Search the Community

Hello Everybody, To tell you a little bit about myself, I worked a part-time job during the final semester of my engineering as a Content Researcher with a media company I was responsible for collecting information and gathering requirements through in-person interviews, on-ground surveys, and online search for composing content for the company’s publications. It was during this time when I realized where my interests lay and so, I decided to undertake a research course in media communications to explore my options further. After earning my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, I went on to pursue an MBA in Communications Management with a specialization in Media Management. Some of the courses that I enjoyed in the program were the ones related to Marketing, Research Methodologies, Statistics, and Consumer Behavior. During my internship, I worked on two research projects, one that involved determine meta-data values with the help of information collected from secondary offline and online sources based on their requirements, which was used to improve their TV content discovery and search across multiple device formats and the other project involved in-depth analysis of the Southeast Asian television market. With the organization's market presence already in Indonesia, they were looking to expand their business across other Southeast Asian countries. I enjoyed this project in particular as it involved extensive research work. I worked on several other research projects during my time at Symbiosis University, my favorite being the development of a white paper for one of the most renowned media networks. The objective of the project was to analyze technology adoption and, identify and understand digital content consumption patterns of users across multiple device formats. We used the secondary online databases and industry reports to put together all our observations. After graduation, I took a small leap from the Media to Information Technology industry and joined a marketing research firm. During my short stint as a Market Research Analyst here, I worked on forecasting demand, identifying new technologies and new investment opportunities in the Information Technology sector. Realizing that my strengths lay mainly in the Media industry, I joined a digital marketing agency. I have been working here as an Analyst in the Marketing Analytics department for almost 1.6 (will be 3 by next year) years now. As an analyst, I work on evaluating marketing channel performance, consumer-product interaction on the brand website, consumer’s purchase behavior, formulating key performance metrics to check for brand/product interactivity and website performance concerning site engagement by using different analytical tools (Google, Adobe, etc.). I have always enjoyed working on retail industry-specific projects, and this is one of the primary reasons why I want to undertake research in this field. I haven't had the chance to work in an academic set-up after graduation. Also, I needed some time to figure out my research interests and I am still working on figuring out a specific area of interest in the online retail space. I think my academic performance has been OKAY so far. I have narrowed down my research interests into three broad areas in online retail - Identifying gaps in user buying journeys to improve and create better product delivery experiences online at each touch-point (focused on micro-moments), effect of each marketing experiment on user buying behavior and comprehending the actual purchase intent of the consumers. Undergraduate: 60% B.Tech in Computer Science, JNTU, Kakinada) Post-Graduation: 3.12/4.00 (MBA - Communications Management, Symbiosis International University) Work Experience: 2 years and more I plan to take GRE and TOEFL this August (2017). I am considering applying to some of these schools - University of Chicago (Booth), Maryland (Robert H.Smith) NYU Stern, University of Georgia, Univ. of South California, and similar other schools. I have read some their research papers and it is very much aligned with my interests. Could you please suggest if there is anything else that I should be doing to strengthen my application and schools that I should be looking at? I would prefer a brutally honest response on my profile. Would really appreciate it. http://www.www.urch.com/forums/images/icons/icon7.png Thanks, Roma P.S. Apologies for the long post.

