How can one get into Wharton or Sloan?

sakky
Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:58:06 +0000

No, you don’t have to get a masters before you pursue a PhD in business. You can (and many do), but it’s not necessary. If your qualifications are strong, you can be admitted without it.

As far as what it’s called, it depends on the school. Some schools call it the PhD. Some schools call it the DBA. Some schools (like Harvard Business School) strangely offer both the DBA and the PhD (don’t ask why).

How long does it take? That’s largely up to you and your topic. Some extremely fast people can take only 2 years. Some people can take a decade or more. It all depends on how well your research dissertation goes. There is no set time.

I doubt whether you will be able to get a JD and a doctorate in business simultaneously. A business doctorate is a huge commitment, particularly the dissertation. Besides, I don’t know why you’d really want to do that anyway.

You may well be in school until you’re 30. It’s akin to PhD’s in other disciplines - in which many students end up in school until they’re 30 and beyond. Heck, I know a person who took over 15 years to complete her PhD (in French Literature, I think).

Look, like I said, I am not sure that the doctorate in bus-ad is entirely appropriate for you either. Lots of those programs also place a premium on work experience. My point is that they place less of a premium than do MBA programs.