PHD Finance Application

[Kansal]

Hey guys,

I have recently completed my MBA Finance from Australia and looking forward to do a PhD in Finance. I haven't started my application process yet and looking forward for a guidance. Would be thankful if anyone can help me out in the process.

[BrazilianPhD]

Well, one could write a whole book about the application process. So, I don't know how could we help you. There are tons of things to consider, and you didn't tell us much.

I think you need to do some basic stuff first, like checking PhD programs' websites to see what they require or expect. And then ask more specific questions, and with more information so people can better understand your situation and plans.

And, just like when we're doing a PhD, people may provide some guidance, but you will need to do a lot of work by yourself. Different people follow different strategies when applying, have different criteria to make decisions, have different resources, etc. We can share some of our experiences and knowledge, but they may not apply to your case.

By the way, my MBA and my MS were in Finance, but I'm doing a PhD in Marketing. There are things that only very specific people would be able to really help you with, depending on factors like the country you intend to do a PhD and your specific research interests.

[zshfryoh1]

What is your academic background besides for the MBA? Any research experience? Who would be your letter writers?

To be blunt if you are aiming to get into a serious research oriented finance PhD, the MBA will not help much beyond perhaps giving you some access to letter writers. The finance coursework for most MBA programs has almost no relation to the type of coursework in a finance PhD which is much closer to the type of coursework in an economics PhD.

I don't know of too many people with MBA's who have gotten into US top 75 finance PhD programs in recent years and those who did either had the type of profile that would have enabled them to get into a PhD straight from undergrad anyway, or had undergrad degrees in math or engineering, or had also done masters degrees in something like quant finance or statistics or a PhD track economics masters.

Minimum math for a decent research oriented finance PhD program to even give your application a look is multivariable calculus and linear algebra and you probably will also need to add a calc based probability class and a stats/econometrics class. And that is just to even have a chance.

If you are willing to look a little farther down the rankings, you will probably find programs willing to look at someone with weaker formal math background though multivariable calculus and linear algebra will probably still be necessary. But these programs are typically less research oriented and tend to place their graduates at lower ranked business schools that concentrate on teaching.

If you want to stay in Australia, I can't comment anything specific about the universities there.