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Hi... Would an online MBA negatively impact admissions into an Econ PhD program? I want to learn the intersection of business, economics, and government, and think that an online MBA would be a great asset for me. I've just heard that it's not good for Econ PhD admissions. Is this true?

I’m entering my 4th year of a 5-year accelerated master’s program. I’ll earn a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering in the Spring. Also, I will be concurrently enrolled in 6 hours of MBA classes for both semesters. Then, after my 5th year I’ll earn my MBA. I am at the University of Oklahoma (mid-tier big state school). Undergrad GPA: 3.4-5 -Engineering- Oklahoma Graduate GPA: 3.8-4.0 -MBA-Oklahoma (As of right now, counting my dual credit courses, I have a 4.0 and I am willing to do what it takes to be at the top of my class and expect to see myself in the range of 3.8-4.0) GMAT: 600 (spent a few weeks cramming for my MBA program but feel I could improve to 650. 700 may be somewhat lofty as I am not the most proficient standardized test taker) Research Experience: None (but with two years left maybe I would have opportunities) Teaching Experience: None Work Experience: Engineering Internship with a Fortune 500 (Telecommunications) and can puff it up to sound like business experience Concentration Applying to: Strategy or Management (subject and willing to change to something like Supply Chain) Number of programs planned to apply to: 15-20 Dream Schools: Boston University, Yale, University of Georgia, Rice University, University of Arkansas, Southern Methodist, Texas A&M Other Questions: What made you want to pursue a PhD? I have never been enamored by my undergraduate degree. For the most part I entered because of the practicality and prospects. I do appreciate Industrial Engineering and could see myself making a career out of it; however, the lackluster reviews my older peers have given me are making me have second thoughts. Recently, I have become enchanted by the world of management consulting and have been introduced to the world of business strategy and theory. Considering my background and profile, I most likely would not be qualified for the top firms and from my understanding there is a considerable drop off between tier 1 and 2. Moreover, the lifestyle and work balance leads me into much trepidation. At this point it probably sounds like the PhD professor route is a plan B. And, Ill admit, it was at first. Yet, the more I look into the career, the more enthusiastic I become. Irrespective of my major choice, I do enjoy writing, especially on topics I am interested in. So, at this point I don’t know if I am ready to commit completely to a life of research, but I can very easily see myself immersing my life into a deep subject. Personally, I don’t find myself all that smart per se, but highly intellectually motivated. I love to learn. It fuels me and I am motivated by knowledge. I would grant many of my peers in engineering are “book” smarter than me, but I keep up because of my intellectual drive. I certainly am confident in my abilities and feel more than competent but have strengths different than peers. I want to know things. And, in my estimation, this would give me a solid foundation for being a professor. Questions or concerns you have about your profile? I haven’t seen too many undergrad engineering profiles on here or other places like LinkedIn, so I was wondering if anyone has? Or any thoughts related to this (maybe like a field of study you could introduce me to). Considering nothing in my profile is outstanding. Low undergrad GPA, (estimated) GMAT ceiling is 650, mid-tier school, are my dream school aspirations too high? Would you recommend in the summers I pursue an internship within the field of consulting? Say, Deloitte S&O. I have a few friends within this role and definitely would be experience within the field. Furthermore, would it be better if I ended up working for a tier 2 consulting firm after graduating from my MBA and then applying for my PhD?

Hello Friend, I am from India & a Engg Graduate ( Production ) with MBA ( Marketing ), 10 Years of Work Exp which includes 2 Years in Supply Chain and Balance 8 Years in B2B Industrial Marketing with Expouser to OIl & Gas,Power & Automobile Industry. My Academics Scores -Graduation 66 % & MBA 61 %. I have inclination towards research and in past have been a Visiting Faculty for MBA Subjects. Interested to do PHD Strategy in Mechanical Industry Domain. Kindly guide me whether my Profile is Strong enough to get admission in top 50 Colleges in the World ( Few Colleges Name if provided are highly appreciated ) also let me know the Safe minimum GMAT score to Target this 50 Colleges. Thanking in Advance. Regards, Sandesh

What phd programs transfer courses from an MBA finance?

