what route should I take?

(bit of a long post but it’s appreciated if you read through)

i’m 24, just graduated from a CUNY with a major in accounting and also just finished an internship in the finance department for a big law firm.

my GPA is embarrassingly low due to chronic illnesses I was suffering from during school. I also don’t think that I ever thought far into my future and was going along with the motions.

my internship and time have given a very different perspective on life and what I want for myself. I’m from myc but would love to work on the west coast and eventually, abroad. and I know these are things I can do as an accountant.

I do want to take the CPA exam and was planning on getting a full time job this year and hopefully begin a masters at Baruch next year. However, now that the new CPA bill is in effect, i’m not sure of what steps I should take.

I planned to get my masters to make up for my shit undergpa and take better advantage of networking opportunities. (I’m angling for baruch for those of you from ny) however, if I can just work for 2 years and save myself the expenses of a masters, i’d like that as well.

my goal rn is to have a solid career that can hopefully lead to my relocation sooner rather than later. ofc, I will take accounting seriously but I rlly want to be able to make up for mistakes made. quickly and sooner rather than later. but I still would like to get a masters sometime in the future.

so the main question is: should I still go for a masters now or work, get my cpa and can I still get into a big 4 that way, or would I still need the network of a specialized business school?