circumstances that I was able to explain, and got three interviews I otherwise would not have.

[futuremdcpa]

@HFinn – Good for you! Thats why I followed my sentence with “However, there is always that one or two that might get a pass… Ya never know..” Sometimes you just get lucky! It never hurts to apply 🙂

Also on another note.. my gf applied to literally majority of the accounting jobs and got interviewed @ big 4, and other top 10 accounting firms.. She ended up choosing a non-big 4 because of the hours.. and not to mention pay she received a slightly higher than other Big 4 job candidates received.

Its not Big 4 or bust. Believe it or not you'd learn much more at a smaller firm.. I'm only going into the Big 4 because I know I want to do tax. I love everything about tax! ( I am crazy ).

Good luck to all 🙂

REG: PASS || BEC: PASS || AUD: PASS || F: SCORE PENDING..

[mrcpa]

Hey, usually most firms except PWC (which has 3.5) the GPA is around 3.0 or so. Keep in mind that internships are a lot harder to get so you probably need a very high GPA or lots of extra activity. Even if you don't land that internship don't get discouraged and make sure to apply for full time as those are much easier to get. This was my case and many the case of many others that I started with. I had a GPA of 3.3 and 3.9 in my major. Also make sure to highlight in your resume if you will meet the 150 credit requirement when you graduate

Good luck!!

Licensed - 2012

[Mayo]

Hmm…seems like the cut off gpa depends on the university. Ours was 3.5 for all the public accounting firms recruiting.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Author]

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