Hi CPA user

From my experience there is big 4 and then all the rest are the same. I started at a local firm and then moved on to a National firm. the only difference is the that the volume of work increases but the quality more or less remains the same....Also training is bigger fimrs is slightly better than the smaller firms....you will find a lot of young and fresh people in larger firms....there is way too much politics in a smaller firm in my opinion...people are laid back with not much motivation in life.....i hope you get the point....i would definitely advice you to start in a bigger firm....preferably BIG 4.

But then you have visa issues also....however, most of the Public accounting firms will sponsor your visa....are you going to school in the US....why do you want to work for free..if you go to a decent school...they will arrange for a paid internship for you....and after the internship, you will more or less get an offer to join them full time...