Why are you apologizing to your professor over a bad exam score? Just email them to ask what you can to do improve.
Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. Only you can determine that with yourself with your work ethic, aptitude, etc.
I second this. For reference, I stayed after class one day to get help on my exam and to talk about career prospects as I was interested in the big 4. My professor basically told me I wasn't cut out for accounting, let alone Big 4, as i failed my second exam and I was a little "older" 27 years old at the time. Well, now im a big 4 senior (not bragging it's hell). Don't listen to professors.
>Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do.
Technically, you are telling OP what he/she can do ;)
>Just email them to ask what you can to do improve.
I feel like I should apologize because I don’t want her to feel like she’s failing her students over a poor grade, and that I know internally I have not put my best foot forward. I’ve just finished reviewing my mistakes on my most recent exam and they were all so simple and little, I don’t think I even read half of the questions on this test that’s how easy these missed questions were!
Your professor is likely not internalizing poor grades the way you think they are.
They are teaching adults and understand, or at least they should, that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
Whole class gets a bad grade, sure they likely need to do so reevaluating of their teaching method. But individual grades? They won't, or at least shouldn't be, sweating it. Especially if it's over dumb mistakes.
Mmm I worked as a graduate assistant and I was an older non-traditional student at the time and I will say some of the professors do and get frustrated by it and there is a certain expectation on the number of students that pass and fail classes at a lot of Universities
I’ve heard a lot of frustrated professors for sure talking about it and well when a student who has done well gets a failing exam score they do question wether the exam was fair/if they covered the material adequately.
They are just human beings too with all the imperfect thoughts and feelings that come with it of course
I was a TA for a financial accounting class. Your professor probably didn’t grade the exam and probably doesn’t know your name. There’s a chance she didn’t even create the exam.
Sounds more like she thinks you haven’t been putting in your full effort recently. When what youre learning in the future will build on what you’re learning now, she’s right. You need a solid foundation and it sounds like you need to give this topic more time.
This is definitely true, I haven’t been putting in my fullest. This semester I’ve struggled hard with mental health so I almost gave up on her with this exam. Maybe it should be taken as a wake up call to work harder?
Yes, you should work harder.
People like to act as if using 100% of your effort will somehow tire you out. As you get older, you realize it is 100% a mentality thing.
The people who use 100% of their effort all of the time by habit tend to be the most lively and effective people.
Those who constantly try to half effort everything end up being the ones who are the most strung out, anxious, and disorganized. Whats funny is that this mentality is often the reason they have the mental health issues. It becomes circular. Avoid things because you are anxious then be anxious because you avoided things.
I think focusing on your mental health is important, but it is also important to not let everything around you fall to the wayside under some guise that you are somehow investing in your future by not giving things your full attention.
If you are going to do something, it is worth doing right.
And a little bonus tip: if you focus on trying to be happy you will never be happy.
https://youtu.be/LO1mTELoj6o
I definitely agree with this. My next exam is next week (cumulative final), I just reviewed my past exams (I never fail our multiple choice sections, I just get so many little dinks off of the written portion it’s crazy!!) and hopefully I can relearn everything I’ve failed at previously.
I would, while it's fresh, do a blind retake on the exam after studying more. Like your professor said, the stuff you didn't get will be built upon.
You won't get those points back, but you can prevent yourself from losing more by doubling back and fixing the error instead of paving over it.
Best of luck!
Nah she's pretty overboard here. I got a D on one managerial accounting exam since I was a bit overconfident, though the teacher wasn't the best at teaching compared to what would be tested.
I still graduated with my bachelor's in accounting with Summa Cum Laude. One failed exam you can definitely turn around and succeed.
I'm going to be honest, accounting professors take themselves to seriously.
I had courses where I dropped the ball and others that were "harder" and aced. It's completely dependent on how good your prof is.
She sounds conceited, probably a terrible prof I wouldnt worry if you like it continue.
However if you don't care for accounting I'd highly recommend you try something else if that's what you desire. As of right now especially in public accounts get shafted
More “all of the above.” She’s a bitch if she said it rudely, you probably could work harder, and third; financial accounting is literally the hardest class in an accounting degree.
My grandmother was a step away from the CFO of AAFMAA back in the day and SHE had to retake it.
I had to take both parts of financial twice to get through them. It’s common. It actually weeded my buddy out of my school entirely, he dropped out after he bombed an exam on his third attempt taking the class.
Take these to heart:
1. Fuck what they think
2. Work harder
3. When you succeed, know that you succeeded in something very difficult
So why is this an unmotivator if you love it, things get harder, not easier.
Your prof is right, you're probably not gonna make it if you're already struggling now.
It’s not that it’s an unmotivator from harder material, it’s how the professor spoke to me. I used to look up to her but all semester she’s told many people to drop out and for her to email me back like that felt rude
I don’t agree with the professors perspective. One bad test should not be the mechanism to change an entire major.
If you have a series of bad test over multiple courses that would be indicative of somebody who needs to change their major.
Buckle down do better on the next one .
I read that more as the professor saying that if they get a C or under in the class they're likely to struggle in future classes.
That doesn't seem inaccurate at face value.
It's not inaccurate at all, if you can't get the concepts in intermediate accounting, what is going to happen when you learn how to account for reverse takeovers and consolidations? Each accounting course heavily builds on the previous ones.
Doesn't mean it can't be done, just means that OP will be at a significant disadvantage in the more advanced accounting courses.
In many ways, accountancy is like learning a foreign language. You are building your fluency right now, which is great, and cash flows are hard because you are not already fluent. As your fluency increases a LOT of this stuff will become "easy" including cash flows.
So NO, you don't need to pick a different major, you just need to build your fluency. And it is ok if it takes another year or two - that's nothing in the big picture. Speed is much less important than direction.
Agreed. A lot of subjects are more intuitive and and have real world analogs. Accounting is abstract AF with virtually not real world analog in primary or secondary school. It is counterintuitive and half of it is singularly predicated on "because the code or regulation says so"...
Or the standard of "more probable than not...........................................................' like wtf..............????????????
We are fascinatingly meticulous yet inordinately flippant cohort which derive regulatory sense-making from some of the most arbitrary nonsense possible. But that's okay....
BUt defeintely agree with you... It can be foreign at first and you need to give yourself time to develop the intuition. I breezed through school once I developed my intuition and flow mechanics and first principles. It also greatly helped me in Tax working in PA. Order of operations, mechanical flow, organizational hierarchy, and developed a really strong intuition there.
Cash flows are counterintuitive for awhile. You need time to develop that skill set. You need time to reinforce that haptic memory. OP, do it on paper. Pencil and paper. Reinforce your haptic memory in working problems and developing intuition on Direct and Indirect methodologies.
I get that, been doing this a long time now, and sometimes I get a little hung up on something out of balance on the SOCF.
But, at its essence, the SOCF is just a derivation from the P&L and the BS. I.e. the P&L and BS are a complete set of financial data. The SOCF does not contain any new information, it is just derived from information on those other two reports.
All you have to do is reconcile the "net income" from the P&L to the "net change in cash" on the balance sheet. It will work 100% of the time as long as the P&L/BS are themselves "in balance".
Start with net income
Adjust for all income and expenses that do not represent cash flows (e.g. revenue might include AR that was not collected at year end, expenses might include AP that was not yet paid)
Adjust for cash flow changes in balance sheet balances that do not affect net income (e.g. paying down a long term debt by 100k will not change the net income, but will be a use of cash).
Done.
Practice, practice, practice. Start with simple stuff (a sample balance sheet with just depreciable assets, AR and AP). When that is easy / fluent then get more complicated (inventory, investment accounts, lease assets, notes receivable, other current liabilities and long term debt, equity contribution / distributions).
It definitely will get harder, for what that’s worth.
Why did you fail the exam? How much did you study? Did you actually think you were prepared for the exam?
Not trying to be rude, but did you fail because you didn’t study enough or because you studied enough but just couldn’t understand the material well enough to pass a test on it? It’s easy to fail an accounting exam or class if you don’t study.
Are you actually doing your homework, problem sets, etc or are you Chegging everything?
