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Andr359
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Which tier(s) should I concentrate on? 01 Dec 2006, 11:35
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I graduated with about 3.2 gpas -bachellor and master- and from the dozens PhD websites I've reviewed, their incoming students have mostly 3.6+ gpas and 700+ gmats. Although the latter is workable, my uni grades worry me. They are reasonably good but a bit below what most programs require. Which tier(s) would you recommend me provided I score 700+ on the gmat?
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tkkoh
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Which tier(s) should I concentrate on? 01 Dec 2006, 18:12
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Which is you interested field of study? How strong would your recommendations be? Were did you do your undergrad/master and in what field?

While it is important to ace the GMAT, the GMAT itself may not get you into the program if the rest of your application is weak (e.g. poor recommendations and research match with the school). Conversely, if the rest of your application is strong, the weak GPA may be less of a hinderance (although the weak grad GPA could still be a concern). Also, for PhD programs, there is no widely accepted tier-ing of schools. So it is hard to say which tier you should apply to.
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Andr359
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Which tier(s) should I concentrate on? 01 Dec 2006, 19:18
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Thank you for your comments, tkkoh.

I'm interested in a Finance PhD. Am doing a 1-yr postgraduate degree in the field now, and working on having all teachers well impressed.

The ug is in Electronic Engineering from top Peruvian university (the best students normally go to top 10 US programs); the msc is in Economics from fine UK university, very well ranked department in Europe.

I'm applying for a research assistant / teaching position in my current Peruvian uni to strenghten the applications.

And yes, the "tiering" works mostly for MBAs... although I've seen -from the posts- that the very best PhD applicants tend to apply to the very best -top 10 to 15- programs, just like MBA applicants, and that's why I was asking...
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tkkoh
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Which tier(s) should I concentrate on? 01 Dec 2006, 20:01
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Finance is one of the most competitive field to get in. Sounds like your recommendations should be strong - that's a plus point. Try to go for the research assistantship (instead of the teaching position) if possible - use it to demo your passion and experience in research.

As to which tier - maybe the top programs would be a bit of a stretch, given your GPA. The top 20 to 30 may be possible given your MSc. You really need to ace your GMAT (750+ would be helpful). Honestly, I'm really not sure since my field is not in finance.
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Andr359
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Which tier(s) should I concentrate on? 02 Dec 2006, 16:48
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Will keep your comments in mind, tkkoh. Thank you again.
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Which tier(s) should I concentrate on? 05 Dec 2006, 04:57
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One point: I don't think your undergrad GPA (from Peru) is much of a concern here, as the use of the A+/F scale differs a lot from country to country, and in some countries from school to school. For example, in many good US schools, getting a C really is a wake-up call ("you did a very crappy job but I'll let you pass this one"), although in my undergrad school (Canadian third-tier), C+ was the average and most teachers used the whole A+/E scale. I'm not so sure about the UK, but it's probably more comparable to what PhD admissions committees are used to in the US, so you might want to explain why you got not-so-great grades somewhere in your SOP.
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