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finacct · 03-13-2007, 08:10 AM

Hello All,

I have received offers from UCLA, Duke and Cornell for a PhD in finance. Would appreciate some advice on choosing the correct program. I don't have very specific research interests at this stage. Good academic placement is a key concern.

Thanks

shootermcgavin7 · 03-13-2007, 12:57 PM

Duke is the highest ranked, as far as I know. That said, all three are good schools.

Being that all three are in very different geographical locations, that may make your decision for you right there; you won't have a problem with placements if you do well in any of the three programs.

blsunday · 03-13-2007, 06:59 PM

http://wpcarey.asu.edu/finance/rankings/results.cfm

this might be helpful.

tbroker · 03-13-2007, 10:54 PM

What is your profile?

web_shark · 03-14-2007, 07:08 PM

Hi,

Last year I got accepted to UCLA. I haven't applied to Duke or Cornell because of the location and they are lower rated.

Try to visit the places if you can, but my bet is that UCLA is the best place out of three.

Good luck with your PhD.

dwigt · 03-14-2007, 11:49 PM

My impression for placement potential is Duke>UCLA>Cornell, although Duke & UCLA are quite close. For example, Duke is one of the schools invited to the LBS transatlantic doctoral student conference, whereas UCLA & Cornell are not on the list (useful, but not a huge deal.) Duke has had stars on the market this year & last and UCLA had one last year. I think for any of these three you must produce a great job market paper to get a top 20 placement. If you are not as focused on top 20, I think all of them would work so I would go where you think you will be happy (and check attrition to be sure you will graduate) Good luck!

walidreza · 03-15-2007, 12:21 AM

i believe getting a good placement is just a by-product of pursuing good research interests. i know some profs who were adamant to pursue some unconventional research interests. interesting thing is they got their papers published in top journals!

so far i know, all those schools have good academicians. it depends on what u r going to do in the days to come. i think the "placement concern" is very specific to your position after 4/5 years. best.

tbroker · 03-15-2007, 01:37 PM

what are stars on the market? and who were they and why are they stars?

jazzy · 03-15-2007, 09:42 PM

Same question, but the two programs I want to know about are Duke Finance and Carnegie Mellon Financial Economics... what do you think?

dwigt · 03-15-2007, 10:12 PM

By stars I just meant candidates who get lots of good flyouts and then a top placement. Some schools post their job market candidate seminar lists. For example:
http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x2344.xml
http://www.fuquaworld.duke.edu/www/fsc/fsc1.jsp
http://www.chicagogsb.edu/research/workshops/finance/
http://finance.wharton.upenn.edu/dep...007recruiting/
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/facsemin...nce/index.html

Also, you can look at the CV's of new assistant professors and typically there will be a list of presentations in January-February which correspond to job talks.

The job market begins with interviews at the AFA. Necessary but not sufficient conditions for a good AFA interview list are excellent letters of recommendation and at least a reasonably good paper. Schools interview maybe 20-25 candidates and then flyout 5-8 for job talks and give offers to 2-3. At all stages luck is important

To learn more about how the job market works, a good read is:
http://www.aeaweb.org/joe/articles/2006/cawley.pdf

For better specific placement info I would recommend contacting a 5th year student at each school and ask specifically what the placement (and attrition & reasons for attrition) has been in the previous years.

03-13-2007, 08:10 AM	#1 (permalink)
finacct Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1	Which Finance PhD Program should I choose Hello All, I have received offers from UCLA, Duke and Cornell for a PhD in finance. Would appreciate some advice on choosing the correct program. I don't have very specific research interests at this stage. Good academic placement is a key concern. Thanks

03-14-2007, 07:08 PM	#5 (permalink)
web_shark Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 10	My recommendation Hi, Last year I got accepted to UCLA. I haven't applied to Duke or Cornell because of the location and they are lower rated. Try to visit the places if you can, but my bet is that UCLA is the best place out of three. Good luck with your PhD.

03-14-2007, 11:49 PM	#6 (permalink)
dwigt Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 26	My impression for placement potential is Duke>UCLA>Cornell, although Duke & UCLA are quite close. For example, Duke is one of the schools invited to the LBS transatlantic doctoral student conference, whereas UCLA & Cornell are not on the list (useful, but not a huge deal.) Duke has had stars on the market this year & last and UCLA had one last year. I think for any of these three you must produce a great job market paper to get a top 20 placement. If you are not as focused on top 20, I think all of them would work so I would go where you think you will be happy (and check attrition to be sure you will graduate) Good luck! Last edited by dwigt : 03-15-2007 at 09:22 PM. Reason: change good job market paper to great job market paper

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03-13-2007, 12:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
shootermcgavin7 Within my grasp! Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 495	Duke is the highest ranked, as far as I know. That said, all three are good schools. Being that all three are in very different geographical locations, that may make your decision for you right there; you won't have a problem with placements if you do well in any of the three programs.

03-13-2007, 06:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
blsunday Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1	http://wpcarey.asu.edu/finance/rankings/results.cfm this might be helpful.

03-13-2007, 10:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
tbroker Within my grasp! Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 147	What is your profile?

03-15-2007, 12:21 AM	#7 (permalink)
walidreza Eager! Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 50	i believe getting a good placement is just a by-product of pursuing good research interests. i know some profs who were adamant to pursue some unconventional research interests. interesting thing is they got their papers published in top journals! so far i know, all those schools have good academicians. it depends on what u r going to do in the days to come. i think the "placement concern" is very specific to your position after 4/5 years. best.

03-15-2007, 01:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
tbroker Within my grasp! Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 147	what are stars on the market? and who were they and why are they stars?

03-15-2007, 09:42 PM	#9 (permalink)
jazzy Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 12	Same question, but the two programs I want to know about are Duke Finance and Carnegie Mellon Financial Economics... what do you think?

03-15-2007, 10:12 PM	#10 (permalink)
dwigt Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 26	By stars I just meant candidates who get lots of good flyouts and then a top placement. Some schools post their job market candidate seminar lists. For example: http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x2344.xml http://www.fuquaworld.duke.edu/www/fsc/fsc1.jsp http://www.chicagogsb.edu/research/workshops/finance/ http://finance.wharton.upenn.edu/dep...007recruiting/ http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/facsemin...nce/index.html Also, you can look at the CV's of new assistant professors and typically there will be a list of presentations in January-February which correspond to job talks. The job market begins with interviews at the AFA. Necessary but not sufficient conditions for a good AFA interview list are excellent letters of recommendation and at least a reasonably good paper. Schools interview maybe 20-25 candidates and then flyout 5-8 for job talks and give offers to 2-3. At all stages luck is important To learn more about how the job market works, a good read is: http://www.aeaweb.org/joe/articles/2006/cawley.pdf For better specific placement info I would recommend contacting a 5th year student at each school and ask specifically what the placement (and attrition & reasons for attrition) has been in the previous years.

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