Studying Business — The Academic Route: Getting it Together
The time has finally come to talk about the final stretch, the application. This article covers applying to schools starting from the summer before you apply. If you are applying directly out of undergraduate, this is the summer before your senior year. At this point, what’s done is done; now it is just time to get it all together.
Looking towards the end of this period, the first application is likely due December 1st. Other common due dates are December 15th, December 31st/January 1st, and January 15th for PhD applications. Master’s programs may also have later deadlines, including February 1st and February 15th. It may seem a long way away, but it will come sooner than expected.
During the summer, I recommend exploring which programs you would like to apply to and consider practicing for and taking the GRE. We will discuss how to select programs both initially to apply and later to attend in a subsequent article. However, I recommend having at least 5 programs on the list when taking the GRE as it allows you to send scores to 5 universities for free on test day. Sending scores after test day will cost money. I will talk mainly about the GRE, but know that some schools also accept the GMAT. The reason I am focusing on the GRE is that it is almost universally required for Economics programs, and while some Finance programs will take the GMAT, even some of those that do prefer the GRE.
The GMAT is primarily designed for applying for an MBA which we have already discussed is quite different from a PhD. How much preparation is needed for the GRE will largely depend on the classes each student has taken and the range of schools targeted. Know that the GRE is a necessary but not sufficient condition for entry. Schools that receive a large number of applications may screen students by their GRE scores, but having a GRE score above this (unknown) cutoff will likely confer little benefit. In particular, schools care about the quantitative score on the GRE the most. Having an extremely low score in verbal or analytical writing will hurt, but it is not nearly as important as the quantitative reasoning section.
I have been told that achieving a 90-percentile score is sufficient in almost all cases to avoid the initial cut. However, note that the score percentiles change over time and have generally been increasing. It might be in your best interest to send out your scores as soon as you receive them if they are over the bar because percentiles are evaluated on a shifting window of the past few years of tests, not at the time it was taken. Note that you can only take the GRE once every 21 days and five times within a 12-month rolling period. Scores may also be delayed, which is why it is advisable to take the GRE early during the summer. The GRE quantitative section is not difficult; it contains no Calculus and is similar to the SAT; however, as a result, it is really a test of how long you can go without making a ‘silly’ mistake in most cases.
To prepare, it is helpful to take as many practice tests as possible and develop strategies for solving easy problems quickly. I used and recommend this service from Kaplan. They have built-in practice tests and also work on the analytical writing section. It is a little expensive, but they have a money-back guarantee should you score worse on the actual GRE than on the first practice test.
For international students, I will briefly discuss the TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo tests. I do not have first-hand experience in the matter, so I would recommend doing your own research. If you must take the TOEFL (double check as each program has different requirements), know that it is another necessary but not sufficient condition. Many PhD students serve as teaching assistants, so the bar for the speaking section is normally higher than it would be for masters-level or undergraduate programs. University of Wisconsin—Madison requires a 26 on the speaking section of the TOEFL in addition to the 92 overall score required by all graduate programs. Note that some schools may allow admission while taking an English as a Second Language class, which UW offers for those with TOEFL scores above 80, but this will likely have a negative effect on your application and is more required during an already stressful first semester.
At the beginning of the semester, it is also time to solicit commitments from your letter writers, which, to recap, you likely need three. There are schools that will take two or even up to five, but it is commonly recommended to stick to three. The last article covered some factors when picking letter writers, but I also want to touch briefly on how to approach them.
Be cognizant of the request you are making. This is in addition to their existing commitments as a professor and researcher. They are likely writing letters for others as well. Ask early to give as much time for them to prepare. Many schools also have evaluation questionnaires for professors submitting letters which can take more time. When asking, I often asked if they would be willing and able to write me a “strong positive letter.” It is common practice for professors to refuse to write letters if they do not feel they can write you a positive one; however, this phrasing allows them an “out” if they have some concerns, as stated by one of my professors.
It is also nice to send your letter requests from each application portal at a single time rather than letting them trickle in. However, note that some application portals do not send the request until you pay the application fee and submit the form itself. I also provided each of my letter writers with a folder containing information to help them write a good letter. An important point to note is that often, the deadlines for acceptance of letters are after the application deadline, and the application normally sends you a notification when your letter writers submit, so do not worry too much and trust your professors.
Transcripts, a writing sample, a resume/CV, a statement of purpose, and a personal statement are also requested to be submitted with the application. The writing sample may be limited by page count and could require some editing for a particularly long research paper. Some schools require official transcripts while others will accept unofficial transcripts and only require official transcripts sent directly to them upon acceptance.
UW-Madison is nice and allows students to send official transcripts to themselves for free, so I recommend just getting one of those and saving it to the folder with your other materials. Statements of purpose and personal statements are very complicated and likely deserve their own article. For your resume/CV, I would strongly recommend starting with talking to your career center early rather than later. This is a lot to manage, so I will briefly touch on how to stay organized.
I recommend having a folder on your computer with all your application materials in it with separate subfolders for each school. You will need these folders for the different versions of each component, especially if those schools do not have the same requirements. The last thing you want is to send the wrong personal statement to a different school. UW Madison and other Universities also often provide free OneDrive or Google Drive. I recommend you download the relevant desktop version of the one offered by your school and set it to sync to this folder. This will ensure you have a backup of your materials should your computer tragically fail. They automatically update the files as you make changes as well.
To stay organized, I and many other PhD students created an Excel sheet of each program we intend to apply to with information such as the due date, requirements, and more. This is a useful tool that I will discuss more in the appropriate article on selecting schools, but plan to send this to your letter writers as well.
Finally, it is time to submit. I recommend submitting no later than 3 days before the deadline. Much can go wrong in the last 24 hours, including differences in time zones that can be avoided by submitting slightly earlier. However, note that most committees are not reviewing applications until February so there is almost certainly no benefit from submitting earlier than needed. In fact, waiting could actually be an advantage in that you can update your resume with additional experiences and potentially include your Fall grades in the submitted transcripts. Also, note that each application is likely to have a fee; this can be avoided in some cases by proof of financial hardship, membership in certain organizations, participation in certain pre-PhD preparatory programs, veteran status, etc. However, applying for these exemptions can take time which should factor into your planning.
In the next few articles, I will talk about selecting schools and also about writing personal statements and statements of purpose which did not fit in this article.
