TestMagic

appler · 05-23-2008, 06:38 AM

I hope everyone will share his opinion on this

How do you compare the different perspectives a financial econ phd(from an econ department) gives, to that from a straight finance phd( business school)?

How do people trained in either way differ in their research approach, thinking, methods? Any significant differences?

desimba · 05-23-2008, 09:53 PM

I do not have any direct experience of either of these. However since I had applied to econ programs in the past and have interacted with PhD students from both these disciplines, I would venture a guess that the training you get in a finance program will be more specialized than the training you receive in an econ program. You will have more departmental seminars offered by the finance department should you be in a finance program. These would enable you to look at corporate finance topics such as capital budgeting, NPV, etc. and market microstructure (how does trading actually happen- spreads, the mechanics of trading, etc.) which you would probably not have a chance if you were in an econ phd program. I would also urge you to look at one of my previous posts in which I had tried to explain the differences between econ/ business econ & finance PhD programs as I guess you would find some of that helpful.

luke77 · 05-24-2008, 05:21 AM

To add to the question in the original post: I've heard that "Business" phd programs are easier to get into than econ programs, even programs with a great deal of overlap like econ and financial economics. First, is this accurate? And if so, why would this be? It seems like business departments are better funded, the job market is substantially better for business school-based phds, and salaries are significantly higher for business professors. Is it simply the perception that business programs are less "academic" because of their more applied orientation?

desimba · 05-24-2008, 05:30 AM

That is simply not true. As you can see yourself for all of the reasons that you enumerate there is a greater demand for spots in graduate programs at B-schools relative to the number of spots available. Each individual area takes 2-3 applicants per year for every 100 applicants leading to a selectivity of 2-3% whereas the rates for econ programs would tend to be double of that- at 5-6%; not large by any stretch of the imagination but larger nevertheless than B-schools. And let me also add that finance is usually the most competitive of them all. I still remember stats for Columbia's GSB from their class of 2007, I think -5 admits out of 219 applicants!

shootermcgavin7 · 05-24-2008, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke77

To add to the question in the original post: I've heard that "Business" phd programs are easier to get into than econ programs

If you're comparing Finance to econ, that is wholly untrue.

Some other Bschool fields, maybe.

Prawler · 05-25-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke77

To add to the question in the original post: I've heard that "Business" phd programs are easier to get into than econ programs, even programs with a great deal of overlap like econ and financial economics.

Who said this... I don't agree with the guy who told you this if we are talking about "general".
In some cases, let's say for top 10-30 econ. programs, it's extremely difficult to be admitted to PhD Econ.

Finance class for a b-school usually does not easily exceed 5 students, on the other hand Economics departments generally have an incoming class of 14 students. It is easier to get into an PhD Economics program because most candidates are not fully funded and class size is larger , whereas in the PhD Finance program funds all of its students and entering class of a certain year is much more smaller than Fin PhD program.

There may be some exceptions to both cases, but general pattern is as mentioned in above.

Additionally, Finance PhD's are highly demanded in job market since there is a shortage of business faculty in the job market. It does not matter which school you graduated from ( not talking about top 10-20 ) as it does in Econ PhDs.

You will be more specialized by the time you graduate from a Finance PhD. then you will be in Business Economics as far as I heard.

luke77 · 05-27-2008, 06:54 AM

I got the impression about econ programs being more competitive than business programs from several "So you want to go to graduate school in economics" articles, although I can't locate any of them at the moment. The authors were econ professors, though, so perhaps they were misinformed. They were writing about admissions to top tier schools, and basically suggested that a business phd program may be easier to get in to for students that are not admitted to the top econ programs.

Regardless of which programs are more difficult to get into, I find the admissions stats to the business programs incredibly intimidating. At all of the top 25 schools, it looks like they get hundreds of applications for maybe 10 spots. Looking through the profiles of admitted students there are some pretty impressive profiles, but surprisingly some do not stand out at all. It leaves me confused as to how admissions offers are actually made. I imagine that with hundreds of applications there is a surfeit of qualified students - how do admissions committees decide whom to admit when they must cut so many people? Even the lower-ranked schools only admit about 10-15 percent of applicants. I know that SOP is important, but it seems like any applicant intelligent enough to be considered is able to write a strong, well-thought out SOP. Does anyone know what adcoms truly look for, or is it somewhat of a mystery (or is it just a pretty random process)?

oldprogrammer · 05-27-2008, 02:14 PM

It seems to me that it's harder to get into a business PhD program than to get into a econ PhD program. I see the low business PhD admissions as an academic labor market control that most PhD disciplines (including economics) don't have. In other words, it's harder to get into a business PhD program, but easier to find a job because of the restricted supply. It's easier to get into an economics PhD program, but much harder to find a job because of a flooded job market.

desimba · 05-27-2008, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke77

I got the impression about econ programs being more competitive than business programs from several "So you want to go to graduate school in economics" articles, although I can't locate any of them at the moment. The authors were econ professors, though, so perhaps they were misinformed. They were writing about admissions to top tier schools, and basically suggested that a business phd program may be easier to get in to for students that are not admitted to the top econ programs.

