Durant35

If it matters here is an article that really interested me, and I was actually able to understand a good portion of it. http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-073.pdf Would this be considered archival or behavior financial accounting research?

Also I am really fascinated with the idea of earnings management if that matters. I am not sure if this is too specific of a topic or board enough that a lot of research gets done in it. Any articles out there on this stuff that I could read?

Thanks for the links as well guys. Those were really helpful. Going based on a cursory reading of the links and some published work, archival seems to interest me the most, although behavioral sounds pretty interesting as well. Going off that, what are some of the mid tier (assuming I can't get into a top program) programs out there that specialize in financial accounting/archival research? Also I would prefer to be in the northeast or Texas/Oklahoma areas, but as I said, I have realized I can't nitpick my specific location, so anything recommended not in those regions will be highly looked at as well. Thank you!

I am an accounting/econ double major so I have taken intermediate micro.macro, econometrics, and upper level electives as an undergrad. However, in terms of math, I have only taken calc 1, calc 2, and stats.

I am a current undergrad who is highly interested in eventually pursuing a PHD in accounting, but at my school, they really only push the professional side of things in the accounting world, so we don't get to hear much about what accounting research is, let alone research opportunities. I have done some research online, but would like to hear from actual and former accounting PHD students themselves on this site. I have been someone who was trying to constrain myself to certain geographic regions but realized you simply can;t do that, as you need to match your research interests with your respective institution. That being said, I most certainly want to do something financial accounting related, but am a little unsure of what the differences are between the research methods. Can someone breakdown what it means to be in behavioral, archival, experimental vs analytical etc and what made you select the method that you did? I appreciate it.

Have any of you used the GRE to apply to schools, or has everyone used the GMAT? Just wondering. I know some schools let you use the GRE score, but I was wondering if there was any sort of bias towards applicants with the GMAT score submitted. Thanks

Hey, So I am probably going to start studying for the GMAT this summer and can't afford a prep class and also think it might just be a waste and is for people who are unmotivated and are not willing to study on their own (correct me if i am wrong or your general opinions on this). I am looking for maybe 2-3 good prep books, what are the standard must have ones? Thanks

If all else is equal, I would guess these 2 candidates are pretty equal based on their equal tradeoffs (one with lower GPA and higher GMAT and the other the opposite), but I am just learning about the admissions process for this kind of stuff for the first time so it is just a guess.

Well my reasoning is that while getting a PhD would be my first choice, I feel I might not be as competitive as others in the admissions process and left with no offers. Doing a MACC also gives me the opportunity for a career in public accounting if the PhD route does not work out.

I am definitely going to do a masters in accounting. I might take some summer classes at the local community colleges as well to brush up on my mathematics skills. In terms of career placement, I would prefer to be in those areas but it is not a must, and I am technically willing to go anywhere as long as it is in the US. However, I am not looking to be placed at top institutions or anything, and I would be perfectly happy with working at a "lower tier" university if it is in my geographic preference. thanks for all the help.

At the moment I was thinking more of in terms of location for a PhD rather than research interests (as I obviously have not fully developed them yet). However, I would like to be in the northeast or Texas/Oklahoma region, and then when I get my interests developed add or subtract schools from my list to meet my needs. I am not looking to get into top schools either, so I don't mind taking A & M and NYU out if those are considered some of the top ones in the country. In terms of placement after the program, I again would like to end up in the northeast or Texas/Oklahoma areas if that makes a difference.

Is there a list of schools that accept the GRE? The only reason I ask is because after looking at practice exams, I think I can score a little better on that exam.

Thanks for that reply. I will begin reading some articles in those journals. I am really excited about the possibility of a PhD in accounting, and even though I may be behind the ball in terms of my lack of knowledge in research, I genuinely WANT to learn. EIther way, with this type of profile and assuming I get a good grasp of research in the next two years, would these schools be out of reach for me or matches? These are the ones I am thinking of at the moment. Thanks again! Bentley, Boston University, UCONN, GWU, NYU, University of North Texas, UT San Antonio, Texas A & M Also, how many schools on average do people apply to? Lastly, I definitely want to try and formulate some sort of research proposal so I can try and attempt to take the research class my school offers (that I mentioned before and nobody has taken in years) for second semester senior year, so that gives me a couple months to get a proposal in. Where do beginning researchers (as an undergrad) start in order to formulate a topic? I mentioned I am interested in financial accounting, and after reading some articles, I really like the ones about errors, self reported errors, and choices in methods (FIFO vs LIFO etc) the best, but I am having trouble coming up with an idea that is ORIGINAL and completely different from ones I have read. Thanks

And one last question. Is there any journal with accounting research articles for "beginners"? By that I mean some of the research I have come across via a simple google search is a little hard for me to comprehend. Where is a good place for a person just learning about research for the first time to look at?

Thanks again. I looked into it to see if my school has anything like that and it seems they do have professors from other schools come in and talk about research topics throughout the academic year, but there are only a few and they are pretty spread out. Also, I am not sure if they are for professors only or students as well, but I will definitely ask someone in the department about them and attend as many as I can next semester to get a feel for what the research entails. As for the masters program, my school pretty much lets any of its own undergrads in no matter what as long as they have a 3.5 GPA or higher, so I don't see that being a problem. In addition, taking the masters program will allow me to have 2 years from now to get a feel for wht accounting research is like and get a better grasp of it, so I think it will be very beneficial.