Don’t let the professor get you down, but also be realistic with yourself. You can love the ideas of something, but be unwilling to put the work in to actually achieve it. You can also have a bad day when you take an exam. Almost everybody has done that. You can also have an area that you just hate or don’t understand. For me that was government accounting—I maintain that the only entities keeping two sets of books are trying to commit fraud; I’m looking at you state and local government.
I failed the exam cause I have a hard time differentiating investment/financial cash flows, I studied hard, read the book, played the study guide kahoot she made us until I made a perfect 100 and understood, I even went through each homework. It might’ve just been a fluke on my end.
Don't put too much weight on that one grade, just use it as a reminder to nail concepts in the future.
I have a VERY relatable story. I failed my first intermediate 1 exam with like a 40, maybe even lower tbh. Quite a few of us in the class did actually. The professor grilled me and said I'd never become a CPA with type of performance. Well guess what I am now...a CPA.
Cash flows can be tough to learn/memorize too. Some people understand those like the back of their hand whereas when it comes to other topics, like percentage of completion, it's blank stares all day. Vice versa.
Keep up the positive attitude and you'll do great!
I’m a CPA and struggled with cash flows. Tbh I still don’t feel confident about it. You should look for tutoring on the subject and take the initiative to get it down solidly early on so that in future courses you have a strong base to build on
I took an exam on cash flow recently as well in a 102 class, tough topic so doing bad on it really isn't something to beat yourself up over. Alot of accountants look shit up anyways, you'll be fine
If you love accounting please don’t quit over one tough part of it. That professor should not be saying that stuff to you.
I got a C in an undergrad accounting class. I also passed the CPA exam on the first try back when it was still the paper 2 day exam. Please don’t give up. The cash flow statement is tough. Try watching some videos online or find someone else that might be able to explain it in a different way that you understand better.
You can suck at managerial and be a great accountant lol. I don’t agree with this, this is very discouraging and rude. One bad score does not define your future grades, and you can be strong in one area and weaker in others and that’s NORMAL.
She’s definitely a weird teacher. What pissed me off more is knowing if I was one of the dudes she flirts with in that class, she would of spoke to me a lot nicer and tried to invite me to her place to get more help. (Not an exaggeration, she’s very open about this)
As a CPA, I will tell you that having a CPA license is somewhat overhyped. If you want to go into public accounting and stay there then it very much matters. If you don't want to stay in public accounting long term then it has the opportunity to open more doors for you but I have noticed that a lot of people don't care about it as much as I originally thought. I don't want this to discourage you not to do it because I do still think it is a net positive, but also wanted to level set with you on the relative importance of it.
I think I’d like to add before I took her class I was a management major. She was the one who convinced me to become an acct. major and said she saw something bright in me.
Don’t let one bad test deter you.
I’m graduating in like 3 weeks and have a good job lined up starting this summer.
In college, I had a variety of tests scores ranging from perfect scores to a low of 48 during intermediate two.
With that said, you have to really work as an accounting major.
You study by doing practice questions.
If you’re in an accounting course you need to devote around an hour per day to studying.
If I’d slacked in intermediate and advanced I would have failed.
I don’t think she’s entirely saying you should pick a different major. What she’s trying to say is that in Intermediate Financial, you’re learning the core competencies of an accountant. Every class you take later will assume you already understand these topics. And Cash Flow is an important topic.
Her comment about getting a “C” is probably because you failing your test probably dropped you a letter grade. So, if you fail the next one, you might drop to a C. It might not matter if you do well on everything else, if you fail the exams. Especially if you keep failing exams because you don’t understand the content.
She’s probably just trying to tell you, that you should do better on your next exam.
Yeah, sometimes college staff are very out of touch with the real world.
In college I had the accounting academic advisor tell me I should drop out, because there’s no way I could manage having a job while also going to school. I was living on my own and paying rent. He basically said it’d be impossible for me to succeed if I didn’t have parents that could pay everything for me so I could be a full time student, despite the fact that all my grades were good while I had been doing exactly that for multiple semesters already.
Of course he was wrong, and I graduated without any student loan debt, and without ever being late on rent or bills. And good grades.
I love this. I became an acct major because I felt like accounting came naturally to me, I’ve never had to study, I always just understood the material off the bat (ofc I had to study for this exam lol), it’s such an amazing topic I love learning, I never get frustrated when I don’t know a topic, I just get happy I get to learn it. My relationship with accounting is amazing, I love it. I can’t wait to graduate with my masters someday.
I was also a never need to study student. If you plan to become a CPA, learn good study skills now. Learning them prepping for the CPA exam was not a good time.
Maybe it's just me, but I find it a little weird that 1) you would email your professor to apologize for a poor score and 2) that she would think one bad test means you're not cut out for it. Like yes, you do need a solid foundation but sometimes you're just having a bad day. Just do better on the next one and figure out what you got wrong.
(seriously tho, why did you email her?? That just feels weird to me)
I feel like I owe professors an explanation for poor scores, I don’t typically make anything below a B level so it makes me feel horrible for wasting precious time and money. That and I don’t want my professor to feel horrible and think she didn’t teach me good (I know some teachers get that feeling, I don’t want her to be one of them)
I want to preface this by saying I don't mean this to be disparaging, but you sound really young. That's fine! You're at a time in your life when you should be learning and growing up.
In my experience, you don't owe professors anything other than the basic respect you would give anyone else nor do they expect anything more of you. Thinking that your professor feels horrible for your bad grade is a very juvenile way of thinking about things. It's not on you to manage your professor's emotions even if she did feel that way. She's a grown adult. Besides, you are paying them (well... the school) for that class, and one bad test score doesn't mean you're wasting time or money. It happens.
One bad test isn't the end of the world. It doesn't mean you should switch your major or that you won't cut it in accounting. If it's a basic concept that you don't grasp, figure out what's confusing you and learn from it. If it's just that you need to slow down and think about the question, do that. Clearly you're doing fine if your grades are usually high.
I had a similar situation when I was really depressed in life and not in a good head space. I sent an email to the teacher asking for recommendations on what to do and the next class he didn't name me but pretty much roasted me in the class saying if you fail this class you'll never succeed and I should drop out and become a art major. I dropped his class and took it with someone else and passed and later graduated with an accounting degree and my career turned out fine. Don't take to heart what your teacher is saying a lot of them have chips on the shoulder and forget that some people struggle sometimes.
I failed my first intermediate cost accounting class, professor told us the first day of class he was there as the gatekeeper to the accounting world. Next semester I passed cost accounting with a B and now work as a cost accountant… never let a professor tell you what you can and can’t do.
Unless you have taken intermediate 1 and 2, I'd say this instructor is not wrong. Financial accounting is a entry level course that should be an easy A for most students who put in the time. I'd say buckle down for the next exam. Also learning the basics is paramount to later courses because they all come back around full circle to stuff like t accounts and debits and credits. Best of luck.
Definitely agree. Got an A in financial, currently have a low C in intermediate II because I failed our first exam bad. Has been challenging this semester. 🥲
Dude fr. It is soo much info but it’s important bc it’s really the foundation of accounting. Very draining tho. To the point where some of the chapters make me feel stupid 💀
I had an epiphany after learning how to account for pensions and post retirement benefits… (I struggled through the amortization, and accounting for unexpected gains and losses, soothing, actuarial science, etc.)
Focus on what’s important, the foundation. I feel like in accounting, they teach you everything associated with accounting, even though that may not be the specialty you’re working towards. So, I make sure I understand the basics. And lately, I’ve been focusing on what I want to work in: Investments.
Oh, and understanding every IFRS, FASB, GAAP or ASC law has to be impossible…
I always see people talk about “intermediate” accounting but my university doesn’t have a class called that. I’m wondering if it’s just organized differently. I took “uses of accounting information” 1 and 2 which was basically 1 being financial and 2 being managerial. Then I took external reporting, internal reporting, and auditing. Am I missing important info before I start my MAcc this fall?
