I would offer support to those indicating accounting possibly/likely a good fit. With the requisite work experience and testing to become a CPA on the backend. An MBA is icing on the cake.

This was the advice I got ages ago from father and some adult friends as enrolling, and it's paid off well. It's not outdated, I've seen a nephew succeed with same pathway and a good friend's son as well both very recently. An accounting degree with heavy dose of finance, perhaps even a minor, will open up a variety of good doorways out of the gate, and with each experience will expand even further options down the road. I think this is still accurate.

It's not for everyone, and the courses/work are harder for some than others and most definitely isn't always fun, but what is? If someone just doesn't get it, they shouldn't force the fit.

Also, getting some letters after his name matters. CPA, MBA, etc. I know younger students don't want to hear this and think they should be judged based purely on their merits. While that is true, and will almost certainly be the case after they are IN a job, the effect on helping them GET a job shouldn't be ignored. All else being equal, may determine who does. If they work with/for other professionals who hold their education in high regard, also important.

My situation is perfect example. I've been working with physicians for 28 years now. Still a CPA. In all that time I've done not a single tax return other than my own or family, and have performed not a single audit, etc. Even still, the credentials carry some weight in the interview and selection process, right or wrong.

Best of luck to him!

eta - I did endure 6 years at Arthur Andersen, long enough to get some add'l street credit, and long enough to know it wasn't for me forever.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Georgeair,

^^^^^^^^^
Good stuff there.

I graduated BS Acct, went the MBA route rather than the CPA route. After ~25 years in industry went into teaching accounting. To me, the benefit of the CPA and or MBA is to understand the numbers (financial statements). If you don't properly understand the numbers, you will make poor business decisions.

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
The saying when I was in school was the smart kids get an accounting degree. The ones that fail get a finance degree. The ones that fail that get a marketing degree.

To be successful in marketing, you need to be creative. Accountants get in big trouble when they are creative.

Truth to this. Creative, artistic types should do marketing and sales type business jobs. Logical, black & white types should stick with accounting. In the business world there is a lot of room for all types, but little tolerance for being in the wrong slot.

A lot of the course work for those degrees overlap. Perhaps he can double-major or get a degree in one and minor in another.

I have undergraduate degrees in economics and managerial studies (which is what my college called an undergraduate business degree). I fufilled the degree requirements for each, although they overlapped a large amount. Finance or accounting would have been the same - they just overlapped in different ways.

I also met the degree requirements for an Art/Art History degree, which didn't overlap at all, but it was fun. I had taken a bunch of photography courses, and realized that I could get the degree with a few more courses in related subjects. It is hard to say which of undergrad degrees in Art or Economics is the more useless . . .

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:. . . It is hard to say which of undergrad degrees in Art or Economics are the more useless . . .

I had a grad class in econ. The first day the prof told us that undergrad econ gave us useful tools, but most of what we learned in undergrad econ didn't fit the real world. Then the joke (of sorts). Two professions where you can be wrong most of the time and still make a good living - weatherman and economist.

Ridja on page 1 nicely summarized the options.

In addition, your son should study something he likes; if it is finance or financial analysis then he should go for it. He should also include accounting as he may need it if he goes corporate at some point.

In my experience, Wall Street firms only recruit out of top-tier schools so he should consider that if he wants Wall Street. A core list would be Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Wharton, University of Chicago, Stanford and Kellog (Northwestern). Apologies if I've left someone off. Wall Street firms only care about the last school attended. If you son wants to save money he could attend a reasonable/good state school for undergrad and then apply to a top (expensive) graduate program. This is what I did.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
My nephew is killing it in the finance world. He is a handsome and charismatic young man with a communications degree who developed a great network of friends and contacts at a top university.

What exactly is "the finance world" that he's in? I can see selling stocks/bonds/insurance etc and having fun at it while making lots of $$$.

I don't see how someone with a finance communication degree would be involved in corporate finance. (The strike through is part of a correction of a typo)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SR,

quote:

Originally posted by SR:

I don't see how someone with a finance degree would be involved in corporate finance.

Finance undergrad here, with minors in economics and mathematics, CFO.

Math minor was due to washing out of computer engineering end of my junior year... Washing out may not be 100% accurate, the little brain was driving decisions and figured out there were girls in the business school.

Given the post SR quoted, he probably meant to type communications, not finance.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Given the post SR quoted, he probably meant to type communications, not finance.

Thanks trapper - you're correct, that was a typo. I'll fix

I'm really curious.... folks often end up outside their degree field and do very well. Hope TXJIM answers. Inquiring minds want to know. LOL

My current role is Director of Investment Product Sales for a fortune 100 Firm.

Education:
BA in Criminology, 1993
MBA with a Finance Focus, 2003

It took me 10 years after my BA to figure out what I really wanted to do and what interested me. So I went back to school for the MBA. I was born to be a salesman but still put a ton of work into being a good one. My first 8 years in the "Finance" industry was as an advisor. Advisor is a marketing term meaning financial products sales. It is a tough job to get people to talk to you, listen to you, and take your advice. And many "Advisors" will/have to sell anything they can justify to get a commission. I found a firm who's philosophy I agree with and took the fiduciary standard seriously. After a few years I moved up into leadership. I now lead a team of about 30 Wealth Management Advisors.

I love my part of the industry, but it is still sales. If he doesn't want to be in sales, there are lots of other roles but sales is the easiest route in. Finance, Accounting, Economics, Marketing, Communications, etc. all lead in the right direction, but he really needs to figure out where he wants to end up.

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Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
Quick thread drift. I did acct/mba, worked mostly for smaller firms, start-ups. Starting, then running your own business is not easy, but I am sure you know that.

I know it pretty well as I started up 4 companies total. The first 2 made enough to eat but that's about it. The third was going great until my Dad died and I had to go back to Alaska for 4 weeks to take care of my Mom, get her squared away and Dad properly buried.

The 4th company was the charm. It took off like a rocket and I ran it for over 20 years, had a lot of fun and made a lot of money. I regretted retiring and leaving it behind, but it was time.

And to drift a bit more, a good friend of mine was an Electronic Engineer also and wanted to start up a company and get rich. He decided to get an MBA prior to starting up, did so and started his company.

He told me years later that the first year was almost a disaster but he finally decided to ignore a lot of what he learned getting his MBA and go with his instincts. At that point, his company took off and 9 years later when he sold it, he had a net worth of almost $10M so I guess he did it right.

Specialize but be careful of AI. Artificial intelligence/machine learning will wreak havoc on many finance jobs. It’s already happening in the mortgage industry. Accounting has lots of specialization and niche opportunities...my wife is in the field- good job security. Stock market can be a real grind depending on what your doing but if your are passionate about something, I say go for it without hesitation. I’d personally probably go the finance route as apposed to general business. He can always switch gears as needed.