This past weekend, I was preparing for the start of my second-to-last semester in Accounting at Purdue University by reading the class syllabi that my professors had posted on the nets and interwebs. The purpose of this preparation was two-fold: I needed to know what text books to purchase and, more importantly, I needed to know what classes I would be taking and in which classrooms they would be located.

I scheduled my classes for the current semester in October of last year, so I did not remember which classes I would be taking. I was somewhat surprised to discover that I would be taking Management 504: Tax Accounting, a required course for my degree. My first reaction to this discovery was, “What a waste of my time!”
Now this was not the first time I’ve had such a reaction to a class I’ve learned I would have to take to fulfill my degree requirements. Such a response is not atypical for classes which I believe to be completely useless in terms of future benefit (e.g., philosophy, sociology, and other fluffy general electives). My response this time, however, was not due to any belief that a Personal Tax Accounting course is completely useless—sadly, it’s far too useful—but rather that a Personal Tax Accounting course should be completely useless. Read More »