pra17

Awesome, congrats Silvia!

Based on my interviews, I had the feeling that the SOP is barely read by schools. The calls seemed to be just based on my test scores and my resume, that too, just the first page (I had a 2-page resume). May be, it's a different set of factors for different people.

Thanks both! All the optimism and excitement are starting to rub off on me now :encouragement:

Thanks, Silvia and Poble. Silvia - Good luck with your campus visit. I hope it is as per your expectations!

Hello folks, I have accepted an offer from a school. It's not my top-choice, but is the highest ranked among all the ones I interviewed with. Nevertheless, I'm excited to be starting my phd this fall. I want to thank everyone in this thread who shared their experiences here. Seeing the discussions here helped me to feel comforted knowing that many are on the same boat when going through the period of interviewing and waiting to hear from schools. Thanks for the interview tips and especially the interview blog post by xanthus. I had no clue when I went into my first interview and then came to this forum. I wish I had done all this five years ago right after grad school but I guess there is a time for everything. Am also a little nervous to be starting now since I'm in my early thirties but I'd rather give it a shot and see where it goes rather than regret later.

Thank you!

Thanks Dak601.

Browsing this thread has helped me a lot in getting through the wait. Thanks everyone. I received my first acceptance today. I'm very happy. This is the highest ranked school among all the ones I interviewed. They have given me 10 days to let them know i'll accept it before giving me an official offer. But there is no other information esp. about the funding. Would it be ok to write back and ask?

All, I'm applying for Finance PhD programs for fall 2017. Should the letters of recommendation be only from finance professors? I was an RA for a Marketing professor and could get one recommendation from that professor. I could ask one of my finance professors to speak on my academic abilities. Can the letters be from Org. Behavior professor or someone from the industry who can speak on my analytics skills? Appreciate some inputs from members. Thanks!

Hi All, I'm a working professional in the US and am targeting Finance PhD programs for Fall 2017. Here's my profile: GRE: Q-170/V-161 Undegrad GPA: 8.59/10 BS-Engineering from India Graduate GPA: 3.64/4.0 MBA Finance from USA. It's from a 70-80 ranked university. Research Experience: Worked as a Marketing Research Assistant for one year during my MBA. No publications though. Teaching Experience: None. Worked as a Graduate Assistant for a Business Information Systems Course for one term during my MBA. Work Experience: Have 8 years of experience. 4 Years before and after my MBA. Software Programming before my MBA, Data visualization and analytics involving Statistical packages like R, regression modeling, predictive models using time series analysis, NPV analysis for operational spend management, financial statement analysis etc. I've also done a Credit Risk Management internship during my MBA in one of the Indian banks. That gave an understanding of Basel frameworks. Courses: Undergrad: Mathematics I (grade A), Mathematics II (grade A), Engineering Mathematics (grade C ), Probability and Statistics ( grade B ), Engineering Economics ( A ), Statistical Theory of Communication ( B ) [This was related to the application of statistics in telecom engineering) In my MBA, I've got A in all my Finance courses although I see from the forums that MBA is not considered very significant. Had a Statistics Pre-req but that was more of basic statistical concepts. In addition, I've also taken a couple of online decision analysis courses at Stanford which involved lot of probabilistic and statistical analysis. I've also done a couple of descriptive and inferential statistics courses on a couple of MOOC platforms. Regarding my research areas, i'm interested in corporate finance - banking and role of financial intermediation, credit risk esp. in emerging markets. Letters of recommendations: I can ask one of the marketing professors for whom I was an RA and another finance professor to speak on my academic abilities and one from the industry to speak on my data analysis skills. I'm interested in getting into Academia and Research after my PhD. What range of schools should I target for my profile? I plan to apply for fall 2017 admissions. What are my chances at top schools (NYU/Stanford/Berkeley/etc)? Appreciate if members could give some suggestions around safety schools. Thanks much!