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WRoberts44
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Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Last visit: 10 Mar 2012
Posts: 1
Posts: 1
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Looking for early advice... 10 Mar 2012, 10:40
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A little background on myself:

I went into the military when I got out of high school in 1997; got discharged in 2002 with an honorable medical discharge. Afterward, I went back to my hometown and got a small time job in retail management, which I worked in until 2010. I finally decided that I needed to improve myself, so I started online college with Kaplan University. About six months before I was scheduled to graduate, I started doing research into MAcc programs, and was advised that KUO was going to be a kiss of death on my resume, insofar as getting into MAcc programs. At that point, I decided to go into Colorado State's undergrad program so that I would have a reputable bachelor's; at this time, I am in my first term there, scheduled to graduate in the fall of 2013.

Anyway, on to the questions:

I have always wanted to teach, and I absolutely love academia. After some talking with professors, I have decided that I want to pursue a PhD. I scored a 740 on my GMAT back in July, and I have ALWAYS been a straight A student (suffice to say that I have confidence that I can finish my bachelor's with at least a 3.8, probably a 4.0). I am strongly considering pursuing my MAcc with CSU, since I live 20 miles away from there, I have a job here, and I have three kids and a wife that I do not really want to drag all over the United States in the pursuit of a slightly better MAcc degree (I do not hold these same illusions about the PhD program, however).

I have a couple questions, I guess. First, I am wondering how much having a very strong grade from a mid level MAcc program like CSU is going to hurt me. (of all the rankings I have found from PAR, I was able to locate CSU as 13th ranked on the 2009 mid size school rankings, for graduate programs.) I have been told that I need to go to a school with both a MAcc and PhD program, so that I can go to PhD seminars and impress the proper professors. Are there situations where a school you don't go to would let you guest sit in on some of those seminars? I have CU-Boulder just 30 miles south of me, which is a good program, based on rankings I have seen, and would seem to be a good possible option for going to seminars.

My other question is, considering my background and where I am going, what tier of PhD schools, if any, do you guys think I might be able to get into? As in, what schools should I be looking at...I am going to be getting EA status this summer through H & R Block; I am also going to be getting my CPA tests taken before I finish my MAcc, if possible (I am a stellar test taker). With a high GPA in both bachelor and MAcc from CSU, an EA, and a CPA on my resume, I am wondering where I should be looking into. As an aside to this question, what else might I be able to do over the next 24 months to improve my resume even more? I am also going to intern over the summer 2013, hopefully with one of the big 4.

Anyway, I know this post rambles somewhat, but any advice that anyone is willing to offer would be MUCH appreciated!