Pathway
Finance & Accounting
Where the money goes and why. Precise, rule-heavy work with clear career ladders and unusually good early pay.
Majors
- Accounting
- Finance
- Economics
- Actuarial Science
- Business Analytics
Jobs people do
- Accountant / CPA
- Financial analyst
- Auditor
- Actuary
- Investment banking analyst
- Bookkeeper (two-year path)
Watch out
The choices that quietly close a door here
Not knowing about the CPA's 150-credit rule until senior year of college.
Licensure as a CPA generally requires 150 semester hours, 30 more than a standard bachelor's, so it needs planning from freshman year of college.
Instead If CPA is the goal, look for five-year or integrated master's programs when you're building your college list. AP and dual-enrollment credit also helps close the gap.
Choosing Statistics over Calculus and assuming that's enough.
Actuarial science and most finance programs require calculus outright.
Instead Take both. Statistics junior year, Calculus senior year.
Course ladder
Grade by grade
Course names differ at every school, and graduation requirements differ by state. Take this list to your counselor so the two of you are working from the same page.
Grade 8
- Algebra IWorth doing
Grade 9
- GeometryLoad-bearing
- Personal Finance or Intro to BusinessWorth doing
- English 9Load-bearing
Grade 10
- Algebra IILoad-bearing
- Accounting IWorth doing
If your school offers it, take it. It's the clearest test of whether this work suits you.
Grade 11
- PrecalculusLoad-bearing
- AP StatisticsLoad-bearing
Essential for actuarial and analyst tracks.
- AP MicroeconomicsWorth doing
Grade 12
- CalculusLoad-bearing
Required for actuarial science and most finance programs; expected at competitive business schools.
- Accounting II or dual-enrollment accountingWorth doing
- AP MacroeconomicsWorth doing
Outside class
DECA / FBLA finance and accounting events
Specific, judged, and directly relevant.
From grade 9
Stock market simulation or investing club
Free, and it teaches you how much you don't know quickly.
From grade 9
VITA volunteer tax preparation
IRS-certified free tax prep. Students can train and volunteer, it's real accounting work with real stakes.
From grade 11
Keep the books for a club or small business
Unglamorous and extremely convincing on an application.
From grade 10
Things to build
Build a real budget model in a spreadsheet
For your family, a club, or a hypothetical business. Excel fluency is a hiring criterion here.
From grade 10
Analyze a public company's annual report
They're free on the SEC's EDGAR site. Write one page on whether you'd invest and why.
From grade 11
Is this actually a fit for you?
Ten minutes of questions, and Bearing turns this into a plan that starts from the grade you're in.
Take the survey