Masters of Science in Accounting, Admission Essay - Becoming a CPA

Hello,

I'm trying to apply for Masters of Science program can someone please give me some constructive feedback on my essay? The prompt simply asked

Why do you want to pursue Masters of Accounting?

Here is my first draft

It is true travel gives you a wider perspective on the world. I was buried under contract paperwork on nice June evening, trying to help my father figure out whether this contract was a good deal or not. His first language isn't English and in this new country that we were trying to adopt the burden fell on me to read the contract papers and explain to him what they said. Sure, I thought this sounds like fun. Soon I realized that my bachelor's degree only took me so far in the real world and there was a lot about starting a business that sounds very exciting, but wasn't in my skill set as yet. This inspired me to consider getting new wings.

My priority was to get some decent experience and then apply for Business School. However, I realized that more than running a business I enjoyed the part of working with a startup to get it off the ground and running. While setting up a trading company in Canada, I researched and assisted in all the back-office work from Company name registration, export documentation, managing finances and billing. Here in the seeds for pursuing a Masters in Accountancy and eventually a CPA qualification were sowed.

Our endeavors in Canada were short lived due to family circumstances and so while I looked forward to pursuing my dreams in USA, I opted to get relevant work experience. A major chunk of my work experience comes from working with small to medium scale business as a part of my roles with medium sized public accounting firms. This gave me great exposure to different industries. Having to adopt to Indian GAAP and tax law requirements after studying under the IFRS curriculum, made me resourceful and an out of the box thinker. On an audit assignment for a medium sized chemical company, I came across some abnormally charges in the fixed asset register that could be classified as research and Development cost. I had read about a government tax concession towards R&D cost and decided to bring it to the attention of my audit lead. This attention to detail led an advisory engagement for our firm. The company benefitted from a substantial tax savings in their financial year. This achievement got me interested in investigative aspects of accounting. It is a field that I would love to explore more. I believe the MSA program at University of Washington, Bothell is perfectly suited for my career goals.

I'm excited to be a part of this prestigious program. I will bring along with me my passion for learning and a resourcefulness that I want to channel towards giving back to the community.

Patel, the information you have included here belongs in the statement of purpose, not a personal statement. You have not really responded in any manner to the prompt provided. You merely gave the background for your skills and training in accounting. You have not given the reasons why you want to pursue a masters degree in accounting. I believe this is because of your lack of exposure to the accounting world on a professional basis. The essay is weak. You need to beef it up with academic and professional reasons for this pursuit. You can start by discussing what your college major was then move on to how it relates to accounting. This gives you a solid reason for pursuing accounting either as a next step in your career or signify a change in career paths on your side. Those are the 2 most valid reasons for wishing to pursue a masters degree that you should be highlighting in this essay. Don't even try to insist that your saying;


counts as the reason why you want to pursue a masters degree because it does not. It only paraphrases the prompt requirement. The whole essay doesn't deliver the required information.