What's your bachelors in?

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  • #1535836
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    This is still bugging me, especially since I slid in with a horrible fail on FAR. My bachelor’s isn’t in accounting. I started out and got an associates as a paralegal and worked in that field for almost ten years. My pursuit was law school. While working there, I had to obtain a bachelors in ANYTHING to get into law school. They had an accelerated bachelors that was just on the weekends 8 hours per day. Since I had three young kids, I did that. Then skip a bunch of non working years to take care of my disabled son. Basically, I earned my bachelor’s in business and could not go to law school. My kid needed me more and I do not regret that. Fast forward to 2014. I went back and got my associates degree in accounting without even aiming to take the cpa. It was at an interview, that the interviewor asked me if I would leave to take my cpa. I kind of looked at him funny, went home and researched it, applied and was eligible to sit. My bachelor’s had all the high end accounting. My associates had the forefront and there’s a ten year gap, so believe me I’m confused.
    What really made me mad was I paid cash for an associatea at a community college and was in my last semester when I realized the college I graduated from had a post bacc in accounting. ALL classes listed on it, I had taken at community! The college said I could transfer my credits in but no matter what, thirty have to be taken there, 12 of which include accounting. Because my gpa was near a 4.0 there, they offered me a 17,000 presidential scholarship but the glitch to that is online classes are 415. On campus is 830. If I take the scholarship, I HAVE to take on campus courses. The scholarship would just bring me down to the cost of online tuition. So all I need is ten classes which you would think at 415 a credit is five grand. No they quoted me almost five per semester. AND another college told me there are No grants for a second bachelor’s and no subsidized loans, only unsubsidized so interest ticks on day one of attending college.
    It’s just the more I look at ads for jobs, the requirements say bachelor’s MUST be in accounting. I’ve even seen numerous ads that day CPA required with bachelor’s in accounting ONLY.
    This is really bugging me and it’s sort of all I talk about. I have an appointment with a college next week 100 miles from my house for an macc program. The classes are online, the advisory said I don’t have to take the prerequisites since I took them. They offer transient classes. I can take two of the macc classes without signing up for the program to see if I like it, then those will be applied. She also said I can get financial aid and loans. Cost of the macc is estimated at 19k. She did say you can life experience out of some of the ten required core classes- which I see at least two I rolled my eyes out. This program also has one core class which is nothing more than giving you the cpa exam over and over until you pass. And then that all went to the birds when the graduate director in another email tried to tell me that gov and nfp is 16 to 20 percent of the test, but only 4 to 5 percent since it’s four tests. I laughed so hard at that. I thought it’s an macc to prepare you for the exam, and you guys don’t understand what the heck you are talking about.
    Anyone’s bachelor not in accounting? Do you work in accounting? I’m not looking at big fours at all!

Viewing 14 replies - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
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  • #1535841
    Missy
    Participant

    Mine is in accounting but take what job ads say with a grain of salt. If an ad says bachelors in accounting is required its only to discourage people with bachelors in fine arts or hospitality with no relevant experience from wasting their time. Get your cpa exams passed and nobody will care what your bachelors is in.

    I didn't start college until I was 33 years old. The two jobs I held between the ages of 23 and 33 both had ads that said bachelors degree “required”. I remember the first time a staffing firm sent me on an interview for a job that said bachelors was required and I had never stepped foot in a college, the staffing agent told me nothing is written in stone and I've found that to be the case.

    Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

    Finance manager/HR manager

     

     

    Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
    Finance/Admin/HR Manager

    #1535848
    RE2PECT
    Participant

    Finance and Sports Mgmt. Went back to school in 2014 to get the accounting credits.

    "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

    Roger & Ninja

    FAR: 75
    AUD: 73, 81
    BEC: 71, 73, 82
    REG: 68, 82

    FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
    AUD: 73, 81
    BEC: 71, retake 8/29
    REG:

    #1535859
    mtaylo24
    Participant

    Multidisciplinary Studies (3 minors = major), minors in econ, entrepreneurship, and business admin. I was too dumb to get into business school at my university (out of state), so had to take a major with the fastest escape plan. Probably could have left with a bachelor of econ if I stayed for 2 more courses. Went back in state 2 years later for a post-baccalaureate certificate in Accounting. I started wasting money way before this crap started 🙂

    CPA (2017)

    REG:  75

    BEC:  76

    FAR:  77

    AUD: 78

     

    CMA (2019)

    P1: 380

    P2: 360

    AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
    REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
    BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
    FAR - (8/16)

    #1535863
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Bachelor's in Women Studies

