[Sophie712]

Let me give you a little bit of my career background.

I have a BS in accounting, and have a CPA license in CA and NY. I’ve been working for one of the big 4 accounting firms for 5 years and expecting (hoping) to get promoted to a manager this coming June.

I’ve been thinking about MST for a while. The reasons why I want to go for MST is that 1. I want to learn more about tax. I am hoping to get some really nice basic understanding. sometimes when I work, I wish I had more formal education in tax. 2. The firm will pay for tuition and book. ( I will never do MST if the firm doesn’t pay for it.).

My concern is that is it reallly worth going thru all the pain to get the MST. I know what’s like to work and study at the same time… pretty much you don’t have life. I am not that young, and I’d love to travel the world during non-tax busy season… instead of studying.. but at the same time, maybe it’s better I start now than later… who knows I might look back and think I should’ve done it.

Life is really short and I’d love to enjoy my life… even though I like my career.

Could anyone give me a good life/career advice?

[Anonymous]

You don't need MST to learn about tax (as a matter of fact). Most ppl go MST to get a job. If you really want to learn, you just need to go Amazon and buy a few tax books.

For career, I don't know what field you are in-audit? advisory? or tax? I think for a guy with your experience and potential to be promoted to manager, MST doesn't help.

[taxgeek83]

I have pretty much decided that I am going back to get my MST – hopefully by fall semester. I still have some details to work out; however, aside from the fact that I'm bored now that I've finished the CPA exam, I think it will make me much more marketable down the road, especially if I try to get more into the tax policy side of things.

You are fortunate in that your employer will pay for your degree – my hope is that I can find a job that will do the same, or at least partially cover it. However, if you are just curious about the field, I'd echo cycgundam – find a few books on the subject and go from there. If you are serious about staying in the tax field, I'd go for the MST.

[Author]

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