macc programs for non-accounting majors?

Question

Hey everybody. I am in the process of looking for schools to apply to that have macc programs that are designed for non-accounting majors. Schools that have only a few or no prerequisites. Anybody have any suggestions?

bb · Answer

Moving to the proper forum.

peggster · Answer

I was not an accounting major, so 4 of the schools I'm applying to did not require an accounting degree, and also required only 6-7 prerequisites:

North Carolina State
University of Virginia
College of William & Mary
Wake Forest University

I believe there are other schools as well, and hopefully others will chime in with suggestions. I hope that helps!

anstance5 · Answer

MSA programs are generally for a year and designed to help previous UG accounting majors get their 150 for the CPA. (It's pretty much also taking classes that mirror the CPA, so you really should take the test if you get an MSA to make it really worthwhile anyway.) So as such, most aren't designed for non-accounting or non-business students.

If you have a business background, then no problem. You can probably brush up by taking a few prereqs at a community college as necessary.

If you don't have a business background, it may take longer than a year to finish an MSA. You will probably have to take lots of prereqs beforehand just to come to the same level as your ostensible MSA classmates.

jms1987 · Answer

I'm a bit concerned about my lack of accounting classes. Being that I major in history with an econ minor, I have 0 business related classes under my belt.

peggster · Answer

I understand your concerns, but it's definitely possible to get there. I majored in government and minored in history, and I'll be starting a MAC program this summer. Just compile a list of the schools you're interested in (several don't require an accounting degree) and put together a list of the pre-requisite accounting and business courses. Then start taking them. I took a couple at the local community college, and the rest at a local university. It took me about 2 years total because I was still working full-time, but you could probably do it more quickly than I did.

Good luck!

anstance5 · Answer

I do apologize if my answer was incomplete. It's definitely doable with a good plan -- "peggster" is right.

Especially if you're applying to places like NC State etc, community college courses would be a good way to prepare yourself if you feel it necessary. See if there are also correspondence or night classes that are transferable to the programs you want to apply to (especially if they're state schools) so you can keep working while taking them.

peggster · Answer

One more thing abhattac5 reminded me of (and thank you for the helpful response): when you're signing up for pre-requisites, pay attention to each school's requirements regarding where to take them. For example, some of the schools I applied to would accept the course credits from either a 2-year (community college) or 4-year school. Others required certain classes to be taken at a 4-year school. So when you're planning where to take classes, make sure that you're taking the right classes at the right kind of school; otherwise, you'll have to do it again. Every school's a little different, but for the most part, they were willing to accept intro-level courses from a community college, and then Intermediate Accounting and up had to be from a 4-year school. That was true for every school I applied to, including NC State, UVA, Wake Forest, and William & Mary. Other schools may differ, though.

And abhattac5 hit the nail on the head: these days, you'll have a lot more options, especially for online classes that you can fit around a work schedule. I was able to take 3 out of 10 classes online, through both a community college and a local university.

And  abhattac5   hit the nail on the head: these days, you'll have a lot more options, especially for online classes that you can fit around a work schedule. I was able to take 3 out of 10 classes online, through both a community college and a local university.

macc programs for non-accounting majors?

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