Is going to a better school for MAcc worth it?

I'm a junior at Arizona State doing my degree in accounting and certificate in business data analytics. I have good leadership positions on campus, an accounting internship, and strong GPA. I have family connections in investment banks and feel that I want to do more than just audit at a big 4. If I did my MAcc at ASU, it'd be about $20k, whereas if I did the MAcc at UVA or Notre Dame, it'd be more like $50-$60k. I think it might be worth it for me to go to a more prestigious school if I ever want to move into the finance world. I know ASU doesn't have the best reputation on the east coast, even though the accounting program is respected out here. If I did the route of working big 4 for a few years > MBA > banking or something, then the school I did my master's degree at would impact where I can get my MBA, right? Or I could try to skip that part and recruit directly as an analyst if I went to UVA and still have big4 as my back up.

Thanks for your input

 

In my experience, having accounting experience is a great way to be considered for a finance job, but it doesn't replace the experience in finance. I would look to see if you can land any sort of role that is banking related, even if it's something 15-20 hours a week that is unpaid. Having that on your resume as a MAcc student with some other accounting background should be good enough to get you in the door for interviews. The rest is up to you. Just my thoughts, but I could be wrong.

 

I went to a no name school and took the Big 4 route. I was in a similar situation as you but MBA (Additional 40K) instead of MAcc. I ended up taking community college classes to fulfill 150 credit hours. My plan was to bust ass for 6 months at Big 4, not take the CPA, and then start recruiting/networking. After about a year at Big 4 I finally got a job offer for a MM bank in an Industry Group.

 

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