PhD in Accounting questions

[cookie67]

My husband is mid 30's and a CPA with 10 years experience in external and internal audit (Senior 3 Big 4, Manager Internal Audit, Fortune 500 etc) and was an Army Reserve Finance Officer.
BS Business Administration (Finance/Accounting and minor in Economics)-from a State School with a 3.4 GPA. He has math classes through Calc 3, and math is easy for him. He is currently getting his MIS and is strongly considering a PhD in accounting. Most of his background is in audit, and that is where his interests lie. Weakness will probably be GMAT. Any suggestions for schools? How many to apply to, etc?

[PhDCPA]

There is no way to answer your question without a GMAT score. 3.4 is a tad low but it sounds like he has a decent econ and math background. But the schools he should apply to will vary greatly based on the GMAT score. He'll need 700+ for top schools, and I think it would be hard to get in anywhere with a sub 600. Study hard for the GMAT and apply to 10-12 schools.

[cookie67]

I just looked up the GRE score for his Masters program. He didn't study (it was a last minute decision to apply) and he got 1100.

[possible_phd]

The split between Q and V is more important than the total GRE score, but that seems quite low.

[phdhope]

There needs to be more information before many school recommendations can be offered. Where will his letter of recommendations come from? How familiar is he with accounting research? Some other observations:

+ He got an econ minor that is really good for accounting majors
+ work experience- while 10 years is not going to help him much, schools in audit look on this favorably

-The GRE percentile would be equivalent to the GMAT percentile of a score of 560. (I know the tests scores aren't exactly transferable but I imagine if you are in the top X% in one test, you would be in a similar position for the other) He really needs a higher GMAT score. 650 would allow him to start applying to some schools, but 700 would be a better score.
- I am slightly confused why he has yet to do an accounting degree. MIS is not highly regarded in accounting. Not a major problem, a concern though
-Age-Schools want people to make academia their career. A student just graduating will be able to publish for nearly twice as long as your husband.

In short, I would apply for some of the lower accounting phd programs. The GMAT score appears to be a really big, big problem. Have him take a practice GMAT test, if he cannot get a 600 or higher, he is going to have an really difficult time getting into any of the accounting phd program.

[cookie67]

He's 34 and his recommendations are professional and academic (from his current masters program). The school he is getting his MIS at also has PhD in accounting program and is well regarded. He chose the MIS because he was intending to augment his audit skills in industry, but he has recently been thinking of changing course and getting a PhD in accounting, with a focus in audit. He didn't get a Masters in Accounting because he's already a CPA and it seemed unnecessary considering his work experience. He won't graduate from the MIS program for about another year, so he has time to study for the GMAT and raise his score. I guess he better get on it! Hopefully schools with a focus on audit will consider his years of experience in the audit industry as meaningful.

[PhDCPA]

An 1100 on the GRE translates to about a 550 on the GMAT. That won't get him in anywhere, so he'll need to step up the studying if he's serious about the PhD.

Audit programs do like work experience so that's a bonus. Have him talk to some profs at his school who teach in the PhD program. I'm getting my PhD from my master's institution and the faculty were super helpful before I applied when I had questions.