anuanand wrote:
Quote:
hi anu,
Welcome to gmatclub. Thanks for the kind words
We would be very interested in knowing about what your plans are. Phd Finance is extremely competitive. What materials are you using for the verbal component of the GRE? what about quant?
let us know
regards
praetorian
Hi Friend!
I am from India and presently working after my Masters in Finance and Control in 2003. I want to pusue a Phd from a good unviersity. with good academics, I am preparing for GRE.
At present I am working on vocabulary and will begin maths in full flow. then sm CATs.
As for vocab, i have got good word lists and "Dictionary of difficult word" by Hutchinson -( for those esoteric words)- .
learning idioms, and ARCOs "Words for smart test takers" - a good starter.
However, I like the book " All about words" by nurnberg and rosenblum - since my college days- bit dificult but a good collection of words.
Please let me know which books to follow for MAths.
Another thing- I have not studied mathematics in my Graduation and thus might face a difficulty to demonstrate my mathematical skills requied for a PhD. Please guide me how can I either make up for that or convince the admisions boards! Is taking maths subject test will be sufficient?
I understand that the forum is for GMAT and my queries may be a bit out of place but I joined the forum since contents of the two exams are quite similar and learnign from others' experiences has always been helpful to me.
Regards
Anu Anand
Hi Anu
Your questions are welcome.
-- It always better to contact your school of interest if you have specific questions.
Its better to get first hand advice. if you have other questions like which school is better for what research area, you might want to pose these questions on the Business Week Forums. There is a seperate thread- Phd in Strategy 4th year..something like that... There is a lot of useful discussion on Ph.D in finance.
-- You mean, you did not take any math courses in your Undergraduation.
That can be a 'slight' disadvantage. A Ph.D in Finance is really heavy on quant and you would be expected to have taken courses in real analysis etc. Its good that you have a masters in finance. Did your master's course include a lot of math based coursework? This question should be directly addressed to the B-School you want to go to. you might get a diplomatic answer from them , but atleast you will have a good idea whether to apply to that school or not.
-- Have you checked how many universities specifically ask for the GRE? I know Chicago finance needs GRE, but otherwise, i think with most programs, the GMAT is recommended. Do you know what schools you want to apply? Make sure you check the requirements.
-- Subject Test in MATH
Again this is something that you have to ask the department that you are applying. if many departments say that Subject GRE would be helpful, only then take it.
-- When i took the GRE, i really did not use any book for MATH. I relied on practice with PowerPrep, Kaplan and the Big Book. But I am sure the GRE content has changed. I see that now , the GRE includes statistics and probability. I took the GRE in 2000. You might want to consider participating in our math forums. You can attempt the CR in our forums too. I have a feeling that the RC in GRE is simpler, so i guess you should be fine with a bit of practice in the BIG BOOK.
-- For the word list, I found the IMS [the coaching institute in india] word list to be excellent. It has many words that are not there in Barrons. I had also used the Websters CD-ROM. It was also useful. I used to ask my sister to ask me 100 words at a time from the IMS word list. that practice really helped.
-- Just to give you an idea of the competition, Maryland recieved 250 applications in Finance PhD for just 4 positions. Maryland is not even a top 10 school. As you go up the rankings, the situation is crazy. A IIT + IIM guy didnt get into Ph.D finance at Wharton. So, do your research and study hard for your GRE or GMAT, whatever the case may be.
-- If your interest is in academia after Ph.D, you must make every effort to make it to a top 20-25 school. if you complete your Ph.D from a lower ranked school, it will be harder for you to get a position in a good school.
you might get a job in industry, if thats what your goal is.
Hope this helps
Regards
Praetorian