Accounting PhD Profile Eval

I am planning on applying to accounting phd programs for the fall of 2011. These are my stats...
B.S. Accounting: 3.78 (2010) State University
M.S. Accounting: 3.72 (finish in December) Boston College
GMAT: 710 (Q44/V42)
I am working with a professor right now as a research assistant, which I hope generates a good LOR.
No experience/No CPA (plan to get in Jan/Feb/Mar 2011)
Interest in Tax(primary)/Financial
Calc 1/2(B)/3(B+) in undergrad

Can't take any economics courses before I plan on applying.

Schools that I have looked into are: UNC, UofW, Arizona, Arizona State, Duke, and Cornell

I would like to know what schools I should consider "target" and "safety" schools. (Not limited to the very few that I have mentioned.)

Also, what does everyone else consider my greatest weakness? What should I do to strengthen my application in the next few months? Would retaking the GMAT offer any benefit?

I was also curious as to how many students that apply actually get accepted. I assume that many of the students apply for several programs of similar quality and that schools accept more than actually enroll. Does anyone know how many applicants are accepted versus how many actually enroll?

How many schools should I consider applying to?

public-accounting-report-2009-ranking-undergrad-ms-phd-88331.html

Hey look at these rankings. I think you should apply to about 5. I don't see any glaring weaknesses in regards to your profile. I think you have a good chance.

Thanks,
Dawg

i think ur gmat is fine as it is.

I've mentioned it numerous times but it bears repeating -- PAR is skewed toward schools with a relatively bigger emphasis on teaching (as opposed to research). UT-Austin is not #1 in the world. UIUC is a good school but there's no way in the world it's perceived top 10 in the academic world. Same with Michigan State, Texas A&M, Georgia, Arizona, which are definitely lower than their PAR rankings (still not bad schools).

As for the OP, I don't think you have any glaring weaknesses, but you have no glaring strength either. If your primary interest in tax, you should probably target the best tax researchers as opposed to the best schools -- they are few and far between. Places like UNC and UofW are good targets. Duke only has a junior guy in tax (Dyreng), but has good people in more mainstream empirical research (Francis, Schipper). Cornell is a management accounting and experimental research powerhouse but I don't think they have anyone in tax (and few in financial accounting overall). Don't have much insight about Arizona and Arizona State and whether or not they could be called safety schools.

I am also planning on applying for Fall 2011 and just took my GMAT today so I'm ready to post my stats and get some school recommendations. I'm looking mainly at Big 10 schools right now, but I'm open to any.

B.A. Accounting/Economics: 3.55 (2008) small liberal arts school (good rep though) GPA within my majors was about 3.7. Graduated with Economics Honors
GMAT: 730 (Q48/V42)
Other Qual: Licensed CPA
Relevant Courses: A lot of accounting, stats (A), econometrics (A), intermediate micro (A), intermediate macro (B+), real analysis (C- yikes!), Calc 1/2- completed in hs. I'm currently taking multivariable calc (have an A so far and the final grade will be in before I apply)
Work Exp: 2 years big 4 audit. Currently working for a Fortune 500 company.
Research Exp: Did an honors research thesis for my econ degree. Published in 2 econ journals with my advisor. Presented at a few conferences. Currently working on a third paper with him that we just presented.
LOR: one from my co-author (econ prof), one from another econ prof, one from accounting prof
Research Interests: Financial Archival- I'm primarily interested in the economic consequences of disclosure regulation/accounting standard changes

Right now I'm planning to apply to Northwestern, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland. Considering NYU/Penn but not sure. My major weakness is my math background. I got a C in real analysis as a freshman because I didn't know how much work was required, etc. Just bad timing. I'm hoping that taking MV calc will help. I'm also planning to take linear algebra and a grad level micro econ theory this spring (addressed in my statement of purpose).

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

You have a solid profile including a good and unusual mix of research/professional credentials. Because of the research background, the 730 GMAT should still put you in the running for most of the places you cite, except Northwestern and Penn. Your non-math background isn't really going to hurt you because you have an Econ background, which may even be better for Accounting. However, your lack of graduate coursework may hurt a bit in some places, though again published papers may make up for it.

Since you're looking a Big 10 schools I'll assume you're from the Midwest/Great Lakes region. Have you considered Iowa? For Accounting, it has a pretty good history and reputation, right up there with the others (and definitely way above Maryland).

Thanks for the eval, cabro. I'll definitely take a look at Iowa's program. Northwestern is my 'reach' school as I know it's on a different level than the others I'm applying to.

I know the lack of a graduate degree is an issue. I never considered getting one in accounting since I had the 150 hours for my CPA in 4 years. In retrospect, a masters in econ would have been great, but it seems to be too late. I'm going to be taking some grad level econ courses this spring (micro theory and probably advanced econometrics/something of that nature). Hopefully, this plus my research experience will alleviate any ad com concerns.

Thanks again for the input.