Like the title states: What programs in finance require a MBA or MS finance degree? I have noticed that some programs which require a 3.5 gpa or higher usually have lower average gmat. My profile: IQ: 175 GMAT: 590 (First time, studied only 1 volume of Kaplan). GPA: 3.2 University of California, Los Angeles Economics BA Planned: MBA Finance - UNLV Average gpa at UNLV 3.50, Ucla was hell... =(

Kindly evaluate my profile: I want to join a good Econ PhD program, preferably in Europe, in the academic year 2016-17. · MBA (2011) from IIM Ahmedabad (India's top-ranked business school; FT MBA school rank 26 in the world for 2015) · M.Sc.(2011) in International Management, Bocconi University (Double Degree). · Thesis: "The role of advertisement-based sites in the growth of online advertising in India" · Bocconi GPA: 98/110 · IIMA GPA: 2.99/4 (While I was probably only in the top 70-100 in my ~300 strong batch, the MBA program of IIMA is one of most difficult in the world to get into, with admission rates around 0.1%. Each year this program is attended by ~300 of the best students in entire India, across disciplines. And this place uses relative grading. That means no one in the history of IIMA ever earned US-like GPA's such as 3.8+/4 etc. The max. GPA's would range around 3.4...3.5) · Working in the industry for the last 3.5 years (would be 4.5 years by the time I join a PhD program). For the last 1+ years I've been working in a Big 4 firm, in financial risk management advisory services. This role involves a significant amount of quantitative modelling in areas such as risk quantification (VaR, CFaR etc.), price forecasting using various models such as Vector Auto Regression etc. · B.Tech. in Electronics and Telecommunication in 2009 from one of top 20 engineering schools in India (Jadavpur University, Kolkata, for those who know) · Ranked 4/45000 in my state in West Bengal JEE in 2005. (Again, for those who understand what that is). The schools I'm targeting so far: University of Warwick, UK University of Nottingham, UK Paris School of Economics, France Toulouse school of economics, France Université catholique de Louvain, France Università Bocconi, Italy Tilburg University, Netherlands Maastricht University, Netherlands Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Netherlands (Tinbergen Institute) Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden University of Zurich, Switzerland National University of Singapore, Singapore [*]Given my profile, is it realistic to apply to these programs? [*]Given my profile, are there any other suitable Economics PhD programs in Europe (or Asia) which I should apply to? [*]Academic recommendations: Since I would be applying to Economics programs, I'd need recommendation letters from Economics professors in IIMA and/or Bocconi. Given my absence from academia for the last 3.5 years, it's difficult for me to get really strong recommendations from such professors. I plan to try and assist one of my Economics professors in IIMA or Bocconi on some small project over the next one year and request them for a recommendation on the basis of that. Given I work full-time as a consultant, this association (if at all possible) will have to be part-time and remote. There is no other credit whatsoever that I'm seeking out of such an association apart from research experience, enhancement of domain knowledge and support of my guide. Is this strategy at all realistic? [*]Thanks a million everyone for your very valuable inputs.

