MAcc to PhD Profile Question

[joshtaylor0]

I have been reading this forum but this is my first post so thank you to everyone for all the advice thus far!

I am interested in a decent MAcc program because I am planning on pursuing my PhD in accounting and feel that getting my masters from a better school (than my undergraduate school) with a reputation would help me gain PhD admissions.

My profile includes:

College:
BS Accounting, Manga Cum Laude
Virginia Commonwealth University 3.67/4.00

Work:
About 2+ years of public accounting experience with firms at every level (local, regional, KPMG, and BDO Seidman)

GMAT:
I just recently took the gmat and got 610 (Q42/V32) with a 4.5 on the writing.

Extracurriculars:
-Beta Alpha Psi (accounting honors) member for 3+ years
-Did volunteer income tax prep for 2 tax seasons
-Selected as a member for a Promotion & Tenure committee
-Received a few merit scholarships from PwC (2 years) and a local business roundtable group

Schools I am interested in (order by priority):
1 U Mich
2 U Florida
3 U Tenn @ Knox
4 VA Tech
5 NC State University

I just wanted to get some thoughts about (1) what my chances are for each school, (2) if I should really be that concerned with school prestige/reputation, (3) if I have left out some better or equal schools (prefer east coast), and (4) how heavily weighted the GMAT is when the overall application is considered.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated! As I am sure many people are scrambling to assemble their own applications, I wish everyone good luck!

Cheers!

-Josh

[Sophia007]

Hi Josh,

Since you want to do your Master's in accounting, you need to demonstrate your quantitative skills. 610 won't help. You need to re-take GMAT. You need to score atleast 90% in Math on GMAT for get into a good Masters program.

As for PhD, it is the number of publications (and quality of course) that matter the most than the school itself.

Hopefully this helps. Please email me if you have further questions.

-Sophia