[jparnet]

My university has a 2 year long business school in which you apply your junior year. Well, unfortunately for me, my GPA was a 3.4 and that was too low for me to get in. Therefore, my major can no longer be accounting, however, I can continue taking accounting classes. I’ll have approximately 130 credits when I graduate and 24 credit hours in upper level accounting classes.

To sit for the exam in my state (Georgia) you need 30 hours in upper level accounting classes and 24 hours in general business courses (which I have already completed).

However, I saw in washington DC you need 24 credit hours in accounting classes and 3 hours of commercial law (which I have completed). You only need 120 credit hours to sit for the exam therefore I could sit for the exam in Washington DC and take a few extra courses to get the 150 overall credit hours.

I emailed my recruiter saying that since I will not be in the business school, I will not have the 150 credit hours needed for graduation. I asked her if this would impact my internship offer and she said she needs to bounce it by the HR people. The positive thing is that I get along very, very well with the PwC recruiters and associates. However, I am very nervous. I do not want to lose my offer because of this.

Is there a chance my internship will be rescinded? I’m so nervous here.

[Tripin93]

Aww man, this sounds like quite the pickle. I've never been in a situation like this, so I have no clue how this will end. I just wanted to comment and tell you best wishes!

Motivated by JC. I do it to make God proud.

FAR: 91 July 2015
AUD: 83 October 2015
REG: 81 January 2016
BEC: 83 February 2016

[nib]

@ jparnet,
hello,
can you not join some online short course taking care of rest of credit hours . At least if you get registered and show your recruiter registration details , to assure them .

[Anonymous]

Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly….

– Your state requires 150 credits for the exams, as well as certain specific content requirements (so many credits each in accounting, business, etc.) and you will meet all of the specific content requirements, just not the total 150 credits requirement
– You can't enroll in the Business program, which would have ensured that you met the 150 credits, but you can still enroll in whatever courses you want, which will enable you to take accounting and business courses
– Assumption on my part: You will still be graduating with a degree, but it won't be a business degree

If these assumptions are correct, why not enroll in an additional 20 credits – whether at your college or elsewhere – to make up the difference between 130 and 150? If you were in the Business program, you would've taken an extra 20 credits; since you're not, you can still take an extra 20 credits. I'm not understanding why you're stuck with just 130 since you're not in the Business program. Your other degree might not require 150, but you could delay your graduation a semester and still get 150, which would put you on the same schedule as if you were in the business program.

Also, I have to ask, if you're not in the Business school, what degree are you getting? Or is my assumption wrong and you're not getting a degree at all? If you're getting a totally not Business-related degree but plan on an Accounting career, just to stay at your school, then I would strongly advise that you transfer to a school where you qualify for the accounting program or at least for a Business program. Getting a degree in History and applying for an Accounting job isn't going to look quite right 3 years from now. Usually HR is the one sorting resumes, and if the position requires an Accounting degree and 2 years experience, and you have a History degree and 2 years experience, your resume gets tossed out…regardless of whether you have a CPA which means you have the accounting education equivalent to a degree. Even the hiring manager, when trying to cut the pile of resumes down, may be more likely to throw yours out cause between 2 candidates that are otherwise equal, the History degree just adds an element of “Why????…maybe I don't want to know.” Not that you wouldn't be able to get a job with it, but I firmly believe that a degree from a no-name school in accounting or business would go way further for you than a degree in an unrelated field from a prestigious school, so I'd transfer to where I could get the degree in the field I was going to work in.

[Jdn9201]

I agree with the above posters, but if you don't mind me asking, what school do you attend in GA? I live in FL now and am sitting in FL, but I obtained my BA in Accounting from Kennesaw State. I graduated in 2006, but from what I recall their requirement to get into their business school was either a 3.0 or a 3.25. 3.5 seems high to me.

Regardless, I think you should take some of the other poster's advice and transfer to another school. What I've experienced from working is companies don't care what school your accounting degree came from – they just care that you have one. Good luck!

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Anonymous]

you did the most important thing already and that is to contact them right away.recruiters @big4 dont like surprises. since you were up front with them, i think you will be OK(assuming you graduate)what is your major if not accounting that is kind of important here.

[jparnet]

Thank you for all your advice. To all asking about my major, I will be doing a double major in Statistics and Economics, so it is a rather business related degree.

[fuzyfro89]

@Jparnet: Short answer –> You need to be CPA-eligible in the state you work before the firm will let you start full time. They do not want eligibility to hold staff back from getting licensed.

From what you wrote, you will not be CPA license-eligible when you graduate, so you will need to become eligible before Pwc (or almost any public accounting firm) will let you start.

“You only need 120 credit hours to sit for the exam therefore I could sit for the exam in Washington DC and take a few extra courses to get the 150 overall credit hours.”
I would confirm with your firm that they are okay with you having your license in a different state. Assuming you plan to actually work in Georgia, Pwc probably just assumes that everyone will get licensed there, but there may be a firm policy saying you need to get your license transferred within a reasonable amount of time. If you are not eligible in Georgia, then that could be a problem.

Meet the education requirement by taking some more classes at another school to meet the 150-hr requirement in Georgia. I took one “joke” class through Devry to meet my 150 requirement since I did a double major in undergrad, so that's one option.

[Anonymous]

Change schools, you are not able to get the degree you want for your career. Another school will let you into their accounting program.

I have received promotions ahead of other people my age or older than me who have gone to more expensive/”prestigious” schools based on my work product. I make more money and have lower student loans. A B.S. is a B.S., it's just a piece of paper to get you in the door and prove your actual worth.

[Author]

Replies