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College Success

What’s Your Major: Accounting

Accounting – the major laden with stereotypes of bean counting and number crunching and views that as a profession, it is dull and boring. Well, I disagree – accounting is vastly different from these stereotypes and it is exciting if that is what you are looking for.

Accounting is the language of business. It is concerned with determining how a business is doing and ultimately discerning what the bottom line of that business is. If there is any major that is definitively business, then it is accounting.

With an accounting degree, you will have knowledge of each aspect of the business and this is great for someone who wants to have a career in business but does not know what to major in.

It doesn’t hurt that an accounting degree opens up many possibilities – it gives you the education to succeed at almost anything. You can pursue a career in finance or corporate management, become a CPA, an entrepreneur, or work for the government. For example, the FBI Special Agent position classifies accounting as a “critical skill” and recruits those in this field so it is evident that the accounting major certainly does not limit you to being an accountant.

Overall, accounting majors will be in demand regardless of the economy since accounting skills are needed for every company.

Accounting is a rigorous major and some term it as the hardest major in the business school. Accounting majors take courses in financial, managerial, governmental, and tax accounting, plus auditing and business law. Analyzing and summarizing data and knowing the relevance of complex financial information are some of the skills required and honed through this major.

Choosing a major is a tough decision since people often equate it with a career, and I honestly did not know what I wanted to do after college. I felt it was ridiculous that at one second I had to ask permission to do certain things and the next second I was being forced to make one of the biggest decisions of my life – it was disconcerting to say the least.

After careful deliberation, I decided that majoring in accounting would give me the tools necessary for success. I am an independent person and in the future, I always thought about opening my own business, so gaining knowledge on the financials of a business would help me along that path.

Additionally, I had no desire to remain in school for a graduate degree and further study in order to get a job that could support me financially so in this respect, accounting seemed the best way to go. I have not ruled out a graduate degree yet but it is certainly not required in order to get a professional designation, unlike other careers.

There are so many possibilities with an accounting degree that I have not even covered a quarter of them here. The profession offers job security while gaining an essential skill and although a graduate degree is not required, it is by no means an easy profession; there are reams of information and principles to know that the field is akin to law.

Nevertheless, I ardently recommend the major to anyone who wants to go in business and in the end, I feel I have made the right choice in my major.

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