PhD in Finance Preparation & Career Advice

[ReadtheBlogs]

After considerable consideration I have decided to pursue a second bachelors degree in mathematics (statistics) at a teaching oriented institution in order to acquire the necessary background to prepare for admissions into a PhD in Finance program. Whether I actually finish the math (stats) degree is I believe irrelevant, the point of re-enrolling as a second bachelors candidate is to satisfy the necessary pre-requisities in math, statistics, economics and computer science for a PhD in Finance and hopefully gain some meaning research experience. The second bachelors option was the cheapest and most convient path for me given my current financial and family situation rather than enrolling in a masters program. Plus, I already have on-going relationships with the professors at the institution because it is where I completed my first degree. My plan is to apply to PhD in finance programs for fall 2013 - so I have approximately 2 years of prerequisities that I need to complete.

 

My goal is to get accepted to a PhD program in Finance - realistically I will probably be aiming for a tier 2 or tier 3 school depending on my GMAT score.

 

Profile:

 

My undergraduate GPA was a 3.8 (Accounting & Economics major) and I worked in industry for 3 years as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). I have no real quantative or computer programming background - I will be starting in Calculus 1 in the fall.

 

Questions:

 

I have a couple of questions/issues regarding how to best prepare for a program over the next two years:

 

- How important is progamming knowledge to Ad-coms? Do you need only a basic proficiency in C++ or more, i.e. advanced C++ knowledge and FORTRAN, Matlab, GAUSS, and R?

 

- How important are the learning of statistical software programs such as STATA, SPSS, and SAS?

 

- What is the best way of going about acquiring research experience? I currently do not have a particular focus in mind i.e. whether I want to concentrate on corporate finance, asset pricing, etc. If the only opportunity I have to do research is in an area of finance I am not particularly interested in or in a related field such as Accounting, Economics, Mathematics (statistics) should I take it? Are ad-coms more about just seeing that you have some research experience as opposed to it being in a specific specialty that you may be applying for at the time of your application.

 

- Is gaining tutoring experience a plus, i.e. tutoring undergraduates in finance, accounting and economics?

 

- Most importantly, How much mathematics do I really need? Tentatively I plan on taking:

* Differential and Integral Calculus I (single variable calculus)

* Differential and Integral Calculus II

* Multivariable Calculus

* Differential Equations with Linear Algebra

* Intermediate Applied Statistics with SPSS

* Probability Theory

* Experimental Design and Regression Analysis

* Computing for Statistics: SAS Programming Language

* Statistical Consulting and Communication

* Statistical Consulting, Communication, and Project Management

* Interest Theory (Mathematical Finance)

 

supporting courses:

 

* Programming I (intro to C++)

* Econometrics

* Seminar in Econometrics and Forecasting

* Seminar in Microeconomics Theory

 

In addition, do I need more theory based mathematics courses such as a proof writing course? What about upper division Linear Algebra and Real Analysis? Or is a background in theoretical proof-based mathematics primarily only required for admission to top tier programs such as Stanford, Wharton, etc.

 

- Predictions on the future job market for finance faculty. Budget cuts and the age of the internet with online courses and universities seem to be rapidly changing the scope of higher education, will these tenure-track jobs be available 6 or 7 years down the road?

 

- My primary goal in acquiring a PhD in Finance is to gain employment at a university in a tenure-track position. However, if the tenure track professorship doesn't work out what jobs can you get in industry with a PhD in Finance from a tier 2 or 3 school? Are the only jobs in industry primarily geared towards those that focused on areas of research in their PhD programs in asset pricing with particularly strong quantative and programming skills?

 

Your feedback is very much appreciated :)

[robbieboy74]

make sure you take stochastic calculus and stochastic processes (a stat course most likely) if you are doing a phd in finance. also you will need real analysis, and you will benefit from topology and complex analysis, but they aren't mandatory or anything.

 

i hear you can just learn programming when you get in, but i imagine you will have pretty good matlab experience if you are taking all those maths.

[ReadtheBlogs]

Thanks for the response Robby, that was helpful. I am also having some difficulty in identifying what exactly the difference is between a PhD in Finance and PhD in Accounting. Provided that the PhD in Accounting is focused on Financial Accounting (Capital markets and Valuation) based research. Do you or anybody else know the difference between the two? I do know that the applicant pool for finance is way over-crowded (at-least at the top schools) in comparison to accounting.

 

Although I do not doubt that competition for admissions into both programs is very selective and quantativly oriented, accounting seems to have a less competitive tone to it, for example:

 

Stanford Finance: "The Finance PhD Program involves a great deal of very hard work, and there is keen competition for admission. For both these reasons, the faculty is selective in offering admission..."

 

Stanford Accounting: "The Program is small and permits tailoring to the background and interests of each student. Relative to other doctoral programs in accounting, the Stanford program is quantitatively oriented. Additional coursework can be provided to compensate for a lack of quantitative background in cases where the faculty believe an applicant's other qualifications are exceptional. Students with a very limited quantitative background typically take an extra year to complete additional coursework."

 

Do I need as much math to get accepted to and survive a PhD in accounting program as I do finance? If not, would I have a better chance of getting into a top PhD program for Accounting given that I am a CPA with 'Big 4' accounting experience and would (hypothetically speaking, in two years) have relatively strong quantative skills.

 

Thanks,

[jambajim50]

I believe you will have a better chance getting into a Phd accounting program given that I know some of them really like you to have experience in the field, whereas for most Finance programs they don't care much about work experience. (I know ASU's accounting program in particular likes you to have work experience, as an example) I also would think it would require less math, but I'm not sure. In the end the most important thing should be what you are interested in. I know accounting Phd's do research on things like how accounting standards affect economic outcomes, or how you could change them to better reflect economic realities. That's just from speaking with one of my accounting professors a few months ago. I would go talk to some of the professors at your school and do your research to decide what interests you.

 

Also, I would post this on the Phd in Business forum and you will probably get more responses.

 

Good luck!