Asking advice. How do I transfer from liberal arts to business?

[Jrynb]

Hi everyone, any advice for transferring?

My major is liberal arts (philosophy). I have BA and MA in philosophy. Now I find that I am no longer interested in purely abstract things, but more concerned with practical issues. After reading some articles in business journals, I think this field can meet my interest in research and my concern for the real world. Besides, employment of business is much better than that of liberal arts. So I’m thinking about applying a business PhD. I'm probably interested in Strategic Management and Marketing. But I haven't had relevant courses or corresponding degrees. How can I get over it? How about I take a one-year master's degree and then find a RA or Pre PhD project to do research? Also, is the online master program of business feasible? Or do you have any better method to recommend? Thank you in advance! (GPA: around 3.8. A GRE score that is about to expire: 160v, 162q, 3.5w.)

Now I’m not clear on which direction (Quant or CB) I want to go in. 

[Marketer]

I don't know what CB wants, but the path is long for QM. You would probably want to be taking up to multivariable calculus and linear algebra at a minimum. QM students tend to look like econ phd applicants and often take the PhD Economics core sequence in microeconomic theory and econometrics during their first year.

 

Stanford's page on QM further recommends probability theory, mathematical statistics, and real analysis as further preparation. It would also be important to take at least intermediate micro, macro, and intro econometrics. Most of the subfields within QM are also computing and CS heavy between Industrial Organization and the Quant Marketers who employ deep learning methods, so it would be advisable to also take at least some of the intro CS sequence so you don't have any problems programming estimators, fine tuning your models, etc. 

 

Depending on how high you are shooting, you would need to retake your GREq score. 168-169 is where it becomes safe to avoid getting filtered out at the top programs. 

 

 

Once you have the baseline level of knowledge however, like most programs, it becomes a letters game. Since you're out of school, and didn't come to know any quant marketers during your time in undergrad presumably, you would need to find a way to make some contacts. It would probably have to be predoccing at a business school. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Marketer