Chicago Business (loans, catholic schools, college)

[wbsgn12]

I am going to be a junior in college this coming fall, and really am looking into the future. I am pretty set on living in Chicago and working at one of the areas Catholic high schools as an assistant basketball coach at first, and ultimately a head coach. Ultimately I probably will want to settle down as a teacher at one of these high schools. But for quite some time after college I think I will use my degree (accounting) to make as decent an amount of money as I can (it would be pretty difficult to pay back my college loans and raise a family on the meager wages of a Catholic school teacher). So obviously I am looking for a good accounting firm to work for. The BIG 4 firms do not appeal to me because I have heard so many horror stories of 70 hour weeks and there is no way that I could serve as a basketball coach and work a 70 hour week.

So I need to know which accounting firms people would recommend for someone seeking (and be honest with me if there are not any):
-to be able to devote time from 3-6 to high school basketball team from nov-beginning of march
-pay between 47-60k to students coming out of college
-to be able to eventually make $100k-$150k
-to possibly be able to make over $250k as a partner over an extended period of time

[mh7]

Hate to break the news to you, but what you are looking for does not exist.

[chet everett]

I concur. The path you wish to pursue sounds neat, and maybe in the mind of college junior the flaws are not obvious, but trust me there is no way you can plan out going from 47-60K to 100-150K and then 250K while also having a schedule with flexibility to coach. Heck I know guys that own their own businesses that could never get work in that kind of time.

My advice would be to do some more research. While you are absolutely correct that salaries for Catholic schools teachers are quite modest, you might be surprised at how different the story can be for PUBLIC school teachers. In fact the pat from starting teacher in the 40's to more experienced teacher with addtional credentials / administrator in the ranges you cite to superintendent that mught even exceed the top pay you cite is not unrealistic at all. While there is little demand for a teacher of accounting you could certainly refocus to have certificates in math, history, economics, or other subject areas. There is competition for the good slots in good districts and that includes a BB coaching thing as an "add on" as the vast majority of schools have "pay your dues" track for coaching the varsity, but these things are not that different than earning promotions in a professional services firm...