[#permalink]
03 May 2007, 22:34
Well, you're only 26 now. If you skip the master's in finance and head straight for a Ph.D., you'd be, what, 27, 28? Not old at all. 30 isn't too old either.
As far as the 5 (or 4 if you're fast) yrs go, it's not ridiculous. There is a ton of training involved, and you'll be very busy.
Most business Ph.D.'s from top 5 seem to get tenure-track research positions in academia (haven't done a detailed study, but I've perused quite a bit and I think this is true). There are other positions that business Ph.D.'s can get other than academia. Let's take finance for example, since that seems to be your intended field (?). Coming from a top 5, my impression is that you should have no problems getting a nice industry job in the financial industry (hedge fund, investment bank, etc...). You shouldn't go for a Ph.D. with the goal of getting a non-academic job in my opinion. I don't know what Canada pays, but starting salaries for b-school profs are markedly higher than those for other fields. They vary by discipline, and finance makes the most. Coming out of a top 5, I have the distinct impression that you'd make over 100k in any field, but I don't know the range for different schools (if you go through the whole app process and still don't know salary data, then you are Ph.D. material).