Should DS do a Big 4 Apprenticeship or go to Cambridge?

[StressedaboutUni]

DS has managed to get a Big4 Apprenticeship in Accountancy and he has also managed to get an offer to read economics at Cambridge. Assuming he gets the grades, he is not sure which one to pick. Going to the apprenticeship would give him the opportunity to save 60k over three years vs 45k debt. He would also be able to become fully qualified accountant in 4 years. He would not get a degree though.
Cambridge would open doors for him in other industries that he may consider in the future such as Investment Banking or Management Consultancy.
He is really confused on what to do.

Can he not defer a year, take the apprenticeship, and reasses next spring?

If they want to get into a 'high end' career like investment banking, I would have thought Cambridge would be the better option. It would open a lot of doors. An economics degree would also be quite diverse in where it can land you in terms of careers, so could go into law, actuary, consulting etc.

That's not to say you can't get to investment banking from Big 4, as you definitely can. But if you are becoming a qualified accountant, obviously you are limiting your exit opportunities to something in that sector or sector-adjacent. If that is his ultimate goal though, perhaps Big 4 is the better choice.

Irrespective of the above, congrats to your DS for having those options available to him!

Is it all about career and money for him or does he want other opportunities like travel and meeting others?

No contest. Cambridge any day of the week.

DS wants to aim for a high end role but is also thinking that it may just be best to play it safe and become an accountant. Having said, he does enjoy economics and so think it would be a shame for him to not study it further.

i think the thing to establish is the extent to which ACA is considered at least equivalent to a degree- ie he’d be considered a de facto graduate by employers. I went to Cambridge and then did ACA and ACA was a lot harder. However, I’d worry about him getting screened out if HR algorithms don’t account for the fact that he has what is usually a post grad qualification without being an actual grad.

Does he want to be an accountant? If so, he should take the apprenticeship which is probably equivalent to an L6/L7 qualification and then he could go and do a masters in economics at Cambridge after.

If he is Oxbridge calibre a degree apprenticeship might prove something of a frustration. Economics gives some exemptions from Accountancy exams if that is what he ultimately chooses to do.

If he knows he wants to be an accountant then the apprenticeship. Once he has ACA then it's a passport to global finance opportunities.

If he is unsure about longer term career then I'd say degree.

I'm at a big 4 firm

I think it depends if he sees accountancy & adjacent professions as ‘his thing’. If so, then the apprenticeship is an efficient and well -remunerated way into his chosen field.

If he is interested in economics, and his potential career options could lie anywhere in the plane of ‘things possible with an economics degree’, then he should go to Cambridge.

Both can lead into long-term profitable careers (though Cambridge is via a period of debt). If he is primarily money-motivated and just wants to get on with a job- then go apprenticeship. If he is intellectually highly curious and exploratory, motivated by subject content in a broad sense - go degree.

@cantkeepawayforever He is very intellectually curious, which makes it seem that the degree would be a better fit for him. But the 100k swing between savings and debt is the only thing that is making him nervous about choosing uni.

I have a Cambridge degree and am ex Big 4. I'd go degree hands down every time.

To add, accountants do get high end roles. CFOs, CEOs, big 4 Partnership. Plenty of £1m+ opportunities for those who excel and have strong leadership and interpersonal skills.

Well first of all, congratulations to your son! He's played a blinder!
Cambridge economists are sought after. He will get a job after that degree and will probably have more choice too. I'd be inclined to take the place.
To those saying he could defer. Be careful - Cambridge may not allow (especially if they k is the reason!) and May insist he reapplies next year. I'd get your son to investigate this

@mynameiscalypso Could you elaborate on why in your experience the degree is much better? Does it provide better opportunities in the future?

@faffadoodledo Yep he cannot defer (the Cambridge college he got an offer for confirmed) which is why he needs to think about the decision now

definitely Cambridge - it opens far more doors for future potential and a much wider range of opportunities.

How much of the debt is ‘real’, though? Student loan debt is probably best thought of as a graduate tax - he’ll earn well and it will be a small proportion of his monthly wage once he graduates.

If it will be genuinely difficult for you as a family to meet his expenses at university-ie top up the loan amount to the maximum loan amount - then yes, the apprenticeship would avoid hardship for you all. He could, however, work each vacation to mitigate that to some degree.

I think he should go to Cambridge. With a Cambridge economics degree, he's not going to have any difficulty getting a very highly paid job after graduation. And he will have kept his options open about future careers.

the reason I say Cambridge

• if he goes for the apprenticeship and then in 5 years time he decides that is not the right career path, he is stuck. not many other options
• a degree from Cambridge will open many more doors and many more horizons. could be GoldmanSachs if he wants to earn or a PhD if he wants to study or all sorts of other things. and it gives much more time to think about what it the right path.

I’ve worked in Accounting firms but in an allied profession, not as an accountant. There is a bit of a ceiling for many of those who haven’t done the degree route and a lot of exams on the journey to qualify. I saw many get ‘stuck’ and couldn’t reach the higher rungs. I don’t know if that was the calibre of those who did the non-grad route vs the grad route but from those I knew there were some who were had equal capabilities but were adversely held back. It may have changed but just wanted to put in my experience of ten years ago.

I think doing a degree apprenticeship is the sweet spot, get the degree and the funding. However in my opinion Cambridge would open so many more doors. I am biased as DD has an offer to study an arts subject and is hoping to go in October.

Cambridge have lots of bursaries for students and it is often not as expensive as most other universities as accommodation is often available for just the very short terms. Your son could do lucrative tutoring in the holidays, people are prepared to pay a premium for a Cambridge undergraduate.

Cambridge. If he is able to leverage his degree into a high paid career, he will be in a position to be paying off that loan by the time he is 30 -35. Then he has the rest of his career with the Cambridge degree behind him

Each of those is amazing, but both!?? Well done to your DS!

Personally I’d go for Cambridge. After Cambridge, he can still become an accountant if he wants and afford to repay the loan money. But much harder to become an accountant and then get the Cambridge Econ degree.

What a star!!

Definitely go to Cambridge. After his degree he will have a wide range of job opportunities and will be able to have a very interesting career. It’s extremely likely that he will have a well paid job which will allow him to pay off his student loan quicker than average.

I have a Cambridge economics degree and trained at one of the big 4

I would 100% pick the degree

Even though you may have the same first job, I am sure my degree has opened up so many opportunities after I left the big 4 - significantly exceeding the 100k over the course of a career.