Fall 2006 Applicants - come here!

Hi,

I am an engineer-MBA from a top IIT-IIM combo in India of 1990 vintage. Subsequently, worked in marketing with leading corporates before setting up my own marketing training-consulting firm which has done very well. My firm has reached the point where it can grow without me, and I am contemplating moving to academia beginning with a phd marketing in US-Europe. Am writing to get a feel of my chances and suggested target univs.

Strengths

Quality of univs attended
Good acads in IIM, including high mktg grades and teaching assistantship in stats
GMAT 770-Just given- Q 50, V 46
Strong work ex achievements
Have taught full mktg courses in reputed business schools
Have written columns, articles etc in top business magazines
Successful as corporate trainer in India and SE Asia

Weaknesses
Age
No recent experience in academic research
Weak IIT acads- first class, but only just.

Questions:

At 38, will any top 20 univs look at me?
Suggested target univs?
Any pointers on how to go about it- I am completely out of touch with the whole game.

Tks

It is difficult, but doable. You need to select the universities very carefully. Your GMAT and background is excellent, the hurdle is only age. How can you convince adcomms that you will be an asset to academia ?.

1. Please do go thru the previous threads on age factor and excellent advice by Hjort and others there.

2. Look at your aimed "top 20" school websites. Do they admit anyone near your age ? Data for last 2-3 years. If not DO not apply there. you will find your list of top 10/top 20 getting significantly changed as a result of your research. Apply to schools that are ok with any age. See previous threads.

3. Contact profs via email first. assess your chances by responses.

The question put in your case will not be why PhD but "Why now? " by the PhD adcomms. You need to be clear about that and write your SOP's accordingly.

4. For the pointers of going about it , see previous threads and blog entries on this site.

Hi Sameer,

Thanks for the mail and the help. Will do as you suggest. A quick one- offhand, which are the univs you know which are age friendly and have good marketing programs?

Will do detailed research but your/group members experience can be a useful starting point.

Univs that are ok with age and with good marketing programs - strictly personal opinion - Wharton, Insead, MIT
Univs that mind age very much - you won't find older students here - Harvard, Stanford, Kellog, Duke

But as I said - do your own research. It depends on the professors, the current position and your fit with the program. There are very many great programs in marketing apart from above list - Columbia for quant and NYU, Berkeley, Michigan for behavioral side of marketing

There are other factors for aged applicants

1. One doesn't have to just go for the prestige of the institution especially MBA rankings. Ask around in your area of interest (starting out broadly, e.g. marketing and then behaviour vs quant )

3. Check out placement records. You will be shocked at how mediocre some top school placements are for their PhD graduates - and similarily how good some 'second tier" schools placements are.

4. Personal considerations are also a factor - family commitments, locational preferences. you will be spending many years of your life in a school - and at this age it may well be very difficult to adjust otherwise!!

Hi...

I am a graduate of IT-BHU (1988)-IIM Calcutta (1992) vintage - these are both considered fairly good colleges in their own right. Worked my way up the corporate ladder in telecom companies.

Just recently, stepped out of corporate world (as a Sr. VP) and doing some consulting work for International donor organizations in Bangaldesh and am preparing for GMAT - scheduled for June end

Dream is to be able to do a PhD from a good, age-friendly college in US in area of Business Strategy and then continue to do research in applied business strategies with some university, or semi-commercial organization.

Have been totally out of touch with the academic world - except voracious reading..

Need some advise on how to go about setting up this contact network with the professors in relevant area of interest...

Lets be in touch...

Hello Everybody,
I am a first timer over here (just registered today and wondering why didn't I do it before)! Anyways my name is Somak. I have dont my B.Tech from IIT KGP (2001) and then MS from GWU. After that I am back to India and after one year in PwC I am now with IBM Global Services. But decided to go back to academics and planning to have a major in Marketing with minor in Strategic Management.

Planning to sit for GMAT on September.
The schools I have planned to apply are:

Wharton, Cornell
Yale, UNC-Chapel Hill
UMD-College Park, Duke
NYU-Stern
CMU
U Virginia-Darden
U of Rochester

But it may change depending on my GMAT score. One thing is bothering me freinds and any help is welcome in that. That is I am getting one recommendation from my B.Tech Advisor, another one I am getting is from a senior employee of PwC. But I am not sure whether I shall get any reco from my MS Advisor or not and even if he gives how will it be. So I am planning to get one from another senior level person from PwC (Director level). So please suggest me which one will be better ? Since I am going for a PhD so will the reco from my MS advisor carry more weight than the PwC director ?

So thats is for the time being. Wish all of you best of luck.

-Regards
Somak

As you're applying for a Ph.D., I doubt adcoms (or whatever the real selection process is for Ph.Ds) will put much credit in professional recommendations, especially if there are two of them, and they're not from the company you're working for now. I'd say, go with your MS advisor, or go with a professor who somewhat knows you and could say good things about your abilities, even if he's not your advisor. You need someone who can brag about your research abilities and dedication here, I'm not sure the PwC people can assess that so well.

As far as PwC senior vs. PwC director goes, if you really want to have a professional reco for your application, I think you should choose the person who knows you the most (assuming he'll say good things about you). The people who select applications for a Ph.D. in Marketing don't know the difference between a senior and a director in an accounting firm.

(As a side note, I guess you're already prepared to explain the change from PwC to IBM Global Services to Marketing..)

Good luck!

Hi cabro,
Thanks a lot for your fast reply. I get it. Just to add, my role in PwC is the same as IBM Global Services, i.e., being a consultant in IT field. PwC does a lot of IT Consultancy, esp. in India. And Marketing and Mathematics interests me a lot, mainly after reading the Kotler's books and Mckinsey Quarterly online. I am also a frequent visitor/reader in Knowledge@Wharton. So I have decided to go for Quantitative Marketing. I know that I am changing my field to some extent, but that is what is life, isn't it ? I might also add my admission to Indian Statistical Institute, having statistics as a vital subject in my +2, and good score in economics in my college degree in favour of my arguement. What do you think ?
Shall try to get some recos also from some of the professors.

