Scheduling issue

[BakersDozen]

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My advisor had me enrolled in Accounting and then changed me to Macroeconomics? I'm not really seeing his reasoning behind this decision. Did anyone have either or both of these classes? What did you think? Relevant? Hard? Lots of work? All the details please!

 

[StartingoverVet]

Accounting is really working with numbers. How do you actually account for things. What are debits and credits and what how do you create financial statements like balance sheet, income statement, retained earnings etc. It can be very dry for some people.

Macroeconomics is about how the economic system works. You learn about GDP, and banks and money supply, different economic systems etc. There is plenty of math but it is much more conceptual. Lots of theories and stuff.

Macro is much more appropriate for a person's general understanding of economic principles. Accounting is more for someone going into the financial world. Macro is usually taken by many liberal arts students and accounting is usually only taken by biz students.

 

[KizmetRanch]

...And you're a pre-vet student BD?
I never took anything even remotely resembling those classes.

 

[bbeventer]

I know Illinois highly suggest a Macroeconomics course, maybe that is the reason for the switch? Don't know. I do know I took a Macroeconomics course and I loved it! I learned so much and it was actually really interesting. The professor ended up offering me a scholarship if I would switch my major to economics 😛

I think it would be a lot more interesting then accounting. Though last time I took accounting was high school.

 

[Felixor90]

I would take accounting. Here's why:

-Everyone, whether pre-vet or not, is going to need to know how to balance a checkbook. Accounting teaches you this.
-Want to have your own practice in the future? Accounting will teach you to manage the books until you can afford to have an accountant.
-Not a very hard class. Once you remember the simple concept of credits vs debits, the rest is common sense (although Economics is also common sense in a way.)
-Accounting will be extremely useful for managing your student loan debt (similar as the 1st reason but a good enough reason to be mentioned again)

Economics, in my opinion, will only be useful if you like investing and/or are interested in the global economy (macro = global economy, micro = smaller economies such as state-based, household-based, and business-based economies). It's also a very boring class that requires way more reading and way more studying. Its high work load and low benefits to a future vet/vet student makes it the inferior of the two.

 

[EllieGirl89]

Love, love, LOVED econ. For me, anyway, it was extremely helpful in getting an idea of how the world works, why certain policies are in place, etc. Great class.

 

[bbeventer]

Love, love, LOVED econ. For me, anyway, it was extremely helpful in getting an idea of how the world works, why certain policies are in place, etc. Great class.

... or why some policies should not be in place.

I think if you are looking at it from what will benefit you in the future aspect I think both courses can be beneficial. Econ for example will give you a sense of what market you can and can't establish a business in, what happens when you establish a business in an over populated (business) area, what happens if you raise your prices, what happens if the government imposes a new tax on a small business, what happens when minimum wage increases, etc. I think it can be very handy if you plan on going into business for yourself.

 

[StartingoverVet]

I would take accounting. Here's why:

-Everyone, whether pre-vet or not, is going to need to know how to balance a checkbook. Accounting teaches you this.
-Want to have your own practice in the future? Accounting will teach you to manage the books until you can afford to have an accountant.
-Not a very hard class. Once you remember the simple concept of credits vs debits, the rest is common sense (although Economics is also common sense in a way.)
-Accounting will be extremely useful for managing your student loan debt (similar as the 1st reason but a good enough reason to be mentioned again)

Be careful here, as this sounds much more like a bookkeeping class than an accounting class. A university level accounting class would not normally teach any of these things. The focus is usually on business accounting. Of course, it depends on the curriculum, so read the course description first if these are part of your goals.

 

[dier930]

Be careful here, as this sounds much more like a bookkeeping class than an accounting class. A university level accounting class would not normally teach any of these things. The focus is usually on business accounting. Of course, it depends on the curriculum, so read the course description first if these are part of your goals.

👍 Agreed.

Accounting was actually one of the harder courses I took! Of course, I had a crotchety old professor who was quite famous in the accounting world and liked to give us problems out of the textbook that he wrote himself. lol

And yes, it was all corporate accounting, no checkbook balancing.

Fortunately, there are now great software products (Quicken) and free online tools (Mint) out there that can help you with your personal finances, loans, business, etc.

I vote for Macro.

 

[heylodeb]

I purposefully hid from all of these classes in undergrad! 🙂 My husband is taking Econ right now and says it isn't bad but not exactely extremely useful.

 

[that redhead]

One of the very biggest life lessons I've had to learn was never ever EVER let someone put these things together for you - learn to do these things on your own. You should be able to access your degree requirements for your undergraduate degree as well as pre-requisite courses needed to apply for vet school. Put this information together and formulate your own schedule so that you're on track for what you want to do and when you want to do it. If neither of these classes are relevant to your degree or to vet school, don't take them. Take another challenging science course instead.

