Research MBA Programs

I am looking for admission to the various top management programs across the globe. I am targeting the top 20 B-schools.
Target Schools- Wharton,Kellog,INSEAD,ISB,Columbia,Haas,Anderson,HKUST,MIT Sloan,LBS
Looking for PhD programs in Finance/operations management/HR.
My profile:

1.10th-95.4%
2.12th-76.8%
3.Bachelors in Electronics and Communication from Cochin University of Science and Technology-74.05%
4.Currently pursuing Joint Master Degree in Microelectronics offered by Tenische Universitat Munchen, Germany and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore -CGPA 4.11/5
5. DAAD Scholarship holder(offered by the German government for academic excellence)
6. GRE(revised): Quant-163 Verbal-157 AWA-3
7.TOEFL-112
8. Offered scholarship at school
9. Work experience: 3 months at UST Global(IT company)resigned to pursue higher studies

I was told that my GRE score of 317 would correspond to 660 on GMAT scale.
My queries:
1. Is there any chance of me getting accepted to the Phd programs in the top 20 b-schools?
2. Can anyone help me in writing a very good SOP?
3. Can I pursue a career in the industry after my PhD? How is PhD valued wrt an MBA?

Rohit

Hey Rohit -- We can offer some responses to your questions, but first we have to ask, why do you want to go for a PhD? Especially if you have not even identified an area of focus? Finance and ops and HR are all **very** different. You wouldn't be studying all of them in a doctoral program, would you? Also, how does that relate to your existing Master's studies in electronics? A little confused by the plan here.

In particular, your last question about a career in industry post-PhD makes us wonder if you've done enough research on all of this yet. The PhD is typically an entry point to academia - academic research and/or teaching at the university level. It's not the best route to a career in the business world. Check out this thread from someone on the other side of the equation for some insights: https://www.beatthegmat.com/profile-eval ... 16062.html

Transitioning from a PhD program to business with only 3 months of pre-academic work experience would likely be difficult. It would be difficult enough to do so from an MBA program.

OK, assuming you do in fact want to proceed with the PhD, then to answer your questions:

1. It depends. Your GRE is a little low for a top bschool, but at the same time, there's not so much competition for the doctoral programs. The schools will be looking at the entirety of your package and we don't have enough information to say one way or the other. Your grades will matter a lot, as will the essays.

2. Different schools have somewhat different requirements and expectations for a SOP but the essence is, you need to explain why you want the PhD and what you plan to do with it - and this needs to be exceptionally well tailored to each school's individual programs and environment. You should be talking to your current professors about this, they can help you. (This is one of the rare cases where a bschool application can benefit from getting a recommendation from a prof.) If you want help with how to tackle the SOP, then we have oodles of resources and services available on essaysnark.com - most of our blahg content is geared towards MBA applicants but we've got plenty of experience helping PhD candidates too. Hit us up if you're interested.

3. We sorta answered above; this seems like it could be a disconnect for you, and you'll need to work this out first, before you even identify which schools to apply to. This is the critical question for you to answer. What do you want to do with your life in the future, and how does the PhD fit into those plans?

Hope this helps at least a little - let us know if you have follow-ups and we'll try to tackle them.

EssaySnark

Hey thanks a lot for the detailed response. Most of my doubts were cleared. I will surely think over the matters that were highlighted to me and get back to you.
The specializations I indicated were just my order of preference,if I had a choice.
But I am surprised from the response that there is less competition for PhD admission. I thought PhD was the ultimate degree and that competition would be the maximum for it.
I asked the question about career in the industry after PhD because I observed that many top positions in various companies are occupied by people with a doctorate(not necessary in Business and Management).

In some industries you see a PhD, perhaps - the sciences in particular (pharma/biotech), but in general the MBA is the much more common degree for the executive suite. We haven't done any surveys of our own but are hard pressed to name any CEOs with doctorates, just from memory. They're out there, but a PhD is not the expected path to the top job.

In terms of competitiveness, we'll qualify it by saying that there's a lot less competition because of fewer applicants, but there's also fewer spots available. It can be a lot easier for someone to stand out in the crowd of candidates due to the reduced numbers. If the application is strong then it's rare for them to be turned away (you can have a strong app to an MBA program and still not get in).

Anyway, education is a good thing so we wouldn't want to deter you from it! It's also a very big commitment, obviously, and the schools will want to see your thinking on these questions. So good luck with it and let us know if we can help!

EssaySnark

Hi Rohit,

just my 2 cents: I am completing my Ph.D. in environmental engineering this year; I am also going to apply to a number of European MBA Programs, so I am sort of both a Ph.D. and a prospective MBA. In my opinion PhD and MBA are two different degrees for many reason, so first of all try to understand what are your goals once received your qualification. Now, my opinion about pursuing a Ph.D.:
prerequisite: you must be that kind of person who loves (and I mean it) doing research, otherwise your Ph.D. will become a complete nightmare
1. do it if you want to pursue a career in academia (ie, Ph.D., research fellow, lecturer and so on)
2. do it if you know which sector(s) you want to join after graduation, and if you know that PhDs are regularly hired in that sector(s)
In terms of education, a doctoral degree represents the final step one might undertake; this does not necessarily mean that you will get a better job, or that you will earn more money.

Cheers,

Davide

Davide wrote:Hi Rohit,

just my 2 cents: I am completing my Ph.D. in environmental engineering this year; I am also going to apply to a number of European MBA Programs, so I am sort of both a Ph.D. and a prospective MBA. In my opinion PhD and MBA are two different degrees for many reason, so first of all try to understand what are your goals once received your qualification. Now, my opinion about pursuing a Ph.D.:
prerequisite: you must be that kind of person who loves (and I mean it) doing research, otherwise your Ph.D. will become a complete nightmare
1. do it if you want to pursue a career in academia (ie, Ph.D., research fellow, lecturer and so on)
2. do it if you know which sector(s) you want to join after graduation, and if you know that PhDs are regularly hired in that sector(s)
In terms of education, a doctoral degree represents the final step one might undertake; this does not necessarily mean that you will get a better job, or that you will earn more money.

Cheers,

Davide

What he said.

hey thnx guyz 4 al ur responses...i will indeed keep all these things in mind....thnx...thnx a lot....

Could you advice me on the universities with which I will have a good chance of getting admit for PhD?
Do you think I will have a chance with ISB,HEC Paris, HKUST and INSEAD,Singapore?