It is not whether the professional recommender is ok or not.
I believe your recommendations need to articulate your ability to be analytical and research oriented. If your professional reco says that you are that kind of person and lays emphasis on those with some concise example wording, it will add value. If it just says good thing about your ability work in a corporate or execute the job, then the academics recos should at least emphasize your research capabilities. PHD admission committes look for research orientation.

Hope this helps. Maybe Sameer can chip in as well.

Hi all

I am ramya from India currently working as Business analyst in a software solution provider firm. I had completed my undergrads in engineering in 2002 with 7.5 on 10 and mba in 2005 in an indian bschool with 8.7/10 my gmat scores are 660. I want to pursue my Phd in strategic management. I am clueless about what kind of universities do i stand a chance...I really need some insights on this. I also want to know if i should retake my gmat

I guess this question is well out of context in the entire thread.But plz do respond

Thanks and regards

ramya

Hi Ramya

A little more background will help the posters suggest concrete ways ahead. Which Univs did you graduate from ? Why Strategic Management ? Which Universities are you targetting ? Why do you want to do a PhD ?

Hi all,

I am Suman Neupane from Bangkok originally from Nepal. I have an MBA from Asian Institute of TEchnology (AIT) together with a dual degree in Finance from ESCP-EAP, Paris France. My GPA in AIT was 3.97/4.00. Moreover I also have an MBA from Tribhuvan University Nepal where i topped the board. My work expereince is largely academic. I have taught graduate and undergrad students in both private and public institutions.

My basic weakness is the lack of a science degree. I have been a commerce student all along and therefore there is not much of quantitative work in my academic life which in considered to be important in PhD Finance. However, I am comfortable with numbers and do have the ability to learn quickly. My last GMAT score was only 600 which I hope to raise with my next sitting.

My interest lies in the field of Finance with special focus on IPOs. Recently one of my papers (co-writtern) was acepted by a journal for publication. My target are not the top tier universities but the second tier ones. I would love to hear from you guys about my prospects and as to how i should be going ahead.

Wish all of you the very best with your PhD applications.

Just to give you a breif profile:
3yrs work ex till date
3 year bachelors degree from India ( Bachelors of computer application) with average grades
Spent the past one year working with some brilliant Alumni of Stanford and co founded a company with them in India. Its 50 people big today, esentially doing Sales Re-engineering and Inside sales for High-tech and Life-sciences sector in the US. All the service delviry is done from India with just a adminstrative office in the US.

Invested in the Business development Co in india that is bringing Australian Outsourcing work to India. Helping them in operations consultancy and buisiness development stratergies.

During the past one year,I have developed a strong interest in Organizational Behavior ( especially phases a organization goes thru when its a start up) and Finance ( more towards decesion science , capital markets and M&A)

Yet to give my GMAT , but targetting between 700-750.

Eventual aim is to Create a business. also i am all of 21 years old.

Could you give a sense of how difficult or what it takes to get into a PHD program of a top school.

Also how much of a problem is it to have a 3 year bachelors degree for an MBA program and a PHD program.

-----------------

Any thoughts, info and your prespective would be great.

Bascially, I am trying to figure out if at such a low age and such little work experience(however one of extremely rigrous learning and rewarding one) compared to other usual applicants does it even make sense to even think of applying for a PHD or is it simply a waste of time.

Thanks

"Eventual aim is to Create a business"

Then a PhD is not for you. Your profile, however, looks very strong for MBA programs. I suggest you take a look at them first.

Best,

M.

I agree with the previous poster: if your career goals are entrepreneurship, then there's just no reason to pursue a PhD in Business. In fact, stating those as a career goal would be the death of your application, even if you did net a 750 on the GMAT.

PhDs are for aspiring academics.

The other poster's right, MBA is a better goal, but a couple years down the road would be a better time to apply, you're still awful young. But if you get a couple years more experience and do get the 700+, you could maybe take a shot at a top-10 B-school, do Fin or OB or Entrep, and be on your road to setting up that business. If that bores you after you've done it for a number of years and you then decide you want to be an academic, in your late 20s or in your 30s (but not later), sell the company, throw the massive amounts of money you're earned from being such a good entrepreneur in mutual funds, and apply for admission to a good PhD program. That's the way to do it.

Now, if a secondary goal of yours is to teach at a research university and the entrep thing is something you'd be willing to back burner, then do the PhD, but make sure that's what you want to do. It will suck up the rest of your 20s and you will not have all that much time for anything else. Getting a PhD is not a thing you just grind away at and get like a UG degree--it's a lot of work and sweat and you gotta contribute something unique to the field and people often burn out and walk away a few years in with little to show and a lot of debt. It's a 5 - 7 year committment with nothing but a tuition waiver and a $15 - $25K stipend.

Look before you leap.

Sure, if the primary goal is enterprenuership , a business Ph.D may not be for you.

If you want to start your own consulting firm, yes, a Ph.D will help as far as quantitative skills are concerned.

Praetorian

Good point, though you'd think there'd be a more efficient way of developing quant skills sufficient for a consulting firm than pursuing a business PhD. But, if he wants to do the entrep consulting thing as his primary goal, but also wanst to leave open the possibility of settling into mid life career in academia, the PhD might make reasonable sense.

But if not, wow, what a commitment to pursue a PhD if he doesn't want to teach at a research univeristy, what opportunity costs! You'd think there'd be a course of action that would have a better ROI than that.