That said, my major required an econ class and I thought it was interesting. But please, for your own sake, make these decisions on your own.

 

[heylodeb]

One of the very biggest life lessons I've had to learn was never ever EVER let someone put these things together for you - learn to do these things on your own. You should be able to access your degree requirements for your undergraduate degree as well as pre-requisite courses needed to apply for vet school. Put this information together and formulate your own schedule so that you're on track for what you want to do and when you want to do it. If neither of these classes are relevant to your degree or to vet school, don't take them. Take another challenging science course instead.

That said, my major required an econ class and I thought it was interesting. But please, for your own sake, make these decisions on your own.

👍

 

[EllieGirl89]

One of the very biggest life lessons I've had to learn was never ever EVER let someone put these things together for you - learn to do these things on your own. You should be able to access your degree requirements for your undergraduate degree as well as pre-requisite courses needed to apply for vet school. Put this information together and formulate your own schedule so that you're on track for what you want to do and when you want to do it. If neither of these classes are relevant to your degree or to vet school, don't take them. Take another challenging science course instead.

That said, my major required an econ class and I thought it was interesting. But please, for your own sake, make these decisions on your own.

It says above the OP's avatar that she (?) is a c/o 2019 hopeful, meaning she would start vet school in the fall of 2015, meaning she doesn't start undergrad until fall. In my experience, you don't have a choice your first semester; your advisor signs you up for your classes. I agree that in the future you should do all of your registration yourself and have a plan (and a plan B) for getting your required classes and vet school pre-req's in. But in this case I think the OP didn't have a choice.

 

[BakersDozen]

ACCT 211 Principles of Accounting I (3 cr.) [FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]Prerequisite: ..[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]ACCT 110 Survey of
Accounting, or instructor approval, or completion of one year of high school accounting.ENGL 06 or Reading placement of ENGL 111...[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]A study of financial accounting principles, including: fundamental accounting procedures and records; the accounting cycle and preparation of financial statements; the study of income measurement, depreciation and inventory valuation; and the organization of corporations and financing of their activities...[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]Lecture 3 hours per week...[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]F, SP ..
[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]..
[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]ECON 211 Principles of Macroeconomics (3 cr.) [FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]Prerequisite: ..[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]ENGL 06 or Reading placement of ENGL 111...[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]A study of aggregate economics, i...[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]e...[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond], economics on a nationwide scale that includes basic economic principles and contemporary socio-economic problems in the U.S.Lecture 3 hours per week...[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]F, SP, S..
[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond]..
[FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond][FONT=Myriad Pro Light Cond,Myriad Pro Light Cond] It sounds like both classes have their merits and both could be equally difficult depending on the instructor. I don't know though. Accounting would probably do me more good. I'm not the most financially minded person.
....

 

[BakersDozen]

2019, only because I've messed myself up before. I went to school didn't do too well, and am now trying to get them to grant me academic forgiveness so they will wipe the slate clean and will let me repeat courses I didn't do so great in before. Because of this my degree audit is totally screwed up and it won't let me sign up for most of my classes without meeting with my advisor.

It is a devil of my own making. If I only knew then what I know now, or at least if I knew half of what I thought I knew then NOW, but oh well. I'm still not the oldest freshman! 🙂

 

[Felixor90]

Be careful here, as this sounds much more like a bookkeeping class than an accounting class. A university level accounting class would not normally teach any of these things. The focus is usually on business accounting. Of course, it depends on the curriculum, so read the course description first if these are part of your goals.

I took both financial and managerial accounting at the college level and although the focus is business accounting, 90% of the stuff we did is easily applicable to personal finances as well. Your mileage may vary at another school.

 

[that redhead]

2019, only because I've messed myself up before. I went to school didn't do too well, and am now trying to get them to grant me academic forgiveness so they will wipe the slate clean and will let me repeat courses I didn't do so great in before. Because of this my degree audit is totally screwed up and it won't let me sign up for most of my classes without meeting with my advisor.

It is a devil of my own making. If I only knew then what I know now, or at least if I knew half of what I thought I knew then NOW, but oh well. I'm still not the oldest freshman! 🙂

Good point, EllieGirl; I had just assumed she was currently in undergrad. We were guided in our first registration but picked a lot of things ourselves like "core" requirements (which English to take, or math for example).

