Phdwiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:If I had to take the GMAT again

2010-11-29T13:51:29Z

Emetts: Created page with 'Do we have any faculty members in the BYU community who can confirm the advice given about the written section on the GMAT? (I.e. that it's unimportant as long as you speak Engli...'

Do we have any faculty members in the BYU community who can confirm the advice given about the written section on the GMAT? (I.e. that it's unimportant as long as you speak English well). I've heard this same advice in a lot of different places and it seems reasonable, but I wonder if there are any programs that do at least look at your written score and consider it at the margin (after quant, verbal, other important criteria). Thoughts?

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2009-04-14T11:15:53Z

Emetts: added Todd Thornock picture to feature

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! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#001E4D;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">About the Ph.D. Prep Program</h2>
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|style="color:#000"|BYU's [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa School of Accountancy] offers a specialized [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa/curriculum/phdprep.cfm PhD Prep Track] as part of the Masters of Accountancy (MAcc) degree. The program is designed to prepare students to enroll in a Ph.D. program in accounting at another university after finishing their master’s degree. Students in both the five-year integrated program and the two-year graduate program are eligible to apply to the PhD Prep Track. The program involves Ph.D.-style seminars to learn about research and academic work, as well as coursework in mathematics, econometrics, and statistics. <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;">[[Image:Infocircle.jpg]]</div> Students who participated in this program have been [[University's where Individuals Received their Ph.D.|highly successful in placing at research intensive Ph.D. programs]]. Those who complete their Ph.D. in accounting enter a field where there is [http://aaahq.org/temp/phd/AccountingFacultyUSCollegesUniv.pdf high demand], and it is projected that this will be the case for the foreseeable future. [[How much do accounting professors make?|Starting salaries]] for new professors in accounting are two to four times higher than starting salaries for MAcc graduates.
Learn more about the Prep Track by reading the [[History of the Prep Track]].
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! <h2 style="margin:0;background:#001E4D;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">People</h2>
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|style="color:#000"|One purpose of this website is to improve networking among past Ph.D. prep students, current Ph.D. prep students, and friends of BYU. Please make sure you are included in the website and you keep your information up to date.

{| style="width:85%;background:#E6E6FA;color:blue;" align=center
|[[Image:writing.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Current Ph.D. Prep Track Students]]||[[Image:diploma.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Current Doctoral Students]]
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|[[Image:eraser.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Current Faculty]]||[[Image:Accounting.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Practitioners]]
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Also, please see our collective [[Accomplishments and Successes]].
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! <h2 style="margin:0;background:#001E4D;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Advice, Suggestions, and Resources</h2>
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|style="color:#000"|This site is meant to provide useful advice, suggestions, and resources for all users. These are separated by topical area:
{| style="width:85%;background:#E6E6FA;color:blue;" align=center
|[[Image:diploma.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]]||[[Image:curve.jpg|none|80px|]]||[[Research]]
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|[[Image:professor.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Teaching and Service]]||[[Image:calculator.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Other Topics]]
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|[[Image:Duke.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[University Information]]||[[Image:Belltower.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[External Sites]]
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{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#F6F5FA"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#AFBBC9;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#001E4D;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Announcements</h2>
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|style="color:#000"|
* Congratulations to the [[Winners of the NCAA basketball picking contest]]. Overall winner, [[Burningham, Steve|Steve Burningham]]
* [[Albrecht, Steve|Steve Albrecht]] has been [http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/56755/New-mission-presidents.html called as a mission president]. He will preside over the Japan, Tokyo mission.
* Help brainstorm ideas and provide comments on how the [[BYU Accounting Family can Serve Others]].
* [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] is ranked #1 in PAR's Graduate Accounting Program Rankings and #3 in the Undergraduate Rankings.
* Please help out! Not sure what to do or how to do it? See the [[Help:Contents|Help]] page.
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0;background:#AFBBC9;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#001E4D;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Featured Doctoral Student </h2>
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|style="color:#000"|
[[Image:Todd_Thornock.jpg|center|none|70px|]]
===[[Thornock, Todd|Todd Thornock]]===
*<b>Ph.D. Institution:</b> [[University of Texas - Austin]]
*<b>Why a Ph.D.?</b> "I knew that doing a PhD would require me to learn how to research accounting and that continued success in the academic field would lead me to learn more and more... I feel that professors can have an impact for good on the life of each student. I know that I had some marvelous professors at BYU and wanted to have a chance to give back."
*<b>Awards:</b>University of Texas Office of Graduate Studies Professional Development Award, 2008; University of Texas McCombs School of Business Doctoral Fellowship, 2006–2008

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! <h2 style="margin:0;background:#AFBBC9;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#001E4D;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Quote </h2>
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"Starting now, you must use your education not to say something impressive but to do something that will lift others and help them be successful. In other words, you must use your education not to distinguish yourself from others but to devote yourself to them--to helping them grow and flourish, even if it seems at the expense of your own prominence and glory. This is the way of our Savior." Elder Robert D. Hales, BYU Spring Commencement 2006 (full text available [http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1573 here]) - more [[Quotes]]

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Main Page

2009-04-09T02:59:37Z

Emetts: updated doctoral student feature

{|style="width:100%;background-color:#AFBBC9"
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[[Image:JonsHeader1.jpg |626 px|left|Header1]]
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[[Image:JonsHeader2.jpg |248 px|right|Header2]]
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{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
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{|width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#F6F5FA"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#001E4D;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">About the Ph.D. Prep Program</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000"|BYU's [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa School of Accountancy] offers a specialized [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa/curriculum/phdprep.cfm PhD Prep Track] as part of the Masters of Accountancy (MAcc) degree. The program is designed to prepare students to enroll in a Ph.D. program in accounting at another university after finishing their master’s degree. Students in both the five-year integrated program and the two-year graduate program are eligible to apply to the PhD Prep Track. The program involves Ph.D.-style seminars to learn about research and academic work, as well as coursework in mathematics, econometrics, and statistics. <div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;">[[Image:Infocircle.jpg]]</div> Students who participated in this program have been [[University's where Individuals Received their Ph.D.|highly successful in placing at research intensive Ph.D. programs]]. Those who complete their Ph.D. in accounting enter a field where there is [http://aaahq.org/temp/phd/AccountingFacultyUSCollegesUniv.pdf high demand], and it is projected that this will be the case for the foreseeable future. [[How much do accounting professors make?|Starting salaries]] for new professors in accounting are two to four times higher than starting salaries for MAcc graduates.
Learn more about the Prep Track by reading the [[History of the Prep Track]].
|-

