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zga7797
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Question about next step... [#permalink] New post   04 Apr 2007, 06:19
Hello,

I'm new to this forum and I'm glad there's somewhere I can finally go to get questions answered. I'm interesting in getting a Ph.D. in strategy with a emphasis on sustainable enterprise and I would like to get some input on which way I should go.

Background:
I am a 26 y/o African American female and currently have a B.S. in civil engineering and have been working for two years. My ugpa was 3.1 and gmat is 740. I worked in a research lab my last 2 yrs of undergrad, completed two papers, published one in two journals, presented my research, and won two NSF awards for research.

Questions:
1. I want to get into a top 25 school for the Ph.D. Should I look into doing a masters before applying? I know alot of the school sites say you don't need a masters but looking at the CVs of most Ph.D. students they have MBAs.

2. If so, should I get a MS or MBA? Which MS?

3. Which schools should I target for a MS or MBA? Hopefully somewhere that'll allow me to do some research.

Thanks alot for your help,

Z
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bauble
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[#permalink] New post   04 Apr 2007, 08:10
Your profile is very good except for the GPA. If I were looking at your profile (as a somewhat informed future grad student, so take with a grain of salt), I would be concerned about your raw intellectual horsepower given the low GPA. You should have a convincing story to ease this concern. Your high GMAT helps for this. Your impressive research experience does too, particularly if you have LORs that confirm that you were not handheld by faculty in the research.

You could apply to some Ph.D. and some masters programs, if you have the time and resources to put it together. Also, get some advice from strategy/mgmt profs if you can.

I wouldn't recommend an MBA. That will only be marginally helpful in easing the transition to teaching classes, and some Ph.D. programs do a good job of that anyway. As to which master's, that's a good Q. I'd say that econ would be good because you can 1) demonstrate your quantitative ability, which might be a red flag from your gpa 2) it is relevant for sustainable enterprise (I think).
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jbsears
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[#permalink] New post   04 Apr 2007, 08:32
Like Bauble said, talk to some professors and here what they say. With your high GMAT, you may want to do an MBA cause you could probably get into a top 5 or 10 program. Being an African American female will help getting into a top MBA program with a 3.1 since it is not that low for an MBA.

I don't think your low GPA will make professors think lowly of your intellectual horsepower. That is what the GMAT is for. A low GPA just shows a lack of commitment or dedication to school. A school may doubt your ability to concentrate and succeed in the two years of classes. It also depends on why your GPA is low. Mine was quite low at a 3.3 but I got As in all my math and econ classes and my one statistics class. My GPA was low cause I got Cs in astronomy, psychology, a few political science courses and all the other boring classes.

Whichever you choose, make sure you get above a 3.5 GPA.

Best of luck!
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mrw142
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[#permalink] New post   05 Apr 2007, 15:09
jbsears wrote:
My GPA was low cause I got Cs in astronomy, psychology, a few political science courses and all the other boring classes.


Hey! One of the courses I teach is in the poly sci dept! I resent that! I love Poly Sci; perhaps you just need to take a thrill-packed and highly entertaining gov't course from me!
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jbsears
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[#permalink] New post   05 Apr 2007, 21:05
mrw142 wrote:
jbsears wrote:
My GPA was low cause I got Cs in astronomy, psychology, a few political science courses and all the other boring classes.


Hey! One of the courses I teach is in the poly sci dept! I resent that! I love Poly Sci; perhaps you just need to take a thrill-packed and highly entertaining gov't course from me!


I was going to minor in poly sci originally cause I love the topic but the instructors in the first two classes I took were horrendous. I had this instructor who wrote on the board for the whole 75 minutes while talking to the board in a monotone voice the whole time. After this class I decided not to pursue a minor. It sucked b/c my school had a poly sci/econ dual minor which was fairly easy to get, but I couldn't do another poly sci class.
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mrw142
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[#permalink] New post   06 Apr 2007, 09:02
jbsears wrote:
mrw142 wrote:
jbsears wrote:
My GPA was low cause I got Cs in astronomy, psychology, a few political science courses and all the other boring classes.


Hey! One of the courses I teach is in the poly sci dept! I resent that! I love Poly Sci; perhaps you just need to take a thrill-packed and highly entertaining gov't course from me!


I was going to minor in poly sci originally cause I love the topic but the instructors in the first two classes I took were horrendous. I had this instructor who wrote on the board for the whole 75 minutes while talking to the board in a monotone voice the whole time. After this class I decided not to pursue a minor. It sucked b/c my school had a poly sci/econ dual minor which was fairly easy to get, but I couldn't do another poly sci class.


Too bad the instructors did you that way; it wouldn't be the first time I've heard of someone developing a lifelong aversion to a subject because of poor instruction. The subject matter can be taught through stories and anectdotes and analogies and can be very interesting. But you have to be willing to throw your heart into it, not just mail it in. You didn't happen to attend a big research U where your instructors were either profs who thought they had better things to do than teach undergraduates or graduate students who thought they had better things to do--live groveling and scraping to their graduate profs?
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jbsears
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[#permalink] New post   06 Apr 2007, 09:57
Indiana University Bloomington - Don't think the professor cared at all about making the subject interesting. The course was something about globalization. Basically he stared and wrote on the bored the time lines of the silk road and the movement from Europe to Asia. It was presented more like a history course which I can't stand studying history by remembering dates and names. It had nothing to do with politics and many of the course offerings at IU in poly sci had nothing to do with politics as we know it today.
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