Do You Have To Go To A Top School?

[shootermcgavin7]

Originally Posted by VGC

Last fall, I went to an informative session at Chicago GSB. They told me that the salary for their last year graduate going into academic possitions was $200.000

That sounds right. During hiring season last year, I heard the average salary for a new assistant finance professor at a top 50 research school is around ~$180k.

One of our students on the job market this year was placed at a sub-100 university and got about $160k.

[Ancalagon The Black]

In India, if you do not get into a top school in the US at the graduate level, they usually laugh at you for not being able to keep up with your seniors (if you are from a university which has sent students to the top schools in the US many times before)

Also, parental and peer pressure in this aspect counts a lot so getting into the best school in terms of ranking and not necessarily "best fit" is vital for most graduate Indian students. This is especially true in the fields of science and engineering since we "seem" to regard ourselves as being the best there is, in mathematics around.

[euges429]

Originally Posted by doubtful

this ranking is weird I can't think of Maryland better than Stanford.

The UT Dallas rankings are idiotic. They only count how many publications are published from the school. So naturally, if you have 200 professors in the school, you publish a lot more than a school that's smaller with only 20 professors.

I much rather trust the Financial Times doctoral/research rankings, although still, no one should rely on rankings purely or that much.

[Live4today]

Well...The UTD rankings seem to have calculated publications/prof, since schools with larger number of publications are lower in ranking, I can only assume that they have higher number of Profs

[Ipsofacto]

Now I have a question. People automatically think that you are doing a PhD in Finance when you go to Business Grad School, while the reality is, there are so many other options. What about the future for a Management & Strategy professor, or, Accounting, etc.?

[euges429]

Originally Posted by chartreuse

Well, getting into the program is not the end of the story. You see, there are also lots of dropouts, although that is really not advertised. Who cares if one gets into Wharton and drops out after the 3rd year? It'd be better to go to Yale SOM and perform fantastically there, no? But I digressed a bit.
To answer your question, the program must be VERY good to have a higher probability of getting offers in academia. I think it is about rephrasing your question about the probability of securing an academic position rather than assuming it's a done deal. Unless you have very strong connections, there is no guarantee nor solid chance of landing anything per se. Keep in mind that the teaching market is at least 10X harder than the real job market (private sector) and even that is not so easy.

Now if we were to talk about the factors that increase the probability of getting an academic position, there are some such as 1) where you went to school for your PhD 2) your academic performance there 3) how many papers you published/publishing 4) the quality of your research 5) your advisor's recommendations 6) your ability to market yourself as an asset to the school. Other obvious qualities unfortunately have to do with your gender and your race but these are factors not really officially measured but do play a critical role in the process in any case.

It's a gamble and nothing in life is solid or sure!

Actually, Yale SOM is an excellent school. It's just low on rankings because their Ph.D. program is a new one (like, 5-6 years old), so their track record isn't as extensive as say, Stanford for Chicago GSB.

(And btw, Wharton for Ph.D. isn't that good. They have an excellent MBA program, but their Ph.D. is subpar.)

[bauble]

Originally Posted by euges429

(And btw, Wharton for Ph.D. isn't that good. They have an excellent MBA program, but their Ph.D. is subpar.)

Yeah, it's awful. I wouldn't go there if they gave me a million bucks.

Seriously, in what way(s) are they subpar?

[Bloomsbury]

Originally Posted by Ipsofacto

Now I have a question. People automatically think that you are doing a PhD in Finance when you go to Business Grad School, while the reality is, there are so many other options. What about the future for a Management & Strategy professor, or, Accounting, etc.?

well, is it easier to enter a phd programme in accounting, or mgt & strategy ?

[phd2008]

Originally Posted by bauble

Yeah, it's awful. I wouldn't go there if they gave me a million bucks.

Seriously, in what way(s) are they subpar?

I actually agree with the other dude. While the application process is competitive, the Wharton PhD program really doesn't have good placement records compared to some other programs. Also, I do feel that the PhD program feeds off the reputation of the MBA program. It is really the MBA, and not the PhD program, that is cornerstone of the Wharton School.

[mamoqilo]

Is it unusual for a fresh finance PhD to get a job at a school that is comparable to his PhD granting institution? In mathematics, for example, fresh PhDs will either do a post doc or will end up at an institution that is ranked significantly lower than the school they attended.