[Mary 2496]

I finished my undergraduate degree in accounting and then went on to acquire my master’s degree in accounting (both at the same university). I finished my MSA in 2011. I then took some time off (big mistake, but that’s another story) before starting to work towards my CPA license.

Has anyone else found that even with a degree in accounting, very little of what you learned can be applied to practical areas of the CPA exam? For example, in my master’s degree classes for auditing, we never actually worked through an actual audit, which would have helped immensely with the exam. In Income Taxes or whatever it was called in college, we never went outside of the basic tax rules for individuals and businesses, even in graduate level classes.

Without naming names of colleges and just in general conversation, has anyone else discovered that they wished their college better prepared them for the exam?

Thanks in advance for any input received.

[Anonymous]

I think my college prepared me for the CPA…Not particularly for BEC, but definitely for FAR and REG and somewhat AUD. I wouldn't have been able pass 3 in one month if it wasn't for that. It helped cut down my studying time by a lot!

My classes had something similar to @Jilly Beans. We had a written communications class based around accounting topics where we had to research and write letters, memos and emails to clients.

[Mary 2496]

I feel like LongShot – I've had to learn most of what I need to know from CPA exam studying. I am so glad to know that I am not alone!

[June2016]

I went to a city university in NY for undergrad, which is an average college but almost all my accounting professors gave exams that were old CPA questions. I have a friend who went to a different college in NY for accounting and their exams were so easy, like very basic questions you would never see on a CPA exam. I thought it was so unfair but I now realize how good my professors actually were.

I didn't go for my masters, but a coworker once told me in their masters program they had very hands on experience and it helped them with the CPA a lot.

My undergrad degree though was designed to follow the CPA track. I think when you apply for an accounting program need to make sure it is on the CPA track, but it is hard to know that when you are young and applying for colleges, there should be some kind of guide lol.

[tomq04]

I'll step up and name names, because this is only 1 of 2 things I'm proud of my college for.

Eastern Washington University's accounting program kicked butt! We were very well prepared, and all of my friends that I followed that sat IMMEDIATELY after college (I don't count!) passed on their first try.

I am also proud of that football program 🙂

REG- (1) 76
FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
BEC- (6) 75

[Mary 2496]

Actually, by saying I didn't want to name names in the original posting, it's just so no college gets trashed or picked on, since that wasn't the point of this thread, that's all. 🙂

[Iggy1985]

I go to a small private school in New England and we have an excellent program. I am so thankful that I chose this school to get my degree. A CPA review course is offered but I didn't even need it, I feel prepared from the courses alone. All of our tests are long, mostly multiple choice, and include AICPA adapted questions. Fed tax is 2 semesters, the first being individual and the second being everything else. Each class has a big project; intermediate was 2 semesters with the first semester having one big project and the second semester transferring that project into QuickBooks. Audit had Apple Blossom Cologne Company audit that went the entire semester. We have a 5 year B.S. Accounting/MBA program that most people do, and something like 90%+ job placement. Internships are required for graduation, so a lot of regional firms come to recruit, but no Big4. However, the accounting society takes a trip every other year to tour a Big4 firm, and the faculty has connections.

FAR - 89 (8/19/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Books from School, Ninja Audio/Notes
AUD - 92 (10/14/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Ninja Audio
BEC - 82 (5/8/15) Mostly Ninja MCQ, sprinkles of Becker lectures and Ninja Audio
REG - (8/14/15)

[nicole2035]

from what i've noticed most MAC programs have restructured themselves to where you take the CPA exam throughout it, so you graduate with the MAC and the CPA. One recruiter i talked to mentioned how mad she was because now all graduate schools are making it to where you get both at the same time

[Anonymous]

I felt like my college didn't really prepare me for the CPA Exam/job wise and the college was known for business with accounting as the most popular major. I graduated (with 120 credits Bachelors – eligible to sit for exam) without knowing what to do for the CPA Exam (process and requirements).

Passed FAR: I felt like FAR encompassed half of the accounting classes that I took. So it is like cramping 3/6 semesters of accounting classes into 1 very big final test with overwhelming amounts of information. I think my school does a good job of teaching this, since FAR is like basic accounting and bookkeeping. Studying for FAR is a review of what I already learned and 10% of learning new things. For job wise, my school made us brought a packet where you have to manually write out JE and ledgers (old style bookkeeping/accounting that just made us thankful for programs- not really learning anything) and an out-dated accounting program (MYOB) that no one uses. I was a bit setback during interviews when they asked if I know QuickBooks.

Passed REG: For most of REG topics, I have to learn it by myself. For REG, my college has a regular taxation class that doesn't teach individual taxation and corporation tax. I had to learn individual taxation through studying for VITA (volunteer income tax assistance) and from tax internship. Some topics covered on REG was in my business law class, so I was thankful to my law professor, who drilled the topics in my memory.

Currently AUD: I am currently studying for Auditing, which is probably my weakest area. My college has very limited professors for teaching high level courses in Accounting, like 3-5 for 300+ students, so it is like picking the least bad out of the worst. The professor did a poor job explaining this topic with no homework assignment for further understanding (one semester only). I graduated barley knowing anything about auditing. I am practicing the MC and Simulations everyday before my test and hoping for the best.

[Mary 2496]

Best of luck on your test. Our college experiences sound similar, and yours actually sounds even stronger than mine in a few areas. I am sure you will do well with the remaining parts. Best of luck to you!

[Anonymous]

I'm not mad at my college, because I knew from the outset that my route to a degree would only teach me what I learned myself. I graduated debt-free, but the price of that education was that I didn't have engaged, accessible professors. Actually, I didn't have a single accounting lecture – my accounting courses, as well as many of my other courses, were taken online with professors who did little more than grade papers. However, I feel like my degree prepared me well for the exams because without lectures, I had to do something most college kids avoid: read the book. Believe it or not, I learned much more thoroughly from reading those dull boring books than from sitting in lectures (first 2 years of college I went to brick-and-mortar schools and sat through lectures). The best thing that I learned through my college years, though, was how to learn more and more effectively. Because I learned without a professor, I learned how to learn without one. So, when it came time for the CPA exams, all I needed was the Wiley books at $25-30 each, and I was good to go. If I decide to learn something else (I think I'm going to get my HAM radio license next month), all I need is text materials, which are usually easy and cheap to find.

I'm not advising this odd route to a degree for everyone. There's a lot of things I could've learned from an involved professor and a lot of struggles and heartache along the route when I was left without anyone to turn to with questions or for advice. However, I do recognize that the learning gained along the way was somewhat more thorough due to being from textbooks which were reviewed by many people before getting into my hands, instead of from a lecturer who has off days.

[Author]

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