Marketing (CB) profile evaluation

[XanthusARES]

How's it going? I've been lurking around for a while and decided to throw my profile out there and see what you think my chances of being accepted into a PhD program in 2014 are.

 

UG: 3.41 (cum laude) from a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania

Degrees: a BS in Chemistry, a BS in Biology, and math and philosophy minors. (All A's in my math courses, but a C+ in Physical Chemistry II)

 

Grad: 4.00 from a private US top 40 school (I needed the boost after a not so stellar UG performance)

Degree: MS in Marketing (specialization in consumer psychology)

 

GMAT: 700 (48Q, 38V, 6.0 APA)

 

LOR: All from Marketing professors at my grad school, 2 pretty well known (both I did research with) and 1 moderately known, all are going to be phenomenal

 

Research (relevant): R&R from mid tier (B+) journal as first author

Accepted to present at upcoming conference

2 years researching under professor on buying behavior in relation to ad experience (what I want to do my PhD on) and a little CEM

2 years as an RA (for a another professor) doing CCT work

 

Research (irrelevant): 3 poster presentations at national conferences for computational chemistry

2 paper presentations (one at mathematical conference, one at an NSF biochemistry conference)

 

Work experience: For the five years before I did my Master's I was working for a large pharmaceutical company. I started out doing R&D for a new drug and, once it launched, I moved into the marketing side. I spent three years doing market research of new and emerging markets which is what got me interested in pursuing a PhD. Before that, during my senior year, I worked for a small soap and shampoo company doing R&D and market research.

 

Obviously my background is a little different and I have the feeling that there will be adcoms who wonder why I'm switching. The answer is that I've been interested in marketing research since I started in the marketing department of my old company. Studying how and why people make purchasing decisions is something that I'm drawn to. The research I've been doing over the past few years has been my passion. I'm working more hours now than I did when I was in the corporate world, but I come home happier (which my wife really appreciates). Just to be clear, even though my interest in marketing started at my former company I have absolutely no desire/intention to return to industry afterwards (not that a marketing PhD would be particularly helpful in that anyway). For me it's research at a University or nothing.

 

Anyway sorry about the long post, I just wanted to get your opinions on what you think my chances are at these schools:

 

Duke, University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Oregon,

Virginia Tech, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, University of Washington,

University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, West Virginia University, University of Tennessee Knoxville

 

I would honestly be thrilled to go to any of these programs, and I wanted to spread my application range out to give me the best chance to get in. I've been researching these programs and each of them has at least 1 (most 2 or more) faculty that I think my interests fit with. Thanks for the time and feedback!

[evergreen]

Apart from Duke, I think you have a fair chance getting into all the other schools you posted.

You're not applying this application cycle, but rather next cycle? If so, maybe think about getting that GMAT score up a bit, and continuing doing good research.

Given that you're submitting research to conferences already, you should try and submit something to ACR.

[wittmic]

I'm not a marketing guy, but I would say the R&R alone should be enough to get you very seriously looks from all the schools you mentioned. That is, as long as your GPA's and GMAT make the first cut.

 

I mean what better signal of research ability than first author articles that far in the pipeline. Good luck!

[XanthusARES]

Thanks for the replies! Yeah I don't high hopes for Duke, but I figured it was worth the application fee just in case no one else decided to apply there. I also have a friend who teaches there who got me in contact with a professor, so you never know. Good luck to you, too!

[XanthusARES]

You're not applying this application cycle, but rather next cycle? If so, maybe think about getting that GMAT score up a bit, and continuing doing good research.

 

I considered retaking the GMAT. I took it back in 2010 and, since most of the schools I am applying to have averages around 700, I didn't think it would make a huge difference. Other than, of course, helping to somewhat off-set my less than stellar UG GPA. I still graduated as second in my class with honors, so I'm hoping that shows my school just graded harshly. I don't know, though, if a 720-750 would make a significant difference, I will start thinking about retaking it. Thanks!