MSA Programs Recruitment

Question

Hello!

As a prospective MSA student, I just wanted to ask the current and past MSA students from the top MSA programs about the recruitment to their respective schools.

(Top Programs = Those that are in PAR Rankings, including Honorable Mentions)

A) What are the companies and industries that are recruiting MSA students?
B) How is the recruitment process?
C) Are there opportunities for MSA students in the top programs to participate in recruitment for IB and Consulting?

Thanks!

nink · Answer

A) Mostly Big 4 (and regional accting firms), IRS, SEC and depending on the school, few Fortune 500 companies (various industries - a lot of companies have specific campuses they like to recruit from)

b) Generally, OCR or Off Campus

All big 4 will be OCR (except for certain advisory roles that they recruit nationwide). Depends on applicant.
For example, if you are UG Accounting major in MS Accounting program that lasts 3 semesters or longer, you will probably do Summer or Winter Internship at Big 4 applications in the Fall semester.

If you are in program that lasts only 1 year, then you will apply directly to Staff/Associate positions (most likely no internship OCR).

If you have non-Acounting UG major, then don't bother applying for any OCR opportunities without accounting GPA. (your chances are not good) Most likely you will have to wait until following Fall semester (since non Accounting UG majors, especially non business majors probably will have to stay 3 or 4 semesters) for Staff OCR. Assuming that you start in fall, find whatever internship you can for summer (even if it isnt Big 4 or public accounting; i.e - Fortune 500 accounting/finance internship), then apply to Big 4 OCR with accounting GPA in the following Fall.

Other opportunities (Fortune 500 Accounting/Finance, Audit positions):
That's more lenient even without a GPA. Technically, if you have any relevant work experience, that will help.

C) Generally, no.

Rumor is Bain recruits some MS Accounting kids at U of Texas Austin but it isn't clear for what role that they are recruiting for. (probably not management consulting)

IB? If any, probably operations or audit roles. Probably available in NYC schools where banks have internships or jobs for accounting majors.

sailtheworld · Answer

For those non-accounting undergrad, 1 year programs, What about if it's like USC where there is a summer-intensive session where they pack a number of accounting classes to catch up? I thought there would be grades for this summer session and would those grades at all be helpful for fall recruiting in the year you're in the program?

Thanks

Thanks

Sailorette · Answer

Hi Sailtheworld- I applaud both your username and your choice of industry :-D

I'm actually unfamiliar with how those summer intensive programs handle presentation of the summer results, but if you DO get a reportable grade for it then absolutely, the Big 4 and other recruiters will take a look at those grades. Be sure to NAIL those classes and show off the preliminary scores as those could make a big difference for you! If your non-acct undergrad GPA is 3.5+ (or close to it) and you can show good results in that first summer session, I know my firm would have no concerns about you as a candidate from an academic side. Best of luck in the admissions process and subsequent job search!

Dawgie · Answer

Thanks +1 Kudo.

shaselai · Answer

how much impact does gmat have on this?

Dawgie · Answer

GMAT and GPA are very important for admissions for MSA since they require very little exp.

shaselai · Answer

wait so i can waltz in MSA? it is same as Masters of Accounting right? Technically i was actually doing that (focus on taxation) before my 1st FT job.. i did like 4 weeks before quitting...

Dawgie · Answer

Yea, some programs allow non accounting majors. You may have to do a summer intensive though to catch on the prereqs.

sailtheworld · Answer

What about GMAT for recruiting? Say someone puts the score on their resume...

Dawgie · Answer

If you got a really really good score you can. Probably won't matter though if you attend a top MSA program. The placement rates are so good.

shaselai · Answer

thanks dawgie for some great ing

Sailorette · Answer

Frankly, it doesn't matter much. I would probably leave it off the resume unless you had a lower undergrad GPA and scored above a 720 or so. Unless the GMAT score is going to add to your overall story of improvement and you don't have an accounting-specific GPA available, I'd skip it. It's not something we're used to seeing, and definitely not something that we actively look for.

acctngnoob · Answer

Hi,

Sorry if I'm hijacking this post, but I feel like the question is relevant to MSA recruiting. I have read many times and heard all of the time that you should go to the school that is in the area where you want to end up working, or at least really close to it. I would like to end up working in CA, but the best program in the CA area is USC, which is not an easy school to get into. There are other Macc programs around, such as CSUF, but I feel like CSUF, and the other schools around that offer such program besides USC, is aimed at people who already have a job, and are completing this degree on the side. So if I don't get into USC and attend a different state's Macc program, how hard would it be to either transfer to Big 4 in CA (assuming I get recruited to a Big 4) or during recruiting just tell the recruiter that I'm more interested in working in the CA branch? Would this hurt my chances at getting recruited?

Besides USC, I'm applying to UTA, University of Houston, ASU, Wake Forest, and Baruch. If I don't get into USC, I'm assuming I also won't get into UTA.

For example, I already got accepted to Wake Forest. If I decide to go there, am I pretty much destined to work in that area?

Thank you in advance for the answers, I really appreciate it.

USCTrojan2006 · Answer

If your goal is Big 4 or super-regional (GT, McGladrey, etc.), try to stick with a School that has a national reputation (USC, UT-Austin, NYU, BYU, etc.). Very hard to move into Big Four from a CSUF or other regional programs that aren't viewed as highly as the national schools (From a 1st year recruiting standpont. Different story if you have experience.).

