New to forum, pursuing accounting degree

[azt579]

Wow, thanks so much for the insight everyone! I really appreciate it. So I work for a government agency and there are two seemingly logical routes for me to take in regards to transfer capabilities within the bureau. One requires an accounting degree and the other requires experience and/or a degree in an IT field. I feel like I've pondered the idea of going back to school and getting my bachelors for too long, and at this point I'd just like to get it done in the quickest time possible (while still retaining the information I'm learning, so my degree is not just a piece of paper). It sounds like the Accounting degree would require a number of B&M classes to truly be able to understand the material from what you guys are saying. Makes total sense. Would you say the same for the CIS degree?

[davewill]

... It sounds like the Accounting degree would require a number of B&M classes to truly be able to understand the material from what you guys are saying. Makes total sense. Would you say the same for the CIS degree?

There are plenty of self-taught CIS people. I would say it depends on your aptitude. If you're the kind that can easily visualize difficult concepts, you can do it... Of course that's probably true of any subject to a certain extent.

[dfrecore]

My husband is in IT/CIS, and when he wants/needs a new certification, it is all self-study. BUT, it is many, many hours of study, on something that he already knows something about, so that's a little different than learning something entirely new.

I'm not saying you can't learn accounting on your own, I'm just saying that for me personally, it's not just not easy. I need that extra understanding that comes from learning it in a more formalized setting. Not everybody does though.

If you wanted to do the TESU BSBA and do everything via test out except the accounting courses, and just put in some extra time on those, that might be helpful. Just based on how one builds on another, if you took Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting at a school, it would probably start to get easier to test out of the higher-level courses, because they really just build on the concepts you learn early on. For instance, I think if I took it at my CC now, then I could probably self-teach Intermediate Accounting and Cost Accounting fairly easily.

Not sure how it would work with the CIS concentration, for me, I could test out of the lower-level courses based entirely on life experience (I tested out of the Intro to Computers DSST and the Computer Applications TECEP without 1 second of studying), but if I tried to go higher than that, I would struggle and have to put in a lot of time to learning the new concepts (and would probably still not be able to test out). But for my husband, the CIS part of the degree would by far be the easiest part for him, as he works in the industry and knows what he's doing.

Everyone is different, so just keep it in mind as you start to get your degree. Nothing is impossible, some things just may take more time and effort for some people. Good luck!