Cpa

I'm currently in College Accounting I, a college course offered in my High School (I only paid $140 for 3 college credits - WELL worth it!), and I'm really into it. I understand the material, the math involved isn't mind-numbing, and I enjoy the coursework.

I'm looking to go to a University for my Bachelor's in Accounting, and eventually getting an MBA. I also plan on trying to become a CPA, and I was wondering if there are anybody pursuing similar goals, or have already accomplished this, and if they had any advice they could give to me, such as what courses are worth taking in college, what colleges are worth looking into, and what I can do in my senior year of High School to help me reach my goals.

I also live in New York, if that helps.

 

What part of Long Island do you live in? If you live in Suffolk county I recommend doing 2 years at Suffolk community college, cheap, great campus and really good teachers. Plus the credits transfer basically anywhere.
As for what courses to take, just talk to the councilors.

I lived on long island all my life, recently moved down to Florida.

 

Yeah I do live in Suffolk County - I always kind of looked down on SCCC because it's a community college, and I feel like it will limit my career opportunities.

 

SCCC is great stuff, don't underestimate it. The credits transfer -amazingly- to other colleges, so it's really a good way to get your first 2 years done and move on to really work on your major.

 

My mother has been a Accountant (obtained her CPA like 20 years ago) for the Department of Defense for nearly 30 years, and she has always "enjoyed" her job. If you have the aspiration for such a thing, there's always going to be jobs for it.

As for any other advice, I'm not very helpful

 

I am also taking college accounting as a senior (In new york as well). It's definitely only a job those who truly love accounting could stand. The pay will be good, but trust me, unless you absolutely love it, avoid it at all costs.

 

I'm a Junior in college majoring in accounting, I may be able to help. You need to look up the requirements for sitting for the CPA exam in your state. In a lot of states it is required to take part in a Masters of Accounting program (MACC) to be eligible to sit for the CPA. A big part of attaining an accounting job in the big 4 accounting firms (public accounting) is the recruiting at your school so find which college in your area has the best hiring ops by public companies.


To answer your questions directly:

Courses are worth taking in college:

This isn't really an area where you get to choose. Your undergrad will be mainly laid out for you, typically you will take
1) Intro to accounting
2) managerial Accounting
3) intermediate accounting 1-2 or 3. (This is a weed out class at most universities)
4) Cost accounting
5) Federal Taxation
6) Auditing

ect.. you get the picture. There are classes that every school must make their students take to be accredited.

Where you can change classes would be in your pursuit of a minor. Accounting majors typically aren't good at writing reports or communication which is a huge part of the job you will be doing after you have your degree. English, Philosophy, communications, or a technical (STEM) minor is always a positive.

What colleges are worth looking into

Answered above more or less, check into which college get recruited heavily by the Big 4 (this is: PWC, KPMG, E&Y, Deloitte& Touche)

What I can do in my senior year of High School to help me reach my goals.

Honestly enjoy it, you're not going to get ahead of your college classmates much by studying more in high school. That being said, try to get a good grip on journal entries and how each account ties to one another.


Accounting internships require fairly competitive GPA's in college and you should shoot for a 3.5 ideally. Also look into joining Beta Alpha Psi if it's available at your college (accounting fraternity that deals with getting internships more or less)


Additionally:

MBA's aren't super common if you have your CPA and MACC already done. That's something you would shoot for if it were required to move up in a company.

There are a few different fields within public accounting: Taxation, Audit, Assurance ect.. Know what each one does. I was surprised to find I liked taxation more than I thought I would. I'll be trying to find an internship in Fraud this summer though.


Expect to work 80+ hours a week with a public accounting firm and be traveling (at least in audit) for at least 80% of the time you are at work.

Try to figure out what you inevitably want to do with your degree, if it's being a CFO or controller the CPA is a great way to get there. Also a lot of people find they actually enjoy finance more than accounting by the first few years (CFA professional degree).


To give you some perspective I'll be double majoring in accounting and computer science so that I can develop accounting systems and high frequency trading systems after I graduate. There's a lot of possibilities with an accounting degree.