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anjinsan · 2009 August 5th, 08:48 PM

Thanks for everyone who has responded so far!

So, here is the deal...I am planning on applying to Strategy PhD programs for Fall 2010; but I'm even debating whether or not I will be admitted to any programs (it doesn't have to be a top 20 program). I would GREATLY appreciate it if you could honestly evaluate my profile:

Age: 26
Nationality: Turkish
GMAT: 750
Undergrad GPA: 3.1 - BS in Business Management. GPA lower than would like it to be, but I was a scholarship NCAA D-1 student-athlete with not much time to study.
Graduate GPA: 3.4 - MBA in Finance & Strategy. Top 30 b-school. (Top grades for strategy & economics courses).
Research Exp: Paid Research Assistant for INSEAD PhD at b-school for Operations Management Strategy.
Work Experience: MBA Summer Associate @ Goldman Sachs in New York.
Letters of Rec: 3 very good LORs (INSEAD PhD, Stanford PhD, Cornell PhD). All b-school professors in Strategy, Economics, and Operations Management.

Do I have any shot of getting into any Strategy PhD programs? If so, which programs should I target? Any advice going forward between now and January? Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Good luck to everyone.

aspire4phd · 2009 August 19th, 06:35 AM

I'm interested in pursuing PhD in Strategy (focus: Innovation Management) in Fall 2010.
Here is my brief profile:

I'm a 34 year old male from India with 9 years of work experience in an executive position. I also take lectures on "Innovation" upon invitation.
UG-GPA: 3.6
PG-GPA: 3 (Engineering and Management)
[I have completed graduate studies both from IIT and IIM (Topmost in India)- and it is very difficult to get A's]
GMAT: 700 (I'm re-taking it)
Research & Publication: One year research experience; A case study, another paper in progress.
Scholarship: Throughout.
Extra-curricular/ Social: Loads of them
Reco: Good (from Indian Profs @ IIT/IIM though)

As I have a family, scholarship is a major concern: So I've shortlisted the following:
HBS, INSEAD, UC Berkley, Michigan, LBS, NUS Business School (all among top 35 rank - FT.com MBA ranking 2009).

Awaiting your evaluation and feedback. Please do tell me the shortcomings.

moomber123 · 2009 August 19th, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anjinsan

Thanks for everyone who has responded so far!

So, here is the deal...I am planning on applying to Strategy PhD programs for Fall 2010; but I'm even debating whether or not I will be admitted to any programs (it doesn't have to be a top 20 program). I would GREATLY appreciate it if you could honestly evaluate my profile:

Age: 26
Nationality: Turkish
GMAT: 750
Undergrad GPA: 3.1 - BS in Business Management. GPA lower than would like it to be, but I was a scholarship NCAA D-1 student-athlete with not much time to study.
Graduate GPA: 3.4 - MBA in Finance & Strategy. Top 30 b-school. (Top grades for strategy & economics courses).
Research Exp: Paid Research Assistant for INSEAD PhD at b-school for Operations Management Strategy.
Work Experience: MBA Summer Associate @ Goldman Sachs in New York.
Letters of Rec: 3 very good LORs (INSEAD PhD, Stanford PhD, Cornell PhD). All b-school professors in Strategy, Economics, and Operations Management.

Do I have any shot of getting into any Strategy PhD programs? If so, which programs should I target? Any advice going forward between now and January? Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Good luck to everyone.

anjinsan,

Your profile looks very promising. Top 10 programs are of course hard to get in even with a perfect GMAT and other great profile, but yours should place you into decent programs at the very least. But keep in mind that GMAT score and other "numbers" only go so far. Your statement, research interests (which need to align with the departments you are applying to) and the general "fit" for an academic career is probably the crucial factor for you. Good luck!

moomber123 · 2009 August 19th, 08:50 AM

aspire4phd,

Your profile looks fine, too. If you can boost the GMAT score a bit, that'd help for those schools you listed. Those are the very top "elite" schools so they tend to have a much higher average GMAT score. But keep in mind that GMAT score is only but one part of the application package, and it is not unheard of that people with 700 or so GMAT score end up at these elite schools (not often, but not impossible either). As my other post indicates, admissions is a complete package so your overall evaluation is only partially (and after a certain cut-off, only minimally) affected by GMAT score.

