Alumni Spotlight: Paul Castedo
At Tulane University, we aim to foster equity and inclusion throughout all of our programs, instilling in our students a passion for advancing pathways for people from all walks of life. The joint Bachelor of Science in Management/Master of Accounting program is dedicated to training future accountants and investment professionals to excel in the diverse field of financial services. The accomplishments of our program majors during their undergraduate or graduate programs and post-graduation reflect this mission. BSM/Master of Accounting program alum Paul Castedo (BSM/MACCT ’19) started his undergraduate studies at Tulane and is now an investment associate at Advantage Capital, an impact investment firm that aims to bring capital and jobs to underserved communities throughout the United States. |
From volunteer opportunities and community outreach to internships and experiential courses, Paul’s time as an accounting & finance student in the 4+1 BSM/Master of Accounting program helped shape him into the working professional he is today.
The Undergraduate and Master of Accounting Program and the Journey to a Career in Investment and Equity | |
Born and raised in New Orleans, Paul is a first-generation American with South American roots. Besides his cultural ties to the city of New Orleans, Paul was attracted to Tulane because of its affordable tuition achieved through merit- and need-based scholarships — covering 95% of his tuition. Paul was originally interested in biomedical engineering, but after participating in a STEM diversity program in New York with Goldman Sachs, he decided to become an accounting & finance major. Paul took advantage of our 4+1 MACCT program to ensure that he stood out among other accounting majors across the country. Beginning junior year, the curriculum integrated graduate-level financial accounting classes into his course load, enabling him to graduate in five years with both a BSM and a Master of Accounting degree. Among the highlights of his time in the BSM and Master of Accounting program were courses that couldn’t be found anywhere else, such as the acclaimed Burkenroad Reports program. Created and run by Professor Peter Ricchiuti, the program connects finance students seeking real-life equity research experience with regional public companies to produce research reports. In the Burkenroad Reports program, Paul was part of a team of finance majors that worked to research a public company and write an in-depth investment research report. After the course, Paul continued to work with Professor Ricchiuti as a teaching assistant to help other finance students cover publicly traded companies such as banks, industrial manufacturers and consumer retailers. During his time in the BSM/Master of Accounting program, Paul worked closely with many of our esteemed accounting faculty mentors. Remembering his professors, Paul says that they “are storytellers teaching you the fundamentals of business; they’re giving you the building blocks, skills and knowledge that are needed to be successful.” Our faculty bring decades of experience into their classrooms to help accounting majors like Paul connect theory and practice to become experts sooner in their career.
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One of the biggest pieces of advice Paul has for aspiring finance students is to find opportunities outside of classroom to apply concepts and bring topics to life. As an accounting & finance major, Paul supplemented his studies whenever possible with volunteer opportunities, community enrichment projects and internships. To help our majors understand how subject matter in the classroom applies outside of Tulane, we integrate volunteering and real-world experience into our classes. Paul enjoyed volunteer outreach opportunities throughout New Orleans that allowed him to interact with the community -- such as tutoring charter school students studying for the ACT or volunteering with a nonprofit that teaches financial literacy to Latino residents of New Orleans. Professionally, Paul immersed himself in internships during the BS/Master of Accounting program, completing internships with Goldman Sachs, Mackay Shields, Entergy and Coker Palmer Institutional. Paul even participated in Tulane’s K9 Two-Step program, raising a service dog with his roommate Griffin Van. Diesel IV now works as a facilities dog in the District Attorney’s Office in East Baton Rouge, helping victims deal with facing their perpetrators and spreading smiles throughout the courthouse. All of these extracurricular and internship experiences were vital in helping Paul stand out as he entered the job market. After graduating from the BSM/Master of Accounting program, Paul began his career with a public accounting firm in transaction advisory services and later worked at J.P. Morgan as an analyst and associate before joining Advantage Capital as an investment associate. |
Prepare for a Rewarding Career in Financial Accounting as a Tulane Accounting Major
Whether you want to work for large corporations or small startups, Tulane’s Bachelor of Science in Management and Master of Accounting program can give you the skills and knowledge needed to excel as a financial professional who can find real solutions to both current and future problems. As an accounting major in the joint BSM/Master of Accounting program, you can earn two degrees in just five years and earn valuable experience working in real-world situations with actual companies. You’ll also learn from faculty members who have years of experience as professionals and educators. They pull from this experience to, in Paul’s words, “marry academic curriculum with real-world examples to tell the story of what fulfilling work outside of the classroom can be." At Tulane, you can also work closely with faculty advisors to customize your program to align with your personal and professional goals, prepare to take the CPA exam in the state of your choosing, and add an area of specialization to help differentiate yourself even further. In addition to the BSM/Master of Accounting program, we also offer a broad range of undergraduate and graduate degrees for every aspiring business professional:
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