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When is the ideal time to start communicating with the Profs
or does it matter?
It doesnt matter. the ideal time depends on you. I would suggest taking all the time you can because it will help you to talk to professors at many other universities. four years is a long time to spend with your advisor. you better get to know him/her well. you can find info. about a prof. indirectly be contacting students from universities. Most of the students will be helpful and will give you the inside story.
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Apart from providing information, can the Profs influence anything
else for the application?
The idea is that your application packet should speak for itself. They cant influence decisions based on what they know about you. Decisions are usually made a committee.
Talk about influencing decision, Letters of Recommendations can do a great difference. if your prof is well-known, its a good thing to have a recommendation from him.
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What are the typical factors(apart from GMAT, GPA) adcoms look for in a PhD candidate, we all know that for MBA its leadership, management expereince, leadership outside work etc
Strong Math Background, Great Undergraduate and Graduate GPA,
atleast 90 percentile on the quant and a similar percentile on your verbal, Relevance of your Undergrad and grad major to your Ph.D program, Fit of your Research Interests with the schools overall research emphasis.
If the undergrad major or grad major is closely related to the field you want to do your PhD in, its a plus.
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Does it make sense to prepare for a MBA application as a backup, in case we dont get a call from the place we want for the PhD addmissions?Can a MBA be logically continued for a PhD, the way it happens for MS and PhD in engineering disciplines?
Good question. maybe anupag can answer it better. all i can say is..MS and MBA are vastly different programmes. in your MS, you might take some research oriented coursework or do a masters thesis. that is why MS-PHD is very common model. MS is great preparation for a Ph.D. MBA courses are hardly research based. Plus, MS can get you some research experience, MBA cannot.
If you do a Ph.D in business without an MBA , the only difference is you might have to take some extra courses. at Bauer, i think its 5 extra courses. I like that actually. you are going to teach B- School students someday. you better know what you are talking about.
sorry i was not able to help here
Finally, your greatest asset is your industry experience. as a prof, you will have more to say to your students about real world experiences, team work , leadership than i would. you will be able to choose an area for your dissertation based on the problems you observed in your industry. my masters thesis was based on a supply chain problem in my industy. finally, most profs. consult for many industries. Success in consulting wont be as difficult for you as it would be for someone like me, who has only 15 months work experience.
hope this helps