MS / PhD in Marketing from Canada?

[Uri]

Hi,

I hold a BTech degree & Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (Specialization: Marketing) from a reputed Management Institute in India. Throughout my academic career, I have achieved First Class (more than 60% marks). I have about three and a half years of experience, equally divided between industry and academics. Currently I am working as a Marketing faculty in the MBA department of a college in India.

I obtained 90 percentile in GMAT about two years ago (Verbal: 89 percentile and Quant: 77 percentile). My goal is to get a PhD from a decent university in Canada without incurring any additional expenditure during the time of the course.

Unfortunately, I am not sure whether my background will be considered as strong enough to pursue PhD in a university which satisfies the financial criteria that I have set (scholarship & tuition waiver). Or, should I opt for an MS in Management and later on try for the PhD course? In that case also, I need financial support. Which universities can I consider for this?

Is it possible to get into an MBA course in Canada where I can get financial support? To what extent can I expect the support (Tuition waiver/ scholarship/on-campus job etc)?

I am really confused. It takes a lot of pain to get LORs and copies of certificates from universities in India. Hence, I would like to judge my probability of success before taking the plunge.

Some universities that I have shortlisted for PhD are:

• York University
• Simon Fraser University
• University of Alberta
• University of Calgary
• McMaster University

Universities that I have shortlisted for MS are:

• University of Ottawa
• University of Lethbridge

Please help me with your valuable input.

[Jon@Admissionado]

Well PhD programs work a bit differently than MBAs and MSs. Since essentially you are going to go for free (Most PhDs offer fellowships or some sort of teaching/research deal for free tuition), the trick is getting in. but a good GMAT is not enough (or rather not necessarily the right thing). PhD programs, being research and publication-based want to know rather that you can succeed there. So having an amazing academic record for undergrad is very important, as well is any teaching experience, research experience, participation in conferences, and of course publications (even being on school journals or papers).

Applying for an MS does not seem like a better idea, as that you would most likely have to pay for.