Overview

Introduction

As I applied to finance PhD programs twice for 2015 and 2019 admissions, I thought to share some experience with those who may be interested in. I hope that the information here will be extremely helpful for you to prepare and apply for PhD programs in finance. My experience may be applicable for those who are interested in decent universities/PhD programs.

What is Important?

There are a few keys that you should always remember to prepare your applications for PhD programs. Those elements are:

• GPA

• GRE/GMAT

• Letters of Recommendation

• Coursework

• Research Experience

I will discuss many of these in details.

My Experience

Depending on the strength of your application, after talking wtih a few faculty members of your school, most people end up wih applying 15 schools. Out of 15, you may want to have a few schools that a little stretch for you, and a few schools for your safety schools so that you have a place to go with 10+ schools that you believe good fit for you. I would personally highly suggest you not to apply schools that you are for sure that you have no chance to get in, especially if you have someone who may be well-known in the field as your letter writer(s). If your budget allows, you may apply more than 15 since the selection process is very random.

In my personal experience, my GMAT verbal score was not competitive while my GPA, coursework, GMAT quant, and research experience were somewhat competitive. I ended up with applying 24 schools: 3 top tier schools (no top 10), 10+ upper second tier schools, 5+ lower second tier schools, and 3 third tier schools. I had 10+ interviews and a few acceptance along with several waitlist. Out of all schools that gave me an offer or put me on the waitlist, Texas A&M University was my top choice, so I accepted the offer in April. Here is the list of schools I applied:

• University of Arizona

• Arizona State University

• University of Cincinnati

• University of Connecticut

• Drexel University

• Florida State University

• University of Georgia

• Georgia State University

• Georgia Tech

• Indiana University

• University of Kentucky

• Louisiana State University

• University of Maryland

• University of Minnesota

• University of North Texas

• Okulahoma University

• University of Oregon

• Penn State University

• University of Pittsburgh

• Texas A&M University

• University of Texas at Dallas

• Texas Tech University

• University of Southern California

• University of Utah