Finance Phd Applicants

[phdhope]

So I read Businessweek's Phd Applications on the Rise and was curious. (I would post the link but the forum didn't allow me to) How many more people are applying to finance phd programs than previous years? Is this trend going to continue? I have noticed that many of the recent posts are for people thinking of finance phds and it seems this article confirms that the number of finance phd applicants has skyrocketed. Is this true of organizational behavior or marketing, etc.? Any thoughts?

[oh34]

It is obvious. No doubt about it. Witnessed 50% increase last year vs. previous year at one 20~30th program. It was Marketing. This year...? More than that.

[phdhope]

Thanks for the insight into marketing. I guess I have one more question. If more people are applying than previous years, has the number of quality applicants increased? Some people's applications to business schools clearly show they have been preparing for a phd program while others seem more spur of the moment. Any thoughts?

[csphd2010]

I read this article too, initially it had me worried as I am applying this year as well. After reading the article I looked at some 2nd tier school's admission stats etc, and now I think about the only things the article is correct about is that the TOP programs are getting more apps, and the applications are mainly from undergrads (cant blame them I would apply too PhD programs on a whim too in this job market).

Looking at some of the schools like Texas A&M, Iowa, and Emory that give detailed stats of how many people apply etc. You can see from them that application volume was basically flat year over year. This to me demonstrates that most of the people are applying on spur of the moment decisions, because if the applications aren't going up across the board and are only increasing at top schools, then these applicants must not have done much research as they would realize only a lucky few will get those spots; unless all these new applicants got a 750 gmat and already have five publications in the Journal of Finance and are getting recommendations from Obama and Myron Scholes, and even then they are still probably out of luck.

Another main point of the article is that the increased app volume will help end the bus professor shortage, this point really made me question the whole article. Whoever wrote it must not realize that despite increased app volume, the number of spots is declining thanks to limited funding, and this might even lead to even more demand for bus professors.

[dusklife]

Originally Posted by csphd2010

I read this article too, initially it had me worried as I am applying this year as well. After reading the article I looked at some 2nd tier school's admission stats etc, and now I think about the only things the article is correct about is that the TOP programs are getting more apps, and the applications are mainly from undergrads (cant blame them I would apply too PhD programs on a whim too in this job market).

Looking at some of the schools like Texas A&M, Iowa, and Emory that give detailed stats of how many people apply etc. You can see from them that application volume was basically flat year over year. This to me demonstrates that most of the people are applying on spur of the moment decisions, because if the applications aren't going up across the board and are only increasing at top schools, then these applicants must not have done much research as they would realize only a lucky few will get those spots; unless all these new applicants got a 750 gmat and already have five publications in the Journal of Finance and are getting recommendations from Obama and Myron Scholes, and even then they are still probably out of luck.

Another main point of the article is that the increased app volume will help end the bus professor shortage, this point really made me question the whole article. Whoever wrote it must not realize that despite increased app volume, the number of spots is declining thanks to limited funding, and this might even lead to even more demand for bus professors.

If the application increases are indeed only to top schools, I'd hypothesize that the bulk are coming from international students. I think a lot of the international students have this notion that anything other than an elite school is not worth applying to (maybe due to limited recognition in their country, or because they've never heard of the others themselves).

For example, I don't think many domestic students would see a school like Emory or Illinois as weak for a business PhD. However, for a lot of international applicants those schools may sound completely unknown.

This is just a theory, but if you look at the obviously international profiles here I think you'll find that they're often geared towards the elite tier schools.

[hispano_phd]

Hi:

Interesting thread indeed, which makes me think about the demarketing concept IF the situation is one in which demand excess (in this case by far) the supply and some possibilities resulting from that...

1- Somehow GMAC feels responsible to tight a little more the test, resulting in a tougher GMAT
2- BS increase their fees (which I don't think have happen - yet)

What will be a result from the increase in applications is that BS will be looking (IMO should) for candidates with real vocation and potential as scholars --maybe important as GMAT scores. If the applicant is not clear what he(she) wants, he will probably not complete the degree because the decision was based more on an external and temporal variable and not neccessarily on a true personal goal.

Later