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Question

Hi there,

I am applying to do a phd in business management at Mannheim, however after taking my first CAT (410) I am doubting myself somewhat, I am curious as to if the rest of my profile stacks up.

I am 27 years old with 12 months Work experience as an entrepreneur. I run a part time business buying and selling bullion/coins all over the world, whilst I have chosen to keep it part time my turnover for the first year was 125k with a 10% margin. I do work a menial job on top but it is of no relevance.

My education is as follows:
BA Business Administration from Portsmouth University: GPA:3.2 - I spent a 6 month stint in Sweden as part of my course
MA Advanced International Business Management, a dual award from Both Newcastle Business School and The university of Groningen in The Netherlands : GPA: 3.56 - I spent 9 months in in The Netherlands over 2 occasions

My Master thesis achieved a grade of 75% and I intend on turning it into a Doctoral thesis. My area of interest is manifestations of culture within corporate social responsibility documents. My master thesis developed new theories which I want to take further.

I also have 3 months living experience in Germany and have travelled Japan.

The GMAT is really putting me off applying. In the UK we don't really test this way and I only have a month until my exam. Is it just a mental thing or is the GMAT really that important when stacked up against my 'cv'

Any response would be appreciated,

Shaun

MBAIvy · Answer

The GMAT (or alternatively, the GRE) is very important in the U.S., even for graduate (non-MBA) programs, but having publications (or patents, if that's applicable in your field) will override a low score in almost every case. If you're coming from the UK and trying to apply to a U.S. school, I recommend taking the GRE instead. Most graduate students do better on that test, as it is slightly more "verbal"oriented. Hope that helps!

BrazilianPhD · Answer

Well, I know nothing about Mannheim and CAT. But the rest of your profile does not seem extraordinary for a PhD applicant.

Things like work experience, running a business, and international experience are usually irrelevant for PhD. Your grades do not seem that great. It looks like the only thing you have to show as research experience is your master thesis, but that's something virtually all applicants have too.

When applying to a PhD program, you want to show extraordinary potential to do research. I don't see that in the information you provided.

As MBAIvy said, if you had publications, then the situation would be different. Because then you would have proof that you are good enough as a researcher to get your work published, and very few applicants have that.

Another thing that can help is if you have very strong letters of recommendations from professors who are well-known in your field, specially if those professors are known by the faculty of Mannheim. By the way, applying to only one university is really strange for PhD.

oliversw5 · Answer

Thank you for the frank assessment.

My GPAs are skewed due to how they are translated, I have a lot of marks that are capped at 4.0 when they are mid to high 70s. This means that when translated it doesn't provide a fair evaluation but it is a non-point as they will look at my transcripts and see that. I am only applying to Mannheim because I want to live in Baden-Wurttemberg, due to the way my business is run whilst I can afford to self study it would financially cripple me in the short run meaning I would have to wait until 2019 to start. Mannheim offers a stipend for the first year which will allow me to sort out my financial affairs in a non destructive manner. Is not a case of I am fixated on this particular university but more its the only university in the state that offered a stipend. I don't want to be approaching 30 with little to none experience in what I want to do with my life.

Shaun

BrazilianPhD · Answer

Ok. Well, you can try, but even with a great profile the probability of getting accepted when applying to only one university is really low.

I checked Mannheim's website, it seems that in 2017 it got 19 students for 7 programs. That seems to mean that each program, like Management, would have about 2 or 3 students each year, the same numbers I've seen here in the US.

With the information you have provided here, I don't think Mannheim will have trouble finding 2 or 3 applicants with profiles stronger than yours. And sometimes you are not really competing for 2 or 3 spots, because each program has different divisions. In my field, for example, the expectation is 2 new students for the Marketing PhD program each year, being 1 in consumer behavior and 1 in quantitative marketing. You really have to be among the best of the best, because they accept only 1 for a given research interest.

If you really want to go for a PhD, I suggest trying to strengthen your profile first and maybe try next year. Get a great GMAT score, get some research experience, then maybe you have a fighting chance.

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