Know of any good Ph.D. programs in Finance

Know of any good Ph.D. programs in Finance?
I'm extremely interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Finance and I'm trying to find the best rated school where I actually have a good chance of getting accepted. Here are some details regarding my qualifications: - 3.9 gpa and double degree in Business Administration and Accounting with minors in Liberal Arts and Spanish - 660 overall GMAT (41 Verbal, 39 Quantitative, 6.0 Analytical Writing) - 2.5 years experience as full time accountant at CPA firm - Should be a CPA within the next year Unfortunately, my undergraduate degree is not from a widely known school (I went to a selective admissions Scholars' College affiliated with a small state school in the South), I have yet to complete any graduate education, and my only college math was Calculus I and Business Statistics (a lot of good programs seem to require Calculus II and/or linear algebra). If you know of any good programs appropriate for my qualifications, please let me know! Thanks!!
Higher Education (University +) - 3 Answers

Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1
all i can say is don't go to an online school they are a rip off and only want your money


2
Unfortunatly, you don't stand a chance. with your current qualifications. Acceptance rates range from about 1 or 2% at the top of the top schools (i.e. univ of chicago and MIT) to 10-15% at 4th rate no name schools. Look up finance doc student profiles at 3rd and 4th tier universities. Even tHey almost always have degrees in engineering, math, comp sci, and physics. Even though they list calculus 1 and 2 as min requirements, most programs won't even look at you unless you have completed the the full calculus sequence (differential, integral, and multi-variable), differential equations, linear aglebra, probability theory, abstract math, and a real stats class or two (business stats is BEYOND worthless!). In addition, to be reasonably competitive, you should alse take real analysis &/or numerical analysis and stochastic processes. GMAT also rules you out. Even at 3rd rate programs most doc students accepted into finance programs score 700+ on the GMAT and at least the 90th percentile on the quant portion. Your work experience is also worth next to nothing. PhD programs are all about training researchers. You HAVE TO demonstrate that you are capable of coming up with original, publishable research (i.e. those published in the journal of finance and the journal of financial economics) and your work experience does not relate to this in any. Sorry to be so negative, but you need to know what you are getting into before you make that kind of investment.


3
Hey homer – is there any chance at all that you know what you’re talking about? Lets address your wonderfully written rant in a serial fashion, shall we? First off, her current qualifications would have the lower tier universities licking their lips – and if she made the right contacts she could go to any university she wanted. Yes, acceptance rates are low at every Ph.D program. The reasoning for this has more to do with the fundamentals of Ph.D programs and less to do with school prestige. Doctoral programs in every field assign you to an academic advisor for the focus of your research. Each faculty member will have at least one and no more than four protégés at a time. It takes 4-6 years to graduate and there are usually 3-5 finance professors… so, the turnover rate is not ideal. The reason for the poor acceptance rates is mostly due to students’ unawareness of this concept. When you apply you are applying to a particular faculty member – not to the university. Unfortunately, students do not realize this and they apply to programs that are not intending on brining anyone in. Aimee, I suggest you email the faculty members who have research interests similar to those of your own and establish a professional relationship with them. Make sure they are planning on bringing someone in and keep in touch until decisions are made. Back to the fat, yellow guy. OK, so your ignorance in this domain was a bit apparent with the “you don’t have a chance” spiel… but maybe you’re just having an off day?? I mean, you’ve obviously sacrificed any chance of social participation in the search of people to talk down to via Yahoo answers. Level 6? Is that a pathetic scale? Anyways, lets move on. When I was accepted to the Ph.D program at University of Pennsylvania, which I’m sure you’ll agree is a top tier school, I had applied with a 680 GMAT and a lower gpa than Aimee’s. I also had a double degree in Business and Accounting (which is completely appropriate – I don’t know why you would want degrees in the sciences). I had an economics minor and, like most other undergrads, no significant research experience. They were hesitant to accept me… want to know why?? Because I had no work experience!!!! Business is an applied setting, genius – if you’re going to theorize over it and research your theories you better have spent some time with your sleeves rolled up doing the work. Top tier programs want to see that, and, Aimee, that will help you TONS. Homer’s right, they do want you to complete the calc. series, but that can be done after you’re accepted. No one will turn you down due to a preference of calc classes. Your first year or two are to make up for a potential lack of math history. And the list that this guy threw out there is completely meaningless – no undergrad has taken half of those courses. You take almost all of those after you are accepted into the program. OK, now for the GMAT scores. The GMAT is designed to produce an annual mean of around 500 with a standard deviation of around 100. So, Homer, if you had put any value into statistics and didn’t think of it as “BEYOND meaningless” you would understand that a 660 is 1.6 standard deviations above the mean. That puts her at about the 85 percentile – which is splendid. The emphasis on math exists, like you said, but not as much in Ph.D programs (as compared to masters) because the focus in these programs is PUBLISH OR PERISH. So, you better know how to write and research. Besides, no one will reject you based on 40 GMAT points – if so, that’s a faulty system. A lack of research experience can set you back a bit. I didn’t have research experience either and I was accepted to a top program in the country. Meet the right people, say the right things, show them that you have had nothing but academic success, work experience, and great GMAT scores. Kick ass at your interview and have strong letters of recommendation. You could walk into a bottom tier school on red carpet or you could sneak into a top school like I did. Either way, take my advice – not Homer’s. As much as he loves research, he obviously didn’t do any of his own before mouthing off. If he has enough time to patronize question askers on the internet at the rate that he does, he obviously doesn’t work in the field and doesn’t know what he is talking about. I wish you the best, Aimee, and let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.