PhD in Accounting - How proactive should you be in outreaching to schools

[EUU]

I understand some professors might it take it against the candidate, but did anyone (who's currently pursuing a PhD) reach out to the program coordinators before applying? If so, did that help in any way? Thanks!

[EUU]

No replies? Sad...

[zshfryoh1]

No replies? Sad...

I think most people currently active on the board followed the general advice not to. There may have been some people in the more distant past who did, but they are probably no longer active. Look at some of the old threads - both on the business board and the econ board - for why it is generally not advised in the business fields or econ.

[YaSvoboden]

The answer is basically the same for any business field. I think it is fine to do, but there isn't going to be a big positive effect, and you can be annoying enough to have a negative effect.

My personal advice is to reach out if you actually have a question that you can't answer yourself. I happened to meet the program coordinator at the program I attended at a conference in the fall that I was applying. I kept in touch and think that helped me get in, but I think my letters, GMAT score, and other stuff would have gotten me in anyway. During the program we would usually have a person or two visit each year that was interested in the doctoral program. They usually were pretty close, so they probably just emailed and asked if they could stop by and meet some faculty and students. Again, this is fine to do, but I don't think it had a huge positive effect for anyone.

[EUU]

Thank you I'll look that up!

[EUU]

The answer is basically the same for any business field. I think it is fine to do, but there isn't going to be a big positive effect, and you can be annoying enough to have a negative effect.

My personal advice is to reach out if you actually have a question that you can't answer yourself. I happened to meet the program coordinator at the program I attended at a conference in the fall that I was applying. I kept in touch and think that helped me get in, but I think my letters, GMAT score, and other stuff would have gotten me in anyway. During the program we would usually have a person or two visit each year that was interested in the doctoral program. They usually were pretty close, so they probably just emailed and asked if they could stop by and meet some faculty and students. Again, this is fine to do, but I don't think it had a huge positive effect for anyone.

Okay thank you I see. Spending more time to get better GMAT scores or SOP is probably more useful XP

[BCB]

I think it's generally a good idea to reach out to the PhD coordinator. I did this when applying and it really paid off for me. I would stick with doing it once and well in advance of admission deadlines (Now would be a good time). If you email, keep it brief and attach your resume. They will probably look it over and then go from there on whether or not they choose to contact you.

[EUU]

I think it's generally a good idea to reach out to the PhD coordinator. I did this when applying and it really paid off for me. I would stick with doing it once and well in advance of admission deadlines (Now would be a good time). If you email, keep it brief and attach your resume. They will probably look it over and then go from there on whether or not they choose to contact you.

Brilliant advice, thank you!

[sjk]

I don't know about accounting specifically, but for OB programs I was encouraged to reach out to everyone I wanted to work with in advance by professors who I work with that are in the field. I got a response from every person I emailed (within 48 hours) and they were all positive. The last person I emailed just got back to me today and actually asked that I reach back out to her again around the deadline so she can be sure to flag my application (!!!). This is at a top 20 school and one of my top programs.

[EUU]

I don't know about accounting specifically, but for OB programs I was encouraged to reach out to everyone I wanted to work with in advance by professors who I work with that are in the field. I got a response from every person I emailed (within 48 hours) and they were all positive. The last person I emailed just got back to me today and actually asked that I reach back out to her again around the deadline so she can be sure to flag my application (!!!). This is at a top 20 school and one of my top programs.

Wow, that's so amazing!! You must be a really brilliant applicant, sjk, and I am sure you'll be very successful in your applications
I guess it might be a school-specific thing? But thanks for sharing your experience! This was so helpful