Search the Community

I would deeply appreciate any advice on how a person with my profile could become a competitive PhD applicant in the OB/ Decision Sciences field? I intend to apply for September 2022. Profile: Test Scores: GMAT: 730, GRE: Q165, V161, AWA:4.0 Undegrad GPA: 9.75/10, Integrated Master in Mechanical Engineering, unknown European Uni Graduate GPA: Accepted for September 2020 in some of the best MSc in Business Analytics programmes in Europe and in some good Master's in Management, still deciding which to attend Research Experience: Only my thesis in the undergrad, research on structural analysis project, peer reviewed conference Teaching Experience: None Work Experience: 3 years, 2 as a junior engineer in an international software engineering company, the role included research in a math/engineering field and programming. Programming skills: Python, C++ Schools: Not sure yet; I am interested in research that is conducted by faculty members in dream US schools but also in some schools within the top 20-40. Moreover I am considering LBS, INSEAD, Cambridge Judge and RSM in Europe. Not in all schools the department is characterized as OB but my research interest remains the same Research interests: - unconscious bias and discrimination in decision making, especially gender related - helping people making better decisions in their everyday life or in a business environment Usually these research interests fit with the OB department and require a psychology background. I try to figure out what would be the best way for me to improve my chances as a PhD applicant for these research fields since I have no social sciences related knowledge. I am open to all kind of suggestions e.g. pursuing a 2nd MSc after Business Analytics. Moreover, if you believe that my chances would be really slim and it would be better for me to find another field for research feel free to share these thoughts too. I would be excited to read your responses and thank you for the time you have dedicated to reading my post.

Hi guys, I'm a senior at a top-3 ranked U.S. university who's interested in a career in academia, and I would love to hear some of your recommendations. Background: Black female, US citizen Test Scores (GRE): 314 (157Q 157V 5W) (taken w/ no prep as a sophomore - practice tests are now ~162 on Q and V) GPA: 3.15/4.0 in Psychology (Psychology GPA - 3.4) Minors: Neuro, Cog Sci Research Experience: Published as second author in top medical journal (a study on memory), published independent project in undergraduate journal (a study on social perceptions), junior research project (critical review of amputation research), and currently conducting an honors thesis that will be submitted for publishing (more on memory) Work Experience: 3 months as a Program Manager at a school in Thailand, 3 years of Calculus and R tutoring through UG university, 2 years at private tutoring companies, 1 year I/O Psychology research assistant at Rice University (helping a student with a dissertation and a Prof with a publication), 3 years of memory research at MDACC Awards/Honors: Presented at 3 conferences, received several top merit and athletic scholarships before entering UG and disability scholarships/research grants in UG Concentration Applying to: OB (micro) Number of programs planned to apply to: 15 Questions or concerns you have about your profile? Low UG GPA - I was a pre-med student suffering from an undiagnosed autoimmune condition. After switching out of pre-med and being put on proper disability, I earned a 3.8 GPA as a junior. I have heard your last 2 years of UG matter most - is this true? Will having a recommender explain my situation help? I don't think PhD programs will really care why my GPA is low, it will still hurt me heavily, but I'd appreciate honest opinions. My university is also known for deflating grades. I will likely be able to raise my Psych GPA to ~3.5 and my UG GPA to a 3.3 if my senior year goes well. Do you think I have a shot of getting into a top pre-doctoral program? There's a few research associate positions and more tailored programs (Stanford Research Fellows, NYU pre-doctoral, etc.). Some programs offer free GRE prep. I would like to get into one of these programs or work as an RA while taking a few graduate courses to boost my chances of matriculating at a top program. Any thoughts on this plan? I'm trying to avoid an MBA because of the cost, but is this a better option? Would a 324 GRE be a competitive enough score considering my GPA? Lastly, should I focus more on taking graduate courses or gaining OB research experience? Many thanks in advance!

Greetings! I am planning to apply to PhD programs in Organizational Behavior (Fall 2015). Towards this end, I quit my job (have 12 years of work experience in HR/ Have a Masters in Labor & Human Resources from Ohio State Univ - Graduate GPA - 3.7/ 4.0) and started working as a Research Associate at IIM Bangalore (top management school in India) earlier this year (Apr 2014). Have been using this opportunity to work on case studies (Women Entrepreneurs - both Entrepreneurship & Diversity being my areas of interest) and working on 2 research papers on 1) Application of Behavioral Economics to Organizational Learning, and 2) Organizational Learning in start-ups and the role of Accelerators (Org Learning being another area of interest). Also leveraging this opportunity to attend classes being offered at IIM Bangalore to their PhD students (this has helped me get exposure to various sub-streams of OB - Behavioral Economics/ Psychology/ Sociology, etc and helped me fine tune my research interests further). Classes attended as below: 1) Business Decision Making (Prof an alumni of INSEAD - PhD in Decision Sciences/ I have requested him to write a LOR) 2) Positive Organizational Psychology (Prof an alumni of LBS - PhD OB/ I have requested him to write a LOR) 3) Social Networks Analysis (Prof a Strategy/ Entrepreneurship expert/ He is my current boss/ I have requested him to write a LOR) 4) Research Methods in OB (Prof an alumni of Purdue - Phd in Sociology) 5) DREAM workshop - Research as an Entrepreneurial Venture (Prof an alumni of Carnegie Mellon - Teaches Entrepreneurship at Univ of Virginia Darden and IIM Banglr) I gave the GRE last week. 325 total. Quant (did OK, I guess) - 167 Verbal (was disappointing) - 158 Writing - 5 Planning to re-take the GRE later this month to improve (especially Verbal since I know that I had a "bad day at the office"). Would appreciate if I could get some feedback on the list of Universities I plan to apply to (based on overlap of research interests): - University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) - University of Minnesota - Ivey Business School (Univ of Western Ontario, Canada) - Case Western Reserve - Weatherhead - Cornell/ Carnegie Mellon/ Univ of Michigan - Ann Arbor (all ambitious, I know) - INSEAD, LBS (again ambitious but am banking on 1 LBS & 1 INSEAD alumni writing my LORs - not really sure though if that would be of any help). Of course I hope to do better when I re-take the GRE but assuming (worst case) that I apply using the above GRE score, do the list of Universities look too ambitious? Would appreciate any feedback/ sage advice! Thanks in advance! Warm Regards!

Hi everyone, I'm new to the board and I'm looking for some input on my application profile. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Here are my stats: School: large public university in Canada Year: Entering fourth year, applying to graduate programs this fall Major: Psychology (Research stream) overall GPA: 3.87 / 4 psychology GPA: 3.98 GRE: 800Q, 650V (haven't received AW score yet) - did not write GMAT research experience: 3 years of research assistant experience in psychology labs and an OB lab at a large business school, multiple research projects, will complete thesis in 4th year no publications (but will possibly have one in submission by the time I apply, if that matters) Letters of recommendation: 3 good-to-great letters, 2 from professors, one from a postdoc My research interests are in OB, and i'm wondering how competitive my stats would be for PhD programs in OB at business schools. Are programs at top schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Tepper realistic for me? How competitive would I be for business schools in Canada (i.e. Ivey, Rotman)? I sincerely thank you for your time and advice.