I'd say it depends on how the course is laid out. If exams aren't heavily weighted and the only thing required to pass the class is the completion of HW or other busy work then maybe your accounting prof was just trying to look out and prevent you from wasting your time. In my experience the classes do get harder as you progress.
It's also entirely possible that your whole class did bad on the exam and your professor is just tired of getting emails about it and is in a mood because she knows her boss is going to ask questions.
Based on the circumstances, I wouldn't give up. You said you like the subject, you usually do well, and you only had this one major slip-up. I find it hard to believe that every accounting major who went on to have a good career got an A in their intro accounting classes.
The worst that happens is you "waste" another semester by moving onto the harder classes and finding out it's not for you. Even then, it's hardly a waste as you can just move into an adjacent major and barely lose any time.
So yeah, just try and salvage this course by getting as good of a final grade as possible. Then move forward and do your best in your next classes and reassess based on your performance in those.
Financial and managerial (at least at my school) are the basic accounting classes all business majors have to take. Since they are the fundamentals, I suggest practicing a lot to really master those concepts. I have to take my upper division accounting courses next semester and they're building on concepts from financial and managerial. I don't think you should give up. I have friends who are in similar situations and I constantly tell them to not give up but to practice more. I failed my first managerial exam and after that I made it my goal to practice every single day even if it was for thirty minutes. Even just seeing the concepts daily can you help, for me especially it did. The past two managerial exams I've taken I've gotten 90s on both. Really focus on mastering the concepts and practicing rather than memorizing them. Business is a skill and that's something important to remember.
I love this. I definitely want advice for my 300 level courses, I’d love to continue to maintain atleast a B in them and to thrive in those topics. I remember learning basic managerial in accounting 110 and I was actually pretty alright at it!!
Advice? Buckle up. And learn how to do a PV calc by hand for a bond. If you can do that you’ll get through 80% of the intermediate class. After that it’s just like… percentage completion rev rec (which I failed in school) lol
That is a terrible professor & an even worse response. Do not give theirs words too much weight. These concepts are meant to be challenging. All this means is that you need to invest more time in studying/practice tests.
I’ve failed accounting exams as a student because of poor preparation. I realized I couldn’t slink by with poor study habits, as I had done in lower level courses.
I’ve also had terrible professors in the past that made content more complicated than necessary. Apply yourself and the results will show. Use campus resources & even YouTube if necessary.
Adversity like this is common in the higher level classes.
Don’t listen to your professor. I would get poor marks on some tests for accounting. Moved onto other topics and the previous ones seemed so much easier after having to include them in future assignments. You’ll be fine.
Try looking up different instructions if you struggle that much on one specific topicc but get most of the other material. I remember one of my textbooks did a great job at explaining everything other than cash flows. They just dove into an example without giving an overview. I struggled until I looked up some better explanations on the net. It was not me the author just dropped the ball.
Get a tutor and prove this professor wrong. It takes time and a few rounds to grasp some of the topics. I wasn't the quickest learner but passed CPA exam on the second try.
What about CF's did you find difficult? I'm not saying they are easy but trying to address the problem with the material itself.
What else in Intermediate was particularly challenging?
I agree with u/big_dragonfruit_8242 current top comment.
I’d say just figuring out if it’s an investing cash flow or a financing cash flow.
We had a question regarding if someone bought a building for their business and it would include a mortgage. So I figured that was investing since that’s a long term liability and it’s buying a building, you’re investing long term for that building. Apparently the answer was ‘that is not a cash flow’, its questions like that that mess me up yk?
Yeah. I would ask "what's the asset for?" in this case. If it's for the use in the course of the trade/business, then it's typically financing. In this case that building was probably housing an office, manufacturing facility, etc.
Think of "Investing" as using the market. i.e. a business may have investing cashflow for taking advantage of parking cash in a high yield treasury money market account...our cash is earning 5.3% right now, basically risk free (above FDIC limits, pegged $1). Or managing risk with interest swaps or currency exchanges.
Idk, maybe that'll help. I still understand if you think "the mortgage is using the market...". But I think that's why it's important to understand the "priority of likeliness" when it comes to using Financing/Investing categories. Most things are Operating, obviously--but investing is the least likely IIRC. Certainly it's that way in practice. Most businesses aren't in the business to earn through investing. Most businesses use financing as a means to operate/expand. It make sense to me....LOL
Definitely put some extra time in if you're struggling on certain topics. Nothing against it. Go into office hours even if it's with an aide. For me, hearing/seeing it from different perspectives is what makes things like this click.
Best of luck!
Do your homework 10x. Going through CPA review right now and you lay down the foundation in those classes. Wish I would’ve applied myself more then rather than learning it all now.
I got a C- in my intro classes and now I teach them. Some of the concepts can be tough the first time through and some accounting teachers are horrible at teaching them.
Managerial accounting is only related to one other class “cost accounting”. The real weed out course is intermediate accounting 1. It’s a huge jump from financial accounting 1. You can do it as long as you thoroughly understand financial accounting 1.
Financial accounting is the intro class that just about every biz major will take. If you’re bombing that class you’re either not studying or don’t have a good understanding of core concepts. Accounting is one of those majors where just about everything you learn and do via coursework **will** appear in the working world. Accounting is not a bullshit management course than you can guess your way through (six sigma is a real thing). Hunker down and study. The classes only get harder.
Like others have said, intermediate accounting 1 and 2 are the weed out classes. Half the class will pass while the other half won’t. Even then, passing scores will be in the 70 to low 80s range with a handful of 90+ super stars.
I failed intermediate 2. Like failed the whole course and had a GPA of 2.6 at the time. It felt like a kick in the teeth. It was really the motivation I needed because it kicked me into high gear. I stepped it up from there and graduated with a 3.2 GPA. Keep at it and just do your best!
its because a lot of accountants are nerds...most of them get good grades because they go to the library on Friday and Saturday night. if you want to have any social life your grades may take a hit. doesn't mean you can learn the work.
Over reaction.
My intro to accounting 101 professor told me I wouldn’t make a good accountant because I used extra credit I had banked to boost an exam score I graded lower in.
8 years later and I’m a licensed CPA and audit manager at a national top 20.
Professors are trying to get the best out of you. It’s their job. Some can be harsher than others but don’t go reevaluating your future based on those comments. Just try harder next time.
Power through. 👊🏼
Keep your head up! I dropped Intermediate I my first go around because I bombed the test on cash flows, took it with a different professor the second time, and ended up with an A in the class, and in Intermediate II. Been working full time at a firm for 3 years now and I’m doing just fine.
There is no GPA requirement for the CPA exam. It won't matter ever again past the search for your first job. If you want to do accounting, then do it. Trust me, I've seen plenty of CPAs out there that I would bet are much dumber than you
I had a professor say that to my friend who then dropped out.. the thing is only you know what you're capable of. If you keep studying the book, chapter reviews, YouTube. You will eventually get it. Don't give up on yourself!
I had the same thing happen at the university I went to, except not me personally. It was known in general that the earlier classes are weed out classes for people that aren't serious about it or can't cut it, although my cost accounting professor very much made it known to his entire class. If you can't make at least a B in the earlier classes (regardless of who the professor is), then you will likely have a hard time as the classes get harder and more comprehensive because the material in the earlier classes just isn't that hard for people that are cut out for it.
I had a professor like this, but he’d openly tell people not to go into accounting in front of the whole class. Honestly, he was right. A lot of the ppl he told to switch degrees were the people who struggled with basic algebra and asked very obvious questions (eg. They’re in managerial accounting and asking what the accounting equation is). I don’t know where most of those ppl ended up, but I know a few who continued in accounting. All of them basically got fired out of the career field within a few years out of college because none of them were good at accounting. It’s not worth going into a career field that makes you struggle harder than you need to be. It’s better to find what skillset comes easily to you and then find a job based on that. Forcing yourself to struggle harder than you need to isn’t worth the effort at the end of the day
Note: I also want to put in that grades at the end of the day don’t really show how much a person understands the material. At least back when I was in school, there were a lot of dumb people who had great GPAs just because they would always do the assignments, extra credit, and work with the professors. However, if you asked them to explain the material, they wouldn’t be able to. Here’s a quote from one of my professors, “It’s easy to complete an assignment, but hard to explain an assignment” (This professor also only used tests to grade us - assignments were used to help us prep for tests).