    #1535866
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thank you mla. I'm 40, soon to turn 41. My fail on FAR really burned me. I think my age, the fail, and the fact that I DETEST my job has me stressed to the point I'm making mountains out of molehills. I have been working in bookkeeping for about 6 years – enough to know I loved it. I'm actually a geek for posting payments. I love it! I got a job at a manufacturing company as the “general ledger” accountant at the same time I started studying for far, but it's part time. I truly think my job is playing into my feeling like I've accomplished zero. Basically, the company was a buyout. The company that was there was going under, so a foreign engineer came along and decided he would save it. The former company tore the books to shreds during the acquisition. The engineer that took over the place knows NOTHING about accounting to the point he asked me the difference between debits and credits. The girl in AP was scared I was going to take her job and said to me she had never taken a single accounting class in her life, she just does data entry and writes checks. Grrrreat..and you're coding to the chart of accounts. I'm CONSTANTLY having to fix her mistakes. If I see something on the ap report jump out at me and need to see the bill, she throws a ten minutes fit that I don't know what IM doing. Fine. Go ahead and enter a 27000 Insurance bill TWICE in the same month. She actually paid so much in bills, she took the owners account to ZERO in march. The owner wont give me access to the bank accounts or anything. OK. Bet your cash balance on the balance sheet is wrong. Here is the kicker. There is no gl there. There is no trial balance there. There is no financial statement package there. When the other company packed up, they took their license to the accounting program with them. So basically, everything that is enterEd ALL MONTH LONG, goes NO WHERE
    It just sits in the system
    At the end of the month, IT prints me a sales reports, accounts payable reports account receivables report, etc. The former cpa from the other company came in and showed me work papers. Basically, I take this HUGE stack of reports and make big fat journal entries and manually build the financial statements with pen and paper that I transfer into excel. And this is cost accounting. Everyone I get to the cost of sales part, I want to cry. The owner doesn't understand this is an issue. Then you have the whack job in accounts payable over there CONSTANTLY messing stuff up. She tried to tell me to restate the financial statements because she didn't get in a 10 dollar bill. Then went and told the owner an accountant should know better. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? There is no other accountant there, just me. You can't even view the journal entries until the end of the month. The owner also told me he wants the books closed weekly WHAT? And then told me to depreciate his laptop he bought with gift cards from his wife. When I told him that could not be done, he said I get a tax benefit, you have to depreciate it over two years because that is the cap. So all the sudden he is learning accounting from google and making stuff up as he goes. I gave him a depreciation schedule for his whole 38 a month but never made the entry. If accounting is like this, I want no part of it. I'm so stressed, I blew up hardcore at the chic in AP. I just can't work in that environment, but cannot quit. It will look good on my resume that I can build an income statement and balance sheet from work papers. Thank God I have another interview next week. I feel stuck

    #1535868
    SomeSomeCPA
    Participant

    BS in Mathematics, minor in business. Went back to school for accounting certificate to complete the requirements. Keep your head up, my first take at FAR I scored a 39.

    Done! 9 tests over 16 months. Failed first 3 with Becker. Passed 4 of next 6 with Ninja MCQ.

    FAR: 39,59,TBD
    BEC: 74,79
    AUD: 77
    REG: September

    #1535902

    I studied Finance/Economics. First take on FAR I got a 58 and studied my ass off for it. Came back with an 81 after studying my ass off again :-). Fear not.. failing is part of the process for a loooooot of CPA candidates. Just look at the threads on this site for evidence of that. When you pass, you will be a very qualified job candidate and not just for entry level industry jobs. I promise you that because my first job out of college was an entry level accounting job doing help in preparing for month end closes and day to day bookkeeping. I then went on to a more senior role where I was handling the financial reporting for a business unit. Granted I learned a lot independently through my tenure, but when I started studying for the exam I was amazed at how much more I learned and how much better it made me at my responsibilities. Even though I failed a few along the way. Keep you head up and grind the tests and don't let negative confidence get the best of you. If you pass your CPA tests, your degree isn't going to make much a difference, because I learned way more from the exam than I ever did in college and the stakes are much higher because you don't “just get a c”.

    Also, maybe don't rule out Public? You don't have to go big 4, but you may like a smaller firm and getting to experience multiple areas of accounting instead of just GL accounting, or fixing AP mistakes. You will be doing a lot of GL work in industry until you get to a managing level.

    AUD - 75
    BEC - 79
    FAR - 81
    REG - 75
    Happily Finished

    FAR - Aug 2015 (58), Feb 2016 (81)
    u
    BEC - May 2016 (79)
    AUD - Jul 2016
    REG - Aug 2016

    #1535913
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thank you guys for this! I'll admit, my far score was 53 and I studied my rear end off. The small chapters nailed me. I felt like a complete moron when I seen my score. I've been dreading studying for far again. It really helps me to hear some others scored low and studied too just to end up bombing. I'm not picking by saying that, but it does give me some confidence.at hamms, I noticed exactly what you said: I was learning more from the review!

    #1535946
    krstnam
    Participant

    @Audarah – You know about my first score…people can and do come back after low scores. I really tried my first exam too so I know how discouraging it can be.

    My story, I got a BBA in accounting, that was in 2005. Frankly, I was having too much fun in college to where I don't even remember most of my accounting classes. Fast forward 11 years and I start my CPA exams. As for work, I started in tax for about three years and that wasn't fun for me – plus the job prospects were rough in 2008 when the bubble burst. Now I work in government finance, but my actual accounting duties are not typical, most of my work is related to personnel and database security, but I do miscellaneous accounting projects nothing major though.

