Profile Evaluation - Strategy/ International business .. Please !!

[Mishari]

I would appreciate your input here to evaluate my candidancy for admission into a phd program in either strategy or international business. Here are my info.:

Citizenship: International / middle east

Undergraduate: B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from a large public university in the US (good reputation in engineering and overall). GPA 3.7 - minor in business

Graduate: currently doing an MBA at a top 5 university in the US with concentration in strategy and economics (Does MBA gpa matter here ?)

Work Experience:
1.5 years in international corporate finance/structured finance
1 year as a TA for undergraduate capstone strategy course in the largest university in my country. very good teaching ratings. I was teaching three classes per semester plus doing some community service projects .

Courses:
Undegrad: Calc I, II, II - Linear Algebra - Differential Equations - Calculus based statistics - Intro micorecon and intro macroecon
Gradute: as part of my MBA, i'm taking microeconomic theory . competitive strategy .. and probably a couple international trade/ macroeconomic theory classes

Research Interests: either (1) international corporate strategy/mergers&acquistions/foreign direct investments OR (2) international finance/international policy .. etc

depending on the school I get into, I can go with industrial analysis/competitive strategy

GMAT: I already have a 700 GMAT with a 90th percentile on math .. trying to avoid to retake the test .. but may retake if I really have to

Target:
my prefered list: UCLA strategy - University of Michigan Ross Strategy - USC marshall management - UNC or Duke strategy - Wharton strategy

second prefered list (plan B): Ohio state strategy - Emory management - UT austin strategy - UC irvine marshall strategy - Univ. Illinois strategy - George Washington international business - university of maryland strategy

Third prefered list (plan C): Univ. of washington strategy - university of pittsburgh katz strategy - arizona state strategy - university of florida - Boston university

Questions:
o where do I stand ?
o do I have ANY chance at my prefered list ?
o would retaking the GMAT be really neccessary for getting say into my "plan B" list ?
o Would doing research during summer instead of internship be really helpful ?
o how much does my MBA gpa matter ?
o what are my weakest/strongest points ?
o does my international background help me in getting into international business phd programs ?
o does having an external scholarship help at all?

Thanks

[Mishari]

Any comments will be really helpful guys

just add your 2 cents

[ThatGuyOverThere]

Originally Posted by Mishari

Questions:
o where do I stand ?
o do I have ANY chance at my prefered list ?
o would retaking the GMAT be really neccessary for getting say into my "plan B" list ?
o Would doing research during summer instead of internship be really helpful ?
o how much does my MBA gpa matter ?
o what are my weakest/strongest points ?
o does my international background help me in getting into international business phd programs ?
o does having an external scholarship help at all?
Thanks

You have a good profile, but it all comes down to your letters, and your ability to articulate your research interests coherently - as it is, they don't really hint at the research you want to do, and why it would fit in a strategy department. Research during the summer would be an important step to showing that you are serious, and in teaching you what is involved in a PhD, and in getting letters. An external scholarship can help, but quietly- if funding is short, and you are the second choice candidate, they may choose to take you as well, because you are free to them. Maybe.

International doesn't really help, unless you can articulate some reason it will make you a better researcher.

[phdhope]

I am an accountant so I can't really comment much on schools. Your application looks pretty good. Retaking the GMAT could be risky cause if you got a 680 or 720, the schools might look at you differently. I am going to argue that while getting research during the summer would be helpful, it might not help if you are applying this year. International background is of no influence. Weak link is your GMAT, research and possibly LORs. Strong suits include GMAT, classes, and work.

A comment about external scholarships. I would agree with thatguyoverthere. However, I would argue that it would have to be a very big external scholarship. Even if stipend is only 10000 for four years and tuition is only 10000, your scholarship would have to be $80,000 for you to be "free". In all likelihood, I am going to guess the scholarship is smaler and the costs of a phd are greater.

[Mishari]

Thanks guys for the comments

I guess I will not retake the GMAT. I will be applying for Fall 2011, so I still have plenty of time. In fact, I just started my MBA this fall. The external scholarship that I have covers tuition and stipend .. so if i get in a phd program, they have to pay me nothing .. not even health insurance of tuition waiver.

Now, I think I will do some research during the summer to get experience and good LORs.

What about MBA GPA ? how much will it matter ? I mean would a 3.2 gpa make a big difference as apposed say to 3.7 gpa for the MBA ?