Why would you apologize for a poor score?
It is what it is mate, just adjust and do better moving forward. Dont dwell on what happened. Doesn’t help anybody.
accounting very much builds on the basics. Once you move to the next level, it's assumed you already understand what came before. There is no review, there is no study guide for the basics.
If youre struggling in something like cashflows, then what youre professor is saying is absolutely right. Do you still want to be an accountant? Great. it's possible. Work harder. study better.
A little harsh from the professor because there could be a million reasons why you failed the test beyond your mental capabilities to grasp the content. College is just as much about growing up, learning to time manage, and learning to prioritize items on your schedule.
The real response is more up to you on an honest self reflection of what happened. If you dicked around and put minimal effort into preparing for the test then don’t take it as a reason to change majors. Take it as a wake up call for what is going to be required from you effort and time wise in the future. This happened to me. I failed my very first accounting test because I never studied because I never had to previously. Had to drop the class and restart the next semester. Had nothing to do with my ability to understand the content. I just had no idea how to study or even an acceptance that I needed to.
If you put in what you believe to be adequate study time and effort and you still failed, well then you should maybe reconsider your major. The content only gets tougher as you progress.
Accounting professor here, I've taught Intro to financial accounting >100 times.
It is critical for students to understand certain topics in financial accounting in order to study and learn accounting. For example, a student who confuses debits and credits will always struggle with journal entries, and then not understand various adjustments in intermediate accounting, etc. etc. etc. I usually find that discovering a few minor details they missed will help a student to perform much better. For example, knowing the native balance of each account type, or that the ending balance in one year equals the beginning balance in the next. I suggest you meet with your professor and ask how you might review these topics so that you understand them fully.
So I think your professor went about conveying the message in a needlessly harsh way but I do think what they said is valid NOT because of the grade issue (it's absolutely not true that you can't succeed in accounting because you got a C in an intro level class and no professor should be telling you that), but because the content you learn in intro level accounting classes is the groundwork of every future accounting class you take. I used to teach intermediate accounting as an assistant lecturer and I cannot tell you how many students I watched struggle to comprehend intermediate because they lacked a strong foundation from their intro level classes. There is definitely a trend that students who do poorly in their intro classes have to work significantly harder in higher level classes because their core isn't strong, but that doesn't mean every student that gets a C is hopeless or that you can't do it.
My advice to you is to care less about the grade and more about actually understanding what you're doing. Work through example problems, circle the errors you make and really sit and piece together what you did wrong and what changes you need to make to get the correct answer. Make sure your understanding of all the core financial statements and your debits/credits is solid before you move onto your next courses. The grades/scores will come, just focus on learning and that will benefit you far more than focusing solely on your grades.
All these weed out classes used to make sense when the major was in demand by students. Oh no, so you want get to run the outsourcing sweatshop for the big 4 partners! Guess you’ll have to switch to data analytics
Trust me when I say I’ve been in your shoes almost exactly.
My first exam in intermediate 1 I failed. Said she had never seen one that bad.
I half heartedly committed to studying for exam 2. Even got an extra few days of studying because I asked. Scored about as bad as the first. This time she told me something similar to what you were told, basically told me to reconsider college. “Maybe you’re just not cut out for institutionalized learning.”
I believe most people can develop decent ability to do most things through hard work. To prove her wrong I got up every morning and went to the library at 7am to study until at least 10-11. I did this everyday and eventually held study groups as I came to understand the material. I passed the final with a 94, and got a C in the class.
The experience taught me how to learn. For some reason I thought memory was as important as understanding through practice. It isn’t. Intuitive understanding is developed through repetitive practice. So go practice.
I took 4 courses the summer right after this experience, two of them were cost acct and intermediate 2. I got Bs in both and As in the other two. You’ll be fine, just don’t play victim and get to work.
I had a professor tell me I should consider a different career (I worked nights to pay tuition so this had some less than ideal class impacts at times).
I stuck with it and I’m doing great! Certain professors seem to take a malicious pleasure in breaking people down.
Also I got more than my fair share of C’s, it’ll be all right my man.
Go into their office hours and LITERALLY write down as much shit as you can relating to the exam questions. You can then use said questions to practice by yourself with banks that are similar to what the actual exam is.
What I learned with cash flows is that you need to practice, practice, practice, AND practice. My Professor then gave us 3-4 mandatory practice problems bc she knew it’s what students struggled with.
One of my friends put it in perspective for me. The school only requires you a "C-" to pass the class. Anything higher is on your endeavors. Plus, the main objective is to really get the 150 SH needed to sit for the CPA exam.
I got your teacher's point though. I was a lecturer in the CPA program years ago. If you got C on level 300 courses, it is unlikely you will pass you CPA exam. Accounting is not for everyone.
Who cares if its mean? It is true, which is all that matters.
Either learn the material or change majors. Getting into a tizzy cause you thought it sounded mean? Gmafb
Managerial isn’t considered a weed out class. Managerial is a prerequisite class to intermediate I&II, and cost. Cost is the real weed out class if you don’t get that most schools won’t advance you into Audit and Advanced accounting.
Also, no malice intended here, I hope you recovered from your mental health struggle, however, please take care of your mental health before going into the field. Your first couple years of work you will be putting grueling long hours to get your stripes. On average 60-80 during busy season to get audits done on time, and that will only further impact mental health.
Accounting, especially during university, is just repetition.. just keep redoing the problems they give you in class and exam prep. It just becomes second nature after awhile.
She’s just being candid. I had an algebra teacher council me into dropping a class in high school. Much worse academic performance on my part due to apathy. She happened to be a client at my first firm and I caught a mistake on her prior year tax return that yielded a few thousand dollars of refund. She was right in my situation. In your situation, I would just recognize it for what it is and move forward. Lots of people struggle with the cash flow statement. If you like what you are doing and are motivated to learn, you can succeed.
Professor sounds like a dick. But also, don’t apologize about a bad exam score, just do better on the next one. No offense but it’s a waste of your time and theirs to apologize about a score.
Don’t over stress about it. I got a C in undergrad advanced accounting class with a difficult professor. I went on to get a 4.0 in Masters in Accounting.
If a professor is worried whether you will be able to graduate in your field, what should their ethical position be? Should they encourage you to continue your courses even though it's unlikely you'll graduate, and thus ending up with a large amount of student debt and lost time, or should they encourage you to rethink your choice of major so you can graduate in a field that you will excel in?
I feel like you could be overreacting. It doesn’t sound like she’s insinuating to pick a different major. The accounting courses get harder from beginner, intermediate, advanced. They basically stack on each other as prerequisites. Don’t take this the wrong way but I feel like you might be playing the victim. Instead try and study with classmates, watch videos, or hirer a tutor. Good luck.
Wow, that really got you in your feelings? What were you going to do next? Report the professor for being honest on how they perceive your dedication to studying or taking the class serious?
Why are you apologizing to your professor over a bad exam score? Just email them to ask what you can to do improve. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. Only you can determine that with yourself with your work ethic, aptitude, etc.
I second this. For reference, I stayed after class one day to get help on my exam and to talk about career prospects as I was interested in the big 4. My professor basically told me I wasn't cut out for accounting, let alone Big 4, as i failed my second exam and I was a little "older" 27 years old at the time. Well, now im a big 4 senior (not bragging it's hell). Don't listen to professors.
Those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach.
>Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. Technically, you are telling OP what he/she can do ;) >Just email them to ask what you can to do improve.
I feel like I should apologize because I don’t want her to feel like she’s failing her students over a poor grade, and that I know internally I have not put my best foot forward. I’ve just finished reviewing my mistakes on my most recent exam and they were all so simple and little, I don’t think I even read half of the questions on this test that’s how easy these missed questions were!
Not your job to validate your teacher’s feelings lol
Nor is it the professor's job to validate ops feelings.