Newbie poster here. Two and a half years out of my undergrad, I feel slightly undereducated and am looking to further my education. Early stages here, but I'm wondering if I should set my sights on some kind of MBA or if an MS/PhD is worth looking into. I've reached out to former professors for advice to no avail (?!). Anyway I'm in a bit over my head with all the acronyms, abbrev., and so forth on this forum, so go easy on me, dear reader. Here are my stats: Undergrad: University of Wisconsin, BBA in marketing and international business. 3.83 overall GPA. Spring 2011. Haven't yet taken GMAT or GRE but I test well. Since finishing school, I've been working in entertainment (TV production) and, at present, tech (a start-up digital agency; I design and manage mobile web projects and the people who build them). My passion in school was branding because of the way it merged sociology and psych with marketing. For the past year I've been absorbing pretty much anything in that vein that I can get my hands on (Social Psych coursera classes, How We Decide, Nudge, The Social Animal, a bunch of published papers) and have generally become very interested in studying/working in the intersection between behavioral econ, marketing, and social psychology. An MBA doesn't appeal to me tons because I lack an employer who would pay for it and already took a boatload of business classes while getting my undergrad anyway. If I had to take managerial accounting again I don't know what I'd do. Some also say that MBA programs are just forums for business networking--that's not what I'm looking for. I want to dig in. Then again, I feel I lack the research experience and academic background (esp. quantitative--I took basic stats and business-kid Calc at Wisconsin) to get in to a PhD or Master's program. Any advice for a motivated but confused 24 year old? Thanks to any kind soul who made it to the bottom of this.

Hi .I am a techie(in IT since last 2 yrs.). And its high time I start thinking clearly about my future ahead. I am currently considering the option of GMAT and MBA abroad. The decision-process is very confusing and at-times misguiding. This thread is for people facing similar issues. Ill elaborate the real issue: 1. Working in IT has its perks and u are just lost in time bieng employed. Lots of work to be busy and decent pay makin it difficult to go anywhere else. Frankly, right now I have no idea what future prospects are when I will switch from technical field to a management workplace. Will I be a misfit? Will there be limited career options? 2. Also is the gamble(leaving job, paying huge sum to study further) worth the risk?This becomes more relevant in times of global economic crisis. 3. For a techie, GRE a better option than GMAT? I encourage people facing the above three issues to discuss further for common cause. People with similar issues in the past are most welcome to share their valuable advice and experiences. Thanks.

Hey everyone! I'm new here and I really could use your help. Well, I just switched from eng to MBA. My passion is Economics and I really want to study that. I chose MBA, because the university has a double degree option in which I can have a degree from a Guatemalan university and an American university (I'm guatemalan). But after I'd like to apply for a master's in Economics. Do you think that's a good plan? Cos I'm only using this MBA as a "bridge" for the ME. And also, I'd like some financial aid for the ME, do you think that's possible? Any information will be appreciated and I'm willing to answer any question. Thank you

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Hey everyone, Currently I am pursuing my PGDM ( equivalent to MBA ) from IIMA ( one of the best B school in India). I did my undergrad from IIT Kharagpur in Engineering. I am intersted in doing a Phd in finance after completing my MBA but I am very unsure about my chances of getting into a good program. If any of you guys can throw some light about my chances in top 10,20 or 50 B school, it would be a great help. Profile in Brief: B. Tech & M. Tech ECE IIT Kharagpur 6.7/10 ( I know it's very poor, so disappointed with myself :( did not take acads seriously at all ) MBA from IIMA 3.6/4.33 ( almost in top 5 in a batch of 400 ) I have also passed all level of CFA examinations. I took GRE 2 years back and scored 1450 ( Q 800, V 640 , AWA 3.5 ), but I can take it again and would certainly improve AWA and verbal score. Have some very good ranking in all India examinations such as IIT-JEE ( Screening 17/200,000) , CAT 99.96% etc... ) I want to know if a good GPA in an MBA program can make up for messed up undergrad GPA ? If your answer is " NO, You can not get into a good program. Is there any remedy available for me? I am willing to apply after 2,3 years. But in the meantime I will be working and hence won't be able to take any full time position in research etc. Is there any way I can improve my chances while working full time ? Thanks in advance....

