upstreamer

I am quite at a loss as to writing a good statement of purpose. Is there any books and samples SOP available? Thanks,

Showbizkid, your story is inspiring. Have you researched how older phds fare after graduation? Is admission the hardest part? I heard somebody talking about academic age vs physical age. Unlike physical age, academic age starts to tick the time you are admitted to the program. And for some academics they only pay attention to the academic age.

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Showbizkid, Since you got your BA recently, is it possible programs mistook you as in 20s?

rthunder27, are the 30+ students in Finance program?

The only thing I can do is to avoid to apply programs that don't take older applicants. Please be kind enough to post the programs that you know to take older candidates. Thanks,

It is a fact that older applicants have a harder time than younger ones to gain admission. I just wonder sometime: how much is because older candidates tend to have lower test score, nonstandard recommendation letter etc.

Is it a good idea to visit target schools? If so, when do you do this? Before or after application submitted?

Most schools provide online recommendation forms to fill. However, if, say, I apply for 20 schools, this is too much work for professors. Could I simply ask professors to write one general letter, make multiple signed and sealed copies, and I send them to individual schools? Would this impact application results? Thanks, please share your experience.

Average age admitted by Wharton Phd Program is 23. However, I heard the program is supposed to be friendly towards older candidates. MIT sloan posted a claim that the program is not discrimating based on gender, age, country of origin etc. But I heard older candidates (30+) has no chance there. I called Cornell, phd coordinator told me age is not a factor in admission consideration. But some people told me not to go to Cornell if you are older. I kept getting conflicting information. So I have to ask current phd students, could you please post what you heard or saw which program is not age biased and which is. Thanks very much.

It seems some papers are initially posted as working paper and then they are published may be under a different name later. Is working paper the stage to collect criticism to revise the papers so they can be published? Some working papers are never published.

They have their own journal though some do publish in journal of finance.because real estate phds are minority compared to other business discipline, doesn't make it easier to publish?

As far as I know, the authors of the paper are not known to the referree. How could that help?

I browsed some top journals. It seems few papers were signed solo. More and more researchers have collaborators. It is no brainer that student may coauthor with their advisors. In other cases especially work across institutions, do they post their ideas to attract potential partners? Or they collect ideas at conference?

Real estate is not a bad option for finance. Similar pay. Less competitive. And easier to publish since they have their own specialty real estate journal.