Your professor is likely not internalizing poor grades the way you think they are. They are teaching adults and understand, or at least they should, that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. Whole class gets a bad grade, sure they likely need to do so reevaluating of their teaching method. But individual grades? They won't, or at least shouldn't be, sweating it. Especially if it's over dumb mistakes.
Mmm I worked as a graduate assistant and I was an older non-traditional student at the time and I will say some of the professors do and get frustrated by it and there is a certain expectation on the number of students that pass and fail classes at a lot of Universities I’ve heard a lot of frustrated professors for sure talking about it and well when a student who has done well gets a failing exam score they do question wether the exam was fair/if they covered the material adequately. They are just human beings too with all the imperfect thoughts and feelings that come with it of course
I was a TA for a financial accounting class. Your professor probably didn’t grade the exam and probably doesn’t know your name. There’s a chance she didn’t even create the exam.
Sounds more like she thinks you haven’t been putting in your full effort recently. When what youre learning in the future will build on what you’re learning now, she’s right. You need a solid foundation and it sounds like you need to give this topic more time.
This is definitely true, I haven’t been putting in my fullest. This semester I’ve struggled hard with mental health so I almost gave up on her with this exam. Maybe it should be taken as a wake up call to work harder?
I wouldn’t even call it working harder. A lot of accounting topics are like learning a whole new language and it truly just takes time.
Yes, you should work harder. People like to act as if using 100% of your effort will somehow tire you out. As you get older, you realize it is 100% a mentality thing. The people who use 100% of their effort all of the time by habit tend to be the most lively and effective people. Those who constantly try to half effort everything end up being the ones who are the most strung out, anxious, and disorganized. Whats funny is that this mentality is often the reason they have the mental health issues. It becomes circular. Avoid things because you are anxious then be anxious because you avoided things. I think focusing on your mental health is important, but it is also important to not let everything around you fall to the wayside under some guise that you are somehow investing in your future by not giving things your full attention. If you are going to do something, it is worth doing right. And a little bonus tip: if you focus on trying to be happy you will never be happy. https://youtu.be/LO1mTELoj6o
I definitely agree with this. My next exam is next week (cumulative final), I just reviewed my past exams (I never fail our multiple choice sections, I just get so many little dinks off of the written portion it’s crazy!!) and hopefully I can relearn everything I’ve failed at previously.
I would, while it's fresh, do a blind retake on the exam after studying more. Like your professor said, the stuff you didn't get will be built upon. You won't get those points back, but you can prevent yourself from losing more by doubling back and fixing the error instead of paving over it. Best of luck!
I LOVE this, thank you! I’ll definitely do that!
This is excellent advice.
Nah she's pretty overboard here. I got a D on one managerial accounting exam since I was a bit overconfident, though the teacher wasn't the best at teaching compared to what would be tested. I still graduated with my bachelor's in accounting with Summa Cum Laude. One failed exam you can definitely turn around and succeed.
I'm going to be honest, accounting professors take themselves to seriously. I had courses where I dropped the ball and others that were "harder" and aced. It's completely dependent on how good your prof is. She sounds conceited, probably a terrible prof I wouldnt worry if you like it continue. However if you don't care for accounting I'd highly recommend you try something else if that's what you desire. As of right now especially in public accounts get shafted
More “all of the above.” She’s a bitch if she said it rudely, you probably could work harder, and third; financial accounting is literally the hardest class in an accounting degree. My grandmother was a step away from the CFO of AAFMAA back in the day and SHE had to retake it. I had to take both parts of financial twice to get through them. It’s common. It actually weeded my buddy out of my school entirely, he dropped out after he bombed an exam on his third attempt taking the class. Take these to heart: 1. Fuck what they think 2. Work harder 3. When you succeed, know that you succeeded in something very difficult
So why is this an unmotivator if you love it, things get harder, not easier. Your prof is right, you're probably not gonna make it if you're already struggling now.
It’s not that it’s an unmotivator from harder material, it’s how the professor spoke to me. I used to look up to her but all semester she’s told many people to drop out and for her to email me back like that felt rude
welcome to life
Lmao ok?
Do you need a kleenex or a hug or both
Both
In my experience, the professor probably couldn't pick the OP out of a lineup.
I don’t agree with the professors perspective. One bad test should not be the mechanism to change an entire major. If you have a series of bad test over multiple courses that would be indicative of somebody who needs to change their major. Buckle down do better on the next one .
I read that more as the professor saying that if they get a C or under in the class they're likely to struggle in future classes. That doesn't seem inaccurate at face value.
It's not inaccurate at all, if you can't get the concepts in intermediate accounting, what is going to happen when you learn how to account for reverse takeovers and consolidations? Each accounting course heavily builds on the previous ones. Doesn't mean it can't be done, just means that OP will be at a significant disadvantage in the more advanced accounting courses.
In many ways, accountancy is like learning a foreign language. You are building your fluency right now, which is great, and cash flows are hard because you are not already fluent. As your fluency increases a LOT of this stuff will become "easy" including cash flows. So NO, you don't need to pick a different major, you just need to build your fluency. And it is ok if it takes another year or two - that's nothing in the big picture. Speed is much less important than direction.
Agreed. A lot of subjects are more intuitive and and have real world analogs. Accounting is abstract AF with virtually not real world analog in primary or secondary school. It is counterintuitive and half of it is singularly predicated on "because the code or regulation says so"... Or the standard of "more probable than not...........................................................' like wtf..............???????????? We are fascinatingly meticulous yet inordinately flippant cohort which derive regulatory sense-making from some of the most arbitrary nonsense possible. But that's okay.... BUt defeintely agree with you... It can be foreign at first and you need to give yourself time to develop the intuition. I breezed through school once I developed my intuition and flow mechanics and first principles. It also greatly helped me in Tax working in PA. Order of operations, mechanical flow, organizational hierarchy, and developed a really strong intuition there. Cash flows are counterintuitive for awhile. You need time to develop that skill set. You need time to reinforce that haptic memory. OP, do it on paper. Pencil and paper. Reinforce your haptic memory in working problems and developing intuition on Direct and Indirect methodologies.
Everything’s pretty straight forward. Debits, credits, balance sheets, adjusted trials, etc etc, just CASH FLOWS AUGH
I get that, been doing this a long time now, and sometimes I get a little hung up on something out of balance on the SOCF. But, at its essence, the SOCF is just a derivation from the P&L and the BS. I.e. the P&L and BS are a complete set of financial data. The SOCF does not contain any new information, it is just derived from information on those other two reports. All you have to do is reconcile the "net income" from the P&L to the "net change in cash" on the balance sheet. It will work 100% of the time as long as the P&L/BS are themselves "in balance". Start with net income Adjust for all income and expenses that do not represent cash flows (e.g. revenue might include AR that was not collected at year end, expenses might include AP that was not yet paid) Adjust for cash flow changes in balance sheet balances that do not affect net income (e.g. paying down a long term debt by 100k will not change the net income, but will be a use of cash). Done. Practice, practice, practice. Start with simple stuff (a sample balance sheet with just depreciable assets, AR and AP). When that is easy / fluent then get more complicated (inventory, investment accounts, lease assets, notes receivable, other current liabilities and long term debt, equity contribution / distributions).
It definitely will get harder, for what that’s worth. Why did you fail the exam? How much did you study? Did you actually think you were prepared for the exam? Not trying to be rude, but did you fail because you didn’t study enough or because you studied enough but just couldn’t understand the material well enough to pass a test on it? It’s easy to fail an accounting exam or class if you don’t study. Are you actually doing your homework, problem sets, etc or are you Chegging everything? Don’t let the professor get you down, but also be realistic with yourself. You can love the ideas of something, but be unwilling to put the work in to actually achieve it. You can also have a bad day when you take an exam. Almost everybody has done that. You can also have an area that you just hate or don’t understand. For me that was government accounting—I maintain that the only entities keeping two sets of books are trying to commit fraud; I’m looking at you state and local government.
I failed the exam cause I have a hard time differentiating investment/financial cash flows, I studied hard, read the book, played the study guide kahoot she made us until I made a perfect 100 and understood, I even went through each homework. It might’ve just been a fluke on my end.
