rudraphd wrote:
Hello Everyone,
I wish the PhD aspirants had a stronger community & forums. Very hard to get relevant information!
I am Rudra Singh, from India. I have 15 years of work experience in a variety of roles & industries. My undergraduate degree was from an IIT (75%) and an MBA degree (3.55/4.0) from a top 10 US B-School. I have international work experience as well. Tried my hands at GMAT and scored 680 - it was increasingly difficult for me at my age and work to get any time to study. I thought about retaking the test, but decided against it. Did not write TOEFL because I studied & worked in the USA.
I sincerely thought that my application will have some serious challenges -
(1) Age - 40 years
(2) Work Experience - 15 years
(3) No research experience
(4) No Academic references (I connected with a few MBA profs, but received no reply - I guess, they are equally amnesiac!)
(5) Seemingly weak GMAT score (I screwed up in Quant also)
So, I decided to play on the strengths that I have, i.e. strong professional experience of 15 years, in a variety of industries, and use it to build my profile in a manner that it could at least help me in getting an interview. I worked with my insights from a lot of field observation, and developed a comprehensive Research Proposal and ran it with several professors who worked on related area. I must have received around 30% response, which was amazing!
I used their feedback to further improve the proposal and before the application process, it was ready. I also went into overdrive to create a sharp SoP! I used professional recommendations, because there was no way in which I could have received even one credible academic recommendation.
I applied to 12 universities, in Strategy & Management area, mixing geographies, but focusing only on those that had credible work in my research area/subject.
I received straightaway dings from most places - I was disappointed to receive one, where even the professors told me that my research topic was solid! But, I received interviews from 3! Converted 1, awaiting results from the other 2. The one I converted is a global top-10 in the area of Management & Strategy (this I came to know much later). I will share all the names, as and when I have received the final decision.
My Learning & suggestions for all the PhD aspirants -
1) Chasing GMAT is good, if you have time for that. But don't fret too much if you can't
2) I think Quant is more important (50 or 51 should be the focus)
3) Network with professors. It comes handy during interview
4) Work very hard in developing your research proposal - that can make you shine in the crowd
5) Network with your potential Recommenders much before application process. Nurture them. You need to have at least 4 for your application!
6) Follow up regularly with your Recommenders to submit their recos (I slipped there, and paid heavily as my application was not considered at 4 universities. One or more recommenders 'forgot' to send the recos by the last date)
7) There is nothing like 'TOP' university. That is MBA way of thinking. At PhD level, you should think in terms of which professors can help you in furthering your interest area. That is the reason why it is a good idea to develop a Research Proposal
8) If you have more work experience, then be very careful and be very open to receive rejects. There is a very serious bias against the experienced candidates for PhD! Only a few universities value field experience, and its applicability in academia (which was extremely strange, IMHO)
I hope that this helps you a bit in your PhD application journey!
All the best...
This was super helpful, thank you for sharing!