OBforme

Yes, perhaps February will be a good month for each of us. I'd forgotten about this site since my first master's degree program about 8 years ago. I am no longer as anxious since getting my first (and hopefully only) rejection. Now that I've processed that, I feel like I can relax and see what comes with the remaining programs. I definitely understand your feeling. What made you decide on a marketing PhD? I've been in marketing for nearly a decade and thought about it but decided to go the OB route.

While I'm not applying to sociology program, I think you have a get prelim profile based on your GRE scores. Don't worry so much about your writing score. All the best!

OK got my first rejection...Wharton.

I actually think they are as I increased my quant score 8 points after studying for 3 weeks with Manhattan Prep materials and an online course. I had limited time, so I'm pretty confident if I'd studied for at least 6 weeks with the same materials I would have improved even more.

Worries: My GRE scores aren't in the top percentiles, if anything I'd say they're average. I don't have research experience in the field I've applied to as my career has been in marketing. I've done an independent study and a master's thesis, but again it doesn't feel like it stacks up to the research of most applicants in OB. I applied to far too many top tier schools with only a few safety schools in my batch of 13. I don't know if any of the professors I'm interested in working with will be able to "fight" for me if there are only so many spaces available in their program and only high GRE scores are the primary determining factor. My research interest is complicated and makes people uncomfortable, so much so that I don't know if anyone really wants to continue talking about, researching it, and trying to change based on solutions provided from research. Ultimately, I'm starting to not feel "good enough" after believing someone like me could have a shot. Excitement: I really improved my quant score on my GRE with three weeks between my lowest scored test and my highest scored test. I was aiming for a 16 point increase but I am very happy with my 8 point increase which brought me up 4 percentiles. My verbal remained the same, which isn't terrible but could be slightly better. I put everything I had into my SOPs and really focused on why I want to work with and learn from the professors I referenced in each. I strongly believe my LORs are strong as each professor worked with me in my other graduate degree programs on research projects.

I applied to 13 programs in the US, all OB and a mixture of top tier and state programs. I haven't heard back from any, which I suppose is par the course since most aren't making decisions until as early as February but as late as March. Congrats to those who have received some outreach about their applications!