[JCScherman525]

Hello All!

Looking for some advice on how to choose the appropriate route for my graduate education.

MY HISTORY:

My undergrad was in Business Admin with all the accounting courses needed to sit for the CPA exam in my state (NJ). These include: Principals I, II; Intermediate I, II; Advanced I, II; Cost; Audit; Federal Tax I, II (corporate and individual)

I worked for 6 years as a CFOO and now and am going back to school to complete my 150 credit requirement and prepare for the CPA exam. I am registered to sit for my first part in November, the FAR section, and am taking the Becker review course to aide in my preparation. A lot of the material is foreign to me, so I am hoping the coursework in my graduate program will assist.

To Note: Not going to graduate school is not an option for me. I see people mention this, but for me I need the school in order to link me with reputable firms so I can restart a career in public accounting. Further, this is the choice route I desire and I would not consider something else at this point. I would be honored to have my Masters degree in Accounting or Tax.

THE ISSUE:

The question comes down to how to choose between the two schools, one which offers a remarkable reputation and ranking and the other which has a very well reputation, not as great though, but has a curriculum I prefer.

Both schools have recruiting events which the Big 4 attend in addition to large -> medium firms and a few smaller guys. Both are AACSB accredited. I have friends who know of students being employed at these larger firms and the Big 4 from both schools. I imagine that indicates both programs are more than satisfactory.

SCHOOL A: Prestige

The school with the great name is ranked somewhere around 128 Nation wide for their business school. Their MS in Tax program is suspended but I can not find out why.

Their curriculum: They offer two tracks, as most schools have, one for individuals with a previous degree in accounting and one track for those that don’t. I have a previous degree so I have the option of tracking in either program. The one that is for previous degree students will not allow you to retake courses previously taken and will not permit the Financial Reporting class (6 credits) / AKA intermediate to count as credit towards the degree. This track has a lot of stipulations and due to the lack of course offerings this fall, I am forced to change from this program to the Track B program (no previous accounting degree). This limits my course selection for my year attending grad school. I would be required to retake ALL classes such as a 6 credit intermediate class and a cost class. I would not have room for Advanced accounting, not-for-profit, or just electives in tax (the field I want to) other than for 2 classes.

SCHOOL B:

This school ranks somewhere around 69 Regional. The program there pretty much offers me the flexibility to take any sequence of courses I feel comfortable with. I can still take the internship I desire and I can transfer the credits to a MS in Tax as that is their forte. Large Big 4 firms send their employees there for a MS in Tax in this area. I can retake any classes I desire (this was not permitted in the other school unless I changed to the other program).

With this school I can take Advanced and a normal 3 credit Intermediate class simultaneously as I study for the CPA FAR exam this semester. Or perhaps I can just take the normal 3 credit Intermediate and if I don’t succeed on FAR I can take Advanced next semester if I feel that would help (or I can take neither but I would feel more comfortable retaking). If I pass I can take a million other courses in tax or accounting (I have never taken international or not-for-profit or governmental etc). My internship can count as a business elective that is required, so I won’t be pulled away from the accounting classes I would like to take.

---

So what would be the consensus if you were faced with choosing between a well Nationally ranked university holding a solid academic reputation offering a course sequence that is satisfactory to your desires but very limiting or a University that is Regionally ranked holding a very well academic reputation and a course sequence that is amazing and very flexible.

Both schools will give be exposure to just about the same firms at recruiting events — so equal opportunity I suppose?

At the end of the day I need my graduate education to help be achieve 2 goals…satisfying the 150 credit requirement, aiding me in passing the CPA exam, and helping get an internship so I can be employed at a reputable public firm.

I suppose I don’t know the weight of the name of the school to these firms nor how much the academic classes will help with be while studying for the exam and taking the 4 parts over the course of year.

Any thoughts????

[Anonymous]

To me, the fact that the MS in Tax is suspended at School A is a super-big red flag. You never know what will eventually come out about that program. If right after you graduate, it hits the press that School A was falsifying grades for students who paid them off or something ridiculous like that, then your MS in Accounting or whatever you get will be questioned by all. Likely there's nothing major that caused their program to be suspended – perhaps just a mistake in the paperwork – but you never know, so I would be highly cautious about that.

Due to that fact alone, I'd go with School B. But, I graduated with my Bachelor's from a no-name school, so I might not value a school's prestige as highly as I should. For my Master's, I'm leaning towards going to a state college with a decent (albeit fairly local) reputation, so I am more appreciative of reputation of the school now than I was when getting my Bachelor's…but still thought I should add that condition on my evaluation!

P. S. I wouldn't count on the schoolwork too much for preparing you for your CPA exams. It definitely won't hurt (except for keeping you busy), but I wouldn't consider it a golden ticket or anything like that. Your CPA review course will help you prepare for the exams more than the schoolwork will, but the schoolwork might help give you a couple free points. 🙂

[mla1169]

I don't think the prestige for school A is likely to be so great an advantage that it's worth all the “cons” that you listed. If it were a top 25 school maybe but since big 4 recruits out of both programs I think you're much better off with the 2nd school.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Author]

Replies