Should I study Accounting/AIS or MIS?

[johnnxiv]

I just transferred to a 4 year university, and I applied for MIS. The fall quarter will start soon, and I still dont know if I live MIS or not. I like Accounting too. I'm planning to get a master degree. My dream is to start my own business so which major is better for me?

The Cons pp told me about MIS: as I get older I will not able to update my skills like the young students, and I will get laid off and will be hard to find a different job because company like young smart students and salary is also low because they have no experience.

I'm so indecisive, I need to figure this out now before too late. Any advice would be really appreciated.

[rntracy1]

As you can see by my name, I am a nurse. So I have some experience with school, lol. My friend's dad is/was (before he retired) a CPA with a masters in Accounting. He had his own business. He did a lot of doing taxes for people and made very good money. Personally, I was never good in accounting. The one class I did take, I could never get straight the debits and credits. lol. It was ALWAYS opposite of what I thought. So, I would put the opposite of what I thought, and I was STILL wrong. lol. I just couldn't figure it out for the life of me. But if I could have, I would have probably gone in that direction because there is so much there is you can do.

 

My uncle is also is an Accountant and he is the big wig VP of a company in CT. So there is money to be made in Accounting. You can't go wrong in accounting or health care. As for computers, IDK, I think something will end up replacing them or they will advance more and things will become obsolete. But that is JMO.

[snowangelmidori]

I'm an accounting student who'd also like to start my own business someday so I can offer some insight. I'd go with Accounting/AIS. The skills are more transferrable and the job outlook is much better (depending on your location). The skills you need to manage a successful business are better gained from experience than a degree and you've a better chance of getting the relevant experience under your belt with the accounting degree. Second, you're better off getting your CPA than a masters in accounting. Sure, you can do both, but getting your CPA will open a lot more doors for you than a masters will.

As rntracey said, there's just so much you can do in accounting. If you want your own business then the career path I'd recommend would be along the lines of doing 3 years in public accounting (audit or tax) and then get into private accounting as a cost accountant and then as a controller after a couple of years. If you can, try to get an internship with a Big 4 firm and volunteer for accounting-related programs (for example, in Australia we have the ATO Tax Help program where you help people in the low income bracket do their taxes). Big 4 internships are difficult to get and difficult to do but if you have your CPA and a Big 4 internship on your resume you'll open all of the doors.