Prosperitychicken wrote:
I'm considering an Accounting PhD and would like to get some advice to develop a good plan around which schools to target and how I can possibly improve my chances
Undergrad: Bachelor of Accountancy (First Class Honours), Nanyang Technological University Singapore
GPA: 4.66/5.00
GMAT Overall: 710
GMAT Quant: 49
GMAT Verbal: 37
Passed CFA Level 3
Work experience:
Police Officer (national service before undergrad)
T.A for an introductory undergrad course
2x accounting-related internships
Equity Research Analyst (2 years)
Research publications:
No academic research but at least 50 equity research reports
Research interest:
Earnings management, analyst forecasts, capital markets
Your profile is very good. You have very good chances at the 2nd tier Ph.D. programs (maybe first-tier programs; it depends on who is giving you a letter of recommendation? and you get extremely lucky). CFA certification is a plus. Your GPA seems pretty good, however, where did you stand in your class? What math courses have you already taken? How are you at coding?
If you want to go for the top programs then go for a research master's degree, which will have lots of Probability theory, statistics theory, linear algebra, econometrics, research-based courses, accounting seminars, improve your programming skills, work on SAS/STATA/LATEX/PYTHON etc. If you can take your GMAT to 740+ with a Pre-PhD program such as
(click here), then you are well on your way to the top programs. You may also explore other such
opportunities..
If you don't want to do a Pre-Doctoral, then you may also think of working as a research associate at NTU or NUS with an accounting professor and simultaneously do research-based courses. This will help you gain some academic research experience and will get a LOR from the professor. (50 equity research report will not add much value in your application; as you might be knowing academic research is a different ball game). Your work experience might help you in getting some research ideas though but that is after you have got the admission. For admission, if you help a professor in his/her research then that is very useful.
Do feel free to get back!
All the best!