Math/CA vs AFM-PA @ Waterloo

I can remember my surprise when I found out that I got accepted to both the Mathematical/Chartered Accountancy program and the Accounting and Financial Management-Public Accounting Co-op option program at Waterloo. (Links open to their respective page on the Waterloo website)

I seriously never thought that I would get accepted into either of these programs, yet I still applied for the odd chance. When friends and family asked me which university I wanted to attend next year (or later this year), Waterloo never crossed my mind. I always answered Rotman Commerce at University of Toronto or Queen’s Commerce.

So you can imagine how these acceptances changed my plans. From the beginning, I knew that I would go to Waterloo if I got accepted, so out flew all the other university options. Although the debate between Toronto and Queen’s was gone, the decision between these two programs would give me headaches for the next weeks.

With research on these two programs and the reading of discussions, I came up with the following:

Similarities:

• Both programs require CO-OP
• Both offer a 14-month CO-OP term
• Both are 5 year programs
• Both lead to MAcc (master’s of accounting) in 5th year (although there is an average requirement)
  • MAcc exempts 2 tests for your CA license
• Able to minor in both
  • Although for Math/CA usually in another math program

Differences:

• Math/CA is under the faculty of math
  • AFM is under the faculty of arts
• No extra assignments needed for Math/CA admission
  • Have to write AFMAA (2-hour assignment) for AFM
• Math/CA has no area of interest (replaced with math courses)
  • AFM you choose an area of interest
• Math/CA you have to take computer science courses (at least 2)
  • Not a requirement for AFM
• Math/CA has an unique CO-OP sequence
  • Able to choose from some CO-OP sequence options in AFM

Here are some links to discussions about these two programs:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

So after all that, my only conclusion was that both programs are extremely good if someone is wanting to pursue accounting. Like how numerous posts in discussions have said, the choice remains as a personal preference. Although Math/CA seems to require more work than AFM, I think that the workload in AFM shouldn’t be belittled.

In the long-run, after attaining a master degree or getting an accounting license, does the undergraduate program really matter that much?

Personally, I guess what made me choose Math/CA was the challenge, which may not have been the best choice, as I don’t think my math skills are sufficient….I had previously really wanted to either major or minor in economics (which would have worked with AFM) but Math/CA also requires that you take economics, so I guess that is okay.

Will hope for the best, and we’ll see in September :)

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