JNASH

I'll take that 1/100 chance.... Rhony....."Never take hope away from a man....sometimes.....it's the only thing he has"....

The only reason I thought about this was that compared to the last admission cycle....I would now have more course work under my belt, better letters of recommendation and a more focused SOP... I guess I'll have to start looking at schools down the list...maybe even outside the US..

Long story short...I will have to leave my current PhD program... I was planning to apply to Finance PhD programs again for the next year.....The good part is my current professors are willing to give me good letters of recommendation...and they are pretty well known in their field. My questions are: 1) Should I be targeting schools that are ranked lower than my current school, or do I have a shot at higher ranked schools (given that I have already done the coursework for the first year with good grades) ? 2) How should I explain my situation in the SOP or do I need to explain this at all ? My LOR writers said they would merely state that I had a bad day. Thanks in advance !!

Thanks everyone for your comments,suggestions and information. Once the dust settles I will update this post which I hope will be useful (hopefully no one has to reach this stage ) in the future.

Do these state schools accept new intakes in June ? I was told i'll have to go through the entire application process all over again and apply for next fall admissions..

Not sure, I already have a masters in the same field I don't think you can get two !!

I recently learned that I failed my qualifying exams and will be dismissed from the PhD program. No the university does not allow retakes. Anyone else been in such a situation before ? Any idea what I can do now ? PS: I'm an international student so finding a job won't be easy since I will not get OPT and the H1-B cap has been reached. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Was wondering if there are internships etc. available and do people take them to earn some extra money esp. during the summers ? Is not, what are some other things one can do ? Thanks,

Any thoughts on these schools. From what I've gathered so far. TAMU Pros - Mostly good placements, except for the last few years - Small size (roughly 14 students) Cons - Few Faculty in AP - College Town - A lot of faculty in recent years have left including Kerry Back U of Houston Pros - Strong in AP (from what the students have told me) - Houston cost of loving Cons - 24 students in the PhD program (only 3 graduated in last 2 years, some in 6-7th year) - No mention about placements, possible not that great to talk about. Any thoughts ???

Thanks guys. Great help !!

Anyone willing to share their experiences ?

Department: University of Houston (Bauer) Date of Notification: Feb 21 Type of Notification: Skype interview Posted on GradCafe?: No Applied: 19 Interview: 2 Admits: 0 Rejection: 1

Stealing efforts from previous years posts: Department: Rice (Jones) Date of Notification: Feb 19 Type of Notification: On-Campus interview Posted on GradCafe?: No Applied: 19 Admits:0 Interview:1 Rejections:1

My profile: MS Statistics (pursuing) - Current GPA 3.85/4 (20-25 ranked school, US News) MS Finance - GPA 3.7/4 (20-25 ranked school, US News) BS Engineering - GPA 3.2/4 (graduated in 2004) GRE: (161V, 162Q) - First Attempt, (154V, 163Q) - Second Attempt GMAT - Took it 4 times, couldn't get past the 700 barrier. So I guess I'm really really bad at standardized tests..!! Courses (taken): -Calc I-III: All A's -Mathematical Statistics: A -Statistics and Probability: A -Statistical Data Analysis: A Courses( will take this fall) -Empirical Finance - PhD level courses taught to 1st year PhD students -Applied Econometrics -Multivariate Analysis Research Interests: Alternative Assets (Venture Capital, Private Equity and Hedge Funds) as part of portfolio management. Early stage financing and valuation of start-ups. LOR - 2 Finance Profs, 1 Stats Prof or Econ Prof. My current school is ranked 20-25 (UTD Rankings) and I guess I have a "pretty good chance" of getting in the same school if I can get good grades (read "A") in my current courses. Concerns: I realize my GRE is low and I don't think I can give GRE again. I guess I'm just not good at standardized tests and I'll have to live with that. Would it be even remotely possible to even look at T20/T10 schools with this quant score? Of the two GRE scores which one should I submit 162Q (~86% tile) and 164Q(~90% tile)? Thanks in advance for your inputs. Appreciate it.

I was wondering if ceteris paribus a) Does the schools from which the LOR writer did his PhD plays a significant role ? My question is based on the premise that, better the school-----> better the placement----> more likely to be publishing in top journals---->well known among peers..(although I'm sure there are exceptions to this case..!!) b) Suppose you apply to school "x" and your LOR writer also did his PhD from school "x", how does that play with the adcom ? Thanks. !!