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Context: I’m a non-traditional prospective applicant – 15+ yrs of industry experience. I’ve gone back and forth over the past 10 yrs on whether to apply for PhD programs, and which programs to apply to (Public policy, Econ, Business, Urban PlannIng). I recently decided that I would like to take the leap and transition to a career in research / academia. There are professors across various departments that fit my research interests (in public policy, business, economics, and urban planning departments). At the end of the day, I want to get into the program that fits me best AND positions me for TT roles. My strong preference is to stay in ATL, though I will likely apply to a few reaches away from here. Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): TBD – goal is 90th percentile which I think is feasible based on my past GRE score Undegrad GPA: 3.7 in top 100 public university, honors college (2002) Graduate GPA: MPP - 3.8 in top 10 public policy school (2004); MPhil from Judge at Cambridge (dissertation received high marks) (2005) Research Experience: RA in undergrad (NSF funded, primary author published in peer reviewed journal); GRA in grad (thesis was funded and published by university research center); dissertation at Cambridge was also funded Teaching Experience: NA Work Experience: 4 yrs in mngt consulting to start career (Deloitte); 10 yrs in national non-profit leadership roles (VP and C-level); now back in strategy consulting as associate partner at MBB firm (2 yrs) Schools: Business Emory (O&M macro) Georgia Tech (Strategy & Innovation) Erasmus RSM part-time (Business and Society) One from top 5 Public policy Harris UofC Oxford DPhil (part-time) Urban economics LSE Cambridge Oxford (part-time) Questions Given my educational and professional background (and very old math from undergrad and grad), I think that I’d be most competitive for B-Schools. But I’d love any feedback from the forum on what range of schools to target. I need to prioritize where to put my time against my goal of getting into these programs. My hypothesis is GRE prep, personal statement / research interests, then potentially enrolling in a course in fall (to further narrow interests and potentially get a LOR). I am also working on a white paper through work, but don’t think that would published in time. Thoughts on if this is the right prioritization? (As a side, I was originally thinking of Econ programs - but would need to take 5+ math courses over the next few years to be competitive which doesn't seem like the right prioritization.)

I have a 166 Verbal, 168 Quant and 4 in Analytical. Should I retake? I plan to apply in the top ten Econ PhD programs in US and UK for Fall 2019. A brief bio - Engineering grad (IIT) 2008, MBA (IIM A) 2011, 7 years of work ex in M&A (3.5 yrs.), Analytics (1.5), Education Startup (1.5). Last but not the least, I would be turning 33 this October. What are my chances?

Test Scores (GRE): V152(56%) , Q164(87%) , AW 4.0 (60%) I graduated from one of the top tier universities in my country (Not US and North America) Undegrad GPA: 3.42 / 4.0 (full tuition waiver for 4 yrs) - Major (Business Administration) Graduate GPA: 3.91 / 4.0 (full tuition waiver for 2 yrs) - Major (Business Analytics) Research Experience: One conference proceeding in IEEE related conference (Co 1st author) + oral presentation Teaching Experience: 3 TA ships (Microeconomics, organizational behavior, Marketing Management Work Experience: 2 industry projects; one at an international research firm, the other at my university as RA Concentration Applying to: Business analytics / Management Science / MIS Number of programs planned to apply to: around 20 Dream Schools: U of Washington, U of Pittsburgh, U of Iowa, Western University (Canada) Any additional specific questions you may have: Why are the applicants for the three tracks I mentioned above so rare? Can anyone tell me why they are so scant here?