About USC.. From what I've seen, unless they've raised the standards substantially since I went there, it wasn't difficult to get into the MAcc program. Of course, the economy is much different now than it was when I left school, but you pretty much had your choice of location (Big Offices - NYC, Chicago, SF, Obviously LA, Silicon Valley, etc) from OCR back then.

JorgeStevenson · Answer

The real question you guys should be asking yourself is:

What companies recruit at my school?

Because you could go to Genius University, #1 ranked in the entire Milky Way Galaxy...but if the firm you want to get into doesn't recruit there, you're out of luck.

If I were you guys, I would ditch the PAR rankings. Screw that. It's nice to look at. It's nice to brag about after you got your diploma. But at the end of the day, what I would do is look for the LARGEST schools within a 2-4 hour radius of the city you want to work in. From there, I would send an email to the accounting program and ask if you can have a list of all of the employers that registered for their business school career fair in the Fall. Also, obtain a list of all of the firms that held interviews on-campus. Finally, ask for the email of one of the students.

Forward the two lists to the student and ask if they seem to coincide with that student's experiences (i.e. are the lists real, or BS?).

Then, choose the school with the larger # of firms that you're interested in.

Nobody cares if you got your MACC from USC or Texas. Just like, once you start working, nobody cares whether you had an intership. The only thing that matters is your performance on the job - if you are impressing your senior and manager, it will be because of your ability and accounting knowledge, not because you went to a good school.

Finally, the reason I suggest going to a large school is simple. The recruiting game is total BS. Really, it is. It's not so much about finding the best students as it is about managers/partners hooking kids up from their alma maters. If you are in an interview with a manager or a partner from the school you went to - your interview has a much better chance of going well. You will already have things in common. You will already know what your interviewer will want to talk about - the school's football team, what it was like when he went there, the professors, etc. So, if you go to a large school you have tons of alumni that are entering the workforce every year, and therefore tons of people who it will be easier to succeed in an interview with.

And you should look for schools near where you want to work because, unless you already have a job lined up, you aren't going to have the balls to ask for them to send you half way across the country. It's asking a lot of the recruiter. More than likely, it wont happen and they wont invite you for an office visit.

jowwwman · Answer

Hi Jorge,

It seems like you have a lot of experience with this process. I was wondering how your chances of getting into a big 4 firm is affected if you were to choose a regional program as opposed to a nationwide one (UT, USC). Is it true that even if Big 4's recruit at these schools very few of the students end up getting interviews? Also if I were to have a low undergraduate GPA would that hurt my chances regardless of how I did in my Macc program or how prestigious the school is?

Thanks in advance.

parlaypolly · Answer

Hi everyone, I'm new to these forums but I wanted to give my 2c on these questions as an MPA student at UT. A) Big 4, regional and smaller accounting firms are a given. Industry (accounting roles) also recruits here heavily. Some examples off the top of my head: Chevron, GM, Dell. We do often get access to the pool of recruiters that come for our undergrads, but you'd probably need a compelling story as to why you want to work for, say, L'Oreal marketing when you're in the MPA program. B) The Big 4 process is pretty straightforward for most candidates. Most of my friends have gotten multiple Big 4 offers. Recruiting here is a huge deal and an elaborate production, but mostly because we're so heavily recruited by the firms. There are many, many recruiting events. Students here tend to self-select to the Houston/Dallas markets, but I wouldn't say that getting offers in other markets is difficult. C) Yes, but with a huge caveat. Many more MPAs than you would probably imagine are interested in these opportunities, and they are very hard to get. MPAs compete against the best UGs for these positions, and many of UT's undergrads have really good credentials (better than us accountants). Most of the MPAs who've gotten interviews with consulting and banks are people who would've had the credentials to get in for undergrad. Also, UG school seems to play a role here too. Students who went to UGs like Vandy or Rice (majoring in say, liberal arts) have a much higher chance of getting the interview. Basically, this is a LONG shot and it's not a good idea to come here in order to get these opportunities. If you're interested in financial consulting/Big 4 advisory, on the other hand, several students get these positions. P.S.: I don't want to shamelessly plug this program or anything, but I'm really enjoying UT and Austin is a great city... ;-)

thaihoang305 · Answer

Thank for sharing !!!

steveshin12 · Answer

I responded to your thread earlier.

To summarize: yes, your Masters level grades will not be out by the time recruiting starts and ends. No, it will not be a problem at all because the recruiters know this. It helps even further if you attend a top ranked program (USC, UT, UNC, etc.). As for your GPA, 3.3 overall is certainly far from too low. I believe everyone with 3.3 and above in my program interviewed with at least 1 of the Big 4. Also, from my observation, it seems like 80% of the people in my program will be going to the Big 4.

You will find that, when you start recruiting, your grades will be much less of the emphasis and more on your social side. There will be tons and tons of recruiting events. In fact, my program had a month full packed with recruiting events and interviews. Once again, the existence of your Masters level GPA is definitely not a concern and your undergraduate GPA is totally presentable. If you are able to get facetime (which you certainly will in a reputable program), GPA is much less of an issue.

Hope this helps.

MSA Programs Recruitment

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards