Accounting students worry about Big 4 internship applications

“I have a B4 tax internship for winter 2027. I am a senior right now in a large state school and I am taking 5 classes with two of them being grad classes.. Im currently struggling this semester of school because of some things going on and I might end up getting a C in a non-accounting course and a few B’s. Im really worried abt the hit my gpa will take and how it will look to the firm. I have a 3.73 right now. Maybe im stressing for no reason but I want to know if thats a reason an offer won’t”

“Congrats on the Big 4 internship. That’s still a huge win and should gives you a good sense of whether audit is right for you. If it is, skipping the MPAc and diving straight into studying for the CPA is your best move. Passing those exams while looking for a role demonstrates far more commitment to firms (and long-term earning potential) than extra credits you don't actually need. Focus all your energy on getting the CPA under your belt and the sky is the limit.”

“You are over thinking things. You don’t need to back out of the internship regardless of what happens. You are allowed to try out different places.”

“I’m a senior in college. I have a big 4 tax internship after college (was gonna do macc, not anymore) and I have interviews for other ones too. I have a 3.6 gpa after working my butt off to get it. I did a midsize tax internship over the winter. I am afraid that I will be too dumb for big 4 and get laid off. STRENGTHS: I’m very personable and good people skills. I was cracking jokes with managers/directors and spoke to them like adults and had good conversation. I am always typically the hardest”

Interned at both. going w mid size bc I fw the people there more👍

“You are not inherently worse than your classmates or a failure for not working there. There are advantages and disadvantages for big 4. I have a classmate with an exceptionally high GPA turn down a big 4 offer to join a smaller firm for its perks, and I know several others who could easily land a big 4 but didn’t bother and chose industry, we are also at a target school. It depends on why you want to work for them. If you want the title on resume or the slightly higher pay that’s understandable”

Currently starting my second year at a decent Uni (Schulich) but failed to land any interviews for summer roles(audit accounting) 3.8 GPA, but my resume is relatively weak in terms of relevant…

On paper, both are great candidates.

It’s joever man, I’m in the same spot with MSA

“gpa doesnt matter, its more about how you use it”

“For context I’m a junior this year tho, so I desperately need a summer internship for this upcoming summer.”

“I’m going through the same issue as OP I have 3.8 gpa, involved in clubs and have a part time job as a manager at a restaurant. I don’t know why I’m not able to get to the interview stage. I do go to networking events too and the big 4 campus recruiters for my school all recognize me.”

“I just got rejected from kpmg for tax summer 2028 :( I have a 3.7 gpa, involved in clubs, and attended events the office I wanted had. Any advice or any reason you would think I got rejected? Feeling pretty bummed and nervous for the rest of the big 4 are the other ones easier or around the same to get an internship (tax 2028 summer), any thought or advice pls! submitted by /u/ihyfaa [link] [comments]”

“Personable seems to get you a lot of points. The stereotype of the weirdo, antisocial accountant seems to be still very strong in the public consciousness.”

“I am confused about this accounting recruitment cycle. I graduated the spring of 2027 and I didn’t secure any public accounting rules from the big four or any midtier firms during the August/September recruitment cycle. I have 12 months of industry experience that ended in January 2026, but I haven’t gotten any offers, so what should I do now? Are there gonna be more recruitment periods throughout the year or should I look closer to graduation for industry roles? submitted by /u/Alte”

“Looking for anything really for the summer, whether that's internship or summer leadership programs. Unlikely it will be at B4 (but I did apply to their 2028 programs) but am fine with any public accounting/mid-size firm. Planning to get involved heavily in BAP this year when committee applications open in October and officer positions opening up at the end of the year. Was able to secure the case competition through the BAP Chapter. Any advice is appreciated, thank you! Also pls ignore the”

“Applying to the big 4 now, hows it looking? Also side question, if you got an offer from all 4 of the big 4, where would you work? EDIT: both experiences say - PRESENT and i applied already with it, im cooked submitted by /u/Miserable-Bike4227 [link] [comments]”

“Hi! I'm a 3rd year student on the intended MAcc pathway at a large university that the Big4 recruit out of heavily. I'm in the middle of applying for all my internships, and I was wondering what to expect from the interview process. From what I've heard from friends, it is supposedly mostly behavioral (but I'm not completely sure of this). Basically, what I'm asking from you all who have been through this: what is it really like? How many rounds are there? Is it mostly techni”

submitted by /u/AccomplishedCake7666 [link] [comments]

“SUNY, especially Binghamton, are respected in Big 4, at least in the NY metro area.”

“Im a 3rd year transfer and I'm currently applying to internships. Im trying to land a big 4 internship but my resume and experience is very lacking. I worked at a grocery story for less than a year and thats basically all my work experience. The only good thing on my resume is a 4.0 but that was at my community college. I can't really do anything else since this is the last time I'll be able to apply for internships, any advice on what I can put? submitted by /u/Tradition”

“Background abt me: currently a junior in college looking for summer 2027 internship. I applied to a lot of big firms already and a few small firms. I am going the 120 path for the CPA. I been to few networking events in the past, but I always feel that it’s kinda awkward to talk in those settings. Also, I don’t really know what to talk about besides asking how I can stand out in my application. Any advice for talking to recruiters at the career fair? submitted by /u/Natural-Cat8713 [”

“Hi guys. Im 24 graduated in June with good GPA and started at a regional firm where I’ve already learned a lot and about to complete my first busy season. I didn’t get to have a big 4 internship and life just forced me to start at a regional. I know intern hiring is from august to October. What is the best route for me to get into big 4 for tax as an associate. Im in LA and feel like I definitely want the Big 4 experience for the network and exit opportunities. I feel like the hours are relative”

“How long does it usually take for an associate to be a senior? I heard Big4 look for experience employees”

“To be brutal - a current 3.4 GPA is still too low to expect an interview after application. Ideally, you should be at a 3.5+ (3.7+ to be safe.) You're probably being a bit paranoid about the "discrimination" thing, the past is the past, dw abt it. Delloitte, PwC, Ey, and KPMG are pretty selective to begin with, if you don't have prior accounting experience (Like any kind of internship, volunteering, related job experieince) or you're not at a target school, don't get yo”

“Current accounting student applying to Big 4 internships, in a position where I transferred to a different school (plus switched majors) and my work within my previous major did not turn out so well, leading to some poor semesters/grades on my transcript (sub 3.0). I still have my GPA rounded out from my previous institution to just under a 3.1, and my accounting GPA at my current school is at a 3.4. I participate in extracurriculars, such as being involved with two clubs, and juggling a job out”

“Was about to make a post about where to find summer 2027 internships for smaller firms (since I have to apply to summer 2028 internships for the Big 4), but I wanted to know more about what you said about certifications for QuickBooks or Excel. Where can I find these courses to get these certifications? I've seen a lot of places that offer them, but I'm not too sure which ones are actually legit or ones that actually mean something rather than "do homework and get an email saying yo”

“Currently go to UCSB (as seen in my other posts), which I heard is a school that the firms really do recruit from, and about to begin my sophomore year. I really want to get into one of the Big 4 or big accounting firms but I just feel pretty behind and don't think my chances are good. I have a culmulative gpa of 3.6 (across multiple insitutions since I co-ed at a CC during high school), but my major gpa is complete buns at a 2.7. I'm in a couple of school clubs but I don't have any”

“I’m in my junior year, in a school in canada, looking for my first internship. If someone could grill my resume that’d my great. My major gpa is 3.65 but my cumulative is 3.08. I was in the science program for the first 2 years and dealing with health issues so my gpa unfortunately suffered. submitted by /u/TraditionalMap6417 [link] [comments]”

lol. They probably have several hundred people lined up to take that spot.

