Accounting PhD - Clueless Undergrad?

[soekid22]

Hey all, this is my first reddit post so bear with me. I am currently in my my last year of my undergrad and I plan on doing a thesis based MAcc degree which I will complete in the summer. I am wanting to get a Ph.D in accounting and was wondering how much a lower undergraduate GPA might hold me back from that. My undergrad GPA is gonna be around a 3.3 and my masters GPA will be a little bit higher. I know that the GMAT is a large part of the application process, and I'm confident I can score 700 on that. I also completed 3 internships up to now, one in a small cpa firm and the other 2 in investment banking, I do not know if I need more work experience in order to get accepted into a program?

So, based on what I wrote above, would it be possible to get into a decent PhD program after I complete my MAcc? I don't care much about getting into any really good schools, but i dont want to go anywhere where i wont learn the skills I need to be a good researcher.

Finally, does anyone have any tips for the admissions process? I plan on applying to a really wide range of schools, but does anyone know which ones in particular i would have an expecially good chance at?

[YaSvoboden]

Hi, this isn't reddit. The thesis based MAcc is a good thing. Does your school have a PhD program? I took some PhD classes during my MAcc and I think that helped me a lot.

 

Your GPA isn't great and your work experience is minimal. Would you have letter writers willing to talk about your ability as a student and potential as a researcher? A good letter from a successful researcher can go a long way.

 

Do you have much exposure to accounting research? Do you know what it is or what area you would be interested in?

 

It is difficult to narrow down programs without an idea of your research interests.

 

With a good GMAT, you might have a chance at programs outside of the top 50, but they tend to like work experience.