Re: NYU Masters of Accounting Information
[#permalink]
27 Dec 2012, 20:51
USN&WR is full of crap with accounting. The PAR rankings are the ones that are considered legitimate. US News doesn't actually rank MSA programs, it ranks MBA programs based on their accounting dimension. Unsurprisingly, schools like UTA still do well, but schools like NYU don't belong there because they don't actually have an MSA program. Besides, Big Four pay sucks in NYC until you make partner. You'll make the most in the country in absolute terms, but your pay is very poorly indexed to CoL so in real terms you're actually making less than average. Start at $55k in Houston or $65k in NYC when Houston costs about half as much? That's a no-brainer.
Also, since you'll work with big financial firms you'll be surrounded by Ivy Leaguers day in and day out. They will all make more money than you and lead more glamorous lives than you do, and you will never for one second be unaware of it. Maybe you enjoy being surrounded by that, but I would hate it.
Still, if you're dead-set on it, North Carolina is probably your best bet as far as elite programs for non-accounting majors. Baruch if your undergrad degree was in some business discipline but not accounting. The NY area actually has really no obvious elite feeder schools that function in the way that, say, UT feeds Houston and Dallas or USC feeds L.A. and San Francisco or UIUC feeds Chicago.