gogophd

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It is much appreciated.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I hesitated to give exact figures to retain some privacy, but for the sake of more disclosure I currently have a GMAT of 700. To answer your question regarding why do I want to do a Ph.D., I quite simply love doing research (I know law review pieces are often very different from management research). I've spent a significant amount of my time researching and writing and that is what I have a passion for. While most lawyers are afraid of math, I used to be quite strong quantitatively and could pull those numbers up. To be honest I never really engaged with research until law school and I've fallen in love with the process of producing intellectual capital. Even my course selections show my strong interest in scholarship. I am most interested in Strategy. I appreciate all of the feedback, makes me wish my quantitative deficiencies were my biggest problem.

Hello everyone, I will be graduating from a law school (solidly within the top 50) and my coursework has focused on corporate law. I was a business major in undergrad at a state school that is probably considered top 50 in overall undergraduate business rankings. I have a GMAT score that is in the low 700s with a 50Q (I could improve upon this if necessary). I had a 3.6 GPA overall in undergrad. I think that my biggest weakness is my lack of quantitative coursework. I received credit for Calc I and Statistics and then I took the honors version of Calculus II and got a poor grade during my second semester of college. Law schools tend to have lower GPAs than Masters programs, but I still have a respectable GPA and I am solidly within the top 33% of my class. I may end up in the top 10% but that remains to be seen. I will also have one or two law review publications, though I'm not sure how much they would count for PhD purposes. I have been a Research Assistant for a law professor for a summer. Finally, at this point, most of my LORs would be from law school professors. My first question is what range of schools seems most appropriate? My second question is what can I do at this point to significantly improve my odds at schools at or above that range? Thank you.

Thank you for the response, Nosaed. I understand the application-time stress from previous programs I have applied to, and I apologize for the timing. I have been reading this board for the past 6 months before posting and have spent hours trying to determine the most important characteristics from searching and reading previous threads. Last night I simply got frustrated and thought I would ask directly. I know publications are considered the gold standard, but then there is always the caveat that almost no applicants have publications and bad publications are possibly detrimental. So if publications aren't the differentiators between someone in a top-50 program and a top-10 program, I am simply wondering what is. If it is simply gpa/undergrad institution/gmat then I guess there is very little I can add to my application at this point. Anyway thank you for the response. Good luck on applications/interviews to everyone!

Since this thread seems to be getting crickets, I will throw this out there as my estimate of credentials for admitted students in top-10 programs: GMAT: 700+ (any 7XX score will be treated effectively the same) GPA: 3.7+ (out of 4.0) Undergraduate Institution: flagship State U or better (Ivy is small boost) Graduate GPA: 3.7+ (but varies by degree) Graduate Institution: flagship State U or better (Ivy is small boost) Graduate Degree: Varies. MBA most common? Something quantitative probably most useful Work Experience (in field or in research): Research if any, average of 3 years Math Courses: ?? Research Assistant experience: 1 year+ research assistant with professor in field, limited actual contributions Teaching Assistant experience: None/unimportant Conferences: Some experience but nothing too noteworthy, demonstrates interest in research Publications: None/1 in a non-A level journal Recommendations: 3 decent with at least 1 very solid professor recommendation Writing Abilities: Not important?

Hello all, I currently plan on applying next year to a range of programs, but I'm not sure what to do to be a more competitive candidate. What are the most significant factors for admission to top-10 and top-50 programs? What does the average accepted applicant look like at a top-10 or top-50 program in the respective disciplines? Please rank and add a range/score/description to the criteria below. Feel free to add/subtract. GMAT: GPA: Undergraduate Institution: Graduate Institution: Graduate Degree: Work Experience (in field or in research): Math Courses: Research Assistant experience: Teaching Assistant experience: Conferences: Publications: Recommendations: Writing Abilities: I know there was a ranked list for psychology ph.d. or some other type of program, but my goal is to build up some basic ranges for applicant quality so it is less of a guessing game. I know that this is not as formulaic as other graduate schools (with GMAT/GPA/Work Experience or GPA/LSAT determining 80% of the results), but hopefully some generalities will emerge.