CPA and B4 without Grad School?
Hey all,
I recently got admitted to several MAcc programs that are considered Big 4 target schools.
I ultimately committed to USC because it offered me the best scholarship package. However, I would still need to take out loans, and the total cost for this one-year program would be around $50K, which makes me think if its right for me to go to grad school at this point.
I’m a green card holder and currently staying in my home country due to some health-related reasons. My undergraduate degree is in a STEM field, but I would like to pursue a career in accounting/fp&a because of the career stability and job prospects that it can open many doors to different roles too.
At the moment, I’m enrolled in a CPA preparatory program that fulfills the CPA education requirements, and I also have a job offer in my home country. However, the role is unrelated to accounting or finance, which obivously will not help for an accounting career but the pay is decent and its one of the fields I was interested in as well. Also, I want to stay in my home country a little longer.
Because of this, I’ve been considering working in my home country while studying for the CPA exams instead of attending graduate school right away. Since I eventually plan to return to the U.S. long term, my goal would still be to land a Big 4 Audit position after coming back.
So my question is how realistic is it to get hired by the Big 4 in the U.S. without an accounting degree, assuming I pass the CPA exams and meet the licensing requirements?
Would it be worth it to take a 50k loan out for USC to land a b4 job at LA office?
I’d really appreciate any advice or insight