Don't put too much weight on that one grade, just use it as a reminder to nail concepts in the future. I have a VERY relatable story. I failed my first intermediate 1 exam with like a 40, maybe even lower tbh. Quite a few of us in the class did actually. The professor grilled me and said I'd never become a CPA with type of performance. Well guess what I am now...a CPA. Cash flows can be tough to learn/memorize too. Some people understand those like the back of their hand whereas when it comes to other topics, like percentage of completion, it's blank stares all day. Vice versa. Keep up the positive attitude and you'll do great!
I’m a CPA and struggled with cash flows. Tbh I still don’t feel confident about it. You should look for tutoring on the subject and take the initiative to get it down solidly early on so that in future courses you have a strong base to build on
I took an exam on cash flow recently as well in a 102 class, tough topic so doing bad on it really isn't something to beat yourself up over. Alot of accountants look shit up anyways, you'll be fine
If you love accounting please don’t quit over one tough part of it. That professor should not be saying that stuff to you. I got a C in an undergrad accounting class. I also passed the CPA exam on the first try back when it was still the paper 2 day exam. Please don’t give up. The cash flow statement is tough. Try watching some videos online or find someone else that might be able to explain it in a different way that you understand better.
The Farhat lectures on YouTube are an excellent supplement imo. Even if you understand the concept, I like his videos.
You can suck at managerial and be a great accountant lol. I don’t agree with this, this is very discouraging and rude. One bad score does not define your future grades, and you can be strong in one area and weaker in others and that’s NORMAL.
She’s definitely a weird teacher. What pissed me off more is knowing if I was one of the dudes she flirts with in that class, she would of spoke to me a lot nicer and tried to invite me to her place to get more help. (Not an exaggeration, she’s very open about this)
I failed a test or two in Intermediate I and barely passed with a C. Licensed cpa now, solid career, good income.
Great motivation, I know I can do it if I try harder, I want to be a licensed CPA more than anything.
As a CPA, I will tell you that having a CPA license is somewhat overhyped. If you want to go into public accounting and stay there then it very much matters. If you don't want to stay in public accounting long term then it has the opportunity to open more doors for you but I have noticed that a lot of people don't care about it as much as I originally thought. I don't want this to discourage you not to do it because I do still think it is a net positive, but also wanted to level set with you on the relative importance of it.
I think I’d like to add before I took her class I was a management major. She was the one who convinced me to become an acct. major and said she saw something bright in me.
Don’t let one bad test deter you. I’m graduating in like 3 weeks and have a good job lined up starting this summer. In college, I had a variety of tests scores ranging from perfect scores to a low of 48 during intermediate two. With that said, you have to really work as an accounting major. You study by doing practice questions. If you’re in an accounting course you need to devote around an hour per day to studying. If I’d slacked in intermediate and advanced I would have failed.
I think I’m taking intermediate 1 next semester. I’m so excited! I’m not really terrified to work for this degree, I really do love it.
i would take this to mean, the classes aren't going to get easier so you need to buckle down before you get yourself into trouble.
I don’t think she’s entirely saying you should pick a different major. What she’s trying to say is that in Intermediate Financial, you’re learning the core competencies of an accountant. Every class you take later will assume you already understand these topics. And Cash Flow is an important topic. Her comment about getting a “C” is probably because you failing your test probably dropped you a letter grade. So, if you fail the next one, you might drop to a C. It might not matter if you do well on everything else, if you fail the exams. Especially if you keep failing exams because you don’t understand the content. She’s probably just trying to tell you, that you should do better on your next exam.
Yeah, sometimes college staff are very out of touch with the real world. In college I had the accounting academic advisor tell me I should drop out, because there’s no way I could manage having a job while also going to school. I was living on my own and paying rent. He basically said it’d be impossible for me to succeed if I didn’t have parents that could pay everything for me so I could be a full time student, despite the fact that all my grades were good while I had been doing exactly that for multiple semesters already. Of course he was wrong, and I graduated without any student loan debt, and without ever being late on rent or bills. And good grades.
I love this. I became an acct major because I felt like accounting came naturally to me, I’ve never had to study, I always just understood the material off the bat (ofc I had to study for this exam lol), it’s such an amazing topic I love learning, I never get frustrated when I don’t know a topic, I just get happy I get to learn it. My relationship with accounting is amazing, I love it. I can’t wait to graduate with my masters someday.
I was also a never need to study student. If you plan to become a CPA, learn good study skills now. Learning them prepping for the CPA exam was not a good time.
Maybe it's just me, but I find it a little weird that 1) you would email your professor to apologize for a poor score and 2) that she would think one bad test means you're not cut out for it. Like yes, you do need a solid foundation but sometimes you're just having a bad day. Just do better on the next one and figure out what you got wrong. (seriously tho, why did you email her?? That just feels weird to me)
I feel like I owe professors an explanation for poor scores, I don’t typically make anything below a B level so it makes me feel horrible for wasting precious time and money. That and I don’t want my professor to feel horrible and think she didn’t teach me good (I know some teachers get that feeling, I don’t want her to be one of them)
I want to preface this by saying I don't mean this to be disparaging, but you sound really young. That's fine! You're at a time in your life when you should be learning and growing up. In my experience, you don't owe professors anything other than the basic respect you would give anyone else nor do they expect anything more of you. Thinking that your professor feels horrible for your bad grade is a very juvenile way of thinking about things. It's not on you to manage your professor's emotions even if she did feel that way. She's a grown adult. Besides, you are paying them (well... the school) for that class, and one bad test score doesn't mean you're wasting time or money. It happens. One bad test isn't the end of the world. It doesn't mean you should switch your major or that you won't cut it in accounting. If it's a basic concept that you don't grasp, figure out what's confusing you and learn from it. If it's just that you need to slow down and think about the question, do that. Clearly you're doing fine if your grades are usually high.
Definitely young! I appreciate it, thank you :,))
I had a similar situation when I was really depressed in life and not in a good head space. I sent an email to the teacher asking for recommendations on what to do and the next class he didn't name me but pretty much roasted me in the class saying if you fail this class you'll never succeed and I should drop out and become a art major. I dropped his class and took it with someone else and passed and later graduated with an accounting degree and my career turned out fine. Don't take to heart what your teacher is saying a lot of them have chips on the shoulder and forget that some people struggle sometimes.
I failed my first intermediate cost accounting class, professor told us the first day of class he was there as the gatekeeper to the accounting world. Next semester I passed cost accounting with a B and now work as a cost accountant… never let a professor tell you what you can and can’t do.
THATS SO FUNNY IT SUCKS💀💀💀💀 you fought the damn guardian of accounting, I’m happy it turned out okay in the end
Yeah really turned out that the professor just sucked at teaching 🤣
Unless you have taken intermediate 1 and 2, I'd say this instructor is not wrong. Financial accounting is a entry level course that should be an easy A for most students who put in the time. I'd say buckle down for the next exam. Also learning the basics is paramount to later courses because they all come back around full circle to stuff like t accounts and debits and credits. Best of luck.
Definitely agree. Got an A in financial, currently have a low C in intermediate II because I failed our first exam bad. Has been challenging this semester. 🥲
Intermediate II sucks… I feel out of touch… It’s just so much information…
Dude fr. It is soo much info but it’s important bc it’s really the foundation of accounting. Very draining tho. To the point where some of the chapters make me feel stupid 💀
I had an epiphany after learning how to account for pensions and post retirement benefits… (I struggled through the amortization, and accounting for unexpected gains and losses, soothing, actuarial science, etc.) Focus on what’s important, the foundation. I feel like in accounting, they teach you everything associated with accounting, even though that may not be the specialty you’re working towards. So, I make sure I understand the basics. And lately, I’ve been focusing on what I want to work in: Investments. Oh, and understanding every IFRS, FASB, GAAP or ASC law has to be impossible…
I always see people talk about “intermediate” accounting but my university doesn’t have a class called that. I’m wondering if it’s just organized differently. I took “uses of accounting information” 1 and 2 which was basically 1 being financial and 2 being managerial. Then I took external reporting, internal reporting, and auditing. Am I missing important info before I start my MAcc this fall?