“Hello everyone, I am a third-year Accounting student @ UofT and my GPA is currently a 2.6. I think by the end of this year, I can hopefully bring it up to between 2.9 - 3.0. I have already accepted the fact that I won't be interning with the Big 4 this summer, but I am considering mid-sized firms like Grant Thorton or MNP. I have looked through their student internship opportunities and for MNP it seems like most of them are in rather remote locations (Barrie, Timmins, etc). So my questions”

“This might be a late response but how is UNOH for it's accounting? I've been considering it due to the CPA track”

“Hey everybody! I’m a fourth year accounting student getting my BBA in accounting (surprise) and I’m planning on applying for some internships starting next summer at some big 4’s. Anybody have tips of what I should certainly include in my resume? Also any tips if I get to the interview portion of the process! Anything would be amazing, thanks everybody :) submitted by /u/ChillyCanadian_05 [link] [comments]”

“A little bit about me: I’m a senior at UIUC majoring in accounting. I have a 3.89 overall GPA and a 3.86 major GPA. I had an internship already as an audit & assurance intern at a mid sized firm. My leadership positions are a team lead at a casual restaurant and a mentor in my business fraternity. I’m proficient in excel, c++, python, etc. I’m on the deans list, presidents list, and a scholarship awardee. I’ve been applying to mid sized public accounting firms, the big 4, and industry yet my”

“Im looking to get a summer 2027 internship. I already have a big 4 audit winter internship, and i hear mixed feedback about leaving that off my resume as an “incoming intern”, what do you guys think? submitted by /u/Medical-Profile-3287 [link] [comments]”

“Hi all! Just applied to USCs MAcc summer intensive for non-accounting majors. Does anyone know how competitive it is? Ty! submitted by /u/No_Chef_6929 [link] [comments]”

“nope, went to community college and then a CSU (SJSU). Case competitions were a bi-annual competition from PwC, not sure if they still do it anymore but I'd recommend reaching out to a recruiter and asking. I copied and pasted a description i found on google below, but it was a pretty thorough scenario with fake financial statements we had to parse through and compare against real world data. When I did it, the competition was about mobile gaming revenue, and we were consulting on rev rec me”

“You need tear down the whole resume and build it back up with proper formatting and layout. For example, from my eye, having the text for the job bullet points run to the end of the page while the dates are indented in looks sloppy. And a really obvious, sloppy mistake is not bolding the dates for the associate accountant role while every other date is bolded. -- A resume is a first impression for an employer. If they open your resume and the formatting isn't perfect or it's hard to read”

submitted by /u/AffectionateSyrup305 [link] [comments]

“Hi everyone! It's my first time posting on Reddit. I'm a junior at a college in Utah, and I want to get an internship at any of the Big 4, but mainly KPMG. I've attended a few networking events, and at the last event I was able to connect with 5 KPMG employees in audit and tax. I'm mainly interested in international tax, but I'm thinking of starting in Tax first. I'm wondering if you guys have any tips or suggestions on what I should do in order to land an internship this”

“Your GPA is great, definitely would get you an internship in a local CPA firm with relative ease. Your college should have a resume template, I’d put the information from here into one. Perhaps replace the core skills sections with related coursework (intermediate, advanced, cost, ect).”

“I'm junior year accounting student trying to land an internship and I plan on obtaining a CPA license. Currently, I've submitted 18 internship applications to one of the big 4 accounting firms, across mainly audit and tax. I feel silly asking this but could mass applying to one of the big 4 accounting firms - or any accounting firm - cause a recruiter to ignore my applications? submitted by /u/Environmental-Bus9 [link] [comments]”

“That makes alot of sense. I noticed this time around for recruiting that winter spots are mainly open. Hopefully big 4 takes a chance on meee”

“I am going to disagree with you on this. Getting in the big 4 is a valuable asset for 2 reason, experience and networking with the clients. You just or will graduate soon. You have the age and energy as your advantage to work in Big 4. If you have CPA, thats a plus. I assume you aren't married, so even better. Work their for 2 to 3 years, 4 to 5 is max. By now, you have both the experience and network in your back pocket. Midsize company loves candidate who worked in big 4. You can switch in”

“Looking to optimize my resume before recruiting season begins for the Summer/Fall2027 start dates. I would prefer Big 4 for the exit opportunities, but also more than receptive to any other smaller firms. Open to any suggestions and greatly appreciate any feedback- thanks in advance! Please Note: The CPA exam line is prospective and I am curious as to if you think it is beneficial to the application in any way- I have no issue omitting it if it is seen as an issue As for why I didn't recieve”

“I’m recruiting for a mid-sized firm. If there’s a masters student or a student that’s a senior with a high GPA who seems like a strong candidate, we will want to interview them. Interns and first year staff are not expected to know anything anyway.”

