instajar Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 (edited) ----------- Note from Forum Admin ----------- Welcome to the 2020 Ph.D. in business concentrations' sweat thread! This is a thread for applicants (hopefully!) starting their PhD program in 2020! Use this is vent, discuss any frustrations, or random musings that you would like others to weigh in on! Best of luck to this years applicants! For those of you just starting to browse this website, check out the Welcome to the Forum thread for information that has been helpful in the past. ------------------------------------------------------- Hey friends. I'm hoping to start a business PhD in 2020, and I'm already starting to sweat with the first deadlines coming up. I also don't know any other applicants personally, so I wanted to start a thread for anyone also starting to sweat. :luck2: Edited December 17, 2020 by tm_associate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
instajar Posted November 24, 2019 Author Share Posted November 24, 2019 One of my existential uncertainties is the scope of research interests expressed in my application essays. It has been hard to know the right trade-off between general interests that risk being uninteresting and undeveloped versus specific interests that might be seen as flawed or outside the scope of the relevant faculty. I kind of just wanted to write, "Below I outline a specific research topic I could pursue in grad school, but really I'm not at all committed to this and would be very open to changing based on your feedback!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm_associate Posted November 28, 2019 Share Posted November 28, 2019 One of my existential uncertainties is the scope of research interests expressed in my application essays. It has been hard to know the right trade-off between general interests that risk being uninteresting and undeveloped versus specific interests that might be seen as flawed or outside the scope of the relevant faculty. I kind of just wanted to write, "Below I outline a specific research topic I could pursue in grad school, but really I'm not at all committed to this and would be very open to changing based on your feedback!" Just say something that communicates from what you know right now, you have interest in X, Y, and Z, and that you look forward to learning more about the intersections between different areas of (your field) and these interests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arindam Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 as per my understanding professors look for people who have put significant effort to develop an idea on which they want to work on. it also gives indication that the student is really interested and has the ability to take up the rigor of the research. Unless you have explicitly mentioned that you are not interested in anything else, i doubt profs from other interests will not be interested in you, esp when that interests evolve in most cases during that five year period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom508 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 FYI all - HBS organizational behavior is doing first round interviews (with administrative directors in admissions, not profs) over the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tad2020 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 FYI all - HBS organizational behavior is doing first round interviews (with administrative directors in admissions, not profs) over the next few days. Hi op, is the invitation for this round of interview already out? i don't wanna get my hope too high coz I heard if no initial interview = instant rej (all accepted must go thru interview process? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phd2020 Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Anyone in Quant Marketing has interviews yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
instajar Posted January 6, 2020 Author Share Posted January 6, 2020 Based on last year's timing, UC Berkeley might start sending out interview requests soon too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrategicMGMT Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 as per my understanding professors look for people who have put significant effort to develop an idea on which they want to work on. it also gives indication that the student is really interested and has the ability to take up the rigor of the research. Unless you have explicitly mentioned that you are not interested in anything else, i doubt profs from other interests will not be interested in you, esp when that interests evolve in most cases during that five year period. IMO it is more about being able to think like a researcher. As one professor (bluntly) put it: Don't get married to 1 idea too early (especially when you don't know what you don't know) The type of work I do now is very different than what I thought I would be doing when I entered the PhD program. But this is also why generally you don't select an advisor / dissertation topic until the end of your second year (at least in my program) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
instajar Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Are any departments sending out interview requests yet? I'm checking Grad Cafe results reporting, but I think the sample size is too low for some programs to know exactly when interviews were sent last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phd2020 Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Some schools have started to interview, but I think most of them haven't started reviewing yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
instajar Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 Some schools have started to interview, but I think most of them haven't started reviewing yet. Do you know which ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhdHopeful2020 Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 @instajar, it's very early in the process. I heard from friends who are in top OB programs that we will hear from schools between now and mid to late March, with the majority of the programs notifying students between mid January and mid February. There are exceptions like Harvard Business School and Berkeley's Hass (Berkeley isn't accepting OB students this year), as they typically send out first-round interview invitations during the first week of January. If you don't hear from schools during a "normal" timeline, don't panic –– you never know whether a school is late to the process during a particular year, as you also never know whether you've been internally waitlisted, etc. Best luck to all this application cycle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
instajar Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 @instajar, it's very early in the process. I heard from friends who are in top OB programs that we will hear from schools between now and mid to late March, with the majority of the programs notifying students between mid January and mid February. There are exceptions like Harvard Business School and Berkeley's Hass (Berkeley isn't accepting OB students this year), as they typically send out first-round interview invitations during the first week of January. If you don't hear from schools during a "normal" timeline, don't panic –– you never know whether a school is late to the process during a particular year, as you also never know whether you've been internally waitlisted, etc. Best luck to all this application cycle! That sounds right to me. I don't know any that have already started interviewing. Best of luck to you too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piano55 Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) I interviewed this week at a public school in management. Other than that, it's been quiet for me. (I applied to 11 management/strategy programs.) Edited January 10, 2020 by piano55 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donod Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 When does finance programs start emailing the students for the interviews. Which is the earliest top-20 program to call for an interview? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phd2020 Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 I interviewed with 2 (top 20-30). Still waiting to hear back from others (Marketing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDMKTCL Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 I interviewed with 2 (top 20-30). Still waiting to hear back from others (Marketing). Hey, may I know which two schools they are? Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
instajar Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 I just got my first interview offer! For a strategy/management department that seems to only have at most one student per year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat2020 Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 I just got my first interview offer! For a strategy/management department that seems to only have at most one student per year. Could you share which school it is? Haven't heard from any school yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
instajar Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 (edited) Could you share which school it is? Haven't heard from any school yet... I don't really want to say, for anonymity, sorry. Edit: See Gradcafe! You can search for specific school names. Edited January 14, 2020 by instajar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phd2020 Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Hey, may I know which two schools they are? Many thanks. I don't what to reveal myself, but you can check on Gradcafe for schools who already sent out interview invitations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhdHopeful2020 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 For context re. Grad Cafe –– business • thegradcafe.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat2020 Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Anyone hear from Haas or Wharton Management? They should have sent out invitations based on previous years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phd2020 Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Anyone hear from Haas or Wharton Management? They should have sent out invitations based on previous years. I heard from my friend that Wharton called. Not sure about Haas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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