Junior Core in BYU Accounting: A big year to the 'Big 4'

For accounting majors at Brigham Young University, junior year is often described as the most intense, time-consuming and difficult year.

Known as Junior Core in the Marriott School of Business, the program is designed to prepare students for one of the most competitive pipelines in the business world: the Big 4.

The Big 4 refers to the four largest global professional services firms Deloitte, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), EY (Ernst & Young), and KPMG (Klynveld, Peat, Marwick, Goerdeler) which dominate the audit, tax, consulting and advisory services for major corporations worldwide.

For many BYU accounting students, Junior Core is the year of academic rigor that becomes the bridge between the classroom and these global firms.

BYUs accounting program consistently reports near 100% placement into jobs or internships by graduation or immediately post-grad.

Faculty members and students like Chloe Noga credit the programs structure rigorous coursework, cohort-based learning and strong recruiting relationships with preparing students to succeed at the next level.

Noga, who began her college career at Utah Valley University, said she was drawn to BYU specifically for its accounting program, so she decided to apply as a transfer student.

The accounting program definitely lived up to the stereotype, Chloe said. There are some weeks I have multiple exams to study for with assignments due Monday through Thursday.

Noga thought she would be "immune" to the course load and intensity, having worked two jobs with a full semester of classes before, but once she was in the program, there was a real adjustment.

Everyone knows BYU is nationally ranked, and once youve done the program, you are overprepared for the CPA program, Noga said.

Now, just a short time later, Chloe has secured an internship with a Big 4 firm, EY (Ernst & Young) in Boston, set to begin next winter, an opportunity she attributes entirely to the Junior Core experience.

Here, people rise to the occasion, Noga said. I love being surrounded by people that are this driven; it pushes you to become better.

Julia Black, another BYU accounting student, said she was drawn to the major because of the wide range of career paths it offers.

Recruiting in accounting is unlike anything else, Black said. Here you are coming from such a rigorous program, but companies come to us for recruiting. Whereas in finance, they have to start from the bottom up.

Students say the program is more than a set of classes and coursework. It becomes a shared experience that reshapes schedules, priorities and friendships.

Junior Core students move through the program together, often spending long days and late nights studying side by side. Over time, classmates become close friends.

At this point, my friends and my study group are basically the same people, Rachel Lymann, a junior in the program, said. Now that these worlds have overlapped, my school time is my social time, and even my spiritual time.

Lymann added that this is another aspect of the program unique to BYU; the testimonies of her professors and friends in the accounting program have spiritually strengthened her.

Noga agreed, noting that the shared challenge creates a strong sense of belonging.

It really does become your life for a season, she said. Youre not doing any of this alone, and that makes all the difference.

The programs demanding pace continues to shape students academically, professionally and personally.

For students like Noga, the journey has been more than worth it.

This program changed me so much, she said. Its given me so much confidence, and its helped me understand where I want to go.

With strong placement outcomes and a tight-knit student community, BYUs accounting Junior Core remains a defining chapter in the path from classroom to career.