“I go to another semi-local Cal State, I can see our BAP & AS chapters function off the same template lol”

“Hello all, this sub was a tremendous help when I was applying to bschool and I wanted to give back as the R1 deadline approaches. I'm posting a roughly anonymized and summarized version of my application to give candidates an idea of what their own apps could look like. I applied to M7 and was rejected all without interview except for Wharton, where I received $$$ to attend. I'm now happily working on the west coast at a tech startup. Profile at a glance Industry at time of applying: cry”

“100% bullshit. So many people get into big 4 BECAUSE of their internship, not because of a cpa.”

“Solid resume for a student. Out of your 4 work experiences are there any other technical skills you can list? Software’s, ERPs. Excel is questionable, especially with copilot, anyone should be proficient. I don’t think interests belong on a resume. This doesn’t provide any value.”

“Experiences look great. Just add in a space between reconciled and $1M for the property management firm internship. Also, big 4 already did most of their 2027 winter/summer intern hiring last fall and spring so when apps drop it’s going to be mostly for 2028 and some remaining spots for 2027 + niche.”

“I didnt do an internship and still landed a B4 role. Its doable but I would still do an internship if you are able to. I didnt have that luxury so I had to play the odds of there being a role for me after graduation.”

“Looking to get into pwc audit submitted by /u/TigerWeary3067 [link] [comments]”

“I'm a junior accounting student with years of AR/AP experience. It's late August and I've been searching for 2027 internships at Big 4 and other accounting firms, but I'm barely finding anything. Did I already miss the recruiting period, or are most internships still coming in September/fall? For those who don't recruit through school, where do you usually find internships? Firm websites, LinkedIn, Handshake? Overall GPA: 2.78 Major GPA: 3.41 I know my overall GPA isn't g”

“I go to a big state school that big 4 recruits from. I have a 3.8 GPA as a computer science major. I used to be an accounting major. Right now I’m applying to technology roles at Big 4 but I want to switch back into an accounting degree. My aim is to intern at a big 4 for summer 2028 in tax or audit. Do I apply to these roles now or should I hold off until I’m back in Accounting. submitted by /u/Tlop_430 [link] [comments]”

“Hello all, I will be graduating in the spring of 2027 and am wondering what my chances are of landing big 4/top 10. I was a finance major and just recently turned my accounting minor into a double major. I know I am behind because I didn’t have an accounting internship, but I did have an ERP consulting and support internship this summer. I like the exit opportunities that the big 4/ top 10 provide, but again I know they likely already have their 2027 hires. Both my parents are accountants but fo”

“Hi everyone, I am a recent transfer accounting student with a GPA of 3.94. I am actively applying for summer 2027 internships. I have held a business development internship, served in leadership roles in student government, and worked part-time as a server for 2 years. However, because I attended a community college, I did not have much practical accounting experience or involvement with any accounting club or society. Besides reaching out to the campus recruiters, are there any other tips to im”

“Looking to get into a Big4 entry-level audit position for Fall 2027. Applied to KPMG today for that specific role but hoping to know if I’m competitive. I’m in Canada btw. CPA Prep GPA is a 3.0/4.0 atm. submitted by /u/Question-Throwaway7 [link] [comments]”

“I have a 3.9 GPA, finished intro accounting classes, unpaid bookkeeping/accounting internship for a non-profit, did VITA, and I'm the Vice President of a large accounting club. I just got declined from a internship with the only qualifications being: have above a 3.0+ GPA and are authorized to work in the US. PLUS my friend sent a referral about me to the company as he did the internship before.I'm guessing its because they strictly want juniors and seniors? But from what I've heard”