[Anonymous]

Hey Everyone! This is my first time posting!

So here’s my situation: I’ll be graduating in May with a degree in Economics from a Big Ten school. My plan was to go to community college to take more accounting classes to qualify for the CPA. I understand that Big 4 firms won’t recruit from community colleges. So, my question is, would going to a community college be not that good of an option for me if I desperate want to work at a Big 4?? Or, a does CPA license would suffice for me? Should I just go for a Macc instead?

Please advise! Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I basically did the same thing. I have a Double major in Econ and Finance, worked for a few years on a trade floor, and ended up moving and got a relatively easy accounting job that I negotiated flexible hours for. I would just look for a full time job with flexible hours, pay a cheap state college tuition fees, and get done with as many classes and the CPA as fast as humanly possible.

Also make sure with the Accounting courses you hit your 150 credit hours.

[Biff-1955-Tannen]

Disclaimer: I'm not 100% sure about this, so just something to think about.

Here in Minnesota anyway, I don't know if going to a community college to take accounting classes would meet the eligibility requirements. MN requires a bachelors from an accredited business school (which you will have), but then requires an additional 24 credit hours in accounting class in financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing, and tax. I looked at the class requirements at one of the local CCs and it looks like they only have like 4 accounting classes in their program and none were in auditing or tax. So short on categories and credit hours.

So I guess what I'm saying is, to make sure that your CC has enough classes to fulfill you states requirements, and the categories of classes needed.

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[Joe C.]

Doesn't your school have a 5th year master's program? At UW-Milwaukee you could take the GMAT with your non-accting degree and you would have to take intro and intermediate…perhaps AIS and boom you are into the MSPA program and your 150 credit hrs will be taken care of and you will have a masters in public accounting. I am sure manu other schools have this.

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[scracer14]

Definitely curious why you want to get into the big four so desperately? It's a lot of long hours, and mediocre pay compared to other places you could go with that econ degree. I went with a master's in tax after minoring in econ and finance, and I find Audit and Tax at the big four level to not be satisfying intellectually. If you enjoyed economics, you might want to look into consulting firms. I should caveat that the big four is challenging, and interesting, but to an econ focused mind, it might not be a good fit IMHO.

[Mehow]

Going to community college for credits isn't a bad idea. It's cheaper and it fulfills your CPA requirements. I essentially was in a similar position, however I stuck around through my school's masters accelerated program to get the extra credits needed.

FAR = 86 4/22/16
BEC = 80 6/01/16
REG = 07/26/16
AUD = ?

[neaux]

If your goal is to get into Big 4, your best chance is to attend a program where Big 4 recruits. Otherwise, getting Big 4 entry level position would be much more difficult. Remember, you pay for what you get. So in this case, you give up the network that comes along with reputable programs.

You can also, try to get into a smaller firm, get experience, then try to move to Big 4.

Another option, you can network for and apply for advisory positions with the degree you are pursuing now and you can guess the rest.

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[Hello2016]

I am in a similar position with you also! I am major in Statistics, I am taking accounting classes and try to take the CPA exam, good luck for both of us.

[debitcash]

Why not get a masters in accounting at your school and get recruited from there? Sure you save some money at the CC but you put yourself in a hole and potentially waste your time.

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keep your cool

[ruggercpa2b]

You can always go back to your school after you are done with getting the required credits to sit for the exam if they recruit there. Also, another thing to keep in mind is that people get blinders on and get so focused on trying to get into Bug 4 they forget other options out there. If they do not recruit at your current school then you are going to have to network hard.

I do not see a reason to take on more debt if you are paying for school yourself just to be a school that Big 4 recruits. And even if they do recruit from the school you go to, it does not guarantee that you will get an offer.

Big 4 is not the end all be all in accounting.

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[SDN]

How do you go about networking? I'm in the same boat: taking classes at a community college to fulfill the prereq's but I don't know how to network to get the attention of the smaller firms. If anyone has any tips on that, it will be greatly appreciated.

[Author]

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