Kwantlen vs BCIT: accounting courses

[butter_sashimi]

Hihi,

Enrollment is coming up and I'm debating which campus to choose. I just want to take several preliminary courses in accounting for CGA. I already did the bulk of the program at my university and got my B.Com but I gotta do some others that my school doesn't offer and redo a few due to a mishap.

I live in Vancouver so I'm uneasy with traveling all the way to Kwantlen Langley so Richmond appeals to me but I hear BCIT is not so bad either and theres a downtown campus as well. I'm also looking for overall ease in courses (ie: is teaching good? Assignments relatively ok and not extremely demanding? Atmosphere?)

Also, anyone know the regular course load? In a Sept-Dec semester, I'm used to taking 5-6 courses, but, for example, I hear from Kwantlen that 3 courses is the norm.

Thanks!

[n'drew]

I have a friend in BCIT and the regular course load is 12 courses in Fall and Spring no Summer semester. If you live in Vancouver why don't you just go to Langara. Langara has a CGA partnership thing going on, go check it out.

[Carl Johnson]

bcit full-time program 7 courses plus is the norm. so be ready if you do decide to go that route. in your case, why not just take some part time accounting courses at BCIT and meet your CGA requirement that way.

[Wetordry]

take it correspondence w/ CGA through Laurentian university

[zeroFX]

Go to Kwantlen !

[josayeee]

You know Langara/BCIT/UBC have a lot of shared teachers for accounting related subjects so just pick what is best for you. I know BCIT has a flexible part-time program. You can do 2-3 courses in the evening and still work quite a bit. Just make sure you choose your courses based on that CGA course chart thing. I wouldn't do a full-time program as you will probably have a lot of course exemptions from your Bcom.

Oh and a tip, do the pace-level courses with CGA as some BCIT courses do not transfer over directly to CGA. You may need to challenge the exam with CGA to get the credit. Keep in mind this only applies to the pace electives.

[teaoh]

I'm kind of in the same situation but im just finishing up high school. I'm planning to go to Kwantlen for fall 2009 semester to get my Accounting Diploma. (2 year program) Has anyone done it before because I'm kind of unsure what courses to take and how many to take. Please share your experience ! =) TIA

[int36ra]

I'm in the BBA - Accounting (4 year program) at Kwantlen and teaoh, if you are working part-time / full time, best advice I could give is to take a smaller amount of classes 3-4 as when studying time rolls around.. incredibly stressful when comparing with high school studying, never studied in highschool and pulled off A's, so when I was doing a max course load and working 20-30 hours a week it was incredibly rough and both school and work suffered.. easier to start off slow than to rush into it and retake courses later (like I'm doing now=\)

GL

[wix]

Hey, I'm interest in taking the Dip. in Accounting at UBC, but it's way too far from my home and I'll be working full-time.

Does anyone know if the Kwantlen Accounting diploma is equivalent to the UBC one?

[teaoh]

Originally Posted by int36ra

I'm in the BBA - Accounting (4 year program) at Kwantlen and teaoh, if you are working part-time / full time, best advice I could give is to take a smaller amount of classes 3-4 as when studying time rolls around.. incredibly stressful when comparing with high school studying, never studied in highschool and pulled off A's, so when I was doing a max course load and working 20-30 hours a week it was incredibly rough and both school and work suffered.. easier to start off slow than to rush into it and retake courses later (like I'm doing now=\)

GL

Thanks man. I'm not too sure if i will work during school or not. When you first started the program at Kwantlen, did they already have set courses for you? Correct me if im wrong but I was told that I could get my diploma and finish my BBA at Kwantlen (2 extra school years) or i could transfer to another University, and complete my BBA somewhere else. Is there like a counselor I have or something like in highschool? lol

[tiger_handheld]

3rd year Kwantlen Accounting BBA: Kwantlen also has a CGA/CMA partnership. kwantlen diploma is designed so it'll transfer 1-1 into the CGA program. with the BBA you need to take the TAX + Auidt classes for CGA.

Instructors: You get the few bad apples, but some are just awesome. To be specific, Barb Wyjenst- She teaches at the CGA school, and teaches at kwantlen, one of THE BEST acct teachers at Kwantlen.

Course Load: Like int36ra said if you work 20+hrs per week, take 3-4 classes. I'm working 20 hrs a week and im taking 3classes. It's a nice balance between work and maintaing a good gpa. If you need to take any ENTR classes expect alot of group work and atleast 6-8hrs outside class time.

