The Major Decision

Shelby is in her first year of her masters at the University of Texas getting a degree in Science in Business Analytics. She is a rare girl with strong ambition and wisdom. Shelby was in a sorority for 4 years, is a strong believer in her faith, and has the wisdom and maturity of someone older than herself. These character traits have contributed greatly to the amount of thought she has put into her career path and the decisions she made. I initially set out to study the choices made by an undergraduate student, but I thought her story was just as relevant. The Masters in Professional Accounting (MPA) program is somewhat integrated into undergraduate culture in he McCombs School of Business since student’s apply sophomore year and begin work for this program their junior year. Selecting a major is a major decision and Shelby has been working on hers since her sophomore year of high school.

In high school, Shelby was a diligent student. She graduated from a large public school near Houston, Tx and had her sights set on business since her sophomore year. As senior year approached, she decided to pursue business honors and works towards the Masters in Professional Accounting program. A large part of this decision came from the influence of her parents’ suggestions. Accounting was not her main desire, but her desire to excel in business and the reputation of the program had more influence. At this point she was not clear on what she absolutely wanted to do, so she decided she would work hard until she figured it out. This is a strong testament to her determination and desire for success in the business world.

Freshman year bears many distractions. Shelby pledged a sorority, found a new church, and made many new friends. However, none of this was done at the expense of her schoolwork. Social life came second to the goals she set for herself. She and her parents had a clear vision of what the current path was, and that was to do well in the Business Honors Program (BHP) and to begin working towards getting into the Masters of Accounting Program (MPA). Along with her parents came the influence of her classmates. The business school is a competitive place and conversations constantly revolve around classroom success and career direction. Student interactions form a kind of hierarchy of majors and make students want to aim for accounting and the MPA program since it is the most celebrated. Clearly, her strongest influence her sophomore year were the words of her friends. Shelby vividly remembers her first days of school when many business school functions involved bragging on the accounting program.

The year that had the most introverted influence on her choice was sophomore year. It was a year of hard work and many late nights spent in the business school. The first semester was similar to her freshman year, but the second semester was stressful because of the approaching application date to the MPA program. There was the stress of making the grades, along with the constant conversations amongst classmate about the application date and who they thought would and would not make it. Shelby began to feel like she had to be very political in school. Had to be careful what she said and tried not to engage in conversations started up about other class mates. She just tried to focus on her work and take care of herself.

Shelby was accepted into the MPA program the summer before her junior year which was an exciting time and a big relief. Her first semester she started her classes geared toward MPA program. They were more challenging, but she continued through the motions of diligence that she always had. Her fall semester ended and it felt just like all the others. When she got back in the spring, she began to look for her first internship. After she finished her spring semester and started her internship, she began to have her first doubts about the MPA program. Her interests were changing and she was beginning to discover and acknowledge her passions. Shelby decided to continue through the MPA program and try a different area of Accounting.

Shelby’s summer internship had a large influence in changing her perspective on her major and her senior year began the last leg of her time in the MPA program. She did her major internship in the spring of her senior year and it was enough to convince her that she no longer wanted to study accounting. She made the decision to drop MPA, graduate from business honors, and went into a Master of Science in Business Analytics program. She said the decision to change was extremely tough. "The time from January to now has been a marathon of death." People gave her a hard time for dropping and the school was not very enthused to drop a student from their program. Shelby chose to stand strong though, and move forward to her true interest.