neopundit Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Hi I am looking forward to some feedback on my profile and suggestions for a plan of action for Marketing PhD (CB) for Fall 2016. Undergrad: Engineering with majors in Biotech - 75.1% Hons. and I think that's eq to 3.6 GMAT - 630 (1st), 680 (2nd - q49, v34) - didn't study enough, was always busy with work Work Exp: 4 years in marketing, retailing and business development Research Exp: 1 yr paid and + 1 yr unpaid RA at IIM-A (undisputedly the best B school in India) with a senior prof + did research for a NGO (non-marketing, social impact assessment). So basically I applied only at UoA (Canada) as my wife is doing her phd (diff field) from there. But I really liked some of faculty members' work in CB. Thus I went to Canada in Oct/14 and met one of the published prof. I shared with him my interest in engaging in meaningful research work. I assisted him a little in some research work for 2-3 months and in the process portrayed myself as a strong candidate. Took his encouragement to apply and then 2 weeks later got interviewed by him. He only asked 2-3 basic questions. He liked me and told me that I was his #1 choice. However, I was told, the final decision is more of a committee decision. I just got to know that i didn't make it to the final list. One mistake I made was that I didn't ask him to review my app so that he could suggest changes, if any (he himself said this). Now, the thing is that I am 29 and have lost another year. But I want to make it count and hit back harder. My plan is: - give GMAT again (i think I can hit 700, will try more but 700 seems certain) - work with this canadian prof for a year (part time) and get his reco and guidance in the end + although I want to see if I can publish anything with him but I guess time is less - Now I will have LOR from (i) Canadian Prof (citations 5k+ in google scholar, (ii) Senior IIM Prof, (iii) a young IIM Prof who did his PhD from FSU - Get at least 1-2 of my registered working papers published by Nov. This publication might just be a conference publication or a B grade journal - also most of my research work is in the b2b marketing or retailing context and my interest is in CB - Apply to US universities as well, as my wife finishes her PhD in the next 1.5 years. - I will meet the Canadian Prof to discuss what could be my future action plan. Would love to know what are my chances of cracking into univ b/w T20 and T50, especially UBC and UT. I mention these as my Canadian exp might be more appreciated there and the Prof might directly know faculty at these univs in case if he agrees to endorse me a little more. Also, what else could I do to further strengthen my profile? Thanks in advance:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evergreen Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Continue working with the professor at Alberta and get as strong of a recommendation letter as you can. Score as highly as you can on the GMAT... at the very least you need to break the 700 mark. If you get a chance, take a few courses at Alberta, to show that you're comfortable with the North American school system? Especially if you could take their consumer behavior phd seminar (and get a grade of an A or higher in it), that would be great. If you do really well in there, you might even want to consider that professor to be one of your letter writers. Have really well defined research interests, and apply to at least 10 schools with professors who are directly interested in that area. I think if you do all of the above, you will have a decent shot. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neopundit Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Continue working with the professor at Alberta and get as strong of a recommendation letter as you can. Score as highly as you can on the GMAT... at the very least you need to break the 700 mark. If you get a chance, take a few courses at Alberta, to show that you're comfortable with the North American school system? Especially if you could take their consumer behavior phd seminar (and get a grade of an A or higher in it), that would be great. If you do really well in there, you might even want to consider that professor to be one of your letter writers. Have really well defined research interests, and apply to at least 10 schools with professors who are directly interested in that area. I think if you do all of the above, you will have a decent shot. Good luck. Thank you. All seems workable except for the course-credits as I am working right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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