! <h2 style="margin:0;background:#001E4D;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">People</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000"|One purpose of this website is to improve networking among past Ph.D. prep students, current Ph.D. prep students, and friends of BYU. Please make sure you are included in the website and you keep your information up to date.

{| style="width:85%;background:#E6E6FA;color:blue;" align=center
|[[Image:writing.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Current Ph.D. Prep Track Students]]||[[Image:diploma.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Current Doctoral Students]]
|-
|[[Image:eraser.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Current Faculty]]||[[Image:Accounting.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Practitioners]]
|}
Also, please see our collective [[Accomplishments and Successes]].
|-
|
|-

! <h2 style="margin:0;background:#001E4D;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #258;text-align:left;color:#fff;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Advice, Suggestions, and Resources</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000"|This site is meant to provide useful advice, suggestions, and resources for all users. These are separated by topical area:
{| style="width:85%;background:#E6E6FA;color:blue;" align=center
|[[Image:diploma.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]]||[[Image:curve.jpg|none|80px|]]||[[Research]]
|-
|[[Image:professor.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Teaching and Service]]||[[Image:calculator.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[Other Topics]]
|-
|[[Image:Duke.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[University Information]]||[[Image:Belltower.jpg|none|70px|]]||[[External Sites]]
|}
|-
|

|}
|class="MainPageBG" style="width:25%;border:1px solid #E4E7EA;background-color:#F6F5FA;vertical-align:top"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#F6F5FA"
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#AFBBC9;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#001E4D;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Announcements</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000"|
* Congratulations to the [[Winners of the NCAA basketball picking contest]]. Overall winner, [[Burningham, Steve|Steve Burningham]]
* [[Albrecht, Steve|Steve Albrecht]] has been [http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/56755/New-mission-presidents.html called as a mission president]. He will preside over the Japan, Tokyo mission.
* Help brainstorm ideas and provide comments on how the [[BYU Accounting Family can Serve Others]].
* [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] is ranked #1 in PAR's Graduate Accounting Program Rankings and #3 in the Undergraduate Rankings.
* Please help out! Not sure what to do or how to do it? See the [[Help:Contents|Help]] page.
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0;background:#AFBBC9;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#001E4D;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Featured Doctoral Student </h2>
|-
|style="color:#000"|
===[[Thornock, Todd|Todd Thornock]]===
*<b>Ph.D. Institution:</b> [[University of Texas - Austin]]
*<b>Why a Ph.D.?</b> "I knew that doing a PhD would require me to learn how to research accounting and that continued success in the academic field would lead me to learn more and more... I feel that professors can have an impact for good on the life of each student. I know that I had some marvelous professors at BYU and wanted to have a chance to give back."
*<b>Awards:</b>University of Texas Office of Graduate Studies Professional Development Award, 2008; University of Texas McCombs School of Business Doctoral Fellowship, 2006–2008

|-

|-
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0;background:#AFBBC9;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#001E4D;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Quote </h2>
|-
|style="color:#000"|
"Starting now, you must use your education not to say something impressive but to do something that will lift others and help them be successful. In other words, you must use your education not to distinguish yourself from others but to devote yourself to them--to helping them grow and flourish, even if it seems at the expense of your own prominence and glory. This is the way of our Savior." Elder Robert D. Hales, BYU Spring Commencement 2006 (full text available [http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1573 here]) - more [[Quotes]]

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How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?

2009-04-09T02:41:47Z

Emetts:

==How to Succeed in a Ph.D. Program==
(article contributed by [[Porter, Jason |Jason Porter]])

===Introduction===
Success in a Ph.D. program can be broken down into many things, most of which you already know from your work on your undergraduate and masters degrees. The most important element is work, and lots of it. Add to that dedication and perseverance and I think you’ve got the three most important elements for success, especially when you think of success as simply graduating. Other elements might include thinking outside of the box, listening to your instructors, doing your homework and all of the other study skills that you have learned so well by this time in your academic careers.

But success in a Ph.D. program isn’t really measured in terms of simply getting your degree. And, contrary to popular belief, it isn’t really measured in terms of publications or working papers either. True success in a Ph.D. program comes from developing your skills as a researcher and as a teacher. This means both developing the skills to succeed in those areas and developing yourself as an individual, because you can’t succeed in academia without the ability to come up with new ideas and relate to people.

Unfortunately, there is no magic pill you can take that will turn you into a good researcher or a good teacher. It requires lots of work, lots of practice, and lots of mistakes. Even though we don’t like to fail, we learn from our mistakes in ways that no other form of education can teach us. Perhaps that’s why we are born in the first place: to make mistakes in a relatively secure environment so that we can learn and develop. But whether that’s the purpose of life or not, that’s exactly the purpose of a Ph.D. program. You are going to learn a bunch of material and techniques through classes and seminars, and you will have opportunities to practice what you have learned. You’ll make mistakes, lots of them, but that’s okay. Everyone expects Ph.D. students to make mistakes as they slowly learn to do research and to teach. As long as you learn from those mistakes, preferably after only one or two instances, you’re going to eventually succeed, both in the Ph.D. program and in your life as an academic.

