What do you guys think of this college degree combo?

Hello Fellers,
I thought I'd get opinions here. I am a current accounting student. I do not like it very much. I had a meeting with the Chairperson of history and we evaluated my credits and determined I could get a double major in history/french and I already have a minor in accounting from the credits I have. I will not have to take extra classes because I already have history and french credits and will finish the same time as if I stayed in accounting. Obviously, this is a lot less marketable compared to accounting, but I can't see myself actually being able to get through the accounting degree. I'm telling myself, if I did have trouble in the job market I could go get my MBA; I would of gotten it anyways if I got my bachelor's in accounting.

P.S. I live near NYC, which might make a difference.

 

Just my opinion, unless you want to be a teacher, a double major in history and French likely won't get you anywhere. You may be able to do something with your accounting minor and an MBA, but it would probably be accounting related. How do you feel about finance? An MBA is worth about the same as a business undergrad in my experience, not great if it is all you have to hang your hat on but workable. MBAs are really great for engineers.

As an accountant I can tell you that you won't like accounting more as you get to more complicated things, so changing is probably a good idea. I have known multiple people who got bachelors and masters degrees in accounting because that is what their parents wanted or because they could get a job with it who quit within 2 years of being in the field.

 

Hey,
I really appreciate your response. I have come up with some sort of plan. I am going to tough it out and finish my B.S. in accounting. While I do that I am going to take some advanced level math and science at my Community college to chip away at the pre-req's for a Master's in education. My buddy is a teacher and is going to help me out with the this and networking, afterwards. Who know's if this will happen, but it's what I'm going with for now. As far as finishing m accounting degree, I have diversified my next semester, so I am not just taking accounting courses, which I think will help. Last semester I took tax, managerial, financial, and accounting systems and I think it was overload. This semester I got a corporate law and MIS class, so I feel good about it. And, yes my dad pushed me into accounting. He was in marketing and product management for close to 30 years and has been unemployed for about 5 years now, so I understand why he pushed me into it.

 

Stick with the accounting (I like your diversification move, though -- that was WAY too much accounting in one semester), and maybe add a larger MIS focus. Accounting is no longer done in paper ledgers, people that know the tech well are more valuable.

I started out as Accounting (my older brother led the way and is a CPA), then filed a double major for Accounting and Computer Science, then dropped the Accounting. I didn't lose much time and liked CS much better, but your interests are far different from mine -- I hated history. As a hobby maybe, but not a scholarly pursuit.

 

The accounting / management info systems degree is very popular and marketable now. Even either of them alone is near a 100% hire rate out of college. Hard to go wrong there. Not sure when you were in college but mis is a pretty new degree.

As a side note I do like accounting in practice far far more than I enjoyed learning it. I just got my CPA license last week actually.

 

Congrats on the CPA! I can imagine that application is better than theory when it comes to accounting.

My degree is actually CIS, which was my college's early version of MIS. It's basically a combination of business/finance/accounting/marketing and computer science, but skips some of the higher-level engineering math. Which unless you are designing actual computers, you will probably never use (I worked in robotics and automation and never needed it). Most schools have had something like it for a while, they just call it different things.

My oldest daughter is in an MIS program focused on ERP, youngest is planning on doing accounting/finance, but that might change.

 

We wouldn't give that resume a second glance. In fact, our HR probably wouldn't even give it a first glance. Unless you're getting a teaching certificate and are content to be relegated to dealing with high schoolers all day, French/History don't pay the bills.

If accounting by itself is getting you down, Business Management is one of the most portable degrees out there. It's a good all-around degree that has a little bit of everything and can be tailored to any career path. I had two accounting classes among a mighty assortment of management, law, marketing, and finance classes. It was assorted enough to be interesting, and broad enough to grow more skills rather than enhancing a few.

 

Truth. We'll look at MIS degrees in a minute. Just hired two more members onto out team, both with CIS management degrees. Easy to fit them in wherever.

 

I tend to prefer technical trades myself over History cause my memory just aint worth a damn for all that info in the long term. That said, Im an engineer and I view the accounting world similar to market values with being heavily needed. Amongst my accounting friends, not one had an issue getting a job and although I don't particularly care for my job myself, its ok after you find your foot hold. I think continuing your accounting degree can open a lot of avenues for other things down the road vs being a history guy. I had a few buddies who dropped their original majors to end up with history and the ones who didn't go military are still struggling to an extent.

