changing major and career

Hello everyone, long time lurker here first time posting. I want to start off by saying that i want to work im strategy consulting one day as it seems extremely interesting

I recently got an audit internship in a local firm (~60 employees) for this summer. I also have a B4 audit internship for next summer. I am a few weeks into my internship and absolutely hate it. The thought of doing audit anymore makes me wanna throw up. I would love to study and work in finance and Ive always been more interested in finance but never majored in it because I was getting A’s in accounting and my mindset was if im getting As in it then id be good at the job and so id like it. Ive literally never woke up and been excited to go to accounting class or learn about it yet I always had that feeling about finance and was leaning towards it I’m 100% certain I dont want a career in Public accounting and was planning to leave accounting one day and go to FDD/TaS and then to strategy anyway so Im leaning towards switching to finance but the thought of me leaving a B4 offer to start back from the bottom again is scary, but whats scarier is working in accounting any longer

My question is, would you switch majors and what would you do if you were in my shoes?

I’m well aware that accounting can do finance but finance cant do accounting but i dont believe that is relevant to me because I dont want a career in public accounting

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

What you're going through is very common. From your perspective, it probably seems like you're in so deep with accounting, and it'll take some big shift to move to something else. Thankfully, this is not true at all. Your paths are far more open than you might believe they are

In terms of major, to what extent do your credits so far transfer to finance? If the answer is "enough such that I can graduate on time with a finance major without taking 18 credit hours every semester" then I'd switch. Also though I don't think accounting will lock you into accounting jobs as much as you think if you put effort into recruitment

Many people do not get a proper business-related internship after their sophomore year. Even though accounting isn't what you want to do, it's a fine internship to have at this stage. You just need to find a different internship next summer. It's hard to provide specific recs without knowing what kind of school you go to (e.g. if you don't go to  a target school you need to do non-target recruiting processes which are their own thing), but here's in order the types of internships I'd probably prioritize going after:

  1. MBB / T2 (ATK/EY-P/LEK/OW/S&)
  2. B4/ACN/ZS type management consulting
  3. F500 finance or other function you'd actually like to work in if consulting recruitment doesn't work out
  4. Smaller boutiques -- unless you'd actually want to work for them post-grad

Outside of that get involved in consulting clubs, leadership roles in clubs, other impact-type stories you can put on your resume, etc

Consulting is not a field where you need to have years of consulting-specific clubs or internships to be eligible, plenty of people get hired in with effectively irrelevant backgrounds

 

first off I want to thank you so much for putting this much detail and effort into my dilemma.I go to so id say MBB and the other top consulting firms are out of reach out of undergrad.In terms of degree progression.. i did my own calculations (which could be a little off) and it seems like I could graduate as originally planned, i was supposed to graduate a semester early anyway so pushing it back one semester wouldnt hurt. Even after switching, for reference, my degree progression as a percentage goes from 92% to 85% when switched.so after networking with a ton of professionals, ive narrowed down my options.option 1: continue as an accounting major and pick up finance classes and certifications to get my modeling and technicals in shape. go into audit and transfer to TaS as fast as possible and see what i like, whether its consulting, m&a and IB, corporate finance, see if i want to get an MBA etc.. and pursue that career sideThe problems with option 1 is that im not sure if PwC will let me work in audit if i switch majors which i wanna do so bad and not get the CPAoption 2: switch majors and attempt to get f500 corp finance gig or a boutique m&a position.. im in a decent size city and we got a couple boutiques around. Then try to get into TaS at a b4 and do like i said in option 1The downside is I would basically be working backwards since i already got a clear path into b4 and got a decent shot at transferring service lines in the futureI think i want to go to TaS at a b4 so bad because it'll offer me a lot to experience since im more of the indecisive type if u havent noticed yet lolI think option 1 is the logical one despite it being the one i dislike the most.let me know your thoughts and which option you would pick or if you think theres more options.Thanks!

 

Error beatae similique dolores quam velit error. Sit est suscipit dicta ipsam autem occaecati. Voluptatibus temporibus consequatur eum qui tempora.

Quo error voluptatibus labore voluptas ut reiciendis. Cum rem quasi nam est saepe. Ratione harum reprehenderit nisi maiores et voluptatem.

Alias omnis id quasi. Est cum alias quo. Quia nihil et consequatur molestiae ipsam. Quia vero et qui incidunt. Non odit ipsam velit assumenda est id enim quos.

Doloribus est et quo ut sunt. Molestias accusamus incidunt earum quae iste rerum non. Modi distinctio voluptas quam cumque velit neque delectus. Rerum voluptatem a dolores incidunt. Eius iste sit consequuntur minima. Quod et qui voluptas quis officia accusantium odio.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Consulting

  • Boston Consulting Group 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 98.9%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.4%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.9%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Consulting

  • Cornerstone Research 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group 98.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.9%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.5%
  • Boston Consulting Group 98.9%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.4%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.9%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $361
  • Principal (30) $294
  • Director/MD (58) $274
  • Vice President (53) $247
  • Engagement Manager (113) $232
  • Manager (170) $173
  • 2nd Year Associate (185) $142
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (116) $135
  • Senior Consultant (355) $132
  • Consultant (642) $122
  • 1st Year Associate (577) $121
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (164) $121
  • NA (16) $114
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (391) $104
  • Associate Consultant (176) $101
  • 1st Year Analyst (1164) $90
  • Intern/Summer Associate (208) $83
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (633) $68
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”