With that said, I can’t provide you with a list of all the mistakes you could make and how to avoid them. In all honesty, I wouldn’t provide it even if I could. You wouldn’t get as much from it as actually experiencing it for yourself. What I do want to do, however, if provide you with some ideas for making your life in the Ph.D program easier, to reduce the chances that you will make mistakes that will jeopardize your goal of walking across that stage and being hooded by your advisor.

===Ideas for Making your Ph.D. Program Easier===

'''1. Choose the program that is right for you.'''
The first step is choosing which program you should to attend. The articles on [[What Ph.D. program should I attend?]] and [http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/doctoral/admissions/selecting.cfm Am I ready for a PhD Program? And, which program is right for me?] provide a number of important ideas to consider when you begin deciding which Ph.D. programs to apply for. I will add, however, one important factor that I think is missing: Make your decision a matter of prayer. Your choice will have important ramifications for you and your family, so you should get a confirmation that your logical choice is what the Lord wants for you. You will have far fewer problems if you start out in a place the Lord has prepared for you, than if you start somewhere else.

'''2. Study, study, study. '''
Many of us finish up the BYU Ph.D. prep track feeling pretty good about what we have learned. Because of that extra training, it is easy to go into your first set of classes thinking that you already know the material and can coast a little bit as you get started. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The classes at BYU are undergraduate or master’s level classes; they aren’t at the same level as what you are about to go through. That’s not to imply that they aren’t useful or that they won’t provide you with a good foundation for what you are about to learn, but they are not substitutes for the classes you are about to take. Your program is going to be challenging and rigorous, and you need to hit the ground running. Make it a habit to study right from the very beginning, and you’ll be much better off as you go through that first semester, and certainly as you move on from there.

'''3. Pass your comprehensive exams on the first round.'''
Many Ph.D. students, including me, have the horrible experience of learning that they have failed all or part of their comprehensive exams. Believe me, horrible doesn’t even begin to describe that initial feeling or the work that came with trying to prepare for a second round of tests. It was humiliating and exhausting, to say the least. So, take the time to study carefully and prepare fully. The article [[How do I prepare for comprehensive exams?]] has excellent advice for helping you get through this important test your first time.

That said, if you do mess up, take a deep breath. You can get through it, just like the rest of us did. In retrospect, it was a good experience for me. I think it made me a much more empathetic teacher (since it was my first true academic failure), and it taught me a lot about prayer, inspiration, and humility. I certainly wouldn’t go back and go through it again, but it didn’t end my career either. So, here are some ideas for what to do if you do fail. First, take a few minutes to talk to each of the professors that graded your answers. All of them will give you good advice if you are willing to humble yourself and ask for it. Don’t be confrontational, but be direct and ask good follow-up questions. Second, ask at least one of the senior professors, preferably your chosen advisor or the head of the Ph.D. program, whether the committee was trying to send you a signal about your academic future. Hopefully they will assure that they think you can do it and that you should try again. If not, then it is time to move on. Finally, study like mad! Use the advice the faculty gave you and improve your study techniques and your critical thinking. Try some practice exams, rewrite the questions you failed, read even more extensively than they asked you to read, and create a comprehensive framework that you can jot down when you first walk into that make-up exam. Then you’ll have all the citations you need all ready to go. Make passing the test your top priority, and you’ll be okay.

'''4. Choose a good advisor.'''
Our first, natural reaction is to choose the faculty member whose research interests most closely match what the type of research we want to do. That’s a good strategy, but don’t rely just on that one factor. Believe it or not, but you will spend the next couple of years completely at the mercy of your advisor. You are going to want someone who’s research interests are similar to yours, but you will also want someone with a personality you can work with. You might want to consider talking to someone he or she is currently working with or has worked with in the past. Get a feel for how they treat their students, if they change their mind every time they talk about something, and if they’ll fight for their students’ rights if necessary. Those are important factors to consider. Similarly, does the faculty member provide his or her students with a topic, or let the students come up with their own topics? Both methods have their pros and cons, which you will want to consider before making your choice.

You might also want to consider your prospective advisor’s research agenda and how many students he or she is currently working with. If your advisor is relatively free, he or she will be able to work with you much more closely, and will provide you with feedback more quickly. Several of my friends ended up spending more time at school than I did because their advisor was simply too busy to provide them with immediate feedback. In contrast, at one point, my advisor and I were turning over dissertation chapters multiple times each day right before graduation because she was willing to give me that much time and attention. Because of her help, I was able to finish up in four years, even with some major setbacks after the first year of working on my dissertation.

'''5. Get involved in the Church.'''
When my wife and I moved away from BYU, we were a little nervous about getting into a new ward. However, I think my Church service was the best part of my time in the Ph.D. program. We were living away from the center of the Church, and there were lots of opportunities to serve. No matter how bad my week at school was (and I had some REALLY bad days), I was able to recharge as I made time to serve the Lord. Somehow, the Lord made up for the time I was away from home and school, so I was still able to get done everything I needed and to learn and grow in the gospel. Make sure that it’s an important part of your life so that you will get those important blessings.

'''6. Take time for your family.'''
It is easy to get caught up in the day to day grind of going to school, reading papers, writing down ideas, slogging through data, etc. Add to that a calling, and you have some serious time commitments away from home. But your family life can be your most important anchor as you try to get through school. It can also be a time of enormous growth for you and your eternal companion. The time you spend in your Ph.D. program will be even more successful if you use it to improve your family traditions and relationships. Although you will often feel that you are terribly busy, it is going to get much worse as an assistant professor. Make sure to take the time, while still a student, to devote to your family and to establish traditions that will ensure you still take time once you leave your program and get onto a tenure clock.

'''7. Let yourself go (a little) crazy.'''
While you are working on your course work in the Ph.D. program, you will feel much like you do now. Classes will come and go, you will work hard, and you will feel like things are progressing along nicely. Then you will pass your comprehensive exams and begin to work on your dissertation. That’s when that wonderful feeling of progress will grind to a crushing halt. That’s not meant to discourage you. However, everyone I’ve ever spoken with had stretches during their dissertation work when they felt that nothing was happening. So be prepared for those feelings.

