anthem

Test Scores: (GRE): 169 V (99%), 166 Q (87%), 4.5 AWA Undegrad GPA: 3.66 Graduate GPA: NA (B in random but hard Math Stats course) Research Experience: Undergraduate Honors Thesis with Full Professor (received high marks; did not publish) Teaching Experience: Teaching Assistant for OM course for 2 semesters Work Experience: 3 years working as a data science consultant for relatively prestigious firm. I have also served as researcher at my company through our research arm. Concentration Applying to: Operations Management Number of programs planned to apply to: 13 Dream Schools: Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Duke Other Questions: How important are academic LOR versus industry? I currently have one LOR from the professor I did my undergrad honors thesis with that I anticipate being solid Other two LOR will be from higher-ups at my firm (one is a research scientist, the other a director) [*]Is it even worth applying to the "elite" (Wharton, Kellogg, etc.) schools? What made you want to pursue a PhD? I have been interested in academia since graduating from undergrad. I enjoyed writing my thesis and working as a teaching assistant. I currently have a good job as a data scientist, but would love to be more a researcher/inventor. The academic lifestyle appeals to me as well (intellectual peers, college towns, conferences, etc.) I also have a very specific set of research goals/ideas that would be hard to accomplish in a non-academic environment. Questions or concerns you have about your profile? #1 concern is that my background isn't pure math or engineering but rather Business at major state university ​I have not taken Real Analysis, but have taken Calculus, Linear Algebra and several STAT/OR courses [*]#2 concern is my Q GRE (166) score, while good, is slightly below the averages I keep seeing (167/168) [*]#3 concern is that only one of my LOR is from an academic source (albeit a good one)