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Hi guys, I really hope someone can help me. I've been accepted to several universities and one of these is the London School of Business and Finance for an MBA in Marketing Management, but I can't find any ranking about the program, so I'm wondering if you will be able to help... Thank you very much Cheers

Hello, this is my intro post to the forum. I am in a MBA candidate at UCLA Anderson who just completed my first year. I have really embraced academia and would like to explore the possibility of getting my PhD in Behavioral Economics. A little bit about me and why I am here: I am interested in studying how human behavior affects economics. I am in my mid-30's a bit older for a PhD program, I realize. I am not interested in a University job or teaching. Rather, I want to work in the field as an expert on the matter. I am likely interested in European Programs as the programs are shorter (I am already in my mid-30's) and because there are strong programs that support the fields I am interested in. My question to the forum are the following: 1. On a general level, do you think I will need to take the GRE's? I am hoping I do not have to study for another standardized test as I am currently in the Anderson program, which requires GMATs. 2. Is there unofficial bias against older PhD candidates? I understand the attrition rate is higher for older applicants. I wanted to get people who are in programs feelings about this matter. 3. What are the top European PhD programs for Behavioral Economics? I have already gone through the forum and noted the schools but the posts seem to be older. I'd like to get a fresh reply on the matter. Thank you!

Just read about wordprom.com on Poets & Quants and Businessweek. I am applying to several schools round 1. I downloaded a few essays per each question only to see if I am in the right direction. The essays were very inspiring. I won't need as many hours of consulting services as I thought I would. I recommend all of you who are using consulting services to checkou the site!

Hi guys, an MBA friend of mine just sent me to the site where they seem to be selling the essays they used to get in. I've sent mine already but thought you can benefit from it. wordprom. Check out TomTom essays (that's my buddy)

Hi. First of all, i have little idea about getting scholarship. So i started to search for scholarship offers for different Canadian Universities to see qualifications needed to get scholarship. I searched atleast 10 Canadian universities. And these universities offer scholarship but any of these universities do not provide qualification needed to get scholarship(not at all). Why is so? They try to hide scholarship program? Try to discourage students or what? So how to get scholarship for those universities? I searched for University of Victoria, Thompson Rivers University, Simon Fraser University, University of toronto, etc. (I want to do MBA as a foreign student and looking for scholarship)

Hi there, I sat the GRE about 2 weeks ago and received the initial score report with Verbal 162 and Quantitative 154 (316/340). I'm almost 19 and am just starting my undergraduate degree this year. I am hoping to apply to Harvard Business School for an MBA in a few years time. How do you think these scores are for that? I'm most definitely going to re-sit, mainly because Quantitative is quite low. Maths isn't my strength, so I'm needing to work on it a lot. If I didn't re-sit, and I just used these scores (I'm thinking I'll get a 5+ for writing), do you think Harvard Business would even consider me? Obviously it's impossible to evaluate my chances of an acceptance based purely on my scores, but I'm wanting to know whether or not you think Harvard (or a similar institution) would give much consideration to a candidate with my scores. Thanks, Matt

Hi there, I sat the GRE about 2 weeks ago and received the initial score report with Verbal 162 and Quantitative 154 (316/340). I'm almost 19 and am just starting my undergraduate degree this year. I am hoping to apply to Harvard Business School for an MBA in a few years time. How do you think these scores are for that? I'm most definitely going to re-sit, mainly because Quantitative is quite low. Maths isn't my strength, so I'm needing to work on it a lot. If I didn't re-sit, and I just used these scores (I'm thinking I'll get a 5+ for writing), do you think Harvard Business would even consider me? Obviously it's impossible to evaluate my chances of an acceptance based purely on my scores, but I'm wanting to know whether or not you think Harvard (or a similar institution) would give much consideration to a candidate with my scores. Thanks, Matt