I don't think they were misinformed. It is just that econ programs have some rigid requirements around the level of math preparation which you need whereas business econ/ finance programs may not have the same rigid requirements. Looked purely in terms of selectivity or candidates admitted/ applications received, B-schools do have a higher selectivity than comparable econ programs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke77

Does anyone know what adcoms truly look for, or is it somewhat of a mystery (or is it just a pretty random process)?

The SOP does matter. Beyond that, how strong your LORs are is also important. E.g. it is quite different if somebody says that you were a star performer in her class versus somebody saying that you are the best student she has seen in the last 15 years of her teaching career. And finally there is the amorphous thing called -fit/ match. You may have an interest in development economics and the deptt. which you are applying to may have just lost their key development economist or the department may have consciously decided to deprioritize the area, to give one example.

Bayern · 05-28-2008, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prawler

Additionally, Finance PhD's are highly demanded in job market since there is a shortage of business faculty in the job market. It does not matter which school you graduated from ( not talking about top 10-20 ) as it does in Econ PhDs.

You will be more specialized by the time you graduate from a Finance PhD. then you will be in Business Economics as far as I heard.

I am confused about this point. Do you mean it does not matter at all where we got our finance phd, only when we do not consider the top 20 schools? But aren't the top 20 depts the most sought after ones, and satisfy a large part of the demand from academia(as they tend to have the bigger departments)?
How is the job market for people coming from the schools below the top 20... does anyone have some idea about the salary differential (academia or private sector) with the top 20 and the say 20-50 ranked schools ?

05-23-2008, 06:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
appler Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 11	financial econ and finance I hope everyone will share his opinion on this How do you compare the different perspectives a financial econ phd(from an econ department) gives, to that from a straight finance phd( business school)? How do people trained in either way differ in their research approach, thinking, methods? Any significant differences?

05-24-2008, 05:30 AM	#4 (permalink)
desimba Within my grasp! Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 248	That is simply not true. As you can see yourself for all of the reasons that you enumerate there is a greater demand for spots in graduate programs at B-schools relative to the number of spots available. Each individual area takes 2-3 applicants per year for every 100 applicants leading to a selectivity of 2-3% whereas the rates for econ programs would tend to be double of that- at 5-6%; not large by any stretch of the imagination but larger nevertheless than B-schools. And let me also add that finance is usually the most competitive of them all. I still remember stats for Columbia's GSB from their class of 2007, I think -5 admits out of 219 applicants! Last edited by desimba : 05-24-2008 at 08:36 PM. Reason: Typo

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

05-23-2008, 09:53 PM	#2 (permalink)
desimba Within my grasp! Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 248	I do not have any direct experience of either of these. However since I had applied to econ programs in the past and have interacted with PhD students from both these disciplines, I would venture a guess that the training you get in a finance program will be more specialized than the training you receive in an econ program. You will have more departmental seminars offered by the finance department should you be in a finance program. These would enable you to look at corporate finance topics such as capital budgeting, NPV, etc. and market microstructure (how does trading actually happen- spreads, the mechanics of trading, etc.) which you would probably not have a chance if you were in an econ phd program. I would also urge you to look at one of my previous posts in which I had tried to explain the differences between econ/ business econ & finance PhD programs as I guess you would find some of that helpful.

05-24-2008, 05:21 AM	#3 (permalink)
luke77 Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 13	To add to the question in the original post: I've heard that "Business" phd programs are easier to get into than econ programs, even programs with a great deal of overlap like econ and financial economics. First, is this accurate? And if so, why would this be? It seems like business departments are better funded, the job market is substantially better for business school-based phds, and salaries are significantly higher for business professors. Is it simply the perception that business programs are less "academic" because of their more applied orientation?

05-27-2008, 06:54 AM	#7 (permalink)
luke77 Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 13	I got the impression about econ programs being more competitive than business programs from several "So you want to go to graduate school in economics" articles, although I can't locate any of them at the moment. The authors were econ professors, though, so perhaps they were misinformed. They were writing about admissions to top tier schools, and basically suggested that a business phd program may be easier to get in to for students that are not admitted to the top econ programs. Regardless of which programs are more difficult to get into, I find the admissions stats to the business programs incredibly intimidating. At all of the top 25 schools, it looks like they get hundreds of applications for maybe 10 spots. Looking through the profiles of admitted students there are some pretty impressive profiles, but surprisingly some do not stand out at all. It leaves me confused as to how admissions offers are actually made. I imagine that with hundreds of applications there is a surfeit of qualified students - how do admissions committees decide whom to admit when they must cut so many people? Even the lower-ranked schools only admit about 10-15 percent of applicants. I know that SOP is important, but it seems like any applicant intelligent enough to be considered is able to write a strong, well-thought out SOP. Does anyone know what adcoms truly look for, or is it somewhat of a mystery (or is it just a pretty random process)?

05-27-2008, 02:14 PM	#8 (permalink)
oldprogrammer Within my grasp! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Dallas, Texas, USA Posts: 167	It seems to me that it's harder to get into a business PhD program than to get into a econ PhD program. I see the low business PhD admissions as an academic labor market control that most PhD disciplines (including economics) don't have. In other words, it's harder to get into a business PhD program, but easier to find a job because of the restricted supply. It's easier to get into an economics PhD program, but much harder to find a job because of a flooded job market.

TestMagic

Free GMAT, GRE, SAT Test, TOEFL practice tests