Classes are ending this week.  In four days’ time I will retreat to my cave and start cramming for my four final exams.  This is going to be a tough week. Unlike last semester, where the bulk of my schoolwork was completed long before the end of classes, this time around I will be completing projects, assignments and presentations right up to the bitter end. This will leave me precious little time, just a few days, to finish my readings and start preparing for finals.

The spring is nearly over, but I am a long way away from being finished. This June, the first summer session, my last semester at UT, will begin. It will be only five weeks of classes, but if last summer was any indication, it will feel much longer. But, even when I finish my summer classes in July, I will be done with the MPA program but not done with school. To meet the requirements  for the CPA exam in Texas, I am still on the hook for six to nine business-related credits.  

Texas is one of strictest states in terms of CPA exam requirements. I came into the MPA program having taken no business classes outside of the MPA pre-enrollment requirements. This year, my schedule has been completely jammed with core accounting courses, and I never had the chance to mop up the rest of the business classes I needed to meet Texas’s 24 credit hour requirement. So, after my classes at UT are done this summer, I’ll be on the computer completing my last couple of business classes by correspondence. 

When that’s over, the CPA exam will be up next. I am planning to have all of my classes done and my paperwork completed by August so that I can sneak in one section of the exam before by job begins. After that, I will try to have two more sections done by the end of October, my first month of work. Here is a list of CPA exam dates. As you can see, the exam is offered on a two-months-on, one-month-off schedule.  Unfortunately, the best month for me, September, is an off month for the exam. When the CPA exam is completely done–by December perhaps–I may try my luck with one more certification before I allow myself to pop the champagne cork. 

Clearly, I have a lot to look forward to. When I finish my master’s degree this summer, it will be just one more leap forward on my way to the finish line. 

Wish me luck!

When I arrived in Texas last summer, I was a bit anxious about how I would make my way in the program.  I skew a little bit far from the previous class’s profile.  I’m older. I have more work experience, but no business background. Many of my classmates came out of school with degrees in business, finance, accounting and economics. Much of my undergraduate time was spent studying post-colonial literature and literary theory. But, I’m not the only odd ball here.  The program boasts a handful of wacky folks, including a philosopher from Hampshire College, a gourmet chef, a musician or two, a couple of lawyers and a few political science-types.

Over the last couple of months, I have received a few inquiries about how, as a humanities guy, I was able to manage my transition to accounting. What was it like to go from zero to MPA? I have collected a few of the more significant questions and pasted them and my responses below:

How did you prepare for the accounting program?  Did you feel ready?

It took me about a year to knock out the program’s four required preenrollment classes and prepare for and take the GMAT. It was not fun. I did most of my coursework at night, at the tail end of 10-hour work days, and on the weekends. When classes began, I did not feel as if I was in over my head. The Intro to Accounting class that I had taken several months before got me up to speed on the basics of financial accounting.  The program’s first summer session is designed to help non-accounting majors bridge the gap from introductory Financial Accounting to Intermediate Financial Accounting in the fall.  It did its job pretty well.

Can you keep up with the business, accounting, and finance students?

Overall, I think I have not had too much trouble keeping up.  There was a major adjustment process that I went through during my first summer session, but that had less to do with the actual course material than with learning to be a modern student.  For example, the Internet was still a novelty when I was in college, and I was not at all used to logging into online bulletin boards and downloading class notes. In the beginning, I resisted printing anything out. I preferred to rely on my own handwritten notes.  However, I have since learned from the errors of my ways.

That being said, there was one class in this program in which I felt as if I was consistently outgunned.  Continue reading You have a liberal arts degree. What should you expect from the MPA program? →

Where has the time gone?  It still feels like school has just begun, but we are already one month into the spring semester.  This term is proving to be radically different from the fall.  Whereas last October I felt as if I was drowning, and every day was a constant struggle to keep my head above water, now I feel more on top of things. In terms of academics, I have most of my big core accounting classes out of the way. Right now I am concentrating more on my track classes and electives. Also, recruiting is in the rearview mirror, and all of my energy is thankfully directed where it needs to be, on my classes.  Finally, just by virtue of being in the program for so many months, I have developed an effective routine that allows me to get my work done every single day.

Last October I wrote a short post about several strategies I was planning to adopt to help me become more successful in this program. Some of them I was able to carry out. Others have been more of a challenge. With the the benefit of hindsight and with the perspective that a new semester and new classes bring, here is an updated analysis of my self improvement goals from last semester.

Textbook Readings

The strategy: Last October, I decided that reading my textbooks was not an efficient use of my time.  Reviewing my class notes and doing homework problems was to become the new focus of my energy.

The result: This strategy actually ended up paying dividends for me last semester by allowing me to use my time more efficiently and by forcing me to focus on key concepts and cast aside inconsequential details. Unfortunately, I have had to abandon my n0-read plan this spring as my classes are much more reading- and concept-intensive and less problem driven.  Without my textbooks, I would be completely in the dark this semester.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

The strategy:  After an exhausting couple of months, I was determined to go to sleep earlier and sacrifice some study time for sleep.

The result:  I never had the guts to carry out this plan all the way. If I felt uneasy about a class, I would cave in and study into the early morning hours. So far, I have been able to control my sleep this spring, but I have not been truly tested yet.

Quality over Volume

The strategy:  Rather than do hundreds of homework problems, I decided that I would try doing fewer problems, but attempt to understand each one better. Continue reading Lessons from Last Semester Revisited →