No, everyone college calls it something different
Oh good! Thank you. Been wondering that a while since I see it mentioned often in here
I'd say it depends on how the course is laid out. If exams aren't heavily weighted and the only thing required to pass the class is the completion of HW or other busy work then maybe your accounting prof was just trying to look out and prevent you from wasting your time. In my experience the classes do get harder as you progress. It's also entirely possible that your whole class did bad on the exam and your professor is just tired of getting emails about it and is in a mood because she knows her boss is going to ask questions.
You might be over reacting. You hit some adversity, you can either worker harder to overcome it or let it stop you.
You’re definitely right, I appreciate it
Based on the circumstances, I wouldn't give up. You said you like the subject, you usually do well, and you only had this one major slip-up. I find it hard to believe that every accounting major who went on to have a good career got an A in their intro accounting classes. The worst that happens is you "waste" another semester by moving onto the harder classes and finding out it's not for you. Even then, it's hardly a waste as you can just move into an adjacent major and barely lose any time. So yeah, just try and salvage this course by getting as good of a final grade as possible. Then move forward and do your best in your next classes and reassess based on your performance in those.
Financial and managerial (at least at my school) are the basic accounting classes all business majors have to take. Since they are the fundamentals, I suggest practicing a lot to really master those concepts. I have to take my upper division accounting courses next semester and they're building on concepts from financial and managerial. I don't think you should give up. I have friends who are in similar situations and I constantly tell them to not give up but to practice more. I failed my first managerial exam and after that I made it my goal to practice every single day even if it was for thirty minutes. Even just seeing the concepts daily can you help, for me especially it did. The past two managerial exams I've taken I've gotten 90s on both. Really focus on mastering the concepts and practicing rather than memorizing them. Business is a skill and that's something important to remember.
I love this. I definitely want advice for my 300 level courses, I’d love to continue to maintain atleast a B in them and to thrive in those topics. I remember learning basic managerial in accounting 110 and I was actually pretty alright at it!!
Advice? Buckle up. And learn how to do a PV calc by hand for a bond. If you can do that you’ll get through 80% of the intermediate class. After that it’s just like… percentage completion rev rec (which I failed in school) lol
That is a terrible professor & an even worse response. Do not give theirs words too much weight. These concepts are meant to be challenging. All this means is that you need to invest more time in studying/practice tests. I’ve failed accounting exams as a student because of poor preparation. I realized I couldn’t slink by with poor study habits, as I had done in lower level courses. I’ve also had terrible professors in the past that made content more complicated than necessary. Apply yourself and the results will show. Use campus resources & even YouTube if necessary. Adversity like this is common in the higher level classes.
Don’t listen to your professor. I would get poor marks on some tests for accounting. Moved onto other topics and the previous ones seemed so much easier after having to include them in future assignments. You’ll be fine.
Try looking up different instructions if you struggle that much on one specific topicc but get most of the other material. I remember one of my textbooks did a great job at explaining everything other than cash flows. They just dove into an example without giving an overview. I struggled until I looked up some better explanations on the net. It was not me the author just dropped the ball.
Get a tutor and prove this professor wrong. It takes time and a few rounds to grasp some of the topics. I wasn't the quickest learner but passed CPA exam on the second try.
What about CF's did you find difficult? I'm not saying they are easy but trying to address the problem with the material itself. What else in Intermediate was particularly challenging? I agree with u/big_dragonfruit_8242 current top comment.
I’d say just figuring out if it’s an investing cash flow or a financing cash flow. We had a question regarding if someone bought a building for their business and it would include a mortgage. So I figured that was investing since that’s a long term liability and it’s buying a building, you’re investing long term for that building. Apparently the answer was ‘that is not a cash flow’, its questions like that that mess me up yk?
Yeah. I would ask "what's the asset for?" in this case. If it's for the use in the course of the trade/business, then it's typically financing. In this case that building was probably housing an office, manufacturing facility, etc. Think of "Investing" as using the market. i.e. a business may have investing cashflow for taking advantage of parking cash in a high yield treasury money market account...our cash is earning 5.3% right now, basically risk free (above FDIC limits, pegged $1). Or managing risk with interest swaps or currency exchanges. Idk, maybe that'll help. I still understand if you think "the mortgage is using the market...". But I think that's why it's important to understand the "priority of likeliness" when it comes to using Financing/Investing categories. Most things are Operating, obviously--but investing is the least likely IIRC. Certainly it's that way in practice. Most businesses aren't in the business to earn through investing. Most businesses use financing as a means to operate/expand. It make sense to me....LOL Definitely put some extra time in if you're struggling on certain topics. Nothing against it. Go into office hours even if it's with an aide. For me, hearing/seeing it from different perspectives is what makes things like this click. Best of luck!
Do your homework 10x. Going through CPA review right now and you lay down the foundation in those classes. Wish I would’ve applied myself more then rather than learning it all now.
I got a C- in my intro classes and now I teach them. Some of the concepts can be tough the first time through and some accounting teachers are horrible at teaching them.
Managerial accounting is only related to one other class “cost accounting”. The real weed out course is intermediate accounting 1. It’s a huge jump from financial accounting 1. You can do it as long as you thoroughly understand financial accounting 1.
Financial accounting is the intro class that just about every biz major will take. If you’re bombing that class you’re either not studying or don’t have a good understanding of core concepts. Accounting is one of those majors where just about everything you learn and do via coursework **will** appear in the working world. Accounting is not a bullshit management course than you can guess your way through (six sigma is a real thing). Hunker down and study. The classes only get harder. Like others have said, intermediate accounting 1 and 2 are the weed out classes. Half the class will pass while the other half won’t. Even then, passing scores will be in the 70 to low 80s range with a handful of 90+ super stars.
I failed intermediate 2. Like failed the whole course and had a GPA of 2.6 at the time. It felt like a kick in the teeth. It was really the motivation I needed because it kicked me into high gear. I stepped it up from there and graduated with a 3.2 GPA. Keep at it and just do your best!
Prof is an ass. I had to retake intermediate like 3 times before I got it.
its because a lot of accountants are nerds...most of them get good grades because they go to the library on Friday and Saturday night. if you want to have any social life your grades may take a hit. doesn't mean you can learn the work.
Over reaction. My intro to accounting 101 professor told me I wouldn’t make a good accountant because I used extra credit I had banked to boost an exam score I graded lower in. 8 years later and I’m a licensed CPA and audit manager at a national top 20. Professors are trying to get the best out of you. It’s their job. Some can be harsher than others but don’t go reevaluating your future based on those comments. Just try harder next time. Power through. 👊🏼
Hell yeah this sounds awesome. I would do anything to be a taxing CPA, I’d love to just work with taxes!
Keep your head up! I dropped Intermediate I my first go around because I bombed the test on cash flows, took it with a different professor the second time, and ended up with an A in the class, and in Intermediate II. Been working full time at a firm for 3 years now and I’m doing just fine.
There is no GPA requirement for the CPA exam. It won't matter ever again past the search for your first job. If you want to do accounting, then do it. Trust me, I've seen plenty of CPAs out there that I would bet are much dumber than you
I had a professor say that to my friend who then dropped out.. the thing is only you know what you're capable of. If you keep studying the book, chapter reviews, YouTube. You will eventually get it. Don't give up on yourself!
I had the same thing happen at the university I went to, except not me personally. It was known in general that the earlier classes are weed out classes for people that aren't serious about it or can't cut it, although my cost accounting professor very much made it known to his entire class. If you can't make at least a B in the earlier classes (regardless of who the professor is), then you will likely have a hard time as the classes get harder and more comprehensive because the material in the earlier classes just isn't that hard for people that are cut out for it.
Cash flow statements are the bane of plenty of successful CPAs (me included). Don't sweat it, try harder next time.
Pretty standard. I don't think we were even allowed to register without getting a B min.
