By Arial Starks
The Vanderbilt Master of Accountancy (MAcc) is a 12-month program that equips students with the resources, experiences, and professional connections needed to launch successful careers in accounting. One key advantage of the Vanderbilt MAcc that sets it apart from other programs is its built-in, hands-on internship experience.
Ezra Sanaford
Each year, MAcc students secure paid internships with one of the Big 4 accounting firms: PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG. These opportunities allow students to gain invaluable industry experience in a structured, real-world setting. These 10-week internships often serve as a direct pathway to full-time job offers after graduation. To better understand the impact of these opportunities, we survey our students annually, gathering insights on how their internships have shaped their career trajectories. Below are some key takeaways from the Vanderbilt MAcc Class of 2025’s survey results.
Hands-On Experience: What MAcc Students Learned at the Big 4
One aspect of the internships that the students collectively enjoyed was the opportunity to be fully integrated in their individual teams and take on an array of responsibilities with the firms.
Ezra Sanaford recalls his duties as an intern while working with EY in Nashville. “I was in charge of accounts payable work papers and helped out with classifying revenue contract work papers for a small public SAAS client that serves healthcare systems. I also performed ad hoc tasks for a large discount retail which included various work papers relating to inventory, leases, payables, internal controls, and administrative tasks.”
David Sickles
Several students appreciated the opportunity to get an up-close look at what a typical day looks like with a company where they will potentially jump-start their careers after graduation.
“I feel like I have a better understanding of what to expect with a busy season,” says David Sickles, who spent his internship working with EY’s Atlanta office. “I also have an understanding of the technology EY uses, so I won’t need to worry about figuring that out when I start full-time.”
How Vanderbilt MAcc Prepares Students for Big 4 Internships
Evelyn Diederich
All of the surveyed students share the same sentiments of feeling prepared for their internships due to the technical and soft skills they gained from the Vanderbilt MAcc program.
“Our audit and data analytics classes prepared me the most for this internship, especially the immersion week where we worked through multiple case studies, says Jule Saurbier, who interned with Deloitte in New York. “A lot of what I worked on in the internship I was already exposed to in these classes which made it a lot easier for me.”
Many students specifically credit the course they took with Professor Ed Wilkins in Mod 2 of the program for their internship preparedness.
“Ed Wilkins’ class was vital for my success as an intern,” says Evelyn Diederich, who interned with Deloitte’s Nashville office. “I went into the internship feeling fully prepared for what the day-to-day would look like, as well as the many testing areas. The Vanderbilt interns were able to separate themselves because we had simply seen these things before. Ed’s class put me in a great position to be successful.”
Trever Hertel
Trever Hertel, who completed his internship with EY in Nashville says the concepts he learned in Wilkins’ class were the most applicable to his internship experience. “A lot of the substantive examples he taught us, including immersion week, were almost directly used at some point, at least in some capacity. The concepts were extremely helpful and all that was left at the internship was figuring out firm-specific procedures.”
Tips for Future Vanderbilt MAcc Students Pursuing Big 4 Careers
All in all, the Vanderbilt MAcc Class of 2025 enjoyed their internship experiences and appreciated the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the firms they worked with. Following their internships, 100 percent of the class have reported receiving a full-time job offer, further exemplifying the incredible return on investment the program offers to students.
Jule Saurbier
Saurbier shared this advice for future MAcc students: “I would say to really put yourself out there when it comes to networking with others during this internship and push yourself out of your comfort zone. The relationships you build during this time are extremely important.”
To learn more about how the Big 4 is setting students up for career success, click here.
