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Topic: how to fulfill my 24 units in CA? (

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DianaL
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Joined: 25 Dec 2009
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Posts: 4

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 at 04:10 \| IP Logged

Hi, I need to fulfill the 24 accounting semester units to sit for the CPA.
My options are,
1, Get a accounting certificate from the UC/CSU extension programs.
2, Fulfill the units from a local JC college.
3, Go to grad school and get a Macc.

I can't decide with method to use because I need answers to the following questions:

Are accounting certificates, ex. UC extension programs, worth the time and money? Or would it be better to get a Macc?

How do employers view accounting certificates?

How much work experience is needed for applicants applying to Macc?

Does the reputation of the school were you got your Macc matter?

Can anybody recommended what colleges in CA have a good Macc program, besides USC.

Is it necessary to take graduate level classes to score higher on the CPA or community college level classes good enough?

I know some of my questions had been discussed in other topics, but because it's very time consuming to go through all the topics, I apologize for repeating the same questions.

Any answers to any of my questions would be greatly appreciated!

Sweet Tart
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Joined: 26 Dec 2009
Location: United States
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Posts: 15

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 at 13:02 \| IP Logged

I have taken the community college route and there are definitely advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are:
1. Price. For me this was a big deal, I didn't want to take on student loan debt and I don't have the resources to cash-flow more expensive tuition.
2. As I was not an undergraduate accounting or business major, I would have needed to take many of the classes at the CC level anyway to even apply to a master's program.

Disadvantages:
1. Teaching quality. I feel that I probably could have gotten better instruction at a 4-year college. (ratemyprofessors.com is your friend!) I make up for it by tenacity and good study habits/techniques.
2. Recruiting. If you are set on working big 4 or large regional you may not have the opportunity to interview. They don't recruit on CC campuses (as far as I know) and they get most of their first-years from college recruiting. If you are great at networking and have good contacts this disadvantage might be overcome especially if the economy ever turns around.

I have not yet taken the CPA exam, but a group of my peers and I are starting to study for the exam to plan to take all the parts this year. I feel pretty good going into it, but the accounting department at our school emphasizes that you do need to take a review course before attempting the exam. The money I saved on tuition will be going into review materials:-).

You may want to start taking classes at CC if you need any prerequisites and evaluate whether the program is going to work for you. I decided to go with the CC credits & certificate, sit for the CPA/get a job (hopefully) and then decide if the master's made sense in the future.

Kfan
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Joined: 02 Oct 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 861

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 at 17:46 \| IP Logged

I also went the community college route. I agree for the most part with the previous poster, but I don't think that teaching quality is always worse at a community college. I was very pleased with the teaching quality at my community college, but it is in a yuppie area (Austin), so it is much better than most community colleges. Some professors at 4 year schools are just mainly interested in their research and they do not always teach well. Ultimately, teaching quality all depends on the school, whether it is two year or four year.
My program definitely prepared me pretty well for the CPA exam, and I also took a great review course, so I passed all four parts on my first attempt.

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