One more comment though, it might not be the best thing to base your list of departments on FT's MBA ranking. I have posted many comments on this issue. MBA ranking is a very different beast from PhD program ranking. MBA ranking is not completely irrelevant, because most people associate business school "prestige" with the MBA programs, not the PhD program. So if you go to a highly productive research department with a very high "PhD ranking" so to speak (no such thing really exists, only research productivity ranking), but a moderate or even low MBA ranking, your eventual placement might be held back a bit because of that. For example, big-10 schools such as Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State, Illinois, all have rather decent "research" ranking. With the exception of U Michigan Ann Arbor, most of these schools only have moderate MBA ranking. So their graduates tend to have a hard time placing at elite departments due to the lack of "prestige."

However, you need to be aware of the fact that placement is only one small step in a long academic career. The real battle is often at the tenure process after the initial placement. Very elite programs that place well due to "prestige" but doesn't really focus on publication will eventually cost you at the tenure process. Of course, very elite programs usually also have very good research training, but you really need to look into the best department for your research interests first, before considering prestige ranking. (I can never imagine myself at Harvard, for example, no matter how prestigious it is simply because my research interests just don't align well with them.)

With that said, some of these schools you listed might not be the best choice for strategy PhD per se. (They are, however, all very good for business PhD as a whole, but I suppose you are primarily targeting strategy). Berkeley is perhaps the most controversial one, IMHO. It is a great school for PhD, the training also extremely rigorous, but I get the sense that their strategy "big shots" like Williamson or Teece are very senior and aren't nearly as productive as they used to be. In that case, would you rather be going there so you have stars in your dissertation committee? or would you rather have highly motivated, and highly productive researchers taking you through the process every step of the way? My choice would be against Berkeley for that reason.

Also, please be aware of the general "continental divide." I personally admire and prefer the "European" type of research methods (I found it more complex, more comprehensive, and more philosophically insightful than the US style number crunching, hypotheses testing research), however, this is still a community dominated by US journals. Most top US journals (AMJ, AMR, SMR, OS, ASQ, etc) are also undisputed world class journals for publication, but most top European journal (J of Mgmt, JMS, Research Policy, ICC, etc) are not perceived to be nearly as prestigious as those US journals. Consequently, top European programs like LBS would tend to also focus on US journals for publication, with a more favorable look on its on European journal outlets. The implication for graduates from top European schools is that your chance of placing in top US departments is slightly lower (because you are more likely to have a bit more European flavor in your research, and also more likely to have European publication record that is somewhat less respected in US). Now if you don't mind placing in Europe (nothing wrong with that, fantastic place to do research if you ask me), that would not be a problem. But if you have some preference to be placed in US, then be aware of that subtle disadvantage you might encounter.

just my 2 cents

PowerStrategy · 2009 September 28th, 12:59 PM

Can you please suggest which of these schools would be likely to admit me in PhD?
I am interested in Strategy as a major and Economics/ OB as minor
I have a GMAT score of 740,
Pursuing a 1 yr diploma course in General Management from top Indian B-School.
CGPA of 7.7/10.0 in B.Tech., 8.1/10.0 in M.Tech.
7 years work experience in general management / project management.
1 paper in engineering published.
1 paper in economics submitted
I would like to know where I would have a high chance of getting an admit offer, since they all seem to be good universities

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2009 August 5th, 08:48 PM	#11 (permalink)
anjinsan I JUST got here. Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 11	Thanks for everyone who has responded so far! So, here is the deal...I am planning on applying to Strategy PhD programs for Fall 2010; but I'm even debating whether or not I will be admitted to any programs (it doesn't have to be a top 20 program). I would GREATLY appreciate it if you could honestly evaluate my profile: Age: 26 Nationality: Turkish GMAT: 750 Undergrad GPA: 3.1 - BS in Business Management. GPA lower than would like it to be, but I was a scholarship NCAA D-1 student-athlete with not much time to study. Graduate GPA: 3.4 - MBA in Finance & Strategy. Top 30 b-school. (Top grades for strategy & economics courses). Research Exp: Paid Research Assistant for INSEAD PhD at b-school for Operations Management Strategy. Work Experience: MBA Summer Associate @ Goldman Sachs in New York. Letters of Rec: 3 very good LORs (INSEAD PhD, Stanford PhD, Cornell PhD). All b-school professors in Strategy, Economics, and Operations Management. Do I have any shot of getting into any Strategy PhD programs? If so, which programs should I target? Any advice going forward between now and January? Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated. Good luck to everyone.

