Profile Evaluation Request - PhD Marketing (Fall 2015)

[sharksrjawesome]

Hi! I was hoping to get some feedback regarding my profile. I would like to apply for a PhD in Marketing for admission in the Fall of 2015.

 

Here is my profile:

 

Type: U.S Citizen

Undergrad GPA: 3.6 (Cumulative); 3.8 (In major - Psychology); I graduate December 2014

GRE Score: Taking in October, but have been doing one-on-one tutoring for math for the past 9 months as it is my weak area

Research Experience I have spent the past year and 1/2 working as a research assistant for my University. It is not a big name university, but I have worked on 2 or 3 different proposals. I have prepared IRB documents, and have had papers accepted to conferences. A paper I worked on is currently in preparation, and I am currently working on my own study, and co-authoring another study. Both of these will be conducted this semester. The majority of the research is social psych based.

Relevant Courses: I was a business major my freshman year of college, so I have taken basic business courses including micro and macro economics. I have taken Research Methods, Statistics, Experimental, and Psychological Tests and Measurements. I am also quite familiar with SPSS.

Work Experience: I have worked retail (not that impressive, but it sparked my interest in the areas I want to pursue research in). I also started an e-commerce company with my husband, which recouped its investment within the first 4 months. We will be selling it in the next month or two because he received a promotion at his job, and I am focusing on research.

Research Interests: brand loyalty, customer experience

Concerns: I had a period of time where life happened (life happened hard, and life happened fast), and I was placed on academic probation at my previous school for a year. It adds to my life experience, and shows strength of character and perseverance (I raised my GPA from a 2.9 to a 3.6). I have maintained a 4.0 the past 3 semesters (including 4 intensive summer sessions), and have no withdrawals or discrepancies on my record since I returned to school in 2013.

 

Any honest feedback would be appreciated. I have been in the world of psychology for the past few years, so I am not sure how attractive I would be as a candidate to PhD programs in Marketing.

 

I do know I will be pursuing some sort of PhD, be it in Marketing or Psychology. Research is one of the few things that makes sense to me, and I can see myself doing it for the rest of my life. The world of academia is one that I feel at home in, which is why I am drawn to a PhD and not a Masters. If you need any clarification, or have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer them.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to hearing from you.

[XanthusARES]

Welcome to the forum (awesome name by the way). Honestly I think that you would make an awesome candidate for marketing programs. The fact that your background is in psychology will actually be a huge benefit rather than a drawback. Just to make a quick pitch for marketing, aside from the job market afterwards being significantly better, this next semester I'm taking all of my classes at the school of psychology. So while in marketing you will still have the opportunity to do psych research. It's really a win win.

 

As far as your research experience, it looks pretty good to me. Honestly it looks like you have a stellar profile. Your previous experience and GPA are better than mine, so assuming you score well on the GRE (which I don't understand the scoring system for so I can't suggest a good score), you'll do amazingly in the application cycle.

 

Some advice, read through posts about writing good SOP's, as well as check out rsaylors signature to do an initial search for schools. One thing to look at, though, is if you are interested more in the psychological side than the business side, check the course schedules for the schools which you are applying. They are generally available on the PhD website. If the programs requires the majority of the courses to be taken at the business school, then it's probably not a good fit for your interest. Look for schools that minimize the business the education and allow/require you to take courses at other schools. This seems like it will be the best bet for you.

 

I wouldn't be too concerned about your GPA, especially since there was an upward trend in it. Just explain it away a little in your SOP and beast the GRE and you'll be fine. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Otherwise, I'd say apply to a couple top 10, but have the majority of your schools in the 10-30 range.

[arindamsur]

@sharksrjawesome

 

I am also in same track. But why GRE? What not GMAT?

[sharksrjawesome]

I'm taking the GRE because most doctoral programs accept the GRE as well as the GMAT. Also, I am looking to apply to a few programs that are also joint programs, PHd in Psychology and PhD in Marketing and those do require the GRE.