am i top 25 material?

[rhuelu]

Hi guys...I was wondering if you could give me an idea of my chances at finance phd programs.

Academics:
3.1 GPA BS Math, top 10 school
3.8 GPA MS applied math, top 20 school
770 GMAT
CFA level III

I have been employed as an analyst at a hedge fund for a few years and have found that I'm better suited for academia. I worked on a few research projects during undergrad in applied math, but nothing published. Do I stand a chance at any top 25 schools?

[desimba]

My sense is that you do have a pretty good shot at the top 25 programs. You may be able to get into the 1-2 of the top 10 programs but would have a much better shot at some of the schools lower down in that list. You should certainly apply to the programs where you have studied for your undergrad and grad.

[rhuelu]

2 things-

1. Do you think there is anything else I can do to help mitigate my undergrad gpa? I was pretty much a slacker during my first 2 years, and I have a few classes with really bad grades.

2. I'm still trying to get a vague ranking of finance phd rankings. I assume the top top schools are Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, and Wharton. What schools are in tier 2? Does NYU, Columbia, Northwestern, Duke, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan sound about right? What other schools are in line with this group? Vanderbilt? Yale? Cornell? UCLA? Virginia? WashU?

[desimba]

See your undergrad GPA is a part of your record and to my mind, there is nothing you can do to change that. One would hope that your grades in the math/ econ courses is better than the overall GPA. In addition, you should pick your recommenders wisely so that you get LORs only from those profs who were really enthusiastic about you.Your ranking of schools seems about right. I would place Duke a shade below NYU, Columbia, Northwestern, MIT, Berkeley and Michigan and would probably place Chicago also in the same bracket as the rest. To my mind, Harvard, Wharton and Stanford are in a league of their own and no body really matches up with these 3 schools. The other schools you mention are definitely not in the same cadre. Cornell, Yale and Virginia have much smaller PhD programs in relation to the reputation of their schools and their MBA/ Bachelors programs tend to be ranked higher than their PhD programs. You should also look at the U.S. News and World Report, the UT-Dallas rankings for further information.

[CTG1983]

I think Chicago for finance PhD is the best. Then comes Stanford, NYU. Harvard, Columbia, MIT comes then. Wharton's MBA is very good but PhD is not as good.

[PowerOfDreams]

Hey Rhuelu ... Awesome score dude. I'm retaking the GMAT to enter PhD.

Any tips?

[hvzw]

Great score. wish you luck.