When Pearl Bei enrolled in the Master’s in Accountancy program at DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in 2013, she wasn’t entirely sure where accounting would take her. Today, she’s a Senior Manager of Tax Technology and Transformation at EY, one of the Big Four firms she set her sights on before she’d even started her graduate degree. Her path from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China to DePaul to a thriving career in Chicago offers a real-world look at what a Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) can do for students who are ready to pursue a new direction, wherever they’re starting from.
A Deliberate Choice, Rooted in Chicago
Bei’s decision to attend DePaul was the result of careful research. “I was just doing my research online for all the schools with good accounting programs,” she explained. “And DePaul popped up as probably one of the best options.”
What set DePaul apart wasn’t just the coursework. It was the city surrounding it. “If you’re pursuing a business degree, what is most important is not just what you learned in the classroom but also the hands-on experiences you gain from internships and working with a good company,” Bei said. “Chicago is in this great location that has a lot of accounting firms and other career opportunities. I could take what I learned from school and apply that to the work.”
DePaul’s relationships with the Big Four firms sealed the decision. “DePaul happened to have very good networking with the Big Four firms, which was my first goal,” she said. “We have adjunct professors from the Big Four coming to teach us lessons, and we have career fairs to bring the students to not just the recruiters, but to the people who are actually working in accounting firms, and allow us to talk to them.”
That access to Chicago’s professional accounting ecosystem—from firm-connected faculty to direct exposure to practitioners—is central to what DePaul’s MSA program offers students today, whether they’re learning in the city or logging in from anywhere in the country.
Finding Her Path, One Pivot at a Time
Bei’s road to accounting wasn’t a straight line, and that’s part of what makes her story resonate. She started college as a computer science major, at a time when the field felt like the obvious, secure choice. “Computer science was a major big hit, and everybody just wanted to get into that field,” she recalled. But a year in, something wasn’t clicking. “I felt like that was not really my thing.”
She began exploring her school’s business program, starting with an accounting minor, and found she liked working with numbers and understanding business processes far more than she’d expected. She ultimately split her undergraduate years evenly—two in computer science, two in business—before deciding to pursue graduate study in the U.S.
That same openness to discovery followed her into her MSA program. Bei hadn’t planned to specialize in tax. It was a professor, David Roberts, who changed her trajectory. “I took two of his tax classes when I was in MSA, and then after I took his classes, I figured tax is actually more interesting than I thought,” she said. Her experience in his classes was compelling enough that Bei chose to extend her studies at DePaul for a second graduate degree, a Master of Science in Taxation, to go deeper into the subject.
This is a reminder of something DePaul emphasizes throughout its MSA program: direct access to faculty who bring real industry expertise into the classroom, and who can genuinely shape a student’s career direction, sometimes in ways they didn’t expect going in.
From Internship to a Decade-Long Career
Bei’s connection to EY began the way many successful careers do at DePaul, through an internship she found while still a student. “DePaul has the Handshake website,” she said. “I just saw this one listing back like 10 or 12 years ago. Back then, the team I’m working with at EY was pretty new, and I see, oh, it’s a combination of business, like accounting, tax and technology, and that fits me perfectly.”
She landed an eight-week internship, and it confirmed everything she’d hoped for. “I got to talk to the people who worked at the firm, got to see what they do and in those eight weeks I learned a lot and decided this is what I could give a shot in the future.” The internship led to a return offer, and Bei has built her career at EY ever since. “I feel like if I didn’t secure an internship for EY, I would like to go back to my country and build my career back there,” she reflected. “But the thing is, I got lucky again.”
Luck aside, Bei’s story reflects exactly what DePaul’s MSA program is designed to do: connect ambitious students with real opportunities at top firms before they’ve even graduated.
Full Circle Moment: Where Computer Science Meets Tax
Today, as Senior Manager of Tax Technology and Transformation, Bei works at the intersection of business and technology, supporting large-scale ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementations for multinational clients. In practice, that means she serves as a translator between a client’s tax department and the engineers building their systems. “I’m working with the client’s tax department closely. I learn what they do, what kind of tax requirements they are having right now, and how, from the technology perspective, we can help them solve those problems,” she explained. “So it’s a bridge building the technology and client’s tax department.”
It’s a role that, in hindsight, draws directly on the computer science background she once thought she’d left behind. “I feel like I somehow just ended up in the correct place,” Bei said. “The two years in computer science didn’t get wasted even though I’m not doing the coding right now. I still have the mindset, thinking that way when I’m working with the programmers.”
Advice for Future Students
Reflecting on her journey, Bei’s advice for students considering DePaul’s MSA program boils down to a mindset: stay curious, and don’t rush to define the destination too early.
“Just don’t think grad school is the temporary solution,” she said. “If you see something that interests you more, always just pursue it.” She’s also candid about the value of simply staying open to where a subject or an opportunity leads, even if it means an unexpected specialization, like tax, or a second degree you hadn’t originally planned for.
She’s equally direct about navigating a new professional and cultural environment as an international student. “Don’t be afraid to speak English to a native English speaker,” she said. “People are much nicer than you think. They’re not going to laugh at you.” Her broader philosophy applies to anyone stepping into a new field: “Fake it until you make it”—trust that competence and confidence build with time and repetition.
On staying relevant in a field that’s evolving quickly, Bei doesn’t shy away from talking about AI. “Definitely do not rely on just one skill,” she advised. “If you’re learning tax, you better combine tax with something else, like technology and law. Holding only one skill is not going to be enough to survive in the job market right now.” But she’s careful to frame AI as a tool, not a threat: “It’s here to help people save time on routine tasks, but the value comes from using the time saved to do critical thinking... you’re still the one doing the thinking.”
A Career Built on Access and Curiosity
Pearl Bei’s path, from a computer science student in China to a Senior Manager driving tax technology strategy at one of the world’s largest professional services firms, is a testament to what’s possible when the right program, the right city and the right mentors intersect. DePaul’s MSA program gave her direct access to Chicago’s accounting industry, faculty who shaped her career direction and a launchpad into a firm where she’s spent over a decade building her expertise.
For prospective students weighing their options, her story is a clear signal: DePaul’s MSA program is more than earning a credential. It opens doors—to firms, to mentors and to a version of your career you might not have mapped out yet
Discover Your Own Accounting Pathway With DePaul’s Online MSA Program
Curious about where an accounting master’s can take you? DePaul University’s online Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) program offers a distinct pathway into the Chicago business community—pairing a fully online, high-touch learning experience with opportunities to build real connections in one of the nation’s leading accounting markets, without the need to move to be based in the city.
Interested in learning more? Our rigorous curriculum will prepare you to take on leadership roles in accounting and help businesses solve complex financial challenges. Review our admissions process today.