Profile Evaluation: PhD business analytics / management science

[maradona22]

Test Scores (GRE): V152(56%) , Q164(87%) , AW 4.0 (60%)

 

I graduated from one of the top tier universities in my country (Not US and North America)

 

Undegrad GPA: 3.42 / 4.0 (full tuition waiver for 4 yrs) - Major (Business Administration)

Graduate GPA: 3.91 / 4.0 (full tuition waiver for 2 yrs) - Major (Business Analytics)

 

 

Research Experience: One conference proceeding in IEEE related conference (Co 1st author) + oral presentation

Teaching Experience: 3 TA ships (Microeconomics, organizational behavior, Marketing Management

 

 

Work Experience: 2 industry projects; one at an international research firm, the other at my university as RA

 

 

Concentration Applying to: Business analytics / Management Science / MIS

Number of programs planned to apply to: around 20

Dream Schools: U of Washington, U of Pittsburgh, U of Iowa, Western University (Canada)

 

 

Any additional specific questions you may have:

 

Why are the applicants for the three tracks I mentioned above so rare? Can anyone tell me why they are so scant here?

[XanthusARES]

I can't really help with your application since this isn't my area. However I can talk about briefly why there are so few applicants to the programs you mentioned. Right now a lot of the research questions that can be answered with MIS are more easily answered by other areas (i.e. Marketing, computer science or economics). The number of schools that even offer PhD's in these areas are starting to decline. The truth is that it just isn't the hot topic right now.

 

Not that doesn't mean that you should reconsider your chosen field. If you have an interest in MIS and have questions that can best be answered using this research stream, by all means you should apply. Just keep in mind that these programs are shrinking and it will be difficult to get a job in an MIS department. Not impossible, just more difficult than the other business areas.

 

Good luck!

[PobleNou]

What you will find is that many schools offer an Information Systems track within Management Science or Operations & Technology. With the increasing popularity of Big Data, Machine Learning, Blockchain and Digital Innovation, the topics aren't simply IT research anymore such as IT projects, outsourcing or decision support. You will find that many papers in leading journals such as MIS Quarterly or Information Systems Research are a combination of IS and other fields such as marketing, online retail or FinTech.

 

I am not sure about GRE scores, but feel they are low and probably you should aim for a higher score, if you have time to retake. Your research experience sounds good though.

 

Other things to consider are: how have your undergraduate and graduate schools placed in your target schools in the past and your recommendation letters? You mentioned top tier in your country, so are the professors writing your LoRs well known among US academia.

[YaSvoboden]

The professors from your master's degree probably have the best information for you. My impression is that managerial economics has taken a big chunk of decision science stuff. I think that Duke has a program in this (though I could be mistaken and don't want to look it up right now.)

 

The bottom line is that we don't really have any active users on here that will be too helpful. Reach out to professors that you know and they will give you good advice.

 

p.s. If you learn about this field and have useful insights, please come back here and help people out.

[North]

Currently a 1st year student in an Operations Research PhD program in the US. I was also admitted to Western's program last year, so I'll try to give you what insight I can from my experience last year.

 

The one thing that isn't clear from your post is what type of research questions you are looking to answer, because that will have a big bearing on what schools you might want to look at, why there are not as many applicants etc.

 

I think that Xanthus is right about the MIS track generally shrinking, but depending on what areas in Management Science/OR you are interested in, that trend can be very different. The field is very broad and interdisciplinary, so that is sometimes another reason why you don't see as many programs/applicants for those specific tracks.

 

If you update what (even in general) your research interests are, that might help others guide you more.

 

In terms of what I can say about your profile:

- You will probably want to bring up your GRE scores. Depending on your specific research interests the quant score is probably fine (although obviously higher is always better, but it isn't the #1 thing) but your verbal score has a fairly low percentile. Most Management Science programs are more on the quantitative end so you don't need a top verbal score, but right now you wouldn't meet some programs cut-offs (e.g. Western wants 75th percentile and above for both sections)

- You have more formal research experience than I did last year so that is definitely a positive. From the interviews I had and the other students I talked to, you would be ahead of a decent chunk of applicants in having something published already.

- GPA is fine, though some of that needs to be contextualized based on where you got your degrees (e.g. if the average student has a GPA of 2.5 at your undergrad school then a 3.4 looks a lot better than if the average student had a 3.2 GPA)

- Teaching experience is nice, though some schools won't care all that much about it

- If you can frame your work experience around interesting problems that you looked at/solved then it can help build your narrative around what type of research you want to pursue and already having expertise in it

 

Finally, (and this will depend again on what specific research areas/programs you are looking at) if you are looking at more quantitative Management Science programs (e.g. Western Management Science, not Information Science) you will probably need to show some level of background math knowledge. I know in my program I am the only person who had any formal business background (I did a Bachelors of Business Admin, though I also did a Bachelors in Mathematics), everyone else either has a Math/Stats degree or an engineering degree.