    FAR was basically a different language for me. PCAOB, IFRS, WTF. Hell, SOX wasn't even signed into law until after I took advanced accounting! I knew before I took the exam that it wasn't going to be pretty. I was scoring way too low on my MCQs. After 3 months of discouraging studying, I decided to move on to REG – I needed to pass it before the 4/17 changes. By some miracle, I passed REG then went back to FAR – the 2nd time studying went much much better and while I ended up with a 73, I think it's still a small victory by having such a large uptick in points. But I was struggling, I didn't even want to go into the retake, I thought I'd end up with a score in the low 60s…

    Stick with it and hope the examiners give you questions you know the answers to 🙂

    Good luck!

    I'm going to be the person who says "I finished even though..." not the person who says "I didn't finish because..."

    B - 77, 76

    A - 57, 64, 72, 76!

    R - 78, 72, 78!!! DONE

    F - 54, 73, 71, 64, 69, 76!

    #1535965
    hasy
    Participant

    Totally did not read anything else. Bachelors in Econ and minor in accounting. Still got public accounting offers AND financial services company offers. HOWEVER, my experience was also mostly accounting. 3 internships and a handful of campus jobs. It's REALLY how you spin it. Your degree DOES not have to be in accounting to get your CPA. Most of the accounting units I've obtained were from CC classes, which fortunately were paid partly from school aid (I live in CA).

    Unless that job was paying you well, I'd take the experience and make more somewhere else.

    AUD - 83
    BEC - 80
    FAR - 83
    REG - 78
    BEC - 80 (Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB)

    FAR - 72; 83 (Roger + NINJA MCQ)

    AUD - 83 (Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB)

    REG - 52; 78 (Roger + NINJA MCQ)

    Ethics - 68, 96 (how I dislike you)
    -
    This forum is more addictive than drugs. Still returning after licensure.

    Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

    -

    BEC 80 (10/23/15)
    FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
    REG 52 (4/28/15)
    AUD (9/9/16)

    Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

    #1535973
    Wanna_B_TXCPA2014
    Participant

    Ba Psychology in 99 went back for an MBA in 03 graduated in 05. Dont be discouraged! These test are meant to frustrate you. Focus on the goal of passing and grind until you do.

    #1535976
    Anonymous
    Participant

    I hold a Bach of Sci in Business Administration, however I realized I was interested in accounting while pursuing that degree via brick and mortar school. I knew that if were going to pursue a masters degree it would have to be in accounting because the CPA had already been put on my radar by my instructors. I ended up completing my Masters of Sci in Accounting thru a completely online program. Honestly, the program was really good! BUT, it's still online and I didn't grasp nearly as much as I should've or would've going on campus. Guess what…I still received offers like the other candidates who probably went to more prestigious schools on campus. I just made sure I worked harder so that employers who may have been skeptical didn't notice any differences. Though, when I set out to test for the CPA, I realized there were/are many things I missed. As a result, much of the material I'm encountering feels like the first time. Is it frustrating? YEEESSS!!! Will I feel like I made this exam my b***h after it's all said and done? YEEESSS! I know this would've been an “easier” feat if I had just graduated from an on campus school and sat right after. But, accounting is my second career and I'm a little more seasoned (makes me more knowledgeable & realistic in this thing called life) and I now have a family (people depending on me & demanding more of my time) which can complicate things a tad, but also makes my drive/motivation that much stronger. We'll all get there–some will take longer than others–but when you get that license no one asks you how many times you failed. Heck, they don't care. FAR had me scared at first, but I've learned from previous supervisors that it must not be that hard if they did it. Whew! LOL

    Do NOT quit! There's more in you and if you quit you'll never see it. Show you that you can do it.

    AUD Passed  78
    BEC Passed  79
    FAR Passed  77
    REG Passed 76

    I'm tired of operating in fear and mediocrity. It's time to try. It's time to do. It's time to go.

    #1535988
    ultrarunner
    Participant

    Mine (philosophy) is not even close. That's one reason why I am pursuing an advanced degree. I know one person who got the multiple job offers including big4. Her major was one of the worthless majors, but she completed CPA and Masters. We both took accounting classes at CCs and finished CPA exams without bachelors in accounting. You could do it. Wish you all the best.

    CPA/ MST/ Roger CPA Review

    FAR 72,67,79 (Roger+Wiley test bank)11/15
    AUD 80 (Roger)10/15
    BEC 80 (Roger)4/16
    REG 63,78 (Roger+Ninja MCQs)5/16

    #1536018
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thank you guys! I think what I missed out on the most that is really hurting me is all my accounting courses were online as well. However, I'm a read the book kind of person. Even when I had on campus classes in my bachelor's, you could usually find me sleeping in class or looking out the window. I'd go home, read the book and pass my tests. I think I put my too much weight in listening to the videos. I didn't read the book. For leases, I did. When I read the book, all the lights came on and I couldn't believe I spent three weeks watching various videos on it. I bought roger and although he says watch his videos and read the book, I'm going to do that in reverse. If I don't read, take notes, and make questions from my notes to test myself, I just do not retain. I did none of that studying before. In fact, I was all over the place! I also read gov and nfp the night before my exam and that clicked as well. Ugh
    Hopefully I find motivation again!

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