accounting phd 2016 profile evaluation

[wisdbeau]

Hi,

I was wondering if I can get my profile evaluated from current accounting phd

and also hoping to get some advice as well.

 

Undergrad:

One of the top universities in South Asia, major in Econ and Psych (GPA 3.8/4.0)

grad:

Same school, master in Business.

 

Test scores:

GMAT 750+

TOEFL 110+

 

Research experience

: nothing solid but working on my own project currently.

 

Work experience

: Intern at Big4 (in my home country)

 

Research interests

: financial archival

 

I think my scores aren't that bad but the problem is my LoRs and SOP

I have two big questions regarding these two issues.

 

1. The master's program at my uni is not that research oriented and thus I didn't have a lot of chances to be involved in research projects and get to know professors. All I did was taking lectures. Well, I managed to find professors who are willing to write LoR for me but they are not research active. Moreover, two of them are accounting professors but the other one is not.

I think they won't write any bad things about me but the fact that they are not research active bugs me out

I can try getting letters from research active professors but the problem is that they don't know me well.

 

In such case which do you recommend?

letter from professors who know you better and probably write good comments but research inactive

(I did TA for one of them and did well in their classes)

or

letter form professors who are research active but you don't know what they are going to write for sure.

(I took their classes and did fine but not aced)

 

2. Also, I have problem finishing up my SOPs as well.

I have read some useful articles about writing SOPs but I have never actually seen any good sample accounting phd SOP

So I am not sure whether I am doing alright or not.

Is there anyone who can provide any sample SOPs?

 

Lastly,

what do you think is the tier of schools that I should focus?

I'm hoping to get into top 25 but is that too big of a dream?

 

Please let me know the reality and what I should do to make things better!

Thanks in advance and any other advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

[taxPhD]

I think with your GMAT, grades, and some accounting work experience, that you can find your way into a solid U.S. accounting PhD program. Top 25 type school....that may be tough, but I would not rule out those schools. I will say that PhD admission is extremely competitive, even at mid-tier and lower-tier schools. Which means that it is exuberantly competitive at Top 25 type programs. These programs will receive a lot of applicants, particularly international, with high standardized test scores and grades. In these cases, having LORs from faculty with some name recognition to the admissions committee helps on the margin.

 

A potential strategy would be to apply to PhD programs this year, but only apply to the types of schools you really want to go to. If you strike out on PhD programs, then apply to some masters programs in the United States. Given you are international, it could help your profile to get a one year masters of accounting from a US university to get exposure to US GAAP, US income tax, etc... (if you have not already had exposure to these, if you do, then this would be useless). The main advantage to this, however, would be to get letters of recommendation from US academics, and if you do the masters program at a University with a PhD program, then you may be able to audit a doctoral seminar and sit in on their workshop series. Many of the top masters in accounting programs offer very competitive financial aid as well, so it may not cost you much. I'd look at the likes of Texas, Illinois, University of Southern California, Notre Dame (no PhD program though), University of Georgia, Texas A&M, University of Wisconsin, etc... Another option would be to get a econ or stats masters degree in the U.S.

 

The masters degree option is conditional on being set on those top-tier PhD programs. If you are willing to broaden your scope, then I think you can get into a solid U.S. PhD program this year without pursuing a masters degree in the U.S.

 

Others may have additional/different advise.

[YaSvoboden]

I agree completely with what tax said. I am not international, but my undergrad was unknown, and doing a master's at a good program, taking PhD seminars, and getting letters from respected faculty members was extremely useful in my admissions process.

[wisdbeau]

Thanks for the answer taxPhD! It was a great help!:)

So you said that top25 may be hard, I can get into a solid U.S PhD program this year without pursuing a masters degree. Could you name a few schools? I'm confused about the exact range of schools I should apply.

 

I also heard that If you apply to masters and doctoral program at the same time, you may get disadvantage in doctoral program admission process (maybe this is rumor but I heard that admission committee is not consider you seriously if you are applying to multiple programs at once). What is your opinion about this? If this is the case, I may not apply to masters....

 

Lastly, do you consider contacting(writing an email) the professors of my research interests before the admission process begins is a good strategy?

[wisdbeau]

Thanks you YaSvoden as well!

Can I ask you the same questions that I asked to tax PhD?

 

Again, thanks in advance and any other advice would be greatly appreciated!

[taxPhD]

Thanks for the answer taxPhD! It was a great help!:)

So you said that top25 may be hard, I can get into a solid U.S PhD program this year without pursuing a masters degree. Could you name a few schools? I'm confused about the exact range of schools I should apply.

 

I also heard that If you apply to masters and doctoral program at the same time, you may get disadvantage in doctoral program admission process (maybe this is rumor but I heard that admission committee is not consider you seriously if you are applying to multiple programs at once). What is your opinion about this? If this is the case, I may not apply to masters....

 

Lastly, do you consider contacting(writing an email) the professors of my research interests before the admission process begins is a good strategy?

 

To answer your questions...

 

1. I'd think you can be quite competitive at schools such as Houston, Purdue, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, UC-Irvine, Syracuse, Texas Tech, Alabama, Nebraska, Utah, Florida State, Tennessee, etc... You'll just need to dig into the research interests of faculty at particular schools and see where you think there are some good matches. Also, try and look at where their students are placing to see if they are getting jobs at the types of schools that you'd like to work at.

 

However, as I said before, I don't think higher ranked schools are out of the picture with your profile. I'd certainly also apply to some places like Texas A&M, Arizona, Michigan State, Arizona State, Florida, Illinois, UT-Dallas, Southern Cal, etc... You certainly have the GMAT and such to get past the first-cuts at these types of schools.

 

2. At a lot of schools, these processes are separate. Thus, folks on the doctoral admission's committee would never know that you also applied to the masters program. However, if you are concerned about this, you could focus on masters programs at schools that do not have doctoral programs (i.e., Notre Dame, Wake Forest, William & Mary, etc...) Or only apply to masters programs at schools where you are not also applying to their doctoral program (i.e., apply to Texas' masters program, but not their doctoral program). However, overall, I don't think it's a big issue, though others on here may have varying opinions.

 

3. I have never been particularly fond of the "email the professor ahead of time strategy," though I know some people on here have employed it, so they may have better input as to how it helped them during the process.

[YaSvoboden]

I applied to one PhD when I was applying for my master's. I mentioned in it that I wanted to get a master's and PhD concurrently. I think it showed ignorance to the process and couldn't have helped. I honestly don't think I would have gotten in at the time anyway. I don't see a problem with applying to distinct sets of schools for master's and PhDs.

 

It is fine to email ahead of time if you actually have something to say. I wouldn't simply introduce yourself. I emailed a few professors before applying with legitimate questions about the program that weren't too easy to answer on my own. I got good responses every time. I also met the director at my current school a few months before applications were due and emailed him a number of times to stay in touch and ask questions about the program. Bottom line, I would only do it if you actually have information to get out there.

[remythunder]

Hi, it depends on a few factors such as: undergraduate mark, subject, previous university and the university you want to do a PhD, whether your masters is related to your phd admission 2016, other experience, feasibility of topic, availability of supervisors.

 

[hummingbird]

I agree with whatever has been said by taxPhD and YaSvoboden. My personal view is that you have a good chance of getting into top 25. It depends a lot of your letter writers, and your research preparedness.