Accounting PhD stress level by school

[Abercrombie]

Does the stress level of students in Accounting PhD programs vary much by school?

Are lower ranked programs less stressful? Do some programs have a less/more pressurized culture? Any schools in particular?

Thanks for your input.

[gentvenus]

I am keen to know more about this too as my bachelor is in accounting!

[YaSvoboden]

Does the stress level of students in Accounting PhD programs vary much by school?

Are lower ranked programs less stressful? Do some programs have a less/more pressurized culture? Any schools in particular?

Thanks for your input.

Not too many people have been a student at multiple schools to answer this. I think that expectations are higher at the higher end schools, but you are given the resources for it as well. Overall, it is stressful no matter where you go, so you need to focus on managing that properly. I definitely wouldn't go to a lower tier school because you think it would be easier.

[Granps]

Not being in accounting, I want to echo what YaSvoboden said. I think that the stress, and difficulty, between programs is not massive. I have seen grad students in top tier programs shell out mediocre dissertations and students in non-renowned programs write amazing dissertations. But in my experience, given the type A people that tend to go to business school doctoral programs, much of the pressure is gained passively by looking at your peers and (usually falsly) assessing how awesome they are compared to you. The better the program, the more apriori accomplished (as a very broad generalization) these peers will be. This, however, is also a motivator. As YaS said, go to the best program that you can.