Need some opinions on this major/minor in Kelley?
Okay so I need some advise as I'm going to be a college freshman next year. What combination will open up more job opportunities and also pays better on average? (Either way I'm going to get my CPA as well)
So should I major in Finance with a minor in accounting or major in Accounting with a minor in finance?
If you want a CPA, I think you have to major in accounting. At least that's how it works at my school. To sit for the CPA, you need to have a certain amount of accounting classes.
Being a CPA prepares you to be an accountant. Is that what you want to do? Most jobs won't care if you have a CPA, so it might be a waste of effort.
Most jobs won't care if you have a CPA? I wouldn't assume OP doesn't want to be an accoutant, seems like he is interested enough to ask. CPA is by no means a waste of effort, in many ways it is regarded as more difficult than the CFA and is a huge boon if you want to advance down a more accountant path. I'd go with an accounting major if thats what you want to do but most colleges will not require you to declare a major the first year, so perhaps see if it is worth it to just wait, have a few finance / accounting classes and determine it from there
Accountant: Does matter
You shouldn't being throwing monkey shit for something like this. It's not cool.
I think that's a pretty bold statement. Many, many people leverage the CPA into IBD, PE, and who knows what else - I'm not an industry pro, but I know what I've seen.
At first, yes, the CPA is an accounting designation. Does one "need" it, per se? Definitely not. But can someone leverage it into a job in one of the abovementioned fields? Absolutely.
However, to the OP: you should consider why you're so determined to complete the CPA. If you want to work in finance, obtaining the CPA license may not be a worthwhile pursuit. You're young, so why waste time with backup plans? But if accounting is what you want to do and you just have an interest in finance, definitely go after the CPA and get that finance minor.
A lot of people double major in Fin/Acc at Kelley. I recommend doing that.
I think I might try both accounting and finance classes and then either get a CFA or CPA depending on whether accounting or finance interests me more. If both do then I may look at a double major. Does this sound feasible? My goal at the moment is getting into the IB workshop junior year at Kelley which I'm certain I can achieve
You're looking at the CFA and CPA in an inappropriate light, I think. They serve different purposes; whereas the CPA is a license required to perform certain functions for public companies, the CFA is a niche designation. So while you can definitely leverage the CFA to break in to various fields, it isn't worth doing from where you are unless you choose to pursue a career in research, asset management, and certain types of funds. Add to this the fact that you must be a college senior to do the L1 exam (and must have 4 years' experience to complete the process - this should be well beyond the scope of your planning right now, for various reasons).
As for the CPA, you do need to be on an accounting track to complete it, and if I'm not mistaken, the nationwide requirement is that you complete 150 credit hours, with a minimum threshold for accounting credits. The CPA is also not worth your time if what you want to do is IBD.
To break in to banking, you will need high grades in your major and the ability to form relationships with people. This means as high a GPA as you can maintain and a ton of networking. Neither the CPA or CFA alone have the power to help you do anything in finance, although the CPA might make it easier to find an accounting job.
So if you want to work in IBD, try to do this: major in finance, do a minor in something that interests you, get close to a 4.0 GPA in both, obtain leadership positions in a few extracurriculars, and network your balls off approaching junior year. You should be fine.
Follow this same formula but add the CFA to senior year if you want to work in research.
Follow this same formula but add the CPA and a MS in Accounting, subtract the finance major, if you want to do accounting.
Hope this helps.
And FWIW, Kelley has an awesome network - breaking in to banking shouldn't be excessively difficult for you.
Yeah I need to figure out which of the two Iike better then and thank you for shedding light on the CFA for me. I think if I'm doing finance then ill fully commit and drop the CPA and if I go accounting then ill drop the finance idea completely
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