No matter how much you prepare, however, as the first year rolls by and you realize that you have spent a whole year on something that doesn’t seem to be coming together, you will start to feel just a little frustrated. That’s when it is time to do something a little crazy with your time for a while, if only to recharge your circuits. Let me give you some examples. I had one friend who served as a faculty advisor for his old fraternity. It got him out of the business building and let him counsel and work with younger students. He had great stories about the stupid things they were doing, and that kept him on a more even keel while he worked. Another Ph.D. student I knew got so sick of her dissertation that one night she came up with a plan to make her husband a professional golfer. She lined up sponsors, got a corporate credit card, and got him going. I’m not sure how successful he has been, but it served the purpose of giving her something to do that got her away from her dissertation. As for me, well, I wrote a novel. I started it early in the program as a gift for my wife. Money was tight at Christmas, and my wife is an avid reader. So, I started writing her a story, adding a little more to it each Christmas season. Towards the end of my first year working on my dissertation, however, I sort of snapped. So, I got out the book, and I finished it. I spent more time on it than I should have, but it got me away from my dissertation into something I could control, and that was just what I needed.

The bottom line is that you will find a need, somewhere in the middle of writing and researching your dissertation, to do something else. Let yourself branch out a little bit and do something a little nuts. After a while, you will have recharged your batteries and go back to work. You’ll probably find that you actually work harder and smarter after taking a bit of a break than if you just keep pushing. You’ll also find that you have learned some skills and developed some talents that will help you later on in your career and your life.

'''8. Learn to teach.'''
Most of the emphasis in your Ph.D. program will be on researching, but that’s not all there is to being an academic. Many students and new faculty think that the tenure decision is made exclusively, or almost exclusively, on publications, but that is not always the case. At many schools, especially those not in the top tier, your abilities in the classroom will also factor heavily into your promotion and tenure decision. This is especially true with the AACSB’s recent focus on teaching quality, assessment, and ‘closing the loop.’ Colleges and departments going up for ‘maintenance of accreditation’ spend a great deal of time worrying about teaching quality, which makes it all the more important for new, untenured faculty to be at least competent in the classroom.
On top of the accreditation emphasis, teaching can be very rewarding for new faculty members. Notes from students, good teaching evaluations, or visits from prior students can provide you with the positive feedback you need to deal with the often negative feedback from research (rejections, tough reviewer comments, attacks during presentations, etc.). Positive feedback from teaching provides a fortification against those negative vibes and reinforces our original desire to get into academia in the first place.

Hopefully your chosen Ph.D. program will give you the opportunity to teach several classes while you work on your degree. While this teaching will take away time that you would like to spend on your own studies and work, don’t just write it off as wasted time. Instead, take the time to try out new ideas and skills in the classroom. Since most faculty, and even students, at Ph.D. granting institutions expect Ph.D. students to be mediocre teachers at best, they will be more forgiving of your mistakes than will your department chair and students once you become a professor. Most schools have one or two ‘master teachers,’ teachers that are everyone’s favorite despite the workload in their classes. Once you have identified these powerful teachers (who may or may not be tenure track faculty), try to find a way to learn from them. You can try sitting in on their classes or chatting with them about the problems you are having in your teaching. Most good teachers are happy to help you improve your teaching, especially when they notice that you are implementing the hints they have passed on. That’s the real secret: try what they tell you, go back and tell them how it went, and they will open up even more. It can be a very rewarding relationship that will make a world of difference as you work to become a college instructor yourself.

Be careful not to go too far in your teaching practice, however. Trying a few new things and watching your favorite teachers is a good thing. Spending too much time on teaching can slow you down in the process of completing your degree. You don’t want to do that. Take some time to work on your teaching, but make sure that most of your time and effort continues to go into your studies or your research. Learning to teach as a Ph.D. student is rewarding, but teaching for a real salary (after you have finished your degree) is even more rewarding!

===Conclusion===
Life as a Ph.D. student is difficult; it is challenging; it is frustrating. But don’t allow that to keep you from trying or from bringing you down once you have begun. The rewards for completing your program are manifold. Not only will you get to teach and do research (both of which you will hopefully learn to enjoy), but you will also have a comfortable lifestyle, a good salary, and a very flexible schedule. In addition, there is nothing that can compare with that wonderful feeling of standing in front of a full auditorium and listening to your name being read while your advisor ‘hoods you’ and welcomes you into the select group of people who have completed their Ph.D.

The ideas and comments in this article are meant to provide you with some ideas to help you get through your program successfully. They aren’t meant to be a comprehensive list; not by a long shot. Anyone who has completed a Ph.D. has a list of those ideas and methods that worked for him or her, and all of those ideas and thoughts are just as valid as the ideas present here. Everyone takes a slightly different path to successfully complete their Ph.D. program.

And that brings me to my very last bit of advice. You are beginning your Ph.D. program, make it whatever you want it to be. Learn to teach or focus solely on research; learn to do all sorts of research or just focus on the research that most interests you; start a million papers or just do your dissertation. It is your education, so focus on those things you want to get out of it. And then, as you finish up, find a few new Ph.D. students. Take them out to lunch and give them the ideas and the thoughts that worked for you, tell them how much you have learned and tell them not to get discouraged, build them up with all those things you have learned through your blood, sweat, and tears.

Then, enjoy a few minutes to yourself. Put on those fancy robes that you have now earned the right to wear and parade around in front of the mirror, or spend some time looking at that fancy frame with your degree in it. Better yet, introduce yourself to someone as “Dr. _________.” Other than the voices of your spouse and children, the first time you hear someone call you that will probably be the sweetest thing you have ever heard! And when all is said and done, that is success in a Ph.D. program.

