Welcome to USF’s School of Management major in Accounting! My name is Giselle and I am here to tell you a little bit about the amazing accounting major.
 
Many of you think accountants are all about sitting at desks alone all day long doing your taxes or solving some math problems. A lot of these stereotypes about accounting are not true.  


Accounting is often described as the language of business and helps businesses to gather financial information to help them to make sound decisions.


Therefore, it is essential for all business students to have an in-depth knowledge of accounting regardless of their major. 


Accounting is one of the most versatile majors in preparing students for careers. 


Most accounting majors have internship experience and start their careers in public accounting, private industry, and government, but career potential is endless! 


For example, accountants are regarded as valued business advisors, financial experts, systems analysts, and consultants!


Accounting knowledge builds the essential foundation for the aspiring entrepreneur to have a successful business. Did you know that many C-suite executives have a background in accounting?


Accounting provides rewarding and recession-proof careers. If you are a team player, enjoy solving puzzles, and like to make plans, accounting is for you! You will be amazed at how far you can go with the accounting degree.
 
Now I’m going to turn things over to another student at the School of Management who will guide you through the online registration process so that you can select your first semester’s courses.


Hi! I’m Homa, a USF business student and I’m going to help you with selecting your first semester’s classes.


Before you register, be sure that you have taken the Math Placement Test, OR submitted your SAT or ACT math test scores regardless of previous math coursework that you’ve already taken.


USF students typically register for 16 to 18 credits every semester to stay on track for graduation.


That’s four, 4-credit courses and perhaps a 1 or 2 credit elective course. You’ll need to take at least 16 credits each of your 8 semesters in order to graduate in 4 years with 128 credits.

The first class to add to your schedule is the Rhetoric and Composition course that you placed into. Rhetoric and Composition is a University Core requirement and a prerequisite for your business classes. It is important for business majors to complete the Core A2 requirement as soon as possible.


If you are a transfer student and you have completed and passed a composition course with a grade of D- or better, you should register for Rhetoric and Composition 310.


Also, transfer students who have completed both Introductory Financial Accounting and Introductory Managerial Accounting, should enroll in Business 320.


Business 320 is the first of the required accounting major courses for transfers who have completed the introductory courses.


For your next course, you should register for either: Economics 111 OR Economics 112. Both courses are part of the Business Core curriculum and taking either course will fulfill your University Core E social science requirement. We recommend that you take them consecutively, and not at the same time!


Next, you can register for MATH 106, which fulfills your University Core B1 math requirement and is a business core requirement.


For your next course, you can enroll in another University Core course that fulfills one of your open required areas such as history, philosophy, theology, ethics and more.
 
One option you have is to enroll in a First Year Seminar, or, for transfers, a Transfer Year Seminar, that fulfills a University Core area. These seminars have especially small class sizes, are interactive, offer excursions, and are a great way to make new friends.


Once you’ve chosen your 16 credits, you may want to add a 1 or 2 credit course. There’s a wide variety of fun and interesting choices, but freshman business majors are required to take Business 100 Launch into Business during either their first or second semester for an overview of USF’s business program.  In this 2-credit course, you will learn many foundational business concepts as well as gain skills in workplace professionalism. 


Once you have selected your courses for the semester, your schedule should look something like this:

Freshman Student Sample Schedule
RHET XXX - Rhetoric & Composition course that you place into (4-6 credits)
ECON 112 - Principles of Macroeconomics (4 credits)
MATH 106 - Business Statistics (4 credits)
University Core course (4 credits)
BUS 100 - Launch into Business (2-credit required course)

Or, for transfers, something like this:

Transfer Student Sample Schedule
BUS XXX - Accounting major course (4 credits) 
THRS 295 - Transfer Year Seminar (4 credits)
RHET 310 - Business and Technical Writing (4 credits)
PHIL 240 - Ethics (4 credits)
CS 151 - Spreadsheet Analysis (2 credits)


If you are a transfer student, don’t forget to review your degree evaluation to determine which courses you’ve already completed.


Once you have completed the quiz at the end of this tutorial, you will be eligible to sign-up for courses when registration opens.  


If you need help, please contact us (email displayed: somundergrad@usfca.edu).


From all of us at the School of Management… Welcome to USF!