phd aspirant ob

Hi blacktulip, I have been reading your posts as well, and it certainly looks like we share a lot in common!. And I agree with what you have mentioned in Point 1, and it is very imperative, as XanthusAres mentioned earlier too, that we need to weed out schools that have an average age of admitted students at less than 27 years. With regard to your point no. 2, I am preparing a list - presently at 90 schools (only US) - and have found that for OB / HR most of the schools mention the Test requirement as GMAT, while some of them do not have any preference between the two tests, while a few (Stanford and MIT stand out) prefer the RE. So, I am thinkin that GMAT would be a better bet, and please correct me if I am wrong, and I will try and recheck the requirement once again. And you are right - INSEAD is looked at very highly, and so is London Business Sch (LBS), and going by their placements we see both these schools have been regularly placing their students in T20 and T40 US schools. But when I spoke to a few profs in the US business schools recently, particularly about their hiring practices, I found that barring INSEAD and LBS, even a few other schools like Tilburg (Netherlands), HEC (Paris), CBS (Copenhagen), IESE (Spain), ESADE (Spain), Bocconi (Italy) and Erasmus (Netherlands) are looked at well, and the schools have been able to place their Phds in a few T40 US schools and some of them in the T-40 to T-70 bracket. But placements are few and far between when compared to INSEAD and LBS. But the point I see in common is that all the students who have been placed in US institutions from Europe or Singapore, for that matter, is that ALL of them had a decent record of publishing in good US journals. And I can only re-emphasize the point you (and XanthusAres) make about the research experience. That is a deal clincher. Good luck and hope you get an offer from a school that you desire. Best Wishes

Hello GreForStudy: Thank you for your advise and suggestions, I appreciate your writing to me. It surely looks like you and I share a few similarities. I will keep in mind the suggestions you have given me, particularly the one on rankings and age. And I think the 4 steps that XanthusAres had earlier outlined, especially to write to the schools and ask them about the incoming class age, are very apt for profiles like your and mine. I wish you very well and hope that you get into a school of choice. Good Luck!!

@XanthusAres - Thanks a million for your very helpful and candid responses. The stepwise selection of schools that you suggested is an eye-opener and in particular very helpful to me considering the age and other factors. I am aware that there are lacunae in my application profile, like the GMAT for example, and they need to be changed, as you rightly mention, if I need to apply and get a serious look-in at a T40 school. I will also peruse the information by haread and send a PM to him soon. One last question that I have for you: What exactly do you mean by 'solid research experience by December', Did you mean that I will have to submit / publish a paper by then or atleast have 1 reviewed and in the line for publishing?. While I have worked on 1 research project (1 year long) in my MBA program, I have worked on a couple of smaller and 1 dissertation project in my MSc, but I have never presented the findings or my paper at any forum. So any suggestions on how to make my profile more 'research active' and also gain the 'research experience' by December? Thank you very much again, @Xanthus Ares My Best!

Thank you very much for your reply @arieshine, appreciate your informed response. To answer your question on why I chose back-up schools that I did not attend - With a score of 620 on the GMAT my options were limited. Just looking at the Average GMAT scores of successful applicants in OB made me feel that there weren't too many schools that would admit a 620 candidate. So I chose 4 mid range schools hoping I would get into 1 of them (which I did not) and 2 backup schools which, although are low ranked, had a couple of profs who have published on A level journals and / or are on the board of a few good (B level) journals as well. But one thing which I subsequently realized after I received the offers from these 2 schools and after which I talked to a few of my friends was that the Phd program in OB in both these schools are new, and have started in the last couple of years and so there has been no placement record in these schools. And my friends, some of who are Phd students and some who have graduated recently told me that schools hire (as you rightly said earlier) candidates who have from graduated similarly ranked schools, and never from schools that are below them, unless the candidate is exceptional. So, this scared me a little and made me to drop these two schools. I used the faculty publishing rate as one of the important indicators while selecting schools but had not thought of the placements in the same breadth, but I take your point well, and it merits serious and equal consideration. Ideally I would like to study and work in the US but the specific project in Norway for which I have been selected to research on, and simultaneously work toward my Phd interests me. My confusion lies in the fact that while the project and professors are great to work with in Norway, I am unclear as to what happens to my career after the Phd?.. Most placements of the school in Norway are in other business schools within Norway. and students are actively encouraged to publish only in European Journals and infact asked not to try for AOM journal, since their orientations are not the same. This makes me feel that I might be limiting my options in the future to only Norwegian or at best European schools. Is this correct thinking or am I just alone in this?. Thanks again @arieshine for your help!

Hi, I am a non-traditional student and have interspersed my education with work in between. I have an MBA and an MSc in Organisational Psychology and have worked for about 14 years full-time, worked in Engineering initially and then in Management Consulting after my MBA. Well, I find myself at the crossroads for the last few years with regard to my Phd plans and would be happy if any of you can help and advice. I have an undergrad degree in Engineering in Computer Science from India. I worked for about 7 years full-time after that and then pursued my MBA from Illinois (GPA 3.82). While in the MBA, the research bug bit me so as to say, and I thoroughly enjoyed my Research project and wanted to pursue a Phd degree soon. But I wanted to ensure that I really enjoyed doing research and teaching for the rest of my life, so I pursued my second Masters degree (a Research oriented one) in Organisational Psychology (since OP precedes OB in many ways) from the London School of Economics (LSE, UK). While I received an Upper Merit in the MSc program, I also felt that research is my life's calling. But I have not been able to start my Phd owing to pressing commitments back home, although it is nearly 4 years since I graduated from the LSE. This year, I applied to about half a dozen Phd programs in the US and a couple in Europe. I received a couple of offers from the US schools but they are really low-ranked. They were my back-up schools. The mid-ranked and the lower end of the top ranked schools rejected my applications. But these schools and their Phd coordinators did receive my profile quite well, and spoke to me as such, but I am thinking that either my (i) GMAT or (ii) my age must have let me down and so the rejections. My GMAT score is 620, and its nearly 5 years since I took it. And I am 39 years old. My questions are a) If I retake my GMAT and score a decent one will I have a good enough chance to enter into a good program (Mid to High Ranked) - T 20 to T 40 - given my brief profile above. b) Will my age be a serious factor (I will be 40 when I apply this december )?. c) I have received an offer from a Phd program in Norway this year. It is in Oslo and a good school as far as its reputation is concerned in Scandinavia and Europe. But not many people seem to know it outside Europe (mainly Northern Europe). Do you think taking this option is better than waiting for another 1 year and going through the Admission rounds yet again for Fall 2015?. d) Will a Phd from Norway have any chance of getting a tenure track job offer from a school in the US?. The Phd in Norway is in OB and the professors are good at publishing and well known in Europe. I would be happy if any of guys can help me and advice me. Thank you in advance for reading my email!! Best,