==Other Useful Tips==

This is a question that is asked by every prospective Ph.D. student and there are many sources of advice. The best available advice on the internet is from fields other than accounting, but most of it applies to accounting. A list of helpful links and citations follow:
* [http://orgtheory.wordpress.com/grad-skool-rulz/ Orgtheory.net] has 21 blog posts describing "grad school rulz"
* [http://dinhvutrangngan.com/advice.html Ngan Dinh], of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program Vietnam Program of the Harvard School of Government, compiled advice from top economists for young economists
* Getting the Most from Your Doctoral Program: Advice for the Ph.D. Student in Finance, by Frank Alpert and Thomas H. Eyssell, Journal of Financial Education, Fall 1995

For your accounting seminars, two things helped me "excel." First, my classmates and I wrote a review of every paper we had to read and shared these with each other. That way when it was time for comprehensive exams, we did not have to reread every paper, but could reread the reviews. Our reviews followed a what, why, how framework taught by Bill Kinney. What is the research question? Why is it important? and How did the researcher answer the question? One thing I wish I would have done is after each class, I should have added one paragraph to each summary about how this research fits into the "bigger" picture and what are the main takeaways from the paper (understanding the main takeaways is much easier after you have discussed the paper).

The second idea is to volunteer to lead the discussion on the most difficult papers. This forces you to learn these papers and better prepares you for comprehensive exams and research in general. If you don't volunteer to lead the discussion you might be tempted to slack off on a difficult paper. At some point you are going to need to know the paper so by volunteering to lead the discussion you force yourself to learn the paper.

----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]] ► [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]</small>
|}

How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?

2009-04-09T02:36:17Z

Emetts: added Jason Porter's contribution

==How to Succeed in a Ph.D. Program==
(article contributed by Jason Porter)

===Introduction===
Success in a Ph.D. program can be broken down into many things, most of which you already know from your work on your undergraduate and masters degrees. The most important element is work, and lots of it. Add to that dedication and perseverance and I think you’ve got the three most important elements for success, especially when you think of success as simply graduating. Other elements might include thinking outside of the box, listening to your instructors, doing your homework and all of the other study skills that you have learned so well by this time in your academic careers.

But success in a Ph.D. program isn’t really measured in terms of simply getting your degree. And, contrary to popular belief, it isn’t really measured in terms of publications or working papers either. True success in a Ph.D. program comes from developing your skills as a researcher and as a teacher. This means both developing the skills to succeed in those areas and developing yourself as an individual, because you can’t succeed in academia without the ability to come up with new ideas and relate to people.

Unfortunately, there is no magic pill you can take that will turn you into a good researcher or a good teacher. It requires lots of work, lots of practice, and lots of mistakes. Even though we don’t like to fail, we learn from our mistakes in ways that no other form of education can teach us. Perhaps that’s why we are born in the first place: to make mistakes in a relatively secure environment so that we can learn and develop. But whether that’s the purpose of life or not, that’s exactly the purpose of a Ph.D. program. You are going to learn a bunch of material and techniques through classes and seminars, and you will have opportunities to practice what you have learned. You’ll make mistakes, lots of them, but that’s okay. Everyone expects Ph.D. students to make mistakes as they slowly learn to do research and to teach. As long as you learn from those mistakes, preferably after only one or two instances, you’re going to eventually succeed, both in the Ph.D. program and in your life as an academic.

With that said, I can’t provide you with a list of all the mistakes you could make and how to avoid them. In all honesty, I wouldn’t provide it even if I could. You wouldn’t get as much from it as actually experiencing it for yourself. What I do want to do, however, if provide you with some ideas for making your life in the Ph.D program easier, to reduce the chances that you will make mistakes that will jeopardize your goal of walking across that stage and being hooded by your advisor.

===Ideas for Making your Ph.D. Program Easier===

'''1. Choose the program that is right for you.'''
The first step is choosing which program you should to attend. The articles on [[What Ph.D. program should I attend?]] and [http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/doctoral/admissions/selecting.cfm Am I ready for a PhD Program? And, which program is right for me?] provide a number of important ideas to consider when you begin deciding which Ph.D. programs to apply for. I will add, however, one important factor that I think is missing: Make your decision a matter of prayer. Your choice will have important ramifications for you and your family, so you should get a confirmation that your logical choice is what the Lord wants for you. You will have far fewer problems if you start out in a place the Lord has prepared for you, than if you start somewhere else.

'''2. Study, study, study. '''
Many of us finish up the BYU Ph.D. prep track feeling pretty good about what we have learned. Because of that extra training, it is easy to go into your first set of classes thinking that you already know the material and can coast a little bit as you get started. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The classes at BYU are undergraduate or master’s level classes; they aren’t at the same level as what you are about to go through. That’s not to imply that they aren’t useful or that they won’t provide you with a good foundation for what you are about to learn, but they are not substitutes for the classes you are about to take. Your program is going to be challenging and rigorous, and you need to hit the ground running. Make it a habit to study right from the very beginning, and you’ll be much better off as you go through that first semester, and certainly as you move on from there.

'''3. Pass your comprehensive exams on the first round.'''
Many Ph.D. students, including me, have the horrible experience of learning that they have failed all or part of their comprehensive exams. Believe me, horrible doesn’t even begin to describe that initial feeling or the work that came with trying to prepare for a second round of tests. It was humiliating and exhausting, to say the least. So, take the time to study carefully and prepare fully. The article [[How do I prepare for comprehensive exams?]] has excellent advice for helping you get through this important test your first time.

