[Anonymous]

Let’s say you already have a bachelors in accounting (and also assume you already have 150 credits)

And you HAVE to do a masters program.

What would it be?

[BamaGuyinNC]

I would choose a Master of Taxation for myself if I could obtain a second Masters (first is a Master of Accountancy). I have had a desire to work for a CPA firm and believe a Master of Taxation is more valued by CPA firms than a Master of Accountancy. Some of my graduate accounting classes (internal audit, governmental accounting, and fraud examination) are not doing anything for me without actual work experience. With most of my accounting experience in financial accounting. Taxes (payroll, sales/use tax, property taxes) has been a secondary part of my accounting duties. I have found it difficult obtaining full-time positions in taxation at either CPA firms or in industry and believe having a Master of Taxation on my resume would make me more marketable. My other choice for a Masters would be something related to Information Systems and would choose a M.S. in Information Systems Audit and Control at GSU if money were not a factor since I also have interest in IT Audit. At this point a Ph.D. in Accounting appeals more to me.

[Javilon]

This is an interesting thread and I was in a similar solution a few years ago. I had an accounting undergrad, but not 150 hours. I have always been interested in software/technology so I got a masters in Information Technology and then I did my CPA. It seems to be working out well so far. Information Systems and Accounting are so closely related that having knowledge of both is definitely a win. I do wish my program had my cyber security as a few mentioned above. The program I did was more analytics focused, which is useful as well. In my current role I spend most of my time working with data to make it usable and useful. Having formal education of accounting and systems sets me apart from pretty much everyone in my organization.

[Anonymous]

@Javilon

That's pretty cool. I actually applied to a few Masters in Data Science / Analytics program. I am leaning more towards this now instead of MBA at the moment. I will have to learn some programming (Python, R, etc.) but I think it's worth it.

[aaronmo]

^^^ Sounds like a great idea IMO. They have MBA programs with focus on security as well…leaning that direction because I'm assuming it will be easier and less tech focused. It's that or Taxation.

Also going to pick up a Contracts Management cert strictly because it's low hanging fruit.

[mtaylo24]

Business analytics is tough, I’m taking that now as part of my MBA. I thought I knew a thing or two about excel before I started, but dang, someone grab the wheel! We have to do some crazy stuff.

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)

[cwlanders]

I did a MBA with an emphasis in Data Analytics. I didn't want to do just an MBA because honestly they aren't that hard and they are becoming so popular that I wanted to do something to differentiate myself. It has definitely paid dividends already. I switched jobs recently and anytime I was interviewing and mentioned data analytics you could tell the interviewers would perk up a bit. It also helps because what I learned is actually useful in my day-to-day life and it is clear that I have a much deeper understanding of not only excel, but how to get what I want from the data. I would recommend data/business analytics for anyone.

BEC - 91 (2/29/16)
AUD- 74, 74

[Reema]

@ mtaylo 24- Omg is it that difficult. I am about to take admission for Masters in Business Analytics.I am worried now.

[mtaylo24]

@reema, It's not extremely difficult but its a lot of work. Charts, graphs, scatterplots, boxplots, histograms, lookups, pivots, distributions, etc. For example, with Expected value and std dev, its like BEC scratched the surface, but you are doing more of a deeper dive actually applying it. Just too much data… Its one thing to know how to do it one way, but we have to use stat tools, precision tree, and all of these add-ons that I had no clue about to solve the problems. We are given several of models to work weekly, so I could see how it could be easy to get behind or lost if you don't have the foundation or know what to do. I know that my professor is going kind of easy on us, so I'm not too concerned.

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)

[Anonymous]

I think doing the dual MBA/JD would be great if you can find a good program. I would definitely go that route if that was an option.

Nice scores Recked! I would love to know how you studied. Can you share with us how you studied?

[Author]

Replies