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Hi, Please evaluate my chances for phd in accounting admission. * Undergrad: 3.6 (Econ/Business Top South Korea business school), Took an econometrics class. - Full year scholarship * Grad: 3.8 (Masters in Accounting- USC) - Merit based Scholarship * GMAT: 750 (Q51, AWA 6.0) * Work Experience: Big4 Audit Manager (4.5 years-early promoted) * CPA, CFA * No research experience * Good recommendation from Grad school professors and Partners * Not a US citizen * Math and stat course: only took college mathmatics and economic statistics / Planning to take more math class at Univ of Toronto or college if it is required Is Research experience or research paper "must to have"? Thank you! USC UC Berkely Stanford U Michigan NYU UT Austin Columbia MIT

Hi, within six months I am going to apply to PhD in Accounting programs for admittance next fall (Fall 2013). I want to narrow my list of potential schools down, but need some advice as to whether I am aiming too high, or if I need a safety school. I have some other miscellaneous questions as well. Your opinions and viewpoints will be very helpful! Feel free to comment on only a part of this post or to answer all the questions I have included. I am interested in as much feedback as possible. My Profile: Undergrad: Top 25 State School - BS in Acc: GPA 4.0 (overall) Graduate: Mid-tier State School - MAcc: GPA 3.75 GMAT 710 (48 Q, 39 V, 6.0 AWA) Math: 1 Calc (Brief Calc), 1 Business Math (which covered a lot of econ-foundational topics including partial differentiation, linear programming ,etc.), 1 statistics. CPA status: passed 2 of 4 sections, have obtained experience and education requirements, anticipate being licensed by time I submit application. After graduating with the bachelor's degree I have worked in a Fortune 500 company's accounting department while completing the master's program. As of application time (December 2012/January 2013) I will have a year and a half of industry accounting experience (which will be over two years of experience by Fall of next year). Here's my current "short list": [TABLE=width: 273] [TR] [TD]Ohio State University[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Arizona State University[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Michigan State University[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]University of Texas - Austin[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]University of Illinois - Urbana - Champaign[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Indiana University - Bloomington[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]University of Colorado - Boulder[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Cornell University[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]University of Iowa[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]University of Arizona[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] 1) Although these schools vary somewhat in prestige, I did not intentionally include a "safety school". Should I? Is it worth the extra work? The thing is I really can't afford to risk not getting into a program next fall. This is the right time and opportunity and it would kill me to have to slug it out through another year of a career I do not see a future in (since, obviously, I see my future in research). How else can I hedge against the possibility of being rejected by all these schools (I am at peace with the fact that I will be rejected by some/most of them)? 2) My MAcc school is notably less prestigious than my undergrad. Does that hurt my profile? It is the program that best fit with my objective of entering the job market while pursuing a master's and I figured that the MAcc program prestige is less important than the undergrad program prestige. Is that assumption correct? 3) Does the "lower" verbal score on the GMAT hurt me? As far as percentiles are concerned, my verbal score was about the same percentile as my quantitative score, but the 9-point gap in raw score might make it look like I did significantly worse in verbal. 4) Is it relevant that I anticipate taking 2-3 calculus courses next spring/summer (and a linear algebra course, if I can find one readily available)? These courses wouldn't be completed until AFTER I apply to the PhD programs in question. Should I mention that I am planning to take them in the application/SoP? 5) Does it make sense to include schools in my list that are not leaders in my research interest (yet they still have some faculty and students who pursue my research interest)? I have formed this list based on a multitude of factors and I have included some schools that are not necessarily leaders in my research interest, but to which I might still stand a decent chance of acceptance and which have respected PhD programs generally speaking (I am interested in Managerial/Behavioral-Experimental research). Thanks so much for any feedback you can give!