Leveraged Sellout

You know you are a nerd when you think that this website is hilarious. http://www.leveragedsellout.com

Grad School Observations

1) Public schools are much more beaurocratic and it takes forever to get anything accomplished (that means you, financial aid)

2) There is not necessarily more work, but the material you are learning is much, much more challenging

3) Accounting firms are not at all slowing their hiring

4) Public accounting appears to be an ideal place to start a career in business

5) The CPA exam is scary

6) I love it so far!

Books

My first day of fall classes start tommorow for my grad program. Cost of books for the first quarter? $450. Ouch. At least I am getting 5 Citi thank you reward points for each dollar from the book store, courtesy of my mtvU credit card. Since May, using my two Citi credit cards has me 3/4 of the way to a roundtrip flight anywhere in the USA. Pretty Sweet.

Car Repairs

While taking in my car for some regular maintenance today, I found out my whole exhaust system has rusted badly and is falling apart, requiring a cool $450 repair when I take it back in to the shop on Wednesday. The muffler is rusted completely through in some places and overall the whole system back to the catalytic converter has to be replaced. My dad told me he would pay for the repair (thank goodness), but it is nice knowing that I have an emergency fund ($500) that would have had enough to pay for it. It is also nice to know that while I am 95% on my own while in graduate school, my parents are still behind me in case something like this happens before I am working full time.

Just Plodding Along

I got a 4.0 for the summer, woohoo! For the next couple of weeks, all I have is a part-time job and some relaxing to do before hitting the books for fall semester. It is nice to finally get a break after not getting one after graduation. Next week, I am going to a Jack Johnson concert with the GF and another couple- can't wait! I got the tickets back in April for my GF's birthday and have been eagerly anticipating the concert ever since.

I am, however, getting my wisdom teeth out on the 15th. Ouch, and I hate.going.to.the.dentist. At least I will be knocked out for the actual surgery?

Student Loans

One of my friends recently got into UNC's law school. He told me yesterday that by the time he is done with school, he will have $120,000 in student loans!!!! I am scared to have ~$20,000 total in loans when I graduate with my master's degree, but I guess everything is relative. He rationalizes that his starting salary will most likely be six figures, so he will be able to pay off the loans easily, even if it takes 20 years. I understand why he is going to law school, as he wants to eventually go into politics, but it seems like he will be a slave to his loans for so long first!

In other news, I finished the summer session of classes yesterday, and I totally rocked all my classes. I am still waiting for my grade in tax, but I expect that I will have a 4.0 for the summer.

Best Case Scenario

I received the graduate fellowship and job offer! This is the best possible thing that could have happened for me. Not only do I get a significant amount of money towards school/living expenses and a well paying job, but I also won't have to deal with the stress of the formal recruitment process. Plus, the firm I am going to be working for was one of the two that I had been focusing on working for in the first place. I also found out today that I will be getting a signing bonus, albeit a small one, on top of the fellowship award. All together, I am on cloud nine!