Profile Evaluation for PhD in Management (micro OB)

[collegedropout]

Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): 163V (93rd percentile) 159Q (73rd percentile) 4.5AWA (82nd percentile). Scored 5.0 (93rd percentile) on previous proctoring, but lower on other sections

Undergrad GPA: 2.87, undergrad business school at Large Private University in Intermountain West, major GPA is also ******, but A's in every OB class I took. In applications that allow for addendums or personal history statements I address this. There is a compelling narrative here, i.e. if you go through my transcript you'd notice, "oh there's a story behind this, I wonder what happened?"

Graduate GPA: N/A

Research Experience:

- 2 years RA 1-on-1 with bschool prof at top public university on West Coast (hoping for publication to emerge from this)

- 7 months in behavioral lab at same school to learn social psych methodology

- 8 months RA work (mainly data collection/cleaning/coding) for bschool prof at top private university on West Coast

- working on publication with potential co-author (also bschool prof) at my undergrad institution

(all 3 faculty are LOR writers)

Teaching Experience: TA for management course in undergrad, also did some TA type work as part of RA responsibilities for professor I worked for after undergrad

Work Experience: a little less than a year for tech company based out of Silicon Valley, left to go back to school (if I ever get in front of MBA's I'll be able to tell them "yeah I worked in tech")

 

Concentration Applying to: micro OB

Number of programs planned to apply to: 8 (1 top 5, 1 top 15, 4 25-40, 2 outside top 50). Also applied to 1 OB PhD program in ILR school, 1 MA program in social-org psych, and 2 pre-doctoral programs. Would have applied to more but didn't feel like it was worth the cost of application fees due to the weaknesses of my application. All but 3 of these programs I'd go to w/o hesitation.

 

Dream Schools:

Haas, Columbia, LBS, Stern, Anderson, Rotman

 

Other Questions:

 

What made you want to pursue a PhD?

 

No other profession feels as honest. Projected lifestyle doesn't hurt either.

 

Questions or concerns you have about your profile?

 

What I really want to know is if I have a shot at the elite programs, considering my low GPA and low quant score. Was scoring higher on practice exams, but just didn't get it to the 90th percentile on test day. Planning on re-taking in 6 months if I don't get in anywhere. Have been told though that quant score is less important for micro candidates vs. macro candidates. Just not sure how much give there really is.

 

The emphasis on elite programs is two-fold: 1.) Living in a diverse, and culturally rich place is very important to me. Part of the reason why I struggled so mightily in undergrad was because I was a minority at a very racially and ideologically homogenous institution. 2.) It just so happens that the majority of PhD programs and TT positions located in big cities are at elite universities, and don't want to get stuck in a negative feedback loop at the lower tiers, especially if it means I have to live somewhere desolate. How impermeable are the tiers truly, especially regarding the rank of your PhD institution?

 

Also, seeking insight on whether it is worth it to continue applying each year in hopes of matriculating to top program, or am I costing myself too much by waiting? And, what do you make of these alternative MA and predoctoral programs? Are they viable options that would help me on my journey or merely a way for these schools to get more cheap labor or collect tuition (in the case of the MA program)?

 

Looking inward and asking myself a lot of questions. 30 is getting closer and I've heard age bias from these programs is a real thing. My family thinks this is just a pipe dream and I should get a "real job", however I know once I take something outside of academe, the degree of difficulty to keep up with the research and publication cycle will be exponentially higher. Would be so easy to give up now, but I've sacrificed too much and worked too hard for this.

[Mingming]

Applying for fall 2019 programs？

[collegedropout]

Applying for fall 2019 programs？

 

I submitted this a couple months ago, so it was for 2018

[Mingming]

Got it. How is it going? I think your research experience is strong enough.

[collegedropout]

Got it. How is it going? I think your research experience is strong enough.

 

So far just one interview from school outside top 50, waiting to hear back...

[Mingming]

Oh, maybe low GPA hurts. LORs from big names and solid research experience (manuscripts in OB) are also critical. Anyway, good luck!

[Snagret]

Micro OB/Management PhD applicant

 

Test Scores (GMAT) 720/800 (94%), V: 41/51 (94%), Q: 47/51 (60%), AW: 5 (56%), IR: 7 (81%)

Undergrad GPA: 3.84/4.00 overall, BS in Psych from a solid private school

Graduate GPA: none

Research Experience: 2 years, part-time with 3 faculty, econ, OB and Psych. Worked 0-20 hr./week depending on need. Also did several research projects in my research based classes (research design, psych testing, stats in psych, writing in psych, etc.), Research tools: R, Stata, Qualtrics.

Teaching Experience: 1 semester as a TA for psych.

Work Experience: 1 year in HR consulting/training as a project manager.

Letters of Rec: OB professor I did research with, Psych professor I did research with, Psych professor I had 3 classes with and is a mentor/friend.

 

Concentration Applying to: Micro OB, interested in Business/Behavioral Ethics, Meaning at Work, Positive Org Scholarship, Moral Psych.

Number of programs planned to apply to: I've applied to 9 as of now, may apply to a few more.

Dream Schools: Harvard, Michigan, Washington

 

 

Other Questions:

 

What made you want to pursue a PhD?

- I thought the career would be intellectually stimulating, flexible, and challenging. I thought research could make an impact and that teaching/mentoring would be meaningful as well.

 

Questions or concerns you have about your profile?

- Concern is my Quant score. It's a solid score, but not too high on percentile. Not sure how much micro OB programs are sticklers on this one? Also, I'm applying straight out of undergrad without a masters, I've heard this isn't too big of a deal as long as you are prepared but wanted more input on that.

 

Any additional specific questions you may have:

- I'm applying to a mix of top 10, top 20 and top 40 schools (based on TAMUGA rankings). Right now I've applied to 9. Should I apply to more? Is my application strong enough for a top 10 school?