Study what's practical, or study what interests me

DanTheMan

I'm at a bit of a crossroads.

In 2007, I received an associate of arts degree from a local community college. I never really concentrated on any one particular area of study, and so I have a pretty broad range of coursework under my belt.

Until recently, my plan was to pursue a bachelors degree in IT or Business from a local business college. But, I recently learned that I can earn a BA in psychology or sociology from a very respected local university (not the business college) in about the same amount of time as it would take to earn the IT degree.

I have always had a strong interest in psychology - more so than in computers or business, although I wouldn't say that the latter two subjects don't interest me at all, just not as much. I'm pretty flexible really - I've always done well in just about every subject.

But here's the thing - we all know that a BA in psychology has little practical value in the real world. BUT -- and I know this is probably getting uninteresting pretty fast here, so thanks for reading this far -- the same community college that awarded me the AA degree offers a post-bac accounting study program, where you can come into it with a bachelors degree in whatever, and in just over a year you can complete the study program, and it's designed so that once you have completed it, you are qualified to sit for the State CPA license exam.

So, here's what I'm thinking - complete the degree in psych (what interests me) and then do the accounting thing (what's practical) on top. Is that too weird of an educational route? Do you think future employers would be like "huh? You got a BA in psych and then went and got your CPA license??"

Satanus

Gamble everything and study what interests you;) Shoot for a vocation that you enjoy.

S in the peanut gallery

Who are you?

DanTheMan congratulations on your pursuit of higher education. There is quite a bit of crossover between psychology and business. In a traditional business degree, you've got courses like Organizational Behaviour, Human Resource Management and Intro to Management/Supervision....if you then combine those with the accounting and finance classes, you are 3/4's of the way there to a business degree. Plus, if you are interested in IT, you could get a Business Degree with a specialization in MIS and hit on all three areas. One of the posters (Gilead?)recently wrote about CUNY's new online business program which looks great considering you can transfer in 90 credits. Other distance degrees which you can almost entirely test out of are Thomas Edison State College and Excelsior College. I finished two years worth of work (72 credits) in a little under 6 months by testing out of 19 CLEP, DANTES, Excelsior and Thomas Edison TECEP tests and eventually graduating with a Business degree from Excelsior. There are many others that have done the same and more. I mention this only because time may be a factor for some people. There are two education forums that you may find interesting. www.degreeforum.net is where all the people testing their way to their degrees exchange info and help each other out with tips and recommendations. www.degreeinfo.com is where I would pose your question under the Distance Learning forum. There are quite a few PhD's and lots of people with accounting degrees on that site. Good luck which ever route you choose....and I agree 100% with Octarine Prince, there are plenty of Masters programs that you can do for fun down the road....

DanTheMan

Who are you, thanks, I'll check those forums out. I'm a little leery of online degrees, but it seems to be the thing anymore. Kids these days.

Who are you?

I'm a little leery of online degrees

How about an online Masters degree from Harvard in IT (one summer session required)

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/2008-09/DistanceEd/

or maybe Penn State http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/

Nearly every school has online degrees today. Times have certainly changed

Hortensia

I'd say take the accounting course first, as it is shorter, then you can support yourself better while finishing the psychology degree. I imagine that both of those fields will be interesting and rewarding and take you a long way.

JeffT

I've been down this road. I got my degree in English. No jobs in English so I became a JW (both events occured in 1973). After a number of years doing nothing in particular I went back to school for a year and studied accounting. I now find both useful. I write fiction (no I haven't been paid although two pieces can be found at www.militaryhistoryonline.com ) I also spend a lot of time writing reports and procedures that call on my skills in English.

Duel degrees in Accounting and Psychology could take you farther in the business world than either alone will get you. Figure out the route that gets you someplace fastest.

PS; I've only known one CPA that could actually function in a real accounting job. The rest of them are lost in theory and tax forms. They don't actually do work, they take the numbers from guys like me and put them on forms and reports. They do get paid more, I guess because the work is boring. Sort of like quarterbacks vs lineman. The guys with no mud on their uniforms get the money and girls.

LockedChaos

Study what practically interests you

Study what's practical, or study what interests me

Share this