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Meet Carla, a new student in the MAC Program…

Author: Carla

Meet Carla, a new student in the MAC Program…

Hello everyone, I am Carla Parker. I graduated from Campbell University in May with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting. Campbell is a private school in Buies Creek, NC. Class sizes were small and it was easy to get to know all the professors as well as students. When choosing a graduate school I was looking for a school with somewhat of the same feel.

The Jenkins Masters of Accounting Program at NC State Poole College of Management has about 120 students total and the classes haveonly about 30-40 students per class section. Even though it is early in the year, I have gotten to know many of the MAC faculty. It is fun to be in a small group but still a part of a huge university.

Scholarship/Fellowship Process

Soon after receiving the news that I had been accepted into the Jenkins MAC Program, I received another call that I had an opportunity to be considered for scholarships or fellowships given by participating accounting firms and NC State Poole College of Management. In March, a small group of selected students participated in a networking event with the firms. After the event, the firm representatives decided the candidates they wanted to further get to know. The next day we had on-campus interviews and the firms selected their choices. Of those chosen, some received scholarships to help with their MAC tuition and some received fellowships.

A fellowship includes full tuition payment and a full time job offer upon graduation. Because of this process I was able to receive financial aid and a job offer. Therefore, I will not be participating in the recruiting activities designed to find employment for MAC job seekers. This was a great opportunity and I encourage those applying for next year to get your application in by February 1, the first deadline, to be considered for scholarships and fellowships.

Summer Classes

The MAC Program offers a few classes during the two summer sessions before full-time classes start in August. Over the summer, I took Accounting & Tax Research with Dr. Kathy Krawczyk, as well as Advanced Auditing with Professor Scott Showalter. I believe these classes are a great way to get adjusted to the MAC Program. There was some review from undergraduate classes but mostly new material that required critical thinking and many questions.

From Dr. Krawczyk’s class, we learned how to access professional standards (for financial, auditing, and tax) and apply them to several cases. In Advanced Auditing we understood the critical components of public auditing practice, and from this we were prepared for the auditing section of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Exam. These two professors, along with many others in the MAC Program, have worked in public accounting for many years. It is obvious they know and understand how the real accounting world works. Throughout these classes, both Dr. Krawczyk and Professor Showalter provided students with real world situations they had encountered and how they handled them.

These examples gave us as students a better understanding of the concepts and what we may potentially be faced with in the future. From what I experienced in summer classes, and from the classes I am currently in now, professors expect students to think critically about concepts and engage in class discussion. Since the classes are fairly small, it is easy to have “roundtable” discussions with classmates. These discussions are an excellent way to learn and ask questions. I must say the class discussions have been my favorite part of MAC classes thus far.

Dress for Success

In the MAC curriculum there is a class designed to offer students concepts and tools for career effectiveness. During the first session of this class, we split up into two groups: men and women. Representatives from Brooks Brothers came to discuss tips for dressing professionally in business situations. Ms. Hope John-French, the assistant manager of Brooks Brothers at Crabtree Valley Mall, spoke with the women on how to build a professional woman’s wardrobe and general guidelines to follow.

One piece of advice Ms. John-French discussed was the importance of a black suit. Black is conservative and always a safe choice. Ms. John-French brought several items from Brooks Brothers to show us some appropriate outfits for both business casual and business professional settings. Pictured below is Ms. John-French discussing tips and answering questions with, a MAC student, Kristin Stroud.

Left: Hope John-French, Assistant Manager of Brooks Brothers at Crabtree Valley Mall Right: Kristin Stroud, MAC Student Class of 2013

What’s Next?

In the next few blogs, I will continue to describe my journey through the MAC Program and keep everyone up-to-date on our recent happenings. There will also be more information concerning the CPA exam, the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) concentration the MAC Program offers, and classroom experiences.

I hope everyone has enjoyed my first blog. I look forward to continue this process of helping others, especially future MAC students, understand the importance of further accounting education and all the NC State Poole College of Management Master of Accounting Program has to offer. Please feel free to ask any questions or provide comments in the reply section below. Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from everyone!

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