ocelot22

I cannot attest to whether international students are facing stiffer competition than domestic students or not, however, I can say that as far as "equality of outcome" is concerned, this certainly isn't the case with Finance PhD programs, with many programs being heavily dominated by, if not entirely composed of international students.

Hello, I thought that I would post this question here, as I feel the question would have the greatest probability of being answered in this forum. I have been preparing to apply to a Finance PhD program for probably 7 years now. After getting my MBA (state school) and working as a portfolio accountant for about a year, I became a high school math teacher and for the past 6-7 years have taken math courses during the summers at various universities. I have taken cal 1-3 (A,A,B) , linear algebra (B) , ordinary dif eq (C - I know this isnt so good), intro to partial dif eq (B), intro to math proofs (A), intro to real analysis (A), intro to (calculus based) probability (A), mathematical statistics (A), PhD level Microecomic Theory I (T100 state school. We covered optimization, Kuhn - Tucker conditions, equilibrium etc. - We used the Varian grad text) (A), and I have worked on a project as a research assistant for a finance professor (T150 State School). At this point, I feel like my profile is mostly pretty decent, and I am just preparing for the GMAT at this point. So far in my prep, I am getting pretty close to the 700 mark. My two most recent practice tests (MGMT CAT and GMAT Prep) gave me 690 (Q47 V 38) I realize that 700 is usually a cutoff score, but I also know that in finance there is often a pretty high quant cut-off. I see myself having a difficult time getting my quant up to Q50-51, but I feel that Q48-49 is attainable/realistic. My question to anyone who feels confident answering is as follows : will a 700 GMAT with Q48-49 get me desk rejected at a T100 program? My research interests are aligned to empirical corporate finance/corporate governance, but I am also open to behavioral finance (although I know it is rare to find professors who specialize in behavioral finance outside T30). I plan on applying to about 26 programs in the Top 100 including Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, LSU, Tennessee etc. Also any additional input aside from GMAT Quant would be greatly welcomed. Thanks so much.

Edit: Deleted

You absolutely cannot discount what everyone is saying in this thread. You should want to go to a school because you want to work with the professors, not so you can consider yourself a member of some elite hierarchy because say, you get into NYU. You absolutely can do a great PhD at a lower ranked school and a Bad PhD at a top school. I have not applied to programs yet, however I will share an anecdote. The school that I received my MBA at had a assistant finance professor who got his PhD at University of Chicago. In fact, Eugene Fama was on his dissertation committee. This professor never was able to achieve any A pubs in the five years he worked at my school, and is now working at a think tank, which granted isn't the end of the world I suppose. This same school has a tenured professor who did his PhD at Louisiana Tech and he has 4-5 A pubs.The moral of the story. You can get your PhD at University of Southern Illinois and if you get a revise and resubmit in the Journal of Financial Economics, you will probably still get an excellent academic placement. Yes there is some mild correlation between the prestige of the school, and number of PhD coauthored publications, but rankings are certainly not deterministic.

pistacchio, would you mind sharing a bit of your background, (education, math background, RA? etc. I am hoping to apply next fall, and I am trying to find benchmarks to compare myself to. (I'll Send you an IM.)

I am an aspiring Finance PhD Student. I have spent the last few years taking math courses and beefing up my profile. I am looking to apply in a year or two, and this summer reached out to a finance professor at a state school in the region. He agreed to allow me to do some data collection for him on a project that he started a while back and was never able to finish. He said that he would go over his materials and send me what he had so I could continue with some of the data collection. Here is my question, and I am sure it is a bit of a naive one. It was about 3 weeks ago that we spoke of this, and I have not received any further correspondence from him. I understand that professors are extremely busy. So, my question is, how long should I wait before following up with him or reminding him? I want to be as humble and polite as possible and do not want to seem rude or annoying. I get that this is mostly likely a sophomoric question, and as such I feel silly even asking, but given that I am a complete virgin to this entire experience, I thought it couldn't hurt to ask for some advice from others on how to conduct communication. What I definitely do not want his for him to forget about it completely or even think that I have lost interest or that I am unmotivated, but I do not want to be rude or pushy either.

Duke should change their mascot name to the telemarketers...because they kept getting call after call after call...ok that was pretty shameless i admit.

I am an aspiring finance PhD student. Unfortunately, I have been out of a full-time degree program since finishing my MBA in 2010. For the past 3 years, I have worked as a high school math teacher, taking math classes in the summer while school is out. At this point, I have taken cal1-3 linear algebra, differential equations, applied stat,Quantitative economics, (the math boot camp class at my MBA institution), intro to mathematical proof, and plan on taking intro to real analysis this summer, at which point, (based on what I have read on here), I feel my math background will be sufficient. My issue, now is that I am trying to figure out a way to build relationships with research faculty. The university in which I completed my MBA is in another state and I feel that many faculty there would have trouble remembering me at this point. I do live close to another research university, and have thought about trying to build a relationship with one or more of the professors at that school. My issue however, is that I am unsure how to go about approaching them. I would like to start attending the seminar series presentations, but I am hesitant to contact the coordinator being a complete stranger. I have also thought about trying to audit one of the MBA classes taught at night by one of the professors whose research I am interested in. That would at least give me a legitimate reason to communicate with him. I am reaching out here, to see if any of you on the board have any suggestions on how to reach out/ develop a relationship with professors in the field. A perfect situation in my opinion, would be one in which I am able to get to know this or another professor, and am allowed to volunteer for him. I know that it might not be a feasible goal, as many professors are required to devote their time to currently accepted PhD students only, (or at least that is my fear). Also, I do realize that I might be acting a bit to timid, I just do not want to come across off putting or make anyone uncomfortable. I am not exactly sure what the etiquette is with things like that, being an outsider and all. In any case, I would really appreciate any input that anyone here might have.

I would say that this even understates the salaries of top professors, as I do not believe public universities do not have to report the portion of salaries paid through chaired positions, as these come from private sources.

Are you interested in Operations? I find it odd that the school does quite a bit of research in finance (5 A pubs in 2012), but does not have a finance PhD. I also see them throw around the word "interdisciplinary" a lot which is a bit of a turn off for me.

I just saw that Auburn University just started a new finance phd program this year. I as looking at their faculty, and I cant see any of them that have seen any A pubs in the last 5 years, which makes me a little suspect. Does anybody have any input on this?

OP, would you consider posting your stats in the forum at some point. There are plenty of people who post profiles and intend on going to T30 or T50, but not a lot who go to T100 (like Oklahoma). I am not saying that you are referencing Oklahoma, but if you are it would be a really great data point for folks in my position.