Not sure if you have any interest in computer stuff, but companies are paying buku money for cyber grads. My company alone is competing with three others just to get one kid from college. I would say their entry level salaries are about 1.5 my amount easily.

 

Business management with an accounting minor would be very useful. Or a double minor with MIS. My experience has shown that many IT shops are led by good technicians but somewhat lousy managers. It's one reason CIOs don't last long.

IMHO an IT Sr mgr. needs business, budget, contract and relationship savvy. They need to know enough tech to have decent conversations with staff, vendors and clients, but they don't have to be coders or hardware builders.

As another option, one of the most valuable middle managers I had was a very bright guy, excellent in hardware (and the software that ran it), IT security (a really big deal) and he was a CPA. Who hadn't liked that as a daily job. He was invaluable when it came to budget cycle time, particularly if we were considering a different approach. He knew what his area needed, and he knew how to budget for it, beyond just numbers in a price list.

As a sideline, he did accounting work as a volunteer for charitable organizations. He also would do taxes for a fee and small business accounting for select startup firms.

Being articulate and able to communicate verbally (both in front of large groups and individually) and in writing, clearly (not like a lawyer) is a skill that serves well anywhere. No degree is needed, but folks should pay more attention to the basics of Public Speaking and Composition.

History is important, someone has to teach it. And I have great respect for all teachers. Unfortunately it's a commitment to a lower standard of living for many folks. Nothing wrong with that, just understand what it is and do it because you want to impact the lives of others, not because it's easier than accounting.

It's nice to speak French if you travel to French speaking areas or want to sound sexy for someone. But it's no longer a major world language. Other than for fun, it's not worth much, unless you have a 4-6 'language pack' skillset and it's one of them. Then interpreter work is possible, but not all that easy to find. Almost every other 1st and 2nd world country requires a language in school, and English is the #1.

 

All of you have excellent advice and insight and I appreciate it very much. Jeffrey, what you said about enjoying accounting in practice more than learning it is something I, myself, was hoping was the truth about getting an accounting degree; I've been trying to tell myself that every time I want to throw my book out the window, haha. I'm not very interested in computers, even though it is a great field to be in. I have tried multiple times to learn coding, but found it more frustrating than accounting. I will see where I end up after getting my bachelor's. Clearwater Bill, I did think about doing accounting work for start-ups, which sounds interesting and I think will give me a better sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. If I ever did get into teaching I would be content with the lower salary, as there are many non-monetary benefits, in my opinion. Also, colleges in my area hire part-time adjuncts and you only need a Master's degree, so that could be an option down the line, too.

 

I graduated 5 years ago with a degree in Business Management with a concentration in accounting and an MIS minor. Worked for Big 4 (EY) for 3 years and wanted to drive off a bridge. I hate accounting and always have and always will. I chose that concentration to get me a job and it worked well. If you have a business degree and big 4 experience companies will look very favorably on your resume. When I left the big 4 I switched into a financial analysis role taking a senior position within a major corporation. If you can stick it out it's worth the initial leg-up in your career. I will say that although I could have literally had 100 accounting positions immediately when I decided to leave the big 4 it was much harder to get the finance role and do a job that was still a career progression with 0 accounting functions in the day to day.

 

If you don't want to do accounting I understand, but don't waste your time with History and French, unless you like being broke. Get a degree in something useful. Liberal Arts are for suckers

 

OP reading through your post your fall back plan is to become a professional student. If money is no option and funds are not an issue do what feels good. If you are doing this on student loans, they will become due at some point. Do not expect too much sympathy; Obama is no longer president. Employability is always a good option.

 

'If you get a degree in a field you love you'll never work a day in your life'... Because that field is never hiring...

 

You need to have a plan for your degrees. Know the job you are going to go for and that the degree you are getting gets you there.

I don’t agree with the “follow your heart” shit. The real world sucks when your in debt up to your ears in student loans and you can’t get a job. No one is happy in that situation.

Save getting degrees just for interest or personal growth for when you are debt free and have a good job.

Shit if you want to do school for fun it’s free just to go to a state school and sit in on lectures.

An MBA is not a fall back plan for when you can’t get a job. Many MBAs require you have 2-5 years of working experience before applying.

Have a plan and KNOW what you are going to do. Don’t theorize, actually plan.

It just makes things easier.

 

do whatever you want. if you get the accounting degree you can get a nice fat salary job. but at the end of the day if that makes you miserable then get a degree in something fun. most folks don't use their degree.