Student Life: NONE! kwantlen is a commuter school, so you will not have an accounting frat per say, they do have an accounting association - they are pretty good.

Would I pick Kwantlen again? Yes I would, its got more good than bad, atleast for me...

[teaoh]

^did you get your diploma first? My plan is to get my diploma than onto my BBA. At Kwantlen do they set your courses for you? Did you also attend to the Orientation and how was it?

[clowe]

Nope, you set your courses/schedule however you like. You can take the courses in whichever order you like granted you have the pre-requisites for them.

They have a recommended sequence of courses on the website if you're looking for something to follow:

SEMESTER I

* ACCT 1110 - Principles of Accounting I1
* ACCT 1130 - Business Mathematics
* CBSY 1105 - Introduction to Microcomputer Processing2
* ECON 1150 - Principles of Microeconomics
* ENGL 1100 - Writing, Reading and Thinking: An Introduction

SEMESTER II

* ACCT 1210 - Principles of Accounting II1
* ACCT 1230 - Business Statistics
* CBSY 2205 - Computers & Information Processing
* ECON 1250 - Principles of Macroeconomics
* CMNS 1140 - Introduction to Professional Communication

SEMESTER III

* ACCT 3310 - Intermediate Financial Accounting I3
* ACCT 3320 - Introductory Management Accounting4
* ACCT 3335 - Taxation
* BUSI 1215 - Organizational Behaviour I
* BUSI 2390 - Business Law

SEMESTER IV

* ACCT 3410 - Intermediate Financial Accounting II3
* ACCT 3420 - Advanced Management Accounting4
* ACCT 3380 - Managerial Finance
* ACCT 3444 - Auditing
* ELECTIVE - ECON, CMNS, LIB ED

5 courses per semester is probably a bit much, you can probably go 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 if you plan on taking the summer semesters as well. If you know anything about Word and Excel, CBSY1105 will be a walk in the park.

Here's the counselling/advising link: http://www.kwantlen.ca/advising.html

You can email them or even drop in during the drop in hours, I've found them quite helpful.

[tiger_handheld]

Originally Posted by teaoh

^did you get your diploma first? My plan is to get my diploma than onto my BBA. At Kwantlen do they set your courses for you? Did you also attend to the Orientation and how was it?

Yes, i got my diploma first. Some people I know got into the BBA program directly , How, I'm not sure. I wanted the diploma so i have a piece of paper after 2 years, saying I did something.

No, they do not set your courses, and I suggest you follow their guide. I did not follow the guide, and I got screwed over cuz I was taking courses all over the place, and took 2 un wanted courses one semester cuz the course i needed wasn't offered.

No, i did not attend orientation. I think orientation is a good place to make friends, or atleast a couple guys/girls u'll know from kwantlen. You start to know more people in 3yr when classes get more focused, and the same people are in 2-3 of your classes. semester after semester. I say go to orientation, see what its all about.

[teaoh]

Thanks but I'm probably going to take 4 or 3 courses for the first semester to get the feel of it. I thought that there was only 3 semesters per year or was I wrong? Kinda sucks to go to school throughout the whole year haha. For the recommended courses, do I have to complete all 20 of them in one year?

[zeroFX]

I went through the Kwantlen accounting diploma route. I highly recommend planning around their diploma requirements outline. I found the teachers to be quite helpful and encouraged students to ask questions.

[tiger_handheld]

Originally Posted by teaoh

Thanks but I'm probably going to take 4 or 3 courses for the first semester to get the feel of it. I thought that there was only 3 semesters per year or was I wrong? Kinda sucks to go to school throughout the whole year haha. For the recommended courses, do I have to complete all 20 of them in one year?

Nope, i believe you have 10 years to complete your diploma.
Yes, kwantlen only has 3 semesters [ Jan - April , May - Aug , Sept - Dec ]

Note, that kwantlen does not offer condensed classes unlike Langara, UBC , Capilano. Atleast, they dont have any condensed classes in the business program. its 14 weeks of class each semester.

I suggest you take 3 classes in the first semester, take a balanced load of boring vs. interesting | hard vs. easy. It's important to get a decent GPA in the first semester.

[dubzz24]

Didn't know there are so many Kwantlen people on here. In my BBA - accounting too at the Surrey campus. Maybe I'll see some of you around.

[teaoh]

Has anyone done the English placement test at kwantlen? After my provincial i had 71% so i cant take English 1100. Can i just wait until Kwantlen doesnt require provincials in the new year?

[clowe]

I didn't take the EPT but did you take the LPI? If you got a 5 on that, you can get into 1100.