2009 August 19th, 06:35 AM	#12 (permalink)
aspire4phd I JUST got here. Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 2	I'm interested in pursuing PhD in Strategy (focus: Innovation Management) in Fall 2010. Here is my brief profile: I'm a 34 year old male from India with 9 years of work experience in an executive position. I also take lectures on "Innovation" upon invitation. UG-GPA: 3.6 PG-GPA: 3 (Engineering and Management) [I have completed graduate studies both from IIT and IIM (Topmost in India)- and it is very difficult to get A's] GMAT: 700 (I'm re-taking it) Research & Publication: One year research experience; A case study, another paper in progress. Scholarship: Throughout. Extra-curricular/ Social: Loads of them Reco: Good (from Indian Profs @ IIT/IIM though) As I have a family, scholarship is a major concern: So I've shortlisted the following: HBS, INSEAD, UC Berkley, Michigan, LBS, NUS Business School (all among top 35 rank - FT.com MBA ranking 2009). Awaiting your evaluation and feedback. Please do tell me the shortcomings.

2009 August 19th, 08:50 AM	#14 (permalink)
moomber123 Eager! Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 58	aspire4phd, Your profile looks fine, too. If you can boost the GMAT score a bit, that'd help for those schools you listed. Those are the very top "elite" schools so they tend to have a much higher average GMAT score. But keep in mind that GMAT score is only but one part of the application package, and it is not unheard of that people with 700 or so GMAT score end up at these elite schools (not often, but not impossible either). As my other post indicates, admissions is a complete package so your overall evaluation is only partially (and after a certain cut-off, only minimally) affected by GMAT score. One more comment though, it might not be the best thing to base your list of departments on FT's MBA ranking. I have posted many comments on this issue. MBA ranking is a very different beast from PhD program ranking. MBA ranking is not completely irrelevant, because most people associate business school "prestige" with the MBA programs, not the PhD program. So if you go to a highly productive research department with a very high "PhD ranking" so to speak (no such thing really exists, only research productivity ranking), but a moderate or even low MBA ranking, your eventual placement might be held back a bit because of that. For example, big-10 schools such as Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State, Illinois, all have rather decent "research" ranking. With the exception of U Michigan Ann Arbor, most of these schools only have moderate MBA ranking. So their graduates tend to have a hard time placing at elite departments due to the lack of "prestige." However, you need to be aware of the fact that placement is only one small step in a long academic career. The real battle is often at the tenure process after the initial placement. Very elite programs that place well due to "prestige" but doesn't really focus on publication will eventually cost you at the tenure process. Of course, very elite programs usually also have very good research training, but you really need to look into the best department for your research interests first, before considering prestige ranking. (I can never imagine myself at Harvard, for example, no matter how prestigious it is simply because my research interests just don't align well with them.) With that said, some of these schools you listed might not be the best choice for strategy PhD per se. (They are, however, all very good for business PhD as a whole, but I suppose you are primarily targeting strategy). Berkeley is perhaps the most controversial one, IMHO. It is a great school for PhD, the training also extremely rigorous, but I get the sense that their strategy "big shots" like Williamson or Teece are very senior and aren't nearly as productive as they used to be. In that case, would you rather be going there so you have stars in your dissertation committee? or would you rather have highly motivated, and highly productive researchers taking you through the process every step of the way? My choice would be against Berkeley for that reason. Also, please be aware of the general "continental divide." I personally admire and prefer the "European" type of research methods (I found it more complex, more comprehensive, and more philosophically insightful than the US style number crunching, hypotheses testing research), however, this is still a community dominated by US journals. Most top US journals (AMJ, AMR, SMR, OS, ASQ, etc) are also undisputed world class journals for publication, but most top European journal (J of Mgmt, JMS, Research Policy, ICC, etc) are not perceived to be nearly as prestigious as those US journals. Consequently, top European programs like LBS would tend to also focus on US journals for publication, with a more favorable look on its on European journal outlets. The implication for graduates from top European schools is that your chance of placing in top US departments is slightly lower (because you are more likely to have a bit more European flavor in your research, and also more likely to have European publication record that is somewhat less respected in US). Now if you don't mind placing in Europe (nothing wrong with that, fantastic place to do research if you ask me), that would not be a problem. But if you have some preference to be placed in US, then be aware of that subtle disadvantage you might encounter. just my 2 cents

2009 September 28th, 12:59 PM	#15 (permalink)
PowerStrategy I JUST got here. Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: India Posts: 3	Can you please suggest which of these schools would be likely to admit me in PhD? I am interested in Strategy as a major and Economics/ OB as minor I have a GMAT score of 740, Pursuing a 1 yr diploma course in General Management from top Indian B-School. CGPA of 7.7/10.0 in B.Tech., 8.1/10.0 in M.Tech. 7 years work experience in general management / project management. 1 paper in engineering published. 1 paper in economics submitted I would like to know where I would have a high chance of getting an admit offer, since they all seem to be good universities

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