shazaam

Hi Everyone, I'm a forensic accountant that has done much research upon applying to PHD in Accountancy programs. I've attended conferences and spoken to quite a few past professor to prepare. I'm looking for some advice from this forum as it's been helpful to me as I've done my research. Here are my specs. Bachelors: Ivy League, Economics, GPA: 3.46/4.0 Masters: Top Northeast Program, Accounting, GPA 3.6/4.0 Credentials: CPA, CFF Teaching/Research Experience: None Experience: 2 years as a Big 4 Audit Associate 3 years as a Senior/Manager focusing in Expert Witness Reports for Securities' Litigations (SEC Cases, think Enron, Worldcom, ect.) GMAT: Jun 2016 - 700 (Q48/V38/IR: 8/AWA: 6) Aug 2014 680 (Q49/V34/IR: 7/AWA: 6) Addl. Online Coursework Completed or Planned to Complete Pre: Fall 2017: Calculus Series 1-3 Linear Algebra Econometrics Probability & Stats Recommendations: 3 masters professors who still actively publish/write text books I understand the nature of any US PHD in Accountancy is research. I would like to go to a program focusing in auditor related issues as that's my background. I'd like to focus in auditor biases and GAAP/GAAS/IFRS/PCAOB/SEC interpretations of accounting guidance/literature and violations. Think when audits go wrong. I know there's the experimental, financial archival, and audit/tax buckets for most programs. However, I know of many PHDs who perform expert witness work and was hoping that I could find a program with professors who also dabble in that wheelhouse. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I plan on taking the GMAT one more time. I'm sitting at that 700 threshold, but know the higher the score the better, so I'm going to take it again in August. Whether I score higher or not, I feel my quant scores are there, but just need to bring up the verbal (but I'll let you guys be the judge of that). I've taken math classes online and want to be prepared as possible. I did not have a quant focused education, so felt that I needed to beef up my math skills. I've taken the Calc series and plan to start with Stats/Probability in the fall. It's a process as I'm doing these with a full-time public accounting job, so try to do one class a quarter. I'm a little older (early 30s) and am also a bit conscious program fit. Although age may not be a factor on the surface, I'm sure some programs will not be as quick to jump on a 30+ applicant with quite a bit of work experience. I've met people who have done it, but not necessarily people in programs in the geographic region that I'm focusing. So here are my questions overall: What programs in the Northeast do you think would be a good fit? I've got a list of programs, but more interested in those who might of had students with quite a bit of work experience as well. For family reasons, I'm focusing in the Northeast as far south as University of Maryland and as far north as Boston. Think the Amtrak corridor. Based on my GMAT score, is it worth applying to top flight programs? I don't know if my experience would be helpful or hurt me unless I had a magic GMAT score. Just want to focus upon programs that would be a fit for a professional in my 30s than simply looking for quants (if that makes sense). Any thoughts on how online quant courses are viewed from reputable universities? I could take Coursera (or similar) classes, but figured there are distance classes at many CC or Universities that I could take. I know the topic has been covered before, but just interested in any economical suggestions to continue beefing up my quant skills. Any other thoughts or issues that would help bolster my applications to programs would be greatly appreciated? (edited for grammar/spelling)