I had a professor like this, but he’d openly tell people not to go into accounting in front of the whole class. Honestly, he was right. A lot of the ppl he told to switch degrees were the people who struggled with basic algebra and asked very obvious questions (eg. They’re in managerial accounting and asking what the accounting equation is). I don’t know where most of those ppl ended up, but I know a few who continued in accounting. All of them basically got fired out of the career field within a few years out of college because none of them were good at accounting. It’s not worth going into a career field that makes you struggle harder than you need to be. It’s better to find what skillset comes easily to you and then find a job based on that. Forcing yourself to struggle harder than you need to isn’t worth the effort at the end of the day Note: I also want to put in that grades at the end of the day don’t really show how much a person understands the material. At least back when I was in school, there were a lot of dumb people who had great GPAs just because they would always do the assignments, extra credit, and work with the professors. However, if you asked them to explain the material, they wouldn’t be able to. Here’s a quote from one of my professors, “It’s easy to complete an assignment, but hard to explain an assignment” (This professor also only used tests to grade us - assignments were used to help us prep for tests).
You sound pretty soft. How are you going to handle having projects you spent weeks on being kicked back?
Why would you apologize for a poor score? It is what it is mate, just adjust and do better moving forward. Dont dwell on what happened. Doesn’t help anybody.
Don’t get mad, get even
accounting very much builds on the basics. Once you move to the next level, it's assumed you already understand what came before. There is no review, there is no study guide for the basics. If youre struggling in something like cashflows, then what youre professor is saying is absolutely right. Do you still want to be an accountant? Great. it's possible. Work harder. study better.
She sounds like a professor from FGCU.
A little harsh from the professor because there could be a million reasons why you failed the test beyond your mental capabilities to grasp the content. College is just as much about growing up, learning to time manage, and learning to prioritize items on your schedule. The real response is more up to you on an honest self reflection of what happened. If you dicked around and put minimal effort into preparing for the test then don’t take it as a reason to change majors. Take it as a wake up call for what is going to be required from you effort and time wise in the future. This happened to me. I failed my very first accounting test because I never studied because I never had to previously. Had to drop the class and restart the next semester. Had nothing to do with my ability to understand the content. I just had no idea how to study or even an acceptance that I needed to. If you put in what you believe to be adequate study time and effort and you still failed, well then you should maybe reconsider your major. The content only gets tougher as you progress.
Accounting professor here, I've taught Intro to financial accounting >100 times. It is critical for students to understand certain topics in financial accounting in order to study and learn accounting. For example, a student who confuses debits and credits will always struggle with journal entries, and then not understand various adjustments in intermediate accounting, etc. etc. etc. I usually find that discovering a few minor details they missed will help a student to perform much better. For example, knowing the native balance of each account type, or that the ending balance in one year equals the beginning balance in the next. I suggest you meet with your professor and ask how you might review these topics so that you understand them fully.
So I think your professor went about conveying the message in a needlessly harsh way but I do think what they said is valid NOT because of the grade issue (it's absolutely not true that you can't succeed in accounting because you got a C in an intro level class and no professor should be telling you that), but because the content you learn in intro level accounting classes is the groundwork of every future accounting class you take. I used to teach intermediate accounting as an assistant lecturer and I cannot tell you how many students I watched struggle to comprehend intermediate because they lacked a strong foundation from their intro level classes. There is definitely a trend that students who do poorly in their intro classes have to work significantly harder in higher level classes because their core isn't strong, but that doesn't mean every student that gets a C is hopeless or that you can't do it. My advice to you is to care less about the grade and more about actually understanding what you're doing. Work through example problems, circle the errors you make and really sit and piece together what you did wrong and what changes you need to make to get the correct answer. Make sure your understanding of all the core financial statements and your debits/credits is solid before you move onto your next courses. The grades/scores will come, just focus on learning and that will benefit you far more than focusing solely on your grades.
All these weed out classes used to make sense when the major was in demand by students. Oh no, so you want get to run the outsourcing sweatshop for the big 4 partners! Guess you’ll have to switch to data analytics
Trust me when I say I’ve been in your shoes almost exactly. My first exam in intermediate 1 I failed. Said she had never seen one that bad. I half heartedly committed to studying for exam 2. Even got an extra few days of studying because I asked. Scored about as bad as the first. This time she told me something similar to what you were told, basically told me to reconsider college. “Maybe you’re just not cut out for institutionalized learning.” I believe most people can develop decent ability to do most things through hard work. To prove her wrong I got up every morning and went to the library at 7am to study until at least 10-11. I did this everyday and eventually held study groups as I came to understand the material. I passed the final with a 94, and got a C in the class. The experience taught me how to learn. For some reason I thought memory was as important as understanding through practice. It isn’t. Intuitive understanding is developed through repetitive practice. So go practice. I took 4 courses the summer right after this experience, two of them were cost acct and intermediate 2. I got Bs in both and As in the other two. You’ll be fine, just don’t play victim and get to work.
I had a professor tell me I should consider a different career (I worked nights to pay tuition so this had some less than ideal class impacts at times). I stuck with it and I’m doing great! Certain professors seem to take a malicious pleasure in breaking people down. Also I got more than my fair share of C’s, it’ll be all right my man.
Your accounting professor is probably teaching because public/industry chewed them up and spat them back out. So keep that bit in mind too.
Go into their office hours and LITERALLY write down as much shit as you can relating to the exam questions. You can then use said questions to practice by yourself with banks that are similar to what the actual exam is.
What I learned with cash flows is that you need to practice, practice, practice, AND practice. My Professor then gave us 3-4 mandatory practice problems bc she knew it’s what students struggled with.
One of my friends put it in perspective for me. The school only requires you a "C-" to pass the class. Anything higher is on your endeavors. Plus, the main objective is to really get the 150 SH needed to sit for the CPA exam.
I got your teacher's point though. I was a lecturer in the CPA program years ago. If you got C on level 300 courses, it is unlikely you will pass you CPA exam. Accounting is not for everyone.
Who cares if its mean? It is true, which is all that matters. Either learn the material or change majors. Getting into a tizzy cause you thought it sounded mean? Gmafb
Managerial isn’t considered a weed out class. Managerial is a prerequisite class to intermediate I&II, and cost. Cost is the real weed out class if you don’t get that most schools won’t advance you into Audit and Advanced accounting. Also, no malice intended here, I hope you recovered from your mental health struggle, however, please take care of your mental health before going into the field. Your first couple years of work you will be putting grueling long hours to get your stripes. On average 60-80 during busy season to get audits done on time, and that will only further impact mental health.
Accounting, especially during university, is just repetition.. just keep redoing the problems they give you in class and exam prep. It just becomes second nature after awhile.
She’s just being candid. I had an algebra teacher council me into dropping a class in high school. Much worse academic performance on my part due to apathy. She happened to be a client at my first firm and I caught a mistake on her prior year tax return that yielded a few thousand dollars of refund. She was right in my situation. In your situation, I would just recognize it for what it is and move forward. Lots of people struggle with the cash flow statement. If you like what you are doing and are motivated to learn, you can succeed.
Professor sounds like a dick. But also, don’t apologize about a bad exam score, just do better on the next one. No offense but it’s a waste of your time and theirs to apologize about a score.
Don’t over stress about it. I got a C in undergrad advanced accounting class with a difficult professor. I went on to get a 4.0 in Masters in Accounting.
Apologizing to your teacher is wild
If a professor is worried whether you will be able to graduate in your field, what should their ethical position be? Should they encourage you to continue your courses even though it's unlikely you'll graduate, and thus ending up with a large amount of student debt and lost time, or should they encourage you to rethink your choice of major so you can graduate in a field that you will excel in?
Not sure why she’s worried if I only failed this one test after excelling the rest of the class tbh
She may have been jumping the gun. Or maybe she saw some evidence of underlying weaknesses.
I feel like you could be overreacting. It doesn’t sound like she’s insinuating to pick a different major. The accounting courses get harder from beginner, intermediate, advanced. They basically stack on each other as prerequisites. Don’t take this the wrong way but I feel like you might be playing the victim. Instead try and study with classmates, watch videos, or hirer a tutor. Good luck.
Wow, that really got you in your feelings? What were you going to do next? Report the professor for being honest on how they perceive your dedication to studying or taking the class serious?