That said, if you do mess up, take a deep breath. You can get through it, just like the rest of us did. In retrospect, it was a good experience for me. I think it made me a much more empathetic teacher (since it was my first true academic failure), and it taught me a lot about prayer, inspiration, and humility. I certainly wouldn’t go back and go through it again, but it didn’t end my career either. So, here are some ideas for what to do if you do fail. First, take a few minutes to talk to each of the professors that graded your answers. All of them will give you good advice if you are willing to humble yourself and ask for it. Don’t be confrontational, but be direct and ask good follow-up questions. Second, ask at least one of the senior professors, preferably your chosen advisor or the head of the Ph.D. program, whether the committee was trying to send you a signal about your academic future. Hopefully they will assure that they think you can do it and that you should try again. If not, then it is time to move on. Finally, study like mad! Use the advice the faculty gave you and improve your study techniques and your critical thinking. Try some practice exams, rewrite the questions you failed, read even more extensively than they asked you to read, and create a comprehensive framework that you can jot down when you first walk into that make-up exam. Then you’ll have all the citations you need all ready to go. Make passing the test your top priority, and you’ll be okay.

'''4. Choose a good advisor.'''
Our first, natural reaction is to choose the faculty member whose research interests most closely match what the type of research we want to do. That’s a good strategy, but don’t rely just on that one factor. Believe it or not, but you will spend the next couple of years completely at the mercy of your advisor. You are going to want someone who’s research interests are similar to yours, but you will also want someone with a personality you can work with. You might want to consider talking to someone he or she is currently working with or has worked with in the past. Get a feel for how they treat their students, if they change their mind every time they talk about something, and if they’ll fight for their students’ rights if necessary. Those are important factors to consider. Similarly, does the faculty member provide his or her students with a topic, or let the students come up with their own topics? Both methods have their pros and cons, which you will want to consider before making your choice.

You might also want to consider your prospective advisor’s research agenda and how many students he or she is currently working with. If your advisor is relatively free, he or she will be able to work with you much more closely, and will provide you with feedback more quickly. Several of my friends ended up spending more time at school than I did because their advisor was simply too busy to provide them with immediate feedback. In contrast, at one point, my advisor and I were turning over dissertation chapters multiple times each day right before graduation because she was willing to give me that much time and attention. Because of her help, I was able to finish up in four years, even with some major setbacks after the first year of working on my dissertation.

'''5. Get involved in the Church.'''
When my wife and I moved away from BYU, we were a little nervous about getting into a new ward. However, I think my Church service was the best part of my time in the Ph.D. program. We were living away from the center of the Church, and there were lots of opportunities to serve. No matter how bad my week at school was (and I had some REALLY bad days), I was able to recharge as I made time to serve the Lord. Somehow, the Lord made up for the time I was away from home and school, so I was still able to get done everything I needed and to learn and grow in the gospel. Make sure that it’s an important part of your life so that you will get those important blessings.

'''6. Take time for your family.'''
It is easy to get caught up in the day to day grind of going to school, reading papers, writing down ideas, slogging through data, etc. Add to that a calling, and you have some serious time commitments away from home. But your family life can be your most important anchor as you try to get through school. It can also be a time of enormous growth for you and your eternal companion. The time you spend in your Ph.D. program will be even more successful if you use it to improve your family traditions and relationships. Although you will often feel that you are terribly busy, it is going to get much worse as an assistant professor. Make sure to take the time, while still a student, to devote to your family and to establish traditions that will ensure you still take time once you leave your program and get onto a tenure clock.

'''7. Let yourself go (a little) crazy.'''
While you are working on your course work in the Ph.D. program, you will feel much like you do now. Classes will come and go, you will work hard, and you will feel like things are progressing along nicely. Then you will pass your comprehensive exams and begin to work on your dissertation. That’s when that wonderful feeling of progress will grind to a crushing halt. That’s not meant to discourage you. However, everyone I’ve ever spoken with had stretches during their dissertation work when they felt that nothing was happening. So be prepared for those feelings.

No matter how much you prepare, however, as the first year rolls by and you realize that you have spent a whole year on something that doesn’t seem to be coming together, you will start to feel just a little frustrated. That’s when it is time to do something a little crazy with your time for a while, if only to recharge your circuits. Let me give you some examples. I had one friend who served as a faculty advisor for his old fraternity. It got him out of the business building and let him counsel and work with younger students. He had great stories about the stupid things they were doing, and that kept him on a more even keel while he worked. Another Ph.D. student I knew got so sick of her dissertation that one night she came up with a plan to make her husband a professional golfer. She lined up sponsors, got a corporate credit card, and got him going. I’m not sure how successful he has been, but it served the purpose of giving her something to do that got her away from her dissertation. As for me, well, I wrote a novel. I started it early in the program as a gift for my wife. Money was tight at Christmas, and my wife is an avid reader. So, I started writing her a story, adding a little more to it each Christmas season. Towards the end of my first year working on my dissertation, however, I sort of snapped. So, I got out the book, and I finished it. I spent more time on it than I should have, but it got me away from my dissertation into something I could control, and that was just what I needed.

The bottom line is that you will find a need, somewhere in the middle of writing and researching your dissertation, to do something else. Let yourself branch out a little bit and do something a little nuts. After a while, you will have recharged your batteries and go back to work. You’ll probably find that you actually work harder and smarter after taking a bit of a break than if you just keep pushing. You’ll also find that you have learned some skills and developed some talents that will help you later on in your career and your life.

'''8. Learn to teach.'''
Most of the emphasis in your Ph.D. program will be on researching, but that’s not all there is to being an academic. Many students and new faculty think that the tenure decision is made exclusively, or almost exclusively, on publications, but that is not always the case. At many schools, especially those not in the top tier, your abilities in the classroom will also factor heavily into your promotion and tenure decision. This is especially true with the AACSB’s recent focus on teaching quality, assessment, and ‘closing the loop.’ Colleges and departments going up for ‘maintenance of accreditation’ spend a great deal of time worrying about teaching quality, which makes it all the more important for new, untenured faculty to be at least competent in the classroom.
On top of the accreditation emphasis, teaching can be very rewarding for new faculty members. Notes from students, good teaching evaluations, or visits from prior students can provide you with the positive feedback you need to deal with the often negative feedback from research (rejections, tough reviewer comments, attacks during presentations, etc.). Positive feedback from teaching provides a fortification against those negative vibes and reinforces our original desire to get into academia in the first place.