Hi guys, I am planning to apply for business schools in fall of 2012. However, I am planning my application in advance. I studied business administration for five semesters in Germany and received a Bachelor of Science degree. During this time I spent a semester abroad at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea. After graduation I did an internship at the investment bank Societe Generale in Frankfurt, Germany. I worked in the marketing department of Global Equities and Derivatives Solutions. I had to understand how several financial derivatives, floaters, etc. work and to create brochures, do statistical backtesting and to support the sales team. I interned for 5 months. First I planned to do a master's degree, but instead I started to work as management consultant for one of the big four audit and consulting companies. I joined a management trainee program, where you are treated like every other consultant, but you receive 8 weeks of training before you actually start working and you will be assigned to two audit assignments as well as to two different consulting departments within the company, before you ultimately decide for which department you like to work for. I am working in the Finance Advisory department (and will stay there). One of my superiors will be the first recommender, when I apply to business schools. But I don't know who the second recommender should be. I received an excellent employment reference, while working at Societe Generale as an intern. Should I ask my former boss to recommend me? I haven't talked to him for about 1.5 years, but we are friends on Xing and LinkedIn. Or should I ask the audit manager, I have worked for in Luxembourg? The question is mainly: Should I ask my former boss, who is an investment banker (marketing of derivatives), though I was 'just' an intern? Or should I ask the manager I was working for recently as a full time employee - doing auditing. It was an interfirm agreement, because I am working for the German subsidiary of the company, which sent me to the Luxembourg office, because they needed assistance auditing a bank. Which recommendation would strengthen my MBA application more? I don't know if admission officers would value the investment banking experience more than the auditing experience. (My first recommender will present my management consulting skills). Do you have useful advice? By the way, I am planning to kind of shift my field of work through the MBA. Instead of finance and consulting I am aiming to work in the fields of operations management and marketing in the high tech or media industry. Thanks in advance. Kind regards Miles

Hey, I will soon be finishing my Bachelor degree in Economics and Business Economics from University of Groningen in the Netherlands. I'm facing a tough choice ahead as to what I'll be doing after this degree. I see two big options ahead - a masters in Eco or an MBA. However, I'm unsure as to where I'll be headed with either of these paths. Could you please enlighten me on the consequences of choosing one of these two options? And am I overlooking something if I just consider an MSc Eco or MBA after my bachelors degree? To be honest, I'm leaning towards doing the MSc Eco degree currently. Where I do it is another decision I have to take - somewhere in Europe or the US. Any thoughts on this (considering i'm doing my bachelors in Holland)? I plan to take the GRE exam this summer. All help is welcome!

Thought I'd have this on the record, and perhaps get some recommendations about where to hang out around here to for the most learning and contribution ASAP. I'm a recent grad from UCSD's Rady School of Management (Full-time 2011) I'm working in marketing at an exciting start-up. I love my job, but I don't think industry is the right fit for me in the long-term, so I'm looking into PhD programs in a couple years. There are two reasons I'm here early: 1) I don't know what I want to study yet exactly 2) I don't have an ideal academic background, so I want to spend the next few years doing things that will prepare me to get into, contribute to, and succeed in a PhD program. This forum looks like a great place, I'm looking forward to learning and sharing. I'm totally new at the PhD hunt, but I've done the whole B-School thing (& interned with admissions) and will happily share about that. Feel free to link to a related thread. Cheers!

Hello *, Just finished my GRE revised score range 1100-1200 (actual score will come out in Nov) Work Exp :- 4 Years Tuition Budget :- Can anyone suggest B-school in this range ?? Thanks in Advance :)

HIi everyone this is Stephen from India. I've planned to take my GMAT within 4-5months.MY Target Score is >750 & the top B-Schools in US:grad:. Iam a new member of the Great community. I [clap] Congradulate evryone who have already ACED GMAT. I invite all aspirants to join together with me & we shall share our startegies to crack the nut:grad:. Looking for Great Aspirants to buid Formidable Group ASAP [clap].

Ok so I am getting confused... seems like everyone is eligible to apply via Consortium if the schools they wish to apply is its member and that they fall in Consortium's eligibility which leads to this ambiguity... One of those eligibilities is (I quote) "Demonstrate a commitment to The Consortium’s mission of helping to reduce the serious underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in both our member schools’ enrollments and the ranks of management" Now, what does this mean by commitment? Do we bind with any contract here or not? Say, if most of your "wish-list" schools are in Consortium... would you apply via this or prefer via school directly? The most advantage I see is that I save time making one standard application and also save money if I apply via Consortium that's all ($275 for 5 schools)... any idea of other advantages?