Are you ready for that?
[#permalink]
11 Oct 2004, 10:16
Hi Evan,
If you are thinking of INSEAD and LBS, try to get some research or teaching experience first. They are looking for the best candidates, and the competition there is very tough. You could ask profs at your finance department if they are looking for a research assistant. If you are in your last year, they may be interested in hiring you part-time. It would be great if you were able to publish an article in one of the research journals, or something like that. Or at least you could apply to work as a teaching assistant next semester at one of the lower level courses at your department.
I am not sure about American B-schools, but European PhD programs have a wide range of the best candidates to choose from. It's better to have a pretty good idea what is research and teaching about before you apply. You can go to their website (for ex., INSEAD) and check resumes of their current PhD students to see how good they are! Also you'll see that most of them had a Master's degree (MBA or Msc) before they applied for a PhD, as it helps to get a better feeling of research.
The thing that striked me a bit in your posts was a very wide range of fields you are considering - Finance, OB, Law. Those areas are VERY different when it gets to research, so you better first to figure out what is closer to your heart, and what you will be ready to explore almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for many years! It does get boring, VERY BORING! Will you be able to stick to one narrow topic for at least 2-3 years while doing your PhD? Think about it. PhD is not about studying, it's about reseach, research and research! It's a different kind of school.
And after all of that, if you really think this IS yours (as it is mine!), than just get some research/teaching experience, and apply!
Hope it helps (and is not too discouraging!)