Graduation Countdown, Looking for final push

[sarg123]

I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but I have done my due diligence and I am more than comfortable with my choices for this degree. Thank you for your concern but at this point I was just looking for a little bit of encouragement not a critique. I work 50+ hours a week, I have two children under six, and a sergeant husband who works inconsistent hours. Taking classes at my local college is not feasible. I did not think I would have to defend educational path here of all places. I am extremely excited and proud to have accomplished what I have in the past four months. Thank you again for your concern

I really do apologize, I must have said it completely wrong because that is not what I meant to say at all! To have finished so many credits in so few months is completely amazing, especially since you work full time and have two small children. I don't know if I could have done that, it's really amazing.

I was in no way saying that I endorse the B&M route, even though that is the route I took. Each specific situation is different, and people are looking for different plans based on their life circumstances, and what they want from that degree. I think that the test-out degree is an excellent way to "check the box", and I do think that you do get basic accounting principles, and that is always a good thing (at least, speaking as a hopeful accountant, that's my opinion).

I was actually agreeing with you that it is not necessarily best to go the b&m route. What I mean to say by that is that when I last checked for advice (ok, it was definitely more than a year ago), the consensus on this forum was that it is best to take accounting classes in an actual classroom. Since I did take some classes that way, I was pointing out the negatives of going that route. One negative is time. I started my classes three years ago, and it mostly took so long because the CC I went to makes you take the classes in sequence, and they wouldn't even LET me take Accounting I the first term. I got Pell grants so I didn't pay for the classes, but... three years is a long time, plus I could only work part time (I also have kids), so it really DID cost me money. Another negative is that the classes are very hard, and there is much more work. That may sound like a positive, but I'm really not so sure. How much of what I learned am I really going to use, even if I do go into "real" accounting? So much of what you do you learn on the job, and each company does things different, anyway. In my CC, some of the teachers were easy, some of them were hard, but even as I am learning this stuff, I'm thinking - how much of what I am learning am I actually going to use? Yes, the B&M classes are much harder than study's classes, but so what? Most of what I learned in Intermediate I and II is extremely complicated, extremely convoluted, and honestly, I forgot all of it the second I finished the test (and I did do well on the tests). And that's just the class - the textbooks are even worse! If you are going the test out option, Study (I didn't check SL) does a really great job at explaining the basics, and that's all most people will ever need, anyway, even if they do eventually work as an accountant, but especially if they are just looking for background accounting knowledge, which most people are anyway.

To give a specific example of what I mean - I had a class on preparing a Cash Flow Statement, and the intermediate teacher assumed that we had already learned it in Accounting I. But I didn't, not really, so I turned to Study to help me learn how to do it. Study gave a very simple overview on the subject, and it did not help me at all for my test, as it did not go into enough detail. But when I worked for a small private company (many, many moons ago), Quickbooks generated a cash flow statement! I don't know if it still does that, but I'm sure things have only gotten better in last x amount of years. At that time, I had no idea what I was looking at, but if I would have taken the Study class then I would have known a bit more of what the Cash Flow Statement is trying to accomplish, and a basic idea on how to read it.

I used the example of someone sitting for the CPA with an unrelated degree, and just a CPA review course, to show that it could be, and has been done, and that it's not an absolute must to actually learn all this in a classroom setting.

My two cents - which is worth exactly that - was addressed to other people who may have been reading this post as well, as I know that you have already made your decision. (I know that I read a lot of older posts over the past few months, with advice addressed to different people, which I took for myself, also). When I did my research, it seemed to be recommended to take the B&M route for the actual accounting classes. Not every question has a one size fits all answer however, and now that I have gone that route, I am questioning that it would work for everyone. Yes, the regular classes are harder, and more intensive. Yes, you learn more. Is that a good thing? In my opinion, not necessarily. There are so many positives in testing out - much cheaper, much faster, and now with so many accounting options, you do get a basic understanding of the accounting process, and if that is all you really wanted, that should be more than great!

I don't know if this explanation makes things better or worse, but either way, I certainly did not mean to criticize a decision that you have already made, and I was just making a side observation on another post... Sorry if it came across as critical of your choice, I really did not mean it that way!