Finance PhD Preparation

[pippo]

I know for sure that the Ph.D Finance at Purdue does require the GMAT and not the GRE . However, some other schools require either one of them.

[Hocking]

What schools Finance PhD programs said they would accept the GRE scores with no problems VGC? Just curious as to who they are. This is very odd to me, because 17 of the 18 schools that I considered applying to said they would not accept my GRE scores that I already had. I had to take the GMAT in order to be seriously considered in their application pool. Only one school told me they would accept my GRE scores (can't remember which one), and even they said that taking the GMAT would increase my chances of being admitted even if my GRE scores were fine. Here is the list of schools I considred:

Ohio State University
Indiana University
Penn State
Vanderbilt
University of Mississippii
Florida State University
Purdue
University of Missouri
Michigan State
University of Tennessee
Alabama
University of Georgia
Georgia State University
University of Arkansas
Virginia Tech
University of Iowa
University of Kentucky
University of Pittsburgh
and one or two that I am leaving out I am sure.

The reason schools want you to take these standardized tests is so they will have standardized scores to compare each applicant against one another. That is why these scores are so important, it is the only thing that all applicants will have that can be compared. Accepting GRE's and GMAT's would completely destroy this method of comparing applicants to one another, and make the entire test worthless as a decision tool for admitting applicants. How do you compare someones 800 math GRE score (which is becoming a very common score), to someones 720 (based on a 58 math score, and whatever verbal score) GMAT score. There is no way to compare them.

Furthermore, most of these schools advertise their average GMAT scores for the program, so taking someone with GRE scores would be completely distorting their statistics since each program only has about 5-10 students each. Many of these schools not only require you to take the GMAT, but they pretty much say that you have to score above a 700 on it. It only takes one low score to dramatically pull the average down on such a small program. Like I said, the GRE is scored completely different, and there is no conversion rule for the two different scores. If they did take my GRE scores, I would be concerned that they were weighting my application lower than someone with regular GMAT scores. I would definitely say that you would be in a very low number of people who took the GRE compared to those who took the GMAT when applying to Finance PhD programs.

Anyway, like I said, you are best to contact the schools directly and they will tell you exactly what test you will need. Do this now so you will know what to expect and you won't be scrambling around getting ready for a test at the last minute. I know it is expensive, but you should plan on taking both the GRE and the GMAT if you are planning on applying to both Economics and Finance PhD Programs. I know I was very disappointed when I decided to start applying to Finance PhD Programs and they were not willing to accept my GRE scores. I hate those stupid tests.

[VGC]

The school that I was talking about are:

Chicago
Kellogg
Berkeley
Stanford
Wharton
NYU Stern
Columbia (don't accept GMAT at all)
Duke
MIT

[talkdirty]

many top programs prefer GRE, I wonder why

[rcwlhk]

mistake -- delete post

[asianeconomist]

Originally Posted by talkdirty

many top programs prefer GRE, I wonder why

Probably its because most of the students who want to go on to graduate education takes this exam (instead of GRE). In some manner, it probably makes it easier for adcoms to compare against people taking the same test, instead of different people with different tests.

[hillies717]

I would just be afraid when taking the GMAT that my verbal would bring down my overall score enough to not exceed certain "cut-off" points. I mean I go to a top 25 school and have taken some writing classes but lets just say it certainly wasn't my SAT verbal that got me this far. Do you really have to tank the verbal section of the GMAT if you do 99% on quant to not get a 700. I just see the GRE as a nice option because it seems like the quant section is all that matters, and it's completely isolated from the verbal section.

[University of Groningen]

Haha..I am just a freshmen.....But I want to go to Wharton or MIT or HBS after I get my bachelor's degree in Europe. I am from University of Groningen,The Netherlands(nearly 400 years old).And I am quite confident in myself...Haha....See u guys soon....

[shootermcgavin7]

Many of these schools, if you've already taken the GRE for a Master's program, will accept the scores.


However, if they normally take the GMAT, they'll usually just compare by percentiles.

This can problematic: some years, an 800 on GRE math is only like 94th percentile due to the overwhelming number of other Quant PhD disciplines taking the GRE....and 94th percentile on GMAT is usually a much lower target due to the massive amount of non-quant MBA students taking it.
Just something to keep in mind.

[shootermcgavin7]

Originally Posted by Hocking

Ohio State University
Indiana University
Penn State
Vanderbilt
University of Mississippii
Florida State University
Purdue
University of Missouri
Michigan State
University of Tennessee
Alabama
University of Georgia
Georgia State University
University of Arkansas
Virginia Tech
University of Iowa
University of Kentucky
University of Pittsburgh
and one or two that I am leaving out I am sure.

Also, if you can afford it, I'd apply to every school that you'd be willing to go to. Finance admissions are even more random than Econ admissions.