maybe what u should alaw schoolo be worrying about is the lifestyle of a recent accounting graduate. what type of accounting do u plan on practicing after you have your masters? are you thinking of going into big-4?
i'm a certified public accountant (cpa) and recently removed from the big-4 lifestyle, and i can assure you that if you are looking to start in accounting, the start of such an accounting career is NOT 40-hour weeks. if you are even considering big-4, just know that big-4 is comparable in every way to big law, sans the salary. that means that number of hours worked, with busy season year-round these days b/c everyone is being worked to the bone. and a 60-hour chargeable work week is really an 80-hour working week, with budgets being so tight. that means weekends,some overnights, and travel. it's not an easy lifestyle for the first few years. granted, u would make more with an accounting mba than an accounting bs, but it's still not 6 figures. i could go on and on, but it's difficult to give more info without knowing what you are considering with the accounting mba.
and if you are not considering getting a cpa, u prob should. a cpa, or some other certification (ie cfa, cfp) will be chosen over an accounting mba any day of the week.
i will be going to law school b/c i've been thinking about it for several years. trust me - it's not for the money or the hours worked. i've got it made right now in both those areas (after i put in my required slave labor at big-4), but it's not what i should be doing. i'll keep accounting on the side, as i'm sure it may be useful beyond law school. plus - i love the numbers.
The truth is that I knew I wanted my CPA in high school!!! And I found out by accident that I loved the law. I actually found out as a result of taking the cpa, as one of the sections was lpr (law section). Though the cpa has just changed this year, lpr was one of the sections when I took it. Your decision is a very personal one and I might not be the one to say which one to choose over the other, as I will have all 3! I was a public accounting major and mis minor in college - I did IT audit at big-4. I will say that having the combination of these two alone is very lucrative. Everyone these days (and I would venture to say, going forward as well) wants someone with cpa/mis, especially with all the sarbanes stuff going on. Alaw schoolo, u should look up your state's requirements to obtain the cpa license. Most of the states require the Accounting MBA (not NY till 2009), which u will have. But there is alaw schoolo the experience component that is required. In NY (and I think most other states), if you have your accounting mba, you need one year of public accounting experience in external audit. That might mean a big-4 type job for at least that time. Hopefully i'll have the jd in a few years. I feel fortunate in that I don't have to make such a choice. But giving up a cushy job to go to law school is a difficult decision that I had to make.
The accounting degree (with cpa - of course) is very versatile. u can do almost anything u can imagine or would like to do in the accounting/financial world - and that is a lot. But i would like to say that no matter where u start, the beginning of any career, including accounting, is not easy. u still need to build up good experience and make good contacts. Unfortunately, the kinds of jobs that usually give you that are pretty demanding. But once u have that under your belt, u can choose to do almost anything, including choosing jobs that have better hours/pay over others.
Good luck with your difficult decision.  | 
Linear Mode
