Reflections on My UGA Management PhD Application

Back in December 2022 when I was working on my application, I told myself that if I was admitted, I would write a blog to share my PhD application experience. So here I am.

First, Answer the Question: Why Do You Want to Do a PhD?

It took me quite a few years to make the decision to do a PhD. I have worked in the industry for seven years with a very decent job and promising career path, meaning the opportunity cost for me is significant. My goal is sharp and clear: I want to be a professor at a research university. Doing research – identifying a problem and solving the problem – gives me a strong sense of self-fulfillment. I get bored easily and I want to explore new topics continuously. In academia, I’ll be able to work with the smartest people who also share the same values as I do. It’s very important to understand what I am getting myself into. Some people quit halfway through because the academic experience differs from their expectations.

Choose the Right Programs to Apply to

When I was evaluating which programs to apply to, I focused on:

1. Research interest match. What are the faculty members’ areas of expertise? Do my interests align with theirs? I need to have an advisor who is a prominent scholar and who can provide guidance on how to do research in this field.
2. Faculty research productivity. In the field of Management, we have TAMUGA Rankings, which aggregate publications in the eight top-tier journals in Management by Management faculty in the U.S. business schools. It’s a great resource to understand the research productivity of each management program.
3. Student placement. Placement is an indicator of the quality of the program as the objective of doing a PhD is to be placed at good research universities. It’s a great signal that a program can continuously place students as tenure track assistant professors at R1 universities.

Plan Ahead and Start Early

I wish I could have started early. Taking standardized exams, connecting with professors to get recommendation letters, doing research on the programs, drafting statements of purpose… All of these tasks take a considerable amount of time if you want to do them well. I love to visualize projects, and a roadmap was one of my favorite tools when I was working in the industry as a product manager. I created an application roadmap and mapped out project tasks, milestones and deliverables on a timeline to provide a high-level visual representation of the entire application process, so I knew where I stood and whether I was on track to completion or not.

My Application Timeline

I submitted my application at the end of December. I was informed that I passed the initial screening and was invited to an online interview around mid January. I did an one hour online interview with three faculty members at the end of January. A week after the online interview, I was invited to an on-campus visit at the end of February. I met with all the Strategy faculty members and current PhD students on campus. It was quite an intense visit. Three days after the campus visit, I received the offer in email.

Reflect: What I Did Well and What I Could Have Done Better

I believe that having a strong motivation and understanding the academic expectations were crucial for me to get admitted. A couple of things that I could have done better include starting early as I didn’t start until the end of the year when I was a month away from the deadline and worrying less about standard test score as it is just a component of my application profile.

I still feel very excited when I look back at my entire application journey, and I hope you find something useful from my reflections on my PhD application. Aspiring applicants, good luck and see you in academia soon!