Big 4 schools in Texas (Dallas, Arlington: 2013, best schools, colleges)

[Big4_hope467]

Please provide an explanation on what school do you think is the best for getting hired by the big 4 accounting firms.

[EZMac]

UT or A&M. They are the highest rated and biggest programs in the State. They have the highest CPA pass rates for their graduates. The big 4 like to get bang for their buck so going to a smaller school will hurt you. A&M and UT both have approximately 300 candidates in their programs at a time, so its a one stop shop for the firms. These are also the only schools that the big 4 will recruit into advisory roles out of undergrad accounting programs in the state.

After those 2, SMU, Tech, TCU, UT-Dallas, UofH, UNT, UT-Arlington all have very respectable programs (probably roughly in that order). Out of those, SMU is probably the only program that has a significant big 4 recruiting presence. The primary difference between SMU and UT/A&M, as it relates to big 4 recruiting, is program size.

Obviously, the biggest difference in each school is the overall college experience. It will be very different at A&M v. UT v. SMU. However, you have a good probability of landing at the big 4 at each school.

[UnfairPark]

Imho it depends upon calibure of your student and connections you have or he made during internships.

If you take Rice out then pretty much most Texas schools have similar standards so average results shouldn't be too different.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

Imho it depends upon calibure of your student and connections you have or he made during internships.

If you take Rice out then pretty much most Texas schools have similar standards so average results shouldn't be too different.

FWIIW I'm a Rice graduate and with all due respect Rice isn't close to UT or A&M in undergraduate accounting....not sure where A&M ranks recently but UT is usually a top 10 program nationally.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by EDS_

FWIIW I'm a Rice graduate and with all due respect Rice isn't close to UT or A&M in undergraduate accounting....not sure where A&M ranks recently but UT is usually a top 10 program nationally.

I must have mentioned that from my limited data sample of people who did accounting from Texas schools, Rice and SMU graduates seems to be doing better than most. UT graduates a whole lot more people then small privates so it seems that they are everywhere but percentage wise, its not any diffrent than other places.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

I must have mentioned that from my limited data sample of people who did accounting from Texas schools, Rice and SMU graduates seems to be doing better than most. UT graduates a whole lot more people then small privates so it seems that they are everywhere but percentage wise, its not any diffrent than other places.

Your implication that all Texas usual suspect schools are about the same in accounting simply isn't correct.

correct.Best Undergraduate Accounting Program Rankings | US News Best Colleges

I'm not going to pay to open the whole list.........but they've got UT as #1 in the country and I believe TAMU is number 21. Rice, SMU, Trinity, TCU are not going to be listed at all.

[EZMac]

IMO the Public Accounting Report school rankings is probably the better set. Its put together by employers (ie. Big 4) and professors. Lets be honest not many kids from UPenn are going into Public Accounting. Regardless of rankings, you point holds true. A&M and UT are a cut above everybody in the state.

We are also distinguishing between what the best schools are, and what the best schools to be recruited by the Big 4 are. They are not the same thing. It's more likely a kid smart enough to get into Rice and interested in business has their sights set on a high finance discipline (Banking, Private Equity, etc.) and not on accounting.

The big 4 have to hire in droves to fill their numbers and of course they want smart kids. However, they really have no interest in competing with JPMorgan or Bain & Co. over undergraduates. Texas isn't unique. It's fairly common that the flagship state schools have the most respected accounting programs everywhere, primarily because they are big 4 pipelines.

[UnfairPark]

I would urge you to read first paragraph of the link that you posted. These rankings are based upon peer assessment. Who has more peers than huge Texas flagship?

[EZMac]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

I would urge you to read first paragraph of the link that you posted. These rankings are based upon peer assessment. Who has more peers than huge Texas flagship?

My argument is that its a better ranking in response to the OP. Which school will give you the best chance at the big 4? The whole point is that it isn't necessarily a ranking of the best academic experience or CPA preparedness. It is a ranking of perception. The US News rankings may have the better method to developing their rankings, but I would argue they don't answer the OP's question as effectively.

The most objective ranking of programs would probably be by CPA pass rates, which are published by the state.

[TexasVines]

get a clue people Rice does not offer an undergrad degree in accounting they only offer a masters

because their college of business is a GRADUATE COLLEGE it does not offer any undergrad degrees

and the top accounting programs are Texas and Texas A&M

after that you are looking at a pretty close grouping of SMU, TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech and some of the smaller schools as well like Trinity

it is a bit dated, but one can go here and look at relevant information collected over a number of years dealing with accounting programs in Texas

https://issuu.com/thewarrengroup/docs/tcpa_janfeb2013

go to page 21

and when you look make sure to know WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT......things like the top for the number of sections passed is not that good of a comparison because you are dealing with dramatically different numbers of graduates for programs so because one program has a lot of "sections passed" that does not mean their students on the whole are good at passing their sections it can mean they just have a lot of students trying to take a lot of sections

more meaningful would be the % pass rate

the "Big 4" are going to recruit UT and A&M heaving and from there probably SMU, TCU and Baylor and Tech in a similar fashion and down a tier from there for others