TL;DR Candidate Profile Undergrad: 3.1/4 (BBA Emphasis in Marketing and Finance. Top School in the Middle East) I was like in the 50 percentile also one term on probation--> I am EXTREMELY worried about this Grade: MSc Marketing 9.1/10 3rd/73 (in my program) 6th/370 (between all the masters programs after GPAs were weighted for the different programs) MPhil 8.9/10 2nd/26 Both were at a school that is in the top 30 of the UT Dallas ranks Experience: Random internships One year and a few months as a RA (currently working on paper with my professor) 5 months as a TA (different professor but was a good experience and I think she's open to write me a good letter) GMAT 720 (didn't study that well ready to take it again) Aiming for a T10 school in Consumer Behavior (but totally okay with a T50 Should I give up on the goal of getting a PhD at a decent school in the US? Hey! This has been weighing on me for a while and I really don't know where to ask it. I really hope someone on here can help me. I am interested in pursuing a PhD in the US (at a good school for CB) but my degrees are from non-US/UK/Canadian schools. Also one of my degrees (the MPhil in Business) has no equivalent in the US (more on that later lol) while the other is not very popular ( the MSc in Marketing). I have a bachelors in Marketing and Finance (GPA 3.1 I really have no excuse for that I was going through a tough time during college) an MSc in Marketing from one of the better business schools in the Netherlands/Europe ( GPA of 9.1/10 and 3rd in a class of 73). I am currently completing my MPhil in Business Research at that same university (basically the MPhil is a very European thing that is equivalent to the first two years of a PhD and usually it's not fully funded). Last year I got a GPA of 8.9/10 and came second in a class of 26 (it is a very selective program with a small class size). Last year I was also a RA for a professor who is known in the academic community (published in journals like Marketing Science and Journal of Marketing). I have an opportunity to continue a PhD at my school (which would take just 2 to 3 more years) but I'm really over living in the Netherlands. Also I don't want to tell anyone in my department about my plans to go abroad until I am sure because it will really hurt my chances to get into our school's program. All I want to know is if my profile is competitive enough for good schools in the US or should I still to my school. Thanks!

I have been interested in pursuing doctoral studies in Marketing (with a focus on CB) for a few years now and I am getting ready to redo my GMAT and begin prepping my materials. I hope to apply in 2013 (Fall) or 2014 (Fall) for start in 2014 or 2015. I'm not in a rush and want to do things the right way. I wanted to get some feedback on my profile and target schools since many of you have been in my shoes. I appreciate your honest and sincere input. :) My Profile Undergrad: Top 50 Public U.S. Institution Major: Interdisciplinary Concentration: Business + Marketing Relevant Courses: Principles of Marketing, Sociology, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics GPA: 4.0 / 4.0 Rank: Top 1% Graduate: Top 25 Public U.S. Institution Major: Engineering/CS Concentration: Human-Computer Interaction Relevant Courses: Research Methods, Empirical Research, Theoretical Research, Cognitive Psych & Neuroscience GPA: 3.92 / 4.0 Rank: N/A 1st GMAT Attempt (2009): 700 2nd GMAT Attempt (Planned 2013): Goal of 750 * Took first attempt years ago with minimal studying. I am working on MGMAT and Knewton courses to boost my score to 750. Planned Recommendations: 1: Graduate Research Adviser, Department Chair 2: Graduate Teaching Adviser, Professor in Empirical Research 3: Undergraduate Professor & Scholarship Adviser * Not sure if #3 is appropriate but could basically attest that I was a top student at a large R1 school and stood out as an undergrad student Research Experience: Member of HCI-related graduate research group Numerous poster presentations at local conferences Primary author on research project (in progress) -- hope to publish or present at major conference Teaching Experience: Taught 7 sections of coursework as a graduate instructor (I wasn't a TA; I actually taught the courses) Re-developed course curriculum for both of the courses I taught Received top student evaluations for each section taught Work Experience: 4-5 years at a large management consulting firm Rank in the top 5% of performance among peers Focus on retail/eCommerce/user engagement Research Interests: My interests merge elements of marketing, information science, human computer interaction, communications, and design. Research I enjoy tends to be heavily rooted in psychology and neuroscience. Human Behavior and Decision Making Applied Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience eCommerce + Digital Marketing/Advertising Communications ============================================= Target Schools I selected target schools based on: Presence of faculty with related interests Research center(s) of interest at institution Varying rank (primarily top 10/20 with some outliers) Publication in top journals (JCR, JM, etc.) The List: Harvard Stanford Duke USC UCLA Florida Yale Berkeley Michigan Carnegie Mellon Chicago Emory Northwestern Wharton Oxford ============================================= Alright. Let me have it.