[Anonymous]

I am an accounting major. 2.95 GPA. I have 2 semesters left and if I get A’s I can get a 3.2 GPA.

Can I please get some advice and tips from studying to time managing, so I can get all A’s. Is it possible?

Please please don;t discourage me but give me guidance.

Thank You

[Mayo]

Possible? Yes.

Tips?: Live in the library

Other tips?: in terms of getting a job, don't forget to be involved in recruiting and your on campus accounting organizations.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Anonymous]

^what mayonnaise said

[Anonymous]

I see

[wizards8507]

Engage in classroom discussions. It's tempting to put your head down and take absurd amounts of notes, but that'll help you memorize at best and won't do much to help you really understand the material. Engage in the discussion and ask questions in class to make sure you really UNDERSTAND topics. This will help you with the CPA exam too. Too many people treat accounting as a memorization exercise. If you really understand the theory behind it, the rules are easy.

NY CPA

[StephAV]

Can you retake any classes that are weighing down your gpa? IMO, the classes at the end of college were so much harder than my general Ed. Any easy A classes to boost you GPA?

FAR - 7/13 - 72, 11/13- 74, 2/14- 82!!! Best score ever (for me)!!!
BEC - 1/14 - 75!!! Perfect score! First Pass! YAY!!!
AUD - 8/14 - 80!!!
REG - 5/14 - 72, 10/14 - 66, 1/15 - 78 - DONE FOREVER!!!
I did 5 of the UNA and CPAExcel classes to earn units.

[fuzyfro89]

I think you should take some time to think whether your current gpa is a function of lack of effort or lack of ability. I don't mean to be rude, but not everyone can do accounting very well. Take someone from philosophy and throw them in accounting and they may likely fail (btw: not a comment on philosophy majors being dumb, but just a different skill set).

The worst thing you can do is set unrealistic expectations, because you may work your tail off and still be disappointed, only to bring your head up near graduation and realize you spent all your time in the books only to have not reached all A's, and also not have been active in recruiting.

Assuming you decide it was because lack of effort, start trying. 2.95 –> 4.0 (semester avg) seems unlikely, but only you can really judge if it's possible. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Well let me ask this. What is the minimum GPA I should have? I'm just scared that I will graduate and have no job.

[Anonymous]

Not having a strong GPA will filter you out of a lot of resume pools. I didn't even put mine on my resume, and some firms (even mid-tier) don't even ask for your transcripts.

But if you're at least a 3.0 and passed a few parts of the exam, I'd consider that scraping by. Meaning bare minimum that you will have to work extra tough to secure a position.

If you have great people skills and are a good interviewer, thats a big +

Just keep at it and don't give up. If your GPA suffers, keep in mind that after becoming a CPA, you will be a lot more marketable.

I live in a more populated area so I'd imagine there's a higher demand for accountants with people skills, so my advice may not be the same for smaller cities.

[Anonymous]

Also you might want to consider gaining experience as an AR/AP clerk, or doing tax returns, etc. Something that will familiarize yourself with the accounting environment in the real-world and include that on your resume. So you can bring up in the interview that you like to challenge yourself and that your education was in concurrence with relevant employment.

[fuzyfro89]

Any GPA won't be a guarantee (or even a “strong likelihood”) of a job at graduation. A GPA is merely a filter that most employers use to help narrow their pool of applicants, otherwise they would have to interview everyone and their mothers for each position.

At this point, I would say work hard and try to get above a 3.0, but the difference between a 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 is only marginal. Experience and attitude will be MUCH more important to getting that offer. Do things to expand your network, show interest in accounting (i.e. accounting-related work experience) and put yourself out there!

A metaphor I like to use is a resume. Your GPA is only one line, 90% of your resume is everything else. Work on building the remainder of your resume as efforts elsewhere will give you much more of a reward than focusing so much time and effort for only a marginal 0.1 or 0.2 in your GPA.

BACK TO YOUR QUESTION: The CPA designation helps a lot. Your first job may not be exactly what you want in accounting, but getting your experience in something related and passing sections will easily set your credibility 1-2 years out of school.

If I had to give several specific recommendations:

1) Network, network, network!

