UTD and its ranking

[another user]

Is UTD as good as it's ranking suggests? I'm talking about marketing (quant) specifically but the whole business school seems to be very solid. I considered the possibility that their ranking was built to make them look (way) better, but even if we choose only Marketing Science and Management Science and order by number of articles they are still top 10. This is way better than Yale, Berkeley and Stanford for example. Maybe it doesn't adjust for department size but still wouldn't explain the discrepancy between how it ranks and how it seems to be regarded (or maybe they really are pretty good and I have the wrong impression). Thoughts?

[BrazilianPhD]

Well, I think most of us here agree that you can't rely on rankings. Even so, I wouldn't select Management Science for a ranking for Marketing. I think Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Marketing Science would be a better selection. I also think the range of years they use is too short. If you use more years, you will see UTD ranked lower. So, maybe the range of years they chose can really make them look better. I guess it is a great university, but it is always hard to tell the exact position each university actually deserves.

[ConfusedAsprant]

So what should be the right way to select a college? I was wondering if one should choose a college based on the profs one wants to work with.

 

For example I have two colleges in my list, for marketing, which have profs whom are I want to work with, but their ranking as per UTD is somewhere between 50 to 70.

 

So should I consider them or look for a better ranked college ( assuming I can get in one)?

[another user]

@BrazilianPhD:

 

But isn't JCR for CB? And JM more about strategy than quant marketing? I also think JMR accepts strategy stuff that's why I didn't include it. I'm aware that Management Science is not only about marketing but I think it's a top outlet for quantitative studies related to business in general and quants tend to publish there. Anyway, even if we include JMR the ranking doesn't change much.

Finally, I know that if we select a longer period of time UTD drops some positions but this could be just reflecting the fact that they are improving very fast.

 

I'm a 1st year Phd student (at another university) btw, was just really curious about this. It's interesting that after the top 10 and above top 30 rankings seems not to matter much in marketing (as compared to other disciplines such as economics), I was wondering if this is related to the lack of a more reliable ranking. It would be interesting to see a ranking for marketing programs based on their reputation (like US news).

 

@ConfusedAsprant:

If they have tenure then go for it, otherwise be careful because they might move to somewhere else. I think it's worth it because as I said rankings don't seem to matter much unless we're talking about a top 10-15 versus a top 50. You can always use these universities as your safety choices.

[another user]

@BrazilianPhD:

I think JCR is more about CB and JM more about strategy, isn't it? JMR also seems to accept strategy papers which is the reason why I didn't inlude it, but if we do the ranking doesn't change much anyway. Management Science is a top outlet for quantitative studies and many quants publish there, but I agree that it may introduce some bias as other departments in the business school publish in this journal.

 

I'm a 1st year PhD student by the way (at another institution), was just curious about how rankings seem not to matter much after the top 10 (and above, say, top 30) as opposed to other fields such as economics. I was wondering if this is to lack of a more reliable ranking, it would be interesting to see a ranking based on reputation such as US news for marketing.

 

@ConfusedAsprant:

You can always use these schools as a backup plan in case you are not accepted to the better ranked ones. Just be careful to check if the professors have tenure, otherwise they might move to another school.

[pqhai]

@ConfusedAsprant: I think there is not a perfect way to select a college. There are many factors and ranking is just one of them. I agree that the first criterium is the fit between you and the Profs as well as the university. The second factor I would consider is how active the Profs do research. You can see the research activities and outputs from the website. Last but NOT least is the placement record, which is very important. Almost all Ph.D. students want to find a job in academia. A good placement record raises a positive signal to our decision. However, our future depends on our effort, number and ranking are just for reference. No one can say which university is 100% fit to you. Let's write down all contributing factors and weight. If you really like one specific university, let trust your gut and try hard in the next five years. You'll be in good shape.

[BrazilianPhD]

So what should be the right way to select a college?

 

I don't know if there is a right way, but we have discussed that a lot here at Urch.

 

Check this, for example, I think it may help you:

http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-business/159326-rankings.html?highlight=

[another user]

I don't know if there is a right way, but we have discussed that a lot here at Urch.

 

Check this, for example, I think it may help you:

http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-business/159326-rankings.html?highlight=

 

People talk a lot about research fit but keep in mind that it's common that one's interests change a lot during grad school.

[BrazilianPhD]

People talk a lot about research fit but keep in mind that it's common that one's interests change a lot during grad school.

 

I think that's even expected during the PhD. The more you learn, the more experience you have, the more your interests are expected to evolve. Being open minded is important. Even changing tracks (from cb to quant, for example) is a possibility.

 

However, if there is no fit at all from the beginning, it's going to be a lot harder to get support from the faculty to evolve in a good way, and to be given tasks as a TA/RA that look interesting to you. I really feel the professors use each one's research interests to guide different PhD students in different ways. Later during the PhD, we are expected to be more like independent researchers, so research fit is less an issue for them. Our newly developed interests will be important then for the next step, getting a tenure-track position somewhere else.

 

So, research fit is important when selecting schools and applying to PhD programs, but after you get accepted be ready for a whole new stage, with new requirements.

[XanthusARES]

Real quick, for the record I would consider Management Science as an A publication for Quant, depending on your specialty that is.

 

Now as to choosing a program I don't have much to add. To me there are really only 2 criteria that matter.

 

1. Research fit with current research active faculty.

2. Past placement from the program being at the type of school you want to be at.

 

By research active I mean publishing in the top journals recently. That's how you should rank programs. Even if some objective measure charts the school as low ranking. If they are publishing research you are interested in, in top journals, and placing students in schools you would definitely like to go to, then put them on your list. It's why we use vague phrasing in terms of school ranking and why we always tell you guys to come up with your own rankings.

 

A lot of people on here try to warn applicants about pigeonholing themselves early because your research interests may change. I know plenty of people who came in with the idea they wanted to study topic X with professor Y and ended up doing topic Z with Professor A. Your interests will evolve. That being said, I knew who I wanted to work with coming in and what I wanted to study. My dissertation topic never changed and the person I wanted to work with is my adviser. Sometimes interests don't change. Being at a school where there is flexibility for you if your interests do change is important. That's my opinion.

 

Good luck!

[taxPhD]

I accounting, they are quite strong in terms of faculty publications in A journals. As a doctoral applicant though, make sure you also pay attention to placements. UTD's accounting PhD placements have not been very strong even though their faculty publication record is very strong and many of their faculty received their PhDs at elite schools.

[littlepink]

UTD rankings don't really tell you the overall reputation of the school...or what is the quality of the papers.

 

There are journals just as good but not included... If u increase the sample size to say t20 journals ij each field then the results may well be all very different

 

It helps in giving a gauge though...