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Phd at an ivy league still possible (Princeton/Yale/Harvard/Columbia)


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Posted

Hi guys! 

 

Its been my dream to do a Phd at a top ivy league institution. Yale and Princeton would be among my top two choices I was just wondering whether my stats qualify for such programs.

 

English Law Degree (ex-poly) 2.1 honors

 

Masters- LSE(London Sch of Economics) Criminal Justice Policy (concentration on finance and white collar crime)- Distinction (highest grade)

 

Legal Practice Course (bar school)- Outstanding (highest grade)

 

Post grad diploma- LSE Quantitive finance/maths- Distinction

 

Also passed the NY bar exam.

 

Mock GRE- quantitive- 790  

 

As a trainee lawyer my specialisms are white collar defense, private equity and investment law. However I really want to do a qualification in finance and go into private equities as well as still working on the law side of things.

 

In addition I feel that my E.C's debate team, scholarships, interns are suitable.

 

I'm all new to forum posting so any insight would be great! Thanks guys!

 

 

Posted

No relevant research experience => no admission.

 

It's still certainly possible to achieve your dream, but I suspect you'll have to go the masters route (or some other applicable route) first in order to get some research experience. All admissions care about is your ability to perform high quality research. By the way, a PhD is pretty extreme if you just want a "qualification in finance". Doctoral degrees in the US are significantly longer and more intense than those in the UK, typically taking 5-6 years, including years of coursework, qualifying exams with massive drop-out rates etc. I think you'd find that a masters of finance would be more relevant for achieving your goals.

 

By the way, Princeton doesn't have a business school as such and doesn't actually offer a finance PhD. Bendheim offers an excellent masters in finance though. Yale too isn't particularly strong in finance either, Columbia and Harvard are much stronger. As is Wharton (Penn), which you should definitely be including if you really want the Ivy brand-name and a top-notch education in finance.

 

Extra-curriculars don't matter to PhD admissions. Like, at all.

 

If you're absolutely sure you want a PhD in finance (as in, you want to spend a LOT of time researching), there are paths open to you. Unfortunately, they are likely not as direct as you would like. But you should be evaluating if you actually do want a PhD in finance, or just a qualification of some sort from a top school. If it's the latter, look at the masters in finance from Princeton, the MSFE from Columbia, and the masters in mathematical finance from Stanford. You'd be way more likely to be accepted into these programs, as they are coursework, industry focused programs rather than research programs.

Posted

I am quite confused with you. Have you done your degree in UK? In which university? And may I ask you, how you achieved a distinction in your postgraduate diploma? Is it the diploma that University of London offers and it is an online course right? How long did you take to finish that diploma? And since you are interested in finance, why you haven't done a master's degree in finance? And what about a CFA? I am not sure if you really want to do a PhD. I am planning to apply for a PhD in Finance as well. 

Posted

The Ivy League isn't necessarily the best place to go in all fields.  In finance, I am sure that many of the top programs are at Ivy Leagues, but there are other top programs too that may be better suited for your needs.

 

But anyway, like the above comment states, PhDs are about research.  The PhD admissions committee is not going to care about the debate team or your undergraduate scholarship.  They might care about your internships, if they are finance-related.  But a tippy-top PhD program in finance is going to want to see at least 2 years of research experience in finance or quantitative related fields.

 

Why do you want a PhD in finance, anyway?  People get PhDs in finance to teach and do research in business schools, and sometimes the private sector at think tanks and such.  But you don't need a PhD to do work as a quantitative financial analyst in the corporate world.

 

Columbia also has an MS program in the mathematics of finance, in addition to the financial engineering one.

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