2) Study and try to improve your GPA to above a 3.0 (perhaps a reasonable goal of 3.1 which won't be too difficult since you can't expect things to go perfectly)

3) Study for and pass the CPA exams.

FD: I had a 3.5 overall GPA and around 3.0 in accounting, and ended up in Big 4. This is definitely the exception rather than the norm.

[Anonymous]

@fuzyfro89

You said that you got into the Big 4.

Actually, I have an appointment with a PWC recruiter who I met through my college. She is willing to meet me on her own time and explain the process and help me out.

Can you give any advice on how I can take advantage of this meeting.

Thank You

[Anonymous]

I'm going to offer a totally different opinion – GPA doesn't matter that much, depending on where you're trying to get a job. Based on @accountingstudent99's last post, s/he may be looking specifically to get in with the Big 4…so this post may be irrelevant…but if you're not focused on specific national organizations, then your GPA becomes less important.

I never had any interest in working for the Big 4. I live in a small town and applied to all the small firms around here. I think the biggest firm within driving-distance has 4 accountants at it, so it's definitely small firms! I had an interview at 1 place which asked about my GPA (which was decent – about 3.8), but which turned me down due to lack of experience. I had conversations with very interested owners at 2 places that didn't have the work to hire someone, but otherwise seemed pleased with me…and neither of those places asked about GPAs. Then I got a job at a 4th place where I was never asked my GPA.

So, if you're willing to work at a small firm, your GPA may become less important.

However, definitely give it your all for these last classes and try to get your GPA up! You *can* do it if you work hard enough at it. It will mean, as someone else said, living in the library…but if you're willing to do that, you can do this. Take advantage of any resources your college offers – tutors, meetings with professors, etc. I'd actually advise meeting with some of your accounting professors before the semester starts and telling them that you are going to be giving it your all this year to try to do better, assuming they've had you in class before and have gotten used to you having low grades. Maybe ask them for any pointers, study tips, etc.

[I just love this]

After all the tips above (particularly living in the library), I think the #1 thing to do is lobby your professors. Maybe your university is different, but I would try to get friendly with my professors after class/office hours. Sure helps when you are sitting between a B+ and an A-.

REG- Waiting 7/1/13
BEC- Waiting 7/23/13
AUD- Studying 8/12/13
FAR- Signed up 10/1/13
Studying with CPAExcel and Wiley Test Bank.

[fuzyfro89]

Recruiting is fairly structured and mostly happens during the fall semester. You mentioned 2 semesters left, is this for undergrad? Since you have a 2.95, I'm assuming you're not in a 5-yr masters? (no offense, just trying to gauge your situation). Big 4 hire directly into full time for people within a year of being CPA eligible and interns within 2 yrs of being CPA eligible (masters, 150 credits, whatever works).

Take time before the interview to find some things that interest you specifically about PwC. Perhaps some cool clients/industries that you're interested in, general interest in public accounting, audit vs tax, etc. This will be somewhat informational, but every encounter is an interview of sorts. She may ask specifics about your background, grades, career interests.

Be ready to talk about yourself, but also to ask serious questions. If you make it this fall to recruiting, you will have to find ways to set yourself as a viable candidate against other people with better grades and perhaps more relevant experience. Tell them why YOU ARE THE BEST! Big 4 want smart and clever people, so while you're preparing and even when you meet with anyone from the firms, always be cognizant of what you're saying about yourself and what that implies about your abilities. You ultimately need to form a cohesive sales pitch on yourself.

Realistically, you may not get an internship/full time in Big 4. Don't be discouraged! Plenty of people with better grades and experience won't either. Don't think this is your last chance. You have plenty more! I know of a fair number of people in Big 4 that started somewhere else and came in 1-3 years later. It's not about where you start, it's about where you end up.

This is a lot, so I'll try and summarize: know yourself, know your target, and be able to demonstrate why you can do it! Above all else, you need to be able to “fit in” so be prepared for small talk as well. I hope this helps. Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

Well I have a year left of college. What should I be doing now? Do you know any good websites to find accounting internships? Where can I find networking events for accounting students. Honestly, I am extremely nervous, because I have been in school for my whole life. Just trying to find guidance.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, I live in NYC.

[Author]

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