Knr434

Hello URCH Community, I am applying to top Management PhD programs, and want to know the importance of the following factors on admissions: 1. Recommendation from an academic that is an alumnus/co-authored extensively with a school (how much weight does this hold relative toa strong recommendation from a professor that isn't an alumnus/strongly affiliated?). For example, if you're applying to Michigan and one of your recommenders is a professor who did their PhD at Michigan, how much weight does that hold? 2. Legacy status: If your mother/father completed their PhD at a school (albeit in a different discipline), what impact does that have on your admissions chances? For example, if I am applying to Management programs and my father is a PhD from a school in Finance or Accounting, does that help? 3. 90th% plus Quant scores. Is overall score more important, or do schools care more about sub-scores? For example, is a 760 GMAT with a 83rd percentile Quant better or worse than say a 730 with 90+% quant? Thanks in advance!

Any other thoughts from anyone? I'd really appreciate any/all advice!

Thanks christyman, and insightful as always YaSvoboden! When articulating your research interest in the SOP, what are your thoughts on a very detailed research interest (which shows thought about research/knowledge of field, but may turn off schools without faculty that align perfectly) or a less detailed approach (that is likely more "matchable" with a cross section of faculty, but may imply a shallower understanding of the existing research.

Any other thoughts from anybody? Any recommendations on how to make this profile better? One other thing I should mention is that my background (Bachelors in Liberal Arts, Masters in Accounting) was not very heavy in Econ/Statistics (Took some upper division undergrad coursework, but no Masters coursework). Is it worthwhile to pursue a 1 year Masters in Econ both to a) Get these skills/courses and b) Buy some time to do continued research on campus?

Got it, thanks! Is this applicable to all schools, or does the research expectation increase as the ranking of your school rises?

Hi all, This is a great site! I wanted to know if anyone could shed light on how admissions committees evaluate research experience. How much/what level of progress is needed to count as research experience in a adcom's mind? Thanks, Karthik

By the way, I'm really appreciating everyone's thoughts! Any and all comments/responses are very valuable to me, so thanks in advance!

Thanks YaSvoboden! Yes, I plan on actually adding probably 2-3 more schools to this list. They're all good schools as well (Columbia, NYU, Northwestern), so if I didn't get into any would probably reapply in a year or so.

Thanks Accgirl! Are these programs in line with places I'm competitive with, or are there others you think I should add?

Thanks Accgirl. Is the 83rd percentile quant score not an issue? I know that the GMAT is more than enough for MBAs, but I've heard of a 90% Quant rule for GMATs. Is this true?

Hello everyone, So glad that I found this site! I'd appreciate any thoughts on a profile evaluation: Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): (Note: It often helps a lot more if you list the percentiles each of your raw/composite scores are associated with)- 760 Overall (99th Percentile) (49Q (83rd Percentile), 44V (97th Percentile)). Plan on taking the GRE to get a 90%+ score Undegrad GPA: 3.85, Double Major in Business/Liberal Arts from a Top Public University Graduate GPA: 3.7 (Masters in Accounting) From a Top Public University Research Experience: Undergraduate Thesis with Management Professor, Paper on Corporate Social Responsibility with Marketing Professor, Independent Study with Management Professor. All three will be my recommenders, and the CSR paper has the potential to be eventually published in a Management journal (though not by application time) Teaching Experience: 1 semester TAing for an Accounting Class (Intermediate Cost Accounting), 2.5 years as a Tutor for a Logic Class Work Experience: ~2 years of experience at a top management consulting firm (e.g. McKinsey, Bain, Boston Consulting Group) Concentration Applying to: Management, emphasis on Strategy/Strategic Management Number of programs planned to apply to: 12 Dream Schools: In no particular order: Wharton, Michigan (Ross), Harvard, INSEAD, LBS, UT Austin (McCombs), Maryland (Smith), Stanford (MS&E), Toronto (Rotman), MIT (Sloan Technology/Entrepreneurship), Duke (Fuqua), Berkeley (Haas) Other Questions: What made you want to pursue a PhD? I have a father who is a business academic, and I've always appreciated the intellectual freedom and flexibility that academic life offers. Strategy particularly interests me because of its interdisciplinary nature, and is a natural fit because my undergrad training and thesis had a definite interdisciplinary emphasis. I believe that the most interesting insights in any field can often be uncovered by application of lenses from other disciplines. Questions or concerns you have about your profile? What are my chances at the schools mentioned above? Is my Quant GMAT worth retaking the GRE? Is my Graduate GPA considered low for application purposes? Any additional specific questions you may have: How many research areas are considered optimal for