The Famous MS in Accounting vs. MBA Question

[gario2009]

Experience is what you need the most after your four year degree. You could go for a masters right away if you are interested to teach, but still you must get two to three years experiecences for teaching. Don t get a masters degree untill you get four to five years exprience because your boss could only hold a Bachelor with ten years of experience.

[nj21]

This is all great information. I recently graduated with a degree in Finance and am having difficulty finding employment. I was deciding whether or not to continue my education and attend CUNY Baruch in NYC or stick it out and continue my search for employment.

Supposedly, this is a great public school in NYC that places many graduates in great positions. What do you guys think?

I received this information from a Sr. Financial Analyst working with a prominent wine & spirits company who is making about $140K with just a BS in Finance. I'm guessing by pure luck he has gotten this job, since he used a headhunter.

[ambient]

Originally Posted by analyticalkeys

I'll worry about getting into Chicago. I just started the program; so it's obvious that I have a few questions, and little knowledge, but that's why I ask.. to remedy that problem. I know that you'd make more money as a Chicago MBA, but that doesn't answer my question. The question is; is Business Administration even useful toward accounting because it's a very general degree; and it doesn't particularly cover my field all that well. Where do people with Chicago MBAs typically end up working?

They become investment bankers, hedge fund associates, strategic consultants, marketers/product managers/financial analysts/HR associates/production managers at Fortune 500 companies. This is all information that you could get from your school, by the way.

Working in business analysis and management is very different from working in technical accounting. If you want to start in a Big Four in internal auditing and eventually spend your days doing forensic accounting, tax accounting, running external reporting for a corporation, or revenue recognition consulting for clients...then by all means, go for the Masters in Accounting. If you want to do one of the things I first mentioned, then go for the MBA.

By the way...the MBA will be much more valuable if you first get some work experience. It's an eminently practical degree, but it isn't going to give you a formula that tells you how to be successful in your next job. You need experience to be able to put the information you will receive in proper context. Most of your peers at top schools would have 4ish years of experience, perhaps a bit more. If you had no experience, they would have an advantage and a salary premium over you when it comes to interviewing and job offers.

With all that said, a foundation in accounting is a very good thing to have, and having a CPA looks good even if you eventually go into other business areas. I personally would do undergrad in accounting, get some experience and pass the CPA, then return for the MBA. That is a powerful tool kit for career success.

[Futurecpa girl]

Go for a MBA program with an accounting concentration. Best of both worlds and you will make more money!!