tbradford

I don't know about EC's but they do factor in work experience and professional certifications. If you could knock out the CPA exam and maybe the CMA exam that would be helpful. If you take the CPA exam first you only have to take 3/4 parts of the CMA, which is why I suggested both.

Like you said the program that you go to matters, but some of the best accounting programs aren't necessarily at Stanford or MIT, some state universities rank very well. I found an older ranking of programs when I was looking into all this, I'll try to refind it and post it. I've also been told to not go to school in the same part of the country you hope to work.

Also, don't let the GMAT stop you, if you put in some real effort into studying for it I'm sure you'd do fine. If you do the CPA first that'll give you plenty of test prep practice!

Okay found the PDF with the rankings from late 2006, if you want to see it PM me your email and I'll forward the file, not sure if I can post PDF's here.

It's from the Public Accounting Report, and ranks accounting PhD programs up through 25. Here are the highest ranked:

1. UT - Austin
2. University of Michigan
3. Stanford
4. University of Chicago
5. UIUC
6. University of Pennsylvania - Wharton
7. UNC - Chapel Hill
8. Indiana University
9. University of Washington
10. Cornell
11. University of Southern California
12. Michigan State
13. Harvard / Univ of Iowa
15. Arizona State

MIT's program actually didn't make the top 25.

creamgethamoney

Wow those are some strange rankings. I fail to see how a place like Iowa, Michigan State, Indiana, etc can be ranked ahead of places like Berkeley, UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, etc. Would you happen to have 15-25?

Also, if anyone knows how much ECs factor in, please do let me know.

a_mom

page 7
http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/news/p...ses/par_06.pdf

tbradford

Thank you, that is the PDF I took the rankings from but I haven't had a chance to re-find it on the web. The rankings may be different than you'd expect because accounting PhD programs are a very different animal than something like an MBA program. They have very different focuses, from what I've been told.

2VU0609

The premium schools in accounting are not what we typically think of as the premier schools for overall undergrad. Illinois, Texas, Michigan, BYU, and USC are considered top schools in accounting. Ole Miss is almost as highly ranked for its doctoral program in accounting as Harvard (Wow - who knew!).
2008 Top 25 Accounting Program - Undergraduate, Graduate, Doctoral
If you are seriously interested in pursuing a doctoral degree in this area, become a student member of the American Accounting Association (AAA) by your senior year in undergrad and you will be able to follow the current trends in academic hiring, research, etc. You will likely be attending the AAA annual meeting or regional meetings to network and interview as you complete your PhD program. I attend this meeting every few years and the last two times I have heard repeatedly about the shortage of PhD/DBA grads available to staff the discipline in the coming years.
One thing you should know about selecting a graduate school is that they rarely hire their own graduates.

sdmatt

creamthamoney your insane,

Dont let me tell you that you cant do something, but its important to be realisitc.

there are no phd programs at podunk state type univeristies. only major research institutions.

sometimes you just have to take what life gives you and make the most of it.

creamgethamoney

^lol what is your beef? Where in any of my posts was I being unrealistic?