wisescience

Hey all,
I know we're few and far between, but I wanted a place for Business PhD hopefuls to chat about the process before applications are due in Dec/Jan. 
I'm applying to Management and Organizational Behavior programs at about 10 schools. I'm currently an I/O Psych M.S. student. Looking forward to hearing from you all and commiserating with you. 

If you don't know what to do, don't pursue a second master's or get a PhD. The best way to find out what you want to do is, ironically, to pick something and then identify what you like and don't like about it. Then you make a series of career moves until you find something that's relatively satisfying to you.
People who feel overwhelmed by the myriad of career options often feel that way because they have a perception that there is one "right" career or job for them, and when they find it, they will reach their passion and feel blissfully happy or something like that. But that's not the case for the majority of people. Many people actually feel pretty "meh" about their jobs. And even the ones who really like their jobs often like the jobs primarily because of the tasks they do every day and their coworkers, or the fact that they can go home every day at 5 pm so they can be with their children or partner, or the fact that their job enables them to live in a city they love or pays them enough that they can keep up their hobbies. Very few people feel abiding passion about their careers, and as you'll see in the comments at the thread I linked, sometimes people who do feel that say they wish they didn't - because then they could separate work from their personal life more easily and leave work at work.
A lot of recent grads also feel like they have to end up in their perfect career right away, or fairly soon, but that's also not necessarily true. Many people make a series of lateral moves (or vertical ones) into the position they eventually want. Some people start off in one field only to find out that they really want to be in another (or move there out of pragmatism).
With that said, here's what I think you should do:
Take a look at some job ads in your field right now. Look at the jobs that have descriptions that seem even mildly interesting to you. What kinds of skills do they ask for? Are there specific kinds of software programs or analysis techniques they want people to know about? What kinds of experiences do they want applicants to have? Use those as a basis for your future plans. While in your MS program, take some classes that seem interesting to you and also teach you some of the skills you saw when you looked at job ads. See if you can find a part-time job, maybe starting second semester, in your field or one close to it in which you can learn some of the skills and get a bit of experience. This is also your opportunity to see what tasks you like to do every day and which ones you would rather not, so you get a feel for what kind of work you might like to do. Visit your university's or department's career center. Many schools have great career centers that have career inventories and counselors on hand to talk you through the process of selecting a career, or set of careers, to aim for. (But take them with a grain of salt; no test is going to be able to tell you the perfect job for you.) Starting probably in late fall of this year, start poking around to find a summer internship. Anything that sounds interesting, do it; you're not looking for perfection, but just the opportunity to identify what you like and don't like and get a little experience. Then, when you're ready to look for jobs next fall, you don't have to start out with the attitude that you are looking for something very specific. Instead, through these prior activities, you'll have gotten yourself down to some key words and titles that you might use as search terms when looking for jobs. It gives you an idea of what you are looking for in the job description and what kinds of titles people who do that stuff have.
The key is, try not to think about this as "I am trying to decide what to do with my LIFE!" Think about it as "I'm just trying to find what my next step is," with the knowledge that you can always change directions if you want to. (After all, my training is in public health and psychology with an eye towards academia, and I currently work in applied tech research. And I didn't have to get another degree to do that.)
And, I just want to repeat this, because it's important: if you don't know what to do, don't do a second master's or do a PhD. Quite frankly, time is money. You don't want to spend productive years worth income (and retirement savings!) earning a degree that you may not ever need - a PhD especially.

My two cents:
Your engineering background is a plus to your application. Your work experience will be helpful as you relate to students later in your career, but research experience will be pivotal if you can pursue as many experience as possible. 
Your masters GPA means that your performance on the GRE will be especially important--work hard to up your score... and if you're not having success, consider taking a GMAT. 
How are your LORs? How deeply do you discuss methods in your lit review? Which methods do you use within your quasiquant paper?
 
You can come away with a very strong application if you up your GRE scores some. Keep at it!

To HL Slam and any others fearing striking out this cycle, a few thoughts:
 
1) These applications do not define who you are as a person, your intelligence, or your promise as a future academic. If you want to be an academic, you will find ways of strengthening your application and applying again in the future. There are several folks on this forum who should serve as an inspiration... I forget who it was, but I read from one poster that they nailed Columbia after 30 applications. There is hope!
2) All the really good things in life bring with them the risk of failure. If you want it, don't give up. If you choose not to apply in the future, make it your choice. Don't let someone in the shadows drag you down.
3) These applicaitons do not define who you are as a person. A good friend and immensely successful academic once told me that smart is cheap. It can be bought or found on any street corner. Instead, folks who show they can work hard and are of good character will find success in the end in whatever they do.
4) Finally, if you decide an academic career is not for you (and really make it your decision!), remember, that you were even applying to these types of excellent schools suggests you have great skill. That skill can be turned into any number of exciting, meaningful, challenging, and fun careers.
 
