Talk:What will I learn in the Prep Track that I won't learn elsewhere?

Here are my thoughts for this page:

It is my understanding that one of the purposes of the wiki is to help inform those considering the Prep Track route in the decision process. Many of the students in the Junior Core would like to enter the MAcc program, but have not made a decision on which of the MAcc options to pursue: professional, tax, and Ph.D. prep (Ph.D. prep is a track within either professional or tax).

Only a portion of Prep Track students intend to pursue a Ph.D. right after finishing the MAcc here at BYU. Others plan to enter the business world first, after which they will consider pursuing a Ph.D.

In my own analysis of the differences between the Ph.D. Prep Track and the Professional Routes, I have come to the conclusion that the main differences are found in the courses offered. In the Prep Track, the divergent 21 credit hours consist of economics, statistics, and academic research. In the Pro Route, the 21 credit hours consist of advanced tax, fraud, business research, corporate finance, and accounting elective courses. I have created an excel file showing my own analysis based upon the course lists for both routes (comparison in Excel).

Currently, the accounting program’s web page has little information comparing the tax and professional routes with the prep track. Understanding how an increased understanding of economics and statistics helps in comparison to additional courses in tax, fraud, finance, etc. may help persuade potential prep track students to pursue the prep track rather than other MAcc options. These students may not decide to pursue a Ph.D. after finishing a MAcc, but they may appreciate and find additional economics and statistics classes interesting. Spuhlmann 16:15, 23 January 2009 (MST)

I would like to see your spreadsheet integrated into the page. That way people don't have to open the spreadsheet to understand what is going on. Also, we need to make it evident that the Prep track is within either the professional track or tax track. It is not a separate track. Daw44 16:28, 23 January 2009 (MST)

Thanks for the input. It does seem easier to access and understand by integrating the spreadsheet. I'll take care of it. Spuhlmann 14:47, 24 January 2009 (MST)

How does it look so far? We can take down the comparison in Excel. - Spuhlmann 18:38, 27 January 2009 (MST)

The Ph.D. Prep Track requires that tax students take both Statistical Methods for Research (Stat 512) and Econometrics (Econ 588), whereas professional students may choose either one. Tax students must also have taken Calculus I (Math 112), whereas professional students may not. Tax students may also choose between taking Advanced Taxation (Acc 522) and Tax Reasearch Methodology (Acc 523). Also, Introduction to Academic Research (Acc 516) is worth 2.0 credit hours, not 3.0, for tax students which results in a subtotal of 30.0 and not 31.0 credit hours for the column.

I'm not in the tax stem--but I just checked with a tax stem student and I'm pretty sure that some of the information above isn't correct. For example, tax stem students don't have to take both Stat 512 and Econ 588. Additionally, tax students don't have to take Math 112. Finally, Acc 516 is worth 3 credits for both tax and professional stem students. I'm giving this information based on how the current setup of the PhD Prep track. If these items indicate changes for the future, then you can disregard this message. - roys 21:46, 27 January 2009 (MST)

I agree. I think there are some errors. We need to get these corrected so we don't start any crazy myths. Daw44 09:07, 29 January 2009 (MST)

Thanks for letting us know. The original content was based on pdf's that are on the SOA website but that have not been updated. Spuhlmann 19:48, 31 January 2009 (MST)

Something that might be useful to current and future members of the Prep Track would be have information about each class listed. Creating a class specific page would allow students to view the names of the professors who have offered the class, the textbook used, the topics covered, the homework and reading load, and other information that might help a student when face with a decision about which class to take. Also, past Prep Track members could use this as a place to share their thoughts about how helpful this class was in really preparing them for a PhD program. jeff987 12:22, April 15, 2009 (PST)

Currently we have a page that does some of that for each course required/suggested for Prep Track students. Is that what you had in mind, or are you thinking more along the lines of a page for each specific class? This page and the "What classes should I take?" page are a little sparse on some of those things that you mentioned. Though, having a page for each specific class may be helpful. I came up with an example for Econ 588: Econometrics. - Spuhlmann 19:35, 16 April 2009 (MDT)