Profile evaluation and school suggestions Accounting

[TaxGal]

Looking for advice as I try to finish up my SOP and begin applying. My goals are to land at a mid level research university where I can teach maybe 1 class a semester. Female applicant if that makes a difference.

undergrad: 3.78 accounting and finance honors in each but no research

cpa licensed

gmat 750 q48 v45

Classes: elementary calculus, econometrics, business statistics, lots of finance classes using regression and modeling CAPM stuff

self study: mit single and multi variable calculus

LORs: 1 confirmed from a professor not heavy into research but has a few published articles super enthusiastic so hopefully a great letter, 1 from a lecturer who has took some phd level classes, last waiting on a reply from a research heavy professor if he agrees it would be an ok letter not great otherwise it will be from a former professor who did research in another field but stepped down from tenure to pursue teaching full time but who knows me very well.

 

Im interested in financial and managerial stuff so wanting to find a school with a little of both. Topics of interest include earnings management and financial disclosure. List of schools are:

penn state

indiana

pittsburg

florida

cornell

osu?

mich state

 

need some more suggestions for schools since I want to apply broadly but I'm having trouble deciding on more.

 

Thanks

[TaxGal]

Can anyone please help?

[YaSvoboden]

I think I remember seeing this and thinking that I would reply later but I forgot.

 

Your list of schools is pretty reasonable so far. I wrote a post on rankings a week or two ago that describes what I think is a good way to get your school list. It is basically to start with a large list, learn more about each school until you find the group that you want to apply to. Your GPA and GMAT score don't really eliminate any tier of schools from the list, but the way that you describe your letter writers makes it sound like you don't really have a research active professor that is going to help push you into the top schools, and your GMAT quant is a little low for top places. So I think you are basically focusing on the right tier of schools to look at.

 

Pretty much everywhere can do a decent job of financial research. There are sub-fields within that where you will see differences. Managerial is a tougher thing to pin down. I honestly don't really know where the line between managerial and financial is. Compensation research? Earnings management? CEO-specific disclosure decisions? So, if you are sticking to archival ( I think that is what you decided on) then the methods are similar but the questions are a little different for managerial. Also, there tends to be more endogeneity concerns in managerial research.

 

The relative strength of behavioral vs. analytical research is something else to consider. I personally like how analytical work informs archival research. Indiana, Cornell, and Pitt have more behavioral while OSU and Penn State have notable analytical people.

 

Also, you seem focused on the northeast. Do you have geographic preferences, or is this a coincidence?

 

So, some more schools to look at:

 

Utah - a few good managerial and archival people. Improving program.

UT Austin

Rice

Harvard - They do a lot of research that is a little different, but have some interesting managerial stuff

Boston College - New program, great faculty in both areas that interest you

Michigan

Northwestern

Emory - Great behavioral school, but a lot of managerial behavioral stuff. Several good financial people too.

University of Washington

Minnesota

UIUC

 

That is everything that comes to mind, but I could probably give another 10-15 programs that would work for you as well. I seem to recall a little more managerial work at the list I gave.

[TaxGal]

Oh I forgot UIUC and Emory but both are on my list. Yea I'm slightly locked on the geography but I only mean I can't apply to high cost of living areas since I have 4 pets and will probably have to buy a small home where ever I move to.

 

Since you're he first to mention how do you feel about Boston College? I see they produce great research but I don't know how that will translate to jobs for their first few cohorts, this is only their second year but the thought of getting in to what will turn into a great program early when maybe admissions are a little more lax has me curious. Then again it seems like a huge risk to take for 5 years especially if they have a hard time placing their early graduating classes.

[YaSvoboden]

Oh I forgot UIUC and Emory but both are on my list. Yea I'm slightly locked on the geography but I only mean I can't apply to high cost of living areas since I have 4 pets and will probably have to buy a small home where ever I move to.

 

Since you're he first to mention how do you feel about Boston College? I see they produce great research but I don't know how that will translate to jobs for their first few cohorts, this is only their second year but the thought of getting in to what will turn into a great program early when maybe admissions are a little more lax has me curious. Then again it seems like a huge risk to take for 5 years especially if they have a hard time placing their early graduating classes.

I honestly doubt that placement will be too hard for them. They have several people that are very good and well respected. The recent programs that have started new PhDs with really good faculty have done well. The examples I can think of are Rice and Miami. Both of them had Chicago placements from their first cohort out. That is Rice's only cohort, and I don't recall how Miami has done since then, but the faculty name and reputation will matter a lot. I would also expect you to get a lot of attention and have great opportunities being one of the first cohorts.

[Xixixixixixi]

Hi YaSvoboden

 

Do you mean the accounting phd programs of Miami and Rice? Since I couldn't find the placement info on their website.

[Xixixixixixi]

I honestly doubt that placement will be too hard for them. They have several people that are very good and well respected. The recent programs that have started new PhDs with really good faculty have done well. The examples I can think of are Rice and Miami. Both of them had Chicago placements from their first cohort out. That is Rice's only cohort, and I don't recall how Miami has done since then, but the faculty name and reputation will matter a lot. I would also expect you to get a lot of attention and have great opportunities being one of the first cohorts.

Hi YaSvoboden

 

Do you mean the accounting phd programs of Miami and Rice? Since I couldn't find the placement info on their website.

[jebediahjones]

Check out the BYU rankings to see where faculty with similar research interests are located. Particularly, you'll want to line up your methodology to the focus of the university (archival or behavioral, typically). If that doesn't help, look at the work of individual researchers (can also be found on the BYU site).

 

You mention your goal is to land at a mid-level research university; do you mean for a PhD program or as a faculty member? I'll assume you mean faculty as your application list is high level research universities. In that case, most mid-level universities (depending on how you define "mid-level") will have at least a 2/2 teaching load. You may be able to negotiate a 3/0. Just something to keep in mind.