Accountant Classification

Question

This is meant to be an open ended questions, but what kind of a classification do Admissions typically put accountants into?

By that I mean the following:

I have seen many posts on here about how engineers, bankers, sales, etc. all have a group that they are placed into. In order for an applicant to be accepted by top schools, they must "stand out" from the applicant pool for his/her group.

Are there many accountants applying to B-School? From what I can tell, having a CPA for an accountant is "more or less" the pinnacle of his/her education. Even becoming a CFO does not require an MBA, and typically the CPA will suffice.

Ultimately, I would like to know who I would be compared against. If there are a bunch of accountants applying, then I'm sure it would come down to distinguishing myself from the rest of the accountants. If accountants are placed with corporate finance people, then that would be good to know.

tuck20xx · Answer

there are TONS of accountants who apply. probably one of the largest groups right behind banker/engineer/consultant. i'm a cpa at a big 4 applying in 2009 and all of my roommates are big 4 cpas who are also applying. i think the stereotype would be similar to the engineer (good with numbers, bad with people). but there's tremendous leadership potential at a young age at big 4 firms so it's tough to distinguish yourself. try to quantify your accomplishments. it might be a good idea to have your recommenders talk about how you have good "people skills."

dabots · Answer

i havent met a single classmate yet who came directly from accounting

Audio · Answer

Sounds like a pretty diverse program :-D

miguel3072 · Answer

It seems like on a lot of School admission websites there is a "previous industry" chart which shows the industry that the new admits worked in prior to Business School. A lot just have Finance listed as a previous industry, however some have Accounting as an industry and it seems to be like 2% (or very small) in most cases. Does that mean that very few applicants worked in accounting, or that the school admitted very few. If TONS were applying as stated above, wouldn't the % be closer to 10 to 15%. I mean every Company that I have audited has a significant amount of accountants working for it. I ask because I truly don't know, not to be sarcastic.

I have also heard a similar story as the one mentioned above from my friend that is going to a Top 5 school. He wasn't an accountant, but he said that he felt accountants were "underrepresented" at business Schools right now.

I have also heard a similar story as the one mentioned above from my friend that is going to a Top 5 school. He wasn't an accountant, but he said that he felt accountants were "underrepresented" at business Schools right now.

tuck20xx · Answer

so i said tons of accountants apply, not get accepted. although, i always thought on the "previous industry" stat, some "accountants" would be lumped in with financial services or finance. either way, i don't think it would be anywhere as high as 10-15% of top programs with accounting representation.

Accountant Classification

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