In short - getting rejected is the worst. It is hard. But rest assured, it is not a judgment of you as a person. All works out in the end.
 
Edited for terrible spelling.

There's a Harvard acceptance from March of last year with the comment "Only acceptance of this cycle! Don't lose hope at any time!" When my first few decisions were all rejections, I read that comment over and over.
 
Sending warm wishes for Yale, MIT, and Chicago MA acceptances your way...

Claiming the newest UC Santa Barbara admit! First acceptance of the season for me and I'm quite excited No word on funding yet. 
A week after the first acceptances went out... At this point, I was sure it was going to be a rejection!

I'll be praying that you will pass your test this third time around.  
 
I'm not sure if this is allowed in your grad school, but maybe you can take a week or two vacation to cool your head before taking the test again.  A good rest can do you wonders.

I just got a revised offer letter from UCSD. Tuition fully taken care of (UCSD is willing to cover the difference between my fellowship and their tuition), first two years without teaching, but departmental stipend on top of fellowship. At least some great news, after today's half-blood bath!

Read this, think it is quite helpful:
 
http://psychology.unl.edu/psichi/Graduate_School_Application_Kisses_of_Death.pdf

Claiming a Princeton

Claiming another Princeton admit. It is pretty early this year.

Rejected at UCI, accepted at Yale.

I don't understand what the problem is. Helping out colleagues is part of the research experience and, in particular, it is vital for developing beneficial relationships. You'll get an acknowledgement in the dissertation, and, hopefully, enough gratitude to access return favours.

I hope today is a good day for everyone! And congrats to the newest admits!

I hope today is a good day for everyone! And congrats to the newest admits!

ONE of them!

Oh so true! Unfortunately, I am not known for my patience. Perhaps I will learn some from this whole endeavour! ;-)

His lectures are great. Saw him give a keynote in Boston last year - it was pretty basic (toned down for general audience), but interesting and engaging.

THANK YOU!! It is a huge relief after a rejection and a presumed rejection! Crossing my fingers that the rest of the afternoon brings boatloads of good news for others on GradCafe!

Congrats to the University of Washington admit!!! Enjoy your weekend!

Well, Berkeley, my number 1 choice, may have rejected me in today's wave of rejections (as well as a presumed rejection from Cornell), but I am happy to claim a spot at UC Irvine with a 6 year financial package that will compete with any other financial offers I may receive elsewhere! It feels good to receive that news after a week of bad news!

Xanthe, I understand what you are going through. I know that it is tough and it sucks. It also sucks that everyone has to deal with it himself/herself . Even when there are people around you who care about you and trying to console you, they will likely have no idea how it really feels. 
 
That said, you are not alone in this. Many people, including a number of the members of this community, have gone through the same phases and felt the same pain. You are not the first or -unfortunately- the last one who has to handle such emotions. I am not saying this should necessarily alleviate the pain, but it is something. 
 
I am sorry about the (presumed) rejections. Sorry that you had to relive the disappointment. Unfortunately my -or anyone's- words are not going to help you mend the wounds, it is you who has to find a way to move on. Still, there are three important things that you (and everyone) should be reminded of:
 
1) Hang in there, the cycle isn't over. You only need one. Postpone the pain until the end of the cycle. 
 
2) Not getting into grad school is not the end of the world. It sure as hell not. In fact, even in the worst case scenario, there is a pretty high probability that you will be really glad you didn't have to live through the long and impoverished years of grad school, the abysmal job market, and the tenure marathon. Life goes on, and no one apart from the academics, grad students and us hopefuls gives a damn about this process and what comes out of it. 
 
3) Hang in there, the cycle isn't over. You only need one. Postpone the pain until the end of the cycle. 
 
Chin up!

This is very thoughtful and well-intentioned advice. However, please bear in mind that there are quite a few people on here, like myself, who are anxiously waiting to hear back from schools, who have spent nearly $800 on applications, GRE scores, and transcripts, and have spent a great deal of time thinking about what they'll have to give up to attend graduate school. No one is rushing into this decision, and no one in the middle of the process really wants to hear, especially right now, that they're making some huge mistake because they didn't take a year off. 

I just got the formal notification, so I'm ready to go public:
 
I am delighed and very, very relieved to claim a Duke admit.

Hey everyone, I'm a longtime lurker who just created an account. I am here to claim the UNT acceptance and ask a question.
 
I received an email last week from a member of the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland (College Park) that said something like:
 
"Our admissions committee is very interested in your application. There are a number of funding awards that you may be eligible to be nominated for. We need a copy of your transcripts for the admissions committee to look over because they are meeting now."
 
Apparently there was a mixup between the department and enrollment services (where I had my transcripts sent). So anyways, I sent them a copy of my transcripts, and since then, enrollment services has scanned my transcripts onto my application. I haven't heard anything since then, and I was just wondering how everyone would assess this message. Any input will be appreciated!