TheOneAndOnly

You are, of course, absolutely right. I didn’t mean to imply that only LBS or INSEAD can lead to US offers. In the end, it’s much more of a question of nuance. If OP knows that s/he wants to work in the US, no matter where, it might be easier to just start in the US as well. If, on the other hand, OP has a more romanticized version of working at a top university in a desirable location, I would advise to follow general criteria of picking the best school (regarding fit, placement, advisor, etc). The job market is unpredictable enough as is and hence such precise plans are hard to see through.

Which parts of OB are you interested in and why? You should definitely be able to explain why you want to move towards OB. Especially at schools like Stanford there is a very strong micro/macro (i.e. psych/soc) distinction. So you'll have to be able to place yourself along those lines. If you want to work in the US, getting your PhD in the US is definitely a more straightforward way but INSEAD and LBS both basically only regard top US schools as their peer group and are able to place you in the US as well. Outside of these things become more tricky. INSEAD has an exchange program with Wharton which is not the same as a combined PhD. You are basically visiting Wharton for a bit, but you get your PhD from INSEAD (and will be judged accordingly)/

A 324 is fine at most places (I know of people for whom that was enough to get offers at schools such as Yale, Berkeley, USC) but it is not great, especially when coinciding with a GPA that doesn't stick out. Explaining your GPA situation should definitely help, just make sure that you only touch upon it briefly in your SOP and therefore don't take away space from the more important topics (research interests, etc.). I would also agree with @tm_associate, in that you should definitely apply to both pre-doctoral and PhD programs. The process can be quite arbitrary, so why not take your chances. You definitely should not(!) do an MBA if you know that you want to do research. Some people figure out that they want to do research during their MBA, but it is by no means a requirement or an effective form of preparation for a PhD program. Lastly you should take some confidence from your publication record. Hardly anyone has published anything before starting their PhD, let alone in a "top medical journal". This is easily going to make you stick out, so for now you just have to worry about making it through GRE/GPA screening stage and then convincing adcomms that you/your interests would fit well into that department. The question of whether you are interested in, and have the abilities to do successful research projects should be redundant after taking one look at your CV. Nonetheless, you should stress that experience heavily in your SOP, even more so if your current research interest link to your previous work.

Hey all, So I've heard from friends that they were offered scholarships for one place, then let their other potential schools know about it, after which the latter schools made better offers as well. Granted this was for undergraduates and I'm not super familiar with the US system. So I wanted to ask whether this is a thing that one can do for grad school as well? I don't want to come off (at my future grad school) as only wanting to go where I make the most money (since it isn't actually part of my decision), but if it's something that is regularly done, I'd like to try it as well. Thought I'd play this by you, before getting a weird reputation at my future school :) Thanks for the help

Any news from their economic sociology or organization studies program?

Hey Y'all, After I've received such prompt and nice feedback on my last post I thought I'd try one more time. I have a visiting day coming up and am wondering what to expect. I was told I'll get a schedule shortly before and generally will meet with a bunch of faculty, the grad-students, and get a campus tour. Now this is a pre-offer visit and there'll be more applicants than spots. I'm wondering what to prepare for...I guess I'll be ready for the standard questions that might be asked/might come up (although I was told that the faculty meetings wouldn't be real interviews). Otherwise I'm just going to read up a little bit on the research that the people I'm meeting with are doing. Is there anything I'm missing here? Also I'm trying to come up with a list of questions to ask both faculty and grad students over there to figure out whether I'd be a good fit. What kind of questions would be good to ask? What questions do you wish you had asked back when you were in my situation? Any help is highly appreciated. I'm very excited. Thanks so much y'all P.S.: I couldn't find a major thread in which all of this information is gathered, but if there is one it might be good to link it on the "important past threads" post.

I looked up the old threads on YaS' advice and read about your glorious hair. Thanks for the advice. I will probably just get a quick haircut so that it doesn't look as messy, but will keep it long and tied together for the day.

Thanks YaS. Appreciate it.

Hey all, Long-time lurker coming with a question: Now that the excitement of being invited for an interview has finally worn off, I'm wondering what to do with my hair. I wear it very long, usually tied together. I know that academics usually tend to be less conservative, but not sure how this holds for B-schools. I'd like to think that it can still look somewhat professional if tied together, but I was just wondering whether long hair was an absolute no-go at business schools. I know that this is a very specific question, but I'd appreciate your input :)