OP, while I acknowlege that you have to meet with your advisor, I think you should plan out your schedule yourself and bring it to the meeting. Sit down and explain your career goals if you haven't already and show him that you've put in the effort to plan it out (four year plan, for example). You should still be selecting your own classes unless the stipulations of the probation state that the advisor must pick all of your classes. If that's the case, sorry to ramble about immaterial 🙄

 

[Packen]

BD - I took both courses in undergrad (was a Business Major). I am a math person though, so accounting was easier for me than macro, but both were manageable. (Just to clarify, accounting is NOT math intensive.) Neither required the time that many of my science courses did. Honestly, I still use what I learned in accounting in my every day life and in my a few of my past work experiences. If you at any time imagine yourself in a leadership role in a practice, then it will pay to have a basic understanding of business accounting.

 

[libster06]

I took them because I was pursuing an Ag Business minor and also our Animal Science degree plan required macro and micro, but if you're not doing a minor I don't know why you'd be in accounting.... and yes, it's a lot of math and numbers and formulas so if you're not good with that you probably won't like Accounting. Macro was also difficult for me, because I never really understood it... but that could be just at my school.

 

[Armymutt25A]

Purdue required all ANSC majors take AgEcon. It wasn't too bad. My wife had to take an accounting class when she was working on her MS before getting into pharmacy school. She hated it, and from looking at our credit card bill, didn't learn much (I deny making this statement). Looking at the description, I believe you're going to find a lot of work in the accounting class vs. the econ class.

 

[libster06]

Purdue required all ANSC majors take AgEcon. It wasn't too bad. My wife had to take an accounting class when she was working on her MS before getting into pharmacy school. She hated it, and from looking at our credit card bill, didn't learn much (I deny making this statement). Looking at the description, I believe you're going to find a lot of work in the accounting class vs. the econ class.

Ahhh Ag Econ that's what I meant by accounting. Thank you for jogging my memory!

 

[EllieGirl89]

Purdue required all ANSC majors take AgEcon. It wasn't too bad. My wife had to take an accounting class when she was working on her MS before getting into pharmacy school. She hated it, and from looking at our credit card bill, didn't learn much (I deny making this statement). Looking at the description, I believe you're going to find a lot of work in the accounting class vs. the econ class.

Yep, I am an AnimSci major and I had to take AgEcon. It's basically macroeconomics but using wheat for examples rather than computers.

My girlfriend took an accounting class because she enjoyed her high school accounting class, and she absolutely hated it. It was a ton of work and she busted her butt for that class and still only ended up with a C. She vowed to never even think about accounting ever again.

 

[StartingoverVet]

, and from looking at our credit card bill, didn't learn much (I deny making this statement)

I am going to completely stick up for your wife. She learned A LOT.
She learned all about using liabilities to fund your biz/life. Accounts payable, debt, other liabilities, expenses.... apparently, from your description, she knows all about them.

It's just too bad she had to miss those asset classes because her husband was on leave at the time.

 

[teatime]

As an accounting major, I'm gonna put in my 2 cents and say go with the accounting class. Yeah, it's great to know how the overall economy works, but in every day business simple accounting principles are important. I leveraged this a lot on my applications and interviews as to why I would be a competent private practice owner.

 

[BakersDozen]

Best of both worlds. Macroeconomics this summer Accounting in the Fall. He didn't realize that accounting was only in the fall and that is why he changed it...he just didn't bother to explain that to me.

I have 9 hours online over the summer. Busy Busy Busy but the sooner I get done here the sooner I can get up to Mizzou! 🙂

 

[ImNotThatGirl]

As an accounting major, I'm gonna put in my 2 cents and say go with the accounting class. Yeah, it's great to know how the overall economy works, but in every day business simple accounting principles are important. I leveraged this a lot on my applications and interviews as to why I would be a competent private practice owner.

I second this. I actually worked in a credit union for a year while I was finishing up my master's degree in food safety, and I learned a TON about ways to save, how to manage your money, etc - basically everything that's more accounting-based. I think that's definitely going to help me in the future with my own vet clinic. Economics I think would help if you're considering investing or doing stock market stuff lol, but accounting I think would be more applicable to your future and to running a business.

 

[RavishingB]

Purdue required all ANSC majors take AgEcon. It wasn't too bad. My wife had to take an accounting class when she was working on her MS before getting into pharmacy school. She hated it, and from looking at our credit card bill, didn't learn much (I deny making this statement). Looking at the description, I believe you're going to find a lot of work in the accounting class vs. the econ class.

lol

 

[Tegan05]

My school requires an economics class for my Biology degree. I am taking Microeconomics though, instead of macro.

 

[jenibenii]

We have to take econ but only because it's a GE, so I took a class that had both micro and macro in it. For me it was pretty bad... apparently econ just doesn't click with me and I'm gonna have to retake it, but if I had the choice I wouldn't pick economics. :[