Masters of Accounting Degree (MACC) A way to break into PE, Hedge Funds, or IB?

Hey all. I'm a double major undergraduate in Economics and Finance. I'm considering getting a MACC degree from William and Mary with career goals of breaking into Private equity, hedge funds or investment banking. I'm already enrolled in the CFA program and plan to take level 1 this summer. Would a MACC degree help if I don't already have strong leads for a job after graduation? Thanks!

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It helps in that you can go through the OCR process, and it gives you a year to focus on recruiting/ networking. I currently finished up recruiting for IB through a MAcc program (I am in my last semester as a MAcc currently), and I honestly spent 100% of my time networking and trying to make it happen on my own, OCR was a help but not a huge one, you still have a (somewhat) uphill battle in that MAccs usually prepare you for straight Big 4 accounting, and you have to change that perception. In my personal opinion, it can help for a finance career, but you have to put in a ton of extra work in making contacts, and you need to have a good personal story for why your doing the MAcc but want to do PE, HF, IB etc. Let me know if you have any questions on IB recruiting through a MAcc, its a huge headache but it is 100% possible. Good luck!

 

Good luck with whatever you decide, but maybe a tip I could offer: Remove your picture and name (running under the assumption that your username on WSO is your actual name). You also give away the exact school you go to. Make sure to maintain anonymity with your online activities. You'd hate to miss out on a future opportunity from a bad google search result.

"You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right." -Warren Buffett
 

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