Phd Finance candidate 2009. Need advise

[phdfinance2009]

Hello all,

I need your advise on how to improve my chance of getting into top Phd finance program (Stanford, Columbia, Chicago, Insead, Harvard, MIT)

I am 31 years

Bachelor in Business from University of Southern California (GPA: 3.65/4.0)

MBA from University of Southern California (GPA: 3.65/4.0)

Work experience:

During MBA: I work as a teaching assistant for 2 classes (strategy and financial valuation)

Prior to MBA: - 4 years in Major investment bank in quantitative research (analyst). I was based in the US.

After MBA - 5 years in Major electronics (I run the market research & competitiveness dept - overseeing business analysts to support M&A and business development activities). I am based in the US, Hong Kong, and SIngapore.

Misc: I travel alot to US, EU, and all over Asia.

GRE: Have not taken the test

Citizenship: Indonesian

Thanks a million

C

[desimba]

There are two things that would concern me when I look at your background.

1) With a Bachelors in Business followed by an MBA, I am not sure if you have had a chance to take all of the math course work that is expected of applying students to top finance programs like the ones you mentioned. If you haven't had courses in multi variable calculus, linear algebra and probability, it is fair to put your chances of admission to these places as zero.
2) You have had very substantial work experience but only some of that would be seen as valuable to your desire of getting a PhD. Therefore when you will be writing your SOP, the onus will be on you to craft a good story and convince the adcom that you understand what you are getting yourself into and are interested in a faculty position once you are done with your PhD.

Those would be main comments when I look at your profile. Beyond that, I would suggest speaking to faculty members at USC that you have a connection with. Try speaking to those from whom you would want to take recommendations. As you may be knowing, the recommendations for PhD programs need to come from academics unlike that of the MBA program so it is important that you identify who those 3-4 recommenders would be early and and re-establish a relationship with them. It would be good to have it from someone that you have RA-ed or TA-ed with which in your case will be possible. In addition if you can get some sort of an unofficial commitment that you would be admitted to USC if you were to apply there, then that would be valuable as USC has a fairly good program in Finance & Business Economics.

Beyond that, pay attention to your GRE and score an 800 in the Quant.

Last but not the least, make sure you understand why you are getting a PhD and whether you will be ready to take a break from a fast-paced work environment paying you ~$150 K(I am just making up a number) to that of a PhD student on a stipend of ~ $20-25K.

Hope this helps,
SB

[phdfinance2009]

Hello SB,

Thanks for your valuable advise. I happened to take a multivariable calculus course during my undergraduate. I forgot to mention that during my first 2 years in college, I took mostly math, chemistry, and physics.

Thanks a million

C

[hhjj]

good points, thank you

[AstralTraveller]

Originally Posted by phdfinance2009

Thanks for your valuable advise. I happened to take a multivariable calculus course during my undergraduate. I forgot to mention that during my first 2 years in college, I took mostly math, chemistry, and physics.

This changes the picture! Do you have probability theory exposure. That, and top rec. letters from academics and you are on your way. Still, don't narrow yourself down to the tops you mentioned only. Spread your horizon, for the process is hard and not easy to predict.