UBC Diploma in Accounting Program (DAP)

A few years ago, I decided to take the dive into the world of accounting via UBC's Diploma in Accounting (DAP) program. 

In hindsight, I probably would have saved myself a lot of time and agony if I'd just gone for a BCom and majored in accounting instead but that is a story for another day.

One thing that struck me when I was searching for information about this program was that there wasn't much at all.  The only exception were a few RFD forum threads from 2008 or earlier and even those didn't really provide the info I wanted.  So here I hope to answer some questions from the perspective of someone who's gone through the program.

This is where I should make a few caveats.

1. I had no accounting background whatsoever when I started (no accounting courses in high school, no commerce minor in undergrad, etc.).   
2. I also had no (or minimal) expectations of continuing into the accounting profession when I did this.  

So if you're looking for the account of someone who went through DAP and made it into a Big 4, this isn't it.

For me, what I did have was at least a year off before my next degree started.  I also thought that accounting might be a useful skill/back-up to have if my applications to my desired program didn't work out.  So in I went.

UPDATE (May 23, 2013):  I recently wrote up a comparison of the UBC DAP with UofT's MMPA and BCIT's accounting diploma.  See the post here.

Admission can be summed up in two words: not hard.  Yes, that also applies to those of you with GPAs hovering around the 60% mark.  Why?  Well, every university/faculty has their cash cow.  Guess which one is Sauder's?

Lecture halls are packed, especially in the intro courses (BUSI 293/294).  But then most of the lower level undergrad classes at UBC are anyways so that’s no surprise. 

Most DAP students were fresh out of undergrad, the majority of them BSc or BA majors with a few BCom/BBA students scattered around.  Occasionally we had some older students who wanted a career change, but they were rare.        

I started in September and finished the following August.  Most of the DAP students did the same; only a few were actually working full-time and so had to take the whole 2 years.  Most, if not all of the classes from September-April are held during the evenings from 6:30-9:30 PM.  One or two were held on Saturdays from 9AM-12PM.  The faculty's excuse was that most students were working (yeah right), although one does assume it also makes it easier to schedule classes at night when you're not competing with the other 35,000 daytime students on campus for classroom space.  

Courses: As you know, eleven courses are required for the diploma with the option of taking more if you're pursuing any of the CA/CGA/CMA track.  Guess how many I took. 

BUSI 293, 294, 335, 393 and 370 were the basic courses so most students chose to get these out of the way in term 1 or 2.  Although BUSI 370 was really a bit tough for those that had no finance background whatsoever (ie. me).  BUSI 335 can also be a pain if computer science is not your thing, so try to partner up with someone who's good at it (your database project is worth a chunk of the marks in that course).  

BUSI 353, 354, 355 and 455 are what students usually took next, leaving the more difficult BUSI 450 and 453 for last.  I've heard horror stories about 453 (Adv Fin Acct) but personally, I found the notes really good and it actually made sense.  Seriously, I rather enjoyed consolidations, now that I think about it.  Not to mention Chuck was the only professor for 453 (at least when I took DAP) so it's not like you could have avoided being in his class anyways if you wanted to graduate.

But then I'm also one of those people that found 355 (Taxation) tough even though everyone else seemed to breeze through it.  YMMV.

Word of advice: Pick your professors/lecturers carefully.  Every time before I decided on a course section, I would go on www.ratemyprofessors.com and check what former students had to say.  It always helps to pick the instructor with more lenient marking.  There’s no need to make your life more difficult.

Interestingly, the courses required for DAP are almost pretty much analogous to the courses that accounting majors in Sauder’s BCom program take, so in terms of accounting you’re definitely not getting the lite-version.

QM Prep Course: I didn't take it.  I turned out fine in the end even with my non-existent accounting background.  It just meant that I had to study a bit more during the first two weeks of BUSI 293.       

DAP Student Club: It's a great way to meet other DAP students and they host a bunch of informational events.  Of course, I never really participated in their activities either, so I can't really comment on this. 

Networking events (both Sauder and Student Club): They run a variety of these events throughout the year along with a bunch of CA office hours.  I been to a few of them and the main thing I got of them was that I really, really hated networking.  It feels so fake.  You have like 6 lemmings students surrounding each firm rep all trying to jockey for room and talk about stuff that the rep would find interesting.  5-10 minutes of this and then everyone would exchange business cards.  Rinse and repeat.   

CA firms: Quite a few people I knew from DAP were hired by firms such as BDO, Deloitte, PwC, etc.  Some others were hired by some smaller CA firms.   

DAP start date:  I would recommend starting in May because then you'll have finished four months of study when recruitment season comes around in September.  It's probably easier to convince recruiters that you want to go into the field when 1) you know what you're talking about (especially for those with a non-accounting background) and 2) you have the grades to back it up.   Also, if you don't make it the first time, you'll have another opportunity the following September.  Business cards can be printed out via the Student Club.     

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That being said, there are A LOT of DAP students so understandably the competition come recruitment season (or even just for the relevant extra-curricular spots) is going to be tough.  And that's not even counting all the BCom students aiming for the same jobs.  Good grades will definitely help (although easier said than done at times!). 

To those of you in the DAP right now - good luck!  

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll try to answer it.

UPDATE (May 16, 2013): Looks as though CMA-BC/ICABC/CGA-BC have finally decided to cooperate and begin offering a CPA designation in the next few years. More information about the merger here.