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Your profile looks good. I would just make sure that the 10-12 schools you pick have a good fit on research that you are interested in and span a range of rankings. A strong statement of purpose should explain your interests and draw on prevalent research enough that the engineering background/no experience in econ won't be as much of a concern. I have an engineering undergraduate degree and was viewed as more of a wild card applicant because I have been working in industry for 6 years and have an MBA with no research experience under my belt. That being said, I did get in to my dream school (a T10 Strategy program) via waitlist (and was rejected from other lower ranked schools). The application process is a wildcard in itself and it will come down to research interests and fit. The best thing you can do to prepare is read as many relevant papers as you can and draw on them as examples in your statement. If you have not started to yet, I would also email professors at those schools and see if they will chat with you via phone or in person. I received some great feedback and valuable information on the process that way. Best of luck!

Thanks Dak & PoC! I will patiently wait for the offer to come through. :)

So much good news from everyone! Congrats all! I finally received good news of my own from my top choice, but am still waiting on the package/official offer from the grad program. From everyone else's experiences how long has it taken between getting the unofficial offer and the official one? The reason I ask is that I was contacted by another school for an interview for an open spot, but don't necessarily want to go through with it (and waste both our time) if I get my final offer from school A and accept that in advance.

Did they tell you where on the waitlist you are or did you ask for that information?

The second round that I had at my top choice school was with a professor in a field that was unrelated, but through some research on him I learned that he was the chair of the committee so in the interview I was more so drilled about my weaknesses. I tried to make it more of a conversation about his research interests but was unsuccessful in doing so. If the professor plays a big role in the committee he will probably focus more on your interests, fit, and any concerns they might have.

Yes, looks like all Stern departments have the same visit weekend. This week was a rough one for rejections, including a rejection from my alma mater. Still holding out hope for that waitlist!

Thanks 5nickel! Do you know if everyone would have been notified by now for the march 3 visit or if they are still sending out invites?

Has anyone who applied for Management heard from NYU Stern? Per Grad Cafe it looks like the visit weekend is scheduled for Mar 3 (at least for Finance/Marketing), but I'm not seeing anyone who has applied to Management on there.

Same here!! Fingers crossed for good news this week. :)

I think it is definitely too soon to worry. It sounds like Finance and Marketing are moving faster than other areas. I have only heard from 2/8 schools and not seeing any Grad Cafe posts for the other 6.

Good luck everyone & congrats Silviatx! Does anyone know if there are statistics / historical values on what the likelihood of acceptance is if wait listed for a top school? I imagine not many students decline offers from top schools (ie. Harvard, LBS, Wharton, Ross).

Just got waitlisted post-interview at my dream school. Definitely better than a rejection, but not sure what I'm supposed to do if/when I hear back from other schools as they said this school said they usually don't give out offers from waitlist until mid-April. They did say to keep them in the loop. Has anyone else been (or currently is) in this situation?

Not news yet on that front - I applied for Management at Stern and anxiously waiting to hear back....

I know that they do their visit weekend at the end of February so I guess I assumed beginning of Feb they would start notifying.

Ok good to know, thanks! I applied to Management/Strategy for NYU and Ohio State.

Strategy/OBT

Has anyone heard from NYU, Carnegie Mellon, or Ohio State? No news from any of them on grad cafe and historically those should be going out right about now. >_

Ok that's a relief. I'll read up some more and see where I can draw indirect lines to find some intersections between the two. Thank you for the advice & insight!!

This is great advice, thank you! I'll be sure to be fully prepared to discuss my research interests with confidence and see how the pieces all fit together.

Stressing out like everyone else on here! I'm looking for some general advice.....I have a second interview with a tenured faculty member in the department I am applying to, but his research interests are in a different area than mine (first interview was with someone whose research is in line with my interests). How would you go about prepping for the interview in this type of situation? Should I just focus on the core questions (my motivation, background, research interests) or still come up with some questions to ask in relation to his research?

Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): GRE - 163 Quant 85% / 160 Verbal 85% / 4.5 Writing 82% Undegrad GPA: 2.9 - Engineering at Top 10 School Graduate GPA: 3.4 - MBA at Top 20 Business School (completed while working) Research Experience: None Teaching Experience: None Work Experience: 5 years in automotive industry, 2 years in Planning & Strategy. Founder/director of a non-profit company on the side as a passion project Concentration Applying to: Management, Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Management & Organization, Organizational Theory Number of programs planned to apply to: 9 programs - Penn State, Penn, NYU Stern, Northwestern, Ohio State, Indiana, Carnegie Mellon, Wash U St. Louis, Michigan Dream Schools: NYU Stern, Michigan (realistically I know this one is out of reach), Carnegie Mellon Other Questions: What made you want to pursue a PhD? Working in the auto industry in Planning & Strategy has made me realized I am more interested in the conceptual theory and how decisions are made versus the actual day to day decision making. I'm interested in studying how large firms make strategic decisions on when to outsource technology development vs. develop in house and what the influencing factors are (with the auto industry as an empirical study). Both my parents are in academia so I am familiar what the job will entail long term - excited for intellectual challenges Questions or concerns you have about your profile? Hoping to just get into any one school that I am applying to, but not sure what the odds are with my low GPA? Undergrad GPA is low on account of studying engineering in a rigorous program and not being sure as to what I wanted to major in (switched from physics to mechanical and debated computer science along the way) Will my low GPA lead to not making cut offs despite my strong application otherwise?