Hopefully your chosen Ph.D. program will give you the opportunity to teach several classes while you work on your degree. While this teaching will take away time that you would like to spend on your own studies and work, don’t just write it off as wasted time. Instead, take the time to try out new ideas and skills in the classroom. Since most faculty, and even students, at Ph.D. granting institutions expect Ph.D. students to be mediocre teachers at best, they will be more forgiving of your mistakes than will your department chair and students once you become a professor. Most schools have one or two ‘master teachers,’ teachers that are everyone’s favorite despite the workload in their classes. Once you have identified these powerful teachers (who may or may not be tenure track faculty), try to find a way to learn from them. You can try sitting in on their classes or chatting with them about the problems you are having in your teaching. Most good teachers are happy to help you improve your teaching, especially when they notice that you are implementing the hints they have passed on. That’s the real secret: try what they tell you, go back and tell them how it went, and they will open up even more. It can be a very rewarding relationship that will make a world of difference as you work to become a college instructor yourself.

Be careful not to go too far in your teaching practice, however. Trying a few new things and watching your favorite teachers is a good thing. Spending too much time on teaching can slow you down in the process of completing your degree. You don’t want to do that. Take some time to work on your teaching, but make sure that most of your time and effort continues to go into your studies or your research. Learning to teach as a Ph.D. student is rewarding, but teaching for a real salary (after you have finished your degree) is even more rewarding!

===Conclusion===
Life as a Ph.D. student is difficult; it is challenging; it is frustrating. But don’t allow that to keep you from trying or from bringing you down once you have begun. The rewards for completing your program are manifold. Not only will you get to teach and do research (both of which you will hopefully learn to enjoy), but you will also have a comfortable lifestyle, a good salary, and a very flexible schedule. In addition, there is nothing that can compare with that wonderful feeling of standing in front of a full auditorium and listening to your name being read while your advisor ‘hoods you’ and welcomes you into the select group of people who have completed their Ph.D.

The ideas and comments in this article are meant to provide you with some ideas to help you get through your program successfully. They aren’t meant to be a comprehensive list; not by a long shot. Anyone who has completed a Ph.D. has a list of those ideas and methods that worked for him or her, and all of those ideas and thoughts are just as valid as the ideas present here. Everyone takes a slightly different path to successfully complete their Ph.D. program.

And that brings me to my very last bit of advice. You are beginning your Ph.D. program, make it whatever you want it to be. Learn to teach or focus solely on research; learn to do all sorts of research or just focus on the research that most interests you; start a million papers or just do your dissertation. It is your education, so focus on those things you want to get out of it. And then, as you finish up, find a few new Ph.D. students. Take them out to lunch and give them the ideas and the thoughts that worked for you, tell them how much you have learned and tell them not to get discouraged, build them up with all those things you have learned through your blood, sweat, and tears.

Then, enjoy a few minutes to yourself. Put on those fancy robes that you have now earned the right to wear and parade around in front of the mirror, or spend some time looking at that fancy frame with your degree in it. Better yet, introduce yourself to someone as “Dr. _________.” Other than the voices of your spouse and children, the first time you hear someone call you that will probably be the sweetest thing you have ever heard! And when all is said and done, that is success in a Ph.D. program.

==Other Useful Tips==

This is a question that is asked by every prospective Ph.D. student and there are many sources of advice. The best available advice on the internet is from fields other than accounting, but most of it applies to accounting. A list of helpful links and citations follow:
* [http://orgtheory.wordpress.com/grad-skool-rulz/ Orgtheory.net] has 21 blog posts describing "grad school rulz"
* [http://dinhvutrangngan.com/advice.html Ngan Dinh], of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program Vietnam Program of the Harvard School of Government, compiled advice from top economists for young economists
* Getting the Most from Your Doctoral Program: Advice for the Ph.D. Student in Finance, by Frank Alpert and Thomas H. Eyssell, Journal of Financial Education, Fall 1995

For your accounting seminars, two things helped me "excel." First, my classmates and I wrote a review of every paper we had to read and shared these with each other. That way when it was time for comprehensive exams, we did not have to reread every paper, but could reread the reviews. Our reviews followed a what, why, how framework taught by Bill Kinney. What is the research question? Why is it important? and How did the researcher answer the question? One thing I wish I would have done is after each class, I should have added one paragraph to each summary about how this research fits into the "bigger" picture and what are the main takeaways from the paper (understanding the main takeaways is much easier after you have discussed the paper).

The second idea is to volunteer to lead the discussion on the most difficult papers. This forces you to learn these papers and better prepares you for comprehensive exams and research in general. If you don't volunteer to lead the discussion you might be tempted to slack off on a difficult paper. At some point you are going to need to know the paper so by volunteering to lead the discussion you force yourself to learn the paper.

----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
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! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]] ► [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]</small>
|}

Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A

2009-04-03T23:40:18Z

Emetts:

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|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Topics for Those Considering the Ph.D. Prep Track
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* [[What will I learn in the Prep Track that I won't learn elsewhere?]]
* [[Should I work in industry before getting a Ph.D.?]]
* [[What is life like as a doctoral student?]]
* [[What is life like as an accounting professor?]]
* [[Why I didn't get a Ph.D.]]
* [[What classes should I take?]]
* [[How much do accounting professors make?]]
* [[Should I get a Ph.D. in a subject area other than accounting?]]
* [[Am I cutting off options by deciding to do the Prep Track?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Preparing for Doctoral School
|-
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* [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Should I find a teaching opportunity before my Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Where can I find teaching opportunities?]]
* [http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~amarino/prin.htm Mathematics Review for Doctoral Students]
* [[How do I prepare for comprehensive exams?]]
* [[The CPA Exam|Should I take the CPA exam before entering a doctoral program?]]
* [[GMAT Suggestions|How should I prepare for the GMAT?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Deciding on a School and Applying to a Doctoral Program
|-
|
* [[What Ph.D. program should I attend?]]
* [[What should I expect when I visit a campus?]]
* [[How do I get into a research intensive PhD program?]]
* [[The Application Process]]

|-
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{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
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! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]]</small>
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__NOTOC__

Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A

2009-04-03T23:35:59Z

Emetts: deleted link to merged page

{|style="width:100%;background-color:#AFBBC9;color:blue"
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[[Image:ScottHeader1.jpg |248 px|right|Header2]]
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{| style="width:100%;border:1px solid #E4E7EA; background-color:#F6F5FA; color:blue;" align=center
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|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Topics for Those Considering the Ph.D. Prep Track
|-
|
* [[What will I learn in the Prep Track that I won't learn elsewhere?]]
* [[Should I work in industry before getting a Ph.D.?]]
* [[What is life like as a doctoral student?]]
* [[What is life like as an accounting professor?]]
* [[Why I didn't get a Ph.D.]]
* [[What classes should I take?]]
* [[How much do accounting professors make?]]
* [[Should I get a Ph.D. in a subject area other than accounting?]]
* [[Am I cutting off options by deciding to do the Prep Track?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Preparing for Doctoral School
|-
|
* [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Should I find a teaching opportunity before my Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Where can I find teaching opportunities?]]
* [http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~amarino/prin.htm Mathematics Review for Doctoral Students]
* [[How do I prepare for comprehensive exams?]]
* [[The CPA Exam|Should I take the CPA exam before entering a doctoral program?]]
* [[GMAT Suggestions|How should I prepare for the GMAT?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Deciding on a School and Applying to a Doctoral Program
|-
|
* [[What Ph.D. program should I attend?]]
* [[What should I expect when I visit a campus?]]
* [[How do I get into a research intensive PhD program?]]
* [[When will I hear back from schools?]]

|-
|}
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{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]]</small>
|}

__NOTOC__

How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?

2009-04-03T23:34:23Z

Emetts: merged content

This is a question that is asked by every prospective Ph.D. student and there are many sources of advice. The best available advice on the internet is from fields other than accounting, but most of it applies to accounting. A list of helpful links and citations follow:
* [http://orgtheory.wordpress.com/grad-skool-rulz/ Orgtheory.net] has 21 blog posts describing "grad school rulz"
* [http://dinhvutrangngan.com/advice.html Ngan Dinh], of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program Vietnam Program of the Harvard School of Government, compiled advice from top economists for young economists
* Getting the Most from Your Doctoral Program: Advice for the Ph.D. Student in Finance, by Frank Alpert and Thomas H. Eyssell, Journal of Financial Education, Fall 1995

For your accounting seminars, two things helped me "excel." First, my classmates and I wrote a review of every paper we had to read and shared these with each other. That way when it was time for comprehensive exams, we did not have to reread every paper, but could reread the reviews. Our reviews followed a what, why, how framework taught by Bill Kinney. What is the research question? Why is it important? and How did the researcher answer the question? One thing I wish I would have done is after each class, I should have added one paragraph to each summary about how this research fits into the "bigger" picture and what are the main takeaways from the paper (understanding the main takeaways is much easier after you have discussed the paper).

The second idea is to volunteer to lead the discussion on the most difficult papers. This forces you to learn these papers and better prepares you for comprehensive exams and research in general. If you don't volunteer to lead the discussion you might be tempted to slack off on a difficult paper. At some point you are going to need to know the paper so by volunteering to lead the discussion you force yourself to learn the paper.

----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]] ► [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]</small>
|}

Talk:What should I expect when I visit a campus?

2009-04-03T23:28:53Z

Emetts: cleared old talk content

Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A

2009-04-03T23:12:42Z

Emetts: merging content of Do's and Do Not's on Campus visits to 'When should I expect when I visit a campus?'

{|style="width:100%;background-color:#AFBBC9;color:blue"
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[[Image:ScottHeader1.jpg |248 px|right|Header2]]
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{| style="width:100%;border:1px solid #E4E7EA; background-color:#F6F5FA; color:blue;" align=center
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"

|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Topics for Those Considering the Ph.D. Prep Track
|-
|
* [[What will I learn in the Prep Track that I won't learn elsewhere?]]
* [[Should I work in industry before getting a Ph.D.?]]
* [[What is life like as a doctoral student?]]
* [[What is life like as an accounting professor?]]
* [[Why I didn't get a Ph.D.]]
* [[What classes should I take?]]
* [[How much do accounting professors make?]]
* [[Should I get a Ph.D. in a subject area other than accounting?]]
* [[Am I cutting off options by deciding to do the Prep Track?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Preparing for Doctoral School
|-
|
* [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Should I find a teaching opportunity before my Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Where can I find teaching opportunities?]]
* [http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~amarino/prin.htm Mathematics Review for Doctoral Students]
* [[How do I prepare for comprehensive exams?]]
* [[What should I do to excel during coursework?]]
* [[The CPA Exam|Should I take the CPA exam before entering a doctoral program?]]
* [[GMAT Suggestions|How should I prepare for the GMAT?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Deciding on a School and Applying to a Doctoral Program
|-
|
* [[What Ph.D. program should I attend?]]
* [[What should I expect when I visit a campus?]]
* [[How do I get into a research intensive PhD program?]]
* [[When will I hear back from schools?]]

|-
|}
----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]]</small>
|}

__NOTOC__

Talk:What should I expect when I visit a campus?

2009-04-03T02:58:27Z

Emetts: New page: I propose we merge the content of this page with Do's and Do not's on Campus Visits. There's good content on both pages but they address an almost identical topic. --~~~~

I propose we merge the content of this page with [[Do's and Do not's on Campus Visits]]. There's good content on both pages but they address an almost identical topic. --[[User:Emetts|Emetts]] 20:58, 2 April 2009 (MDT)

Talk:What should I do to excel during coursework?

2009-04-03T02:50:07Z

Emetts: New page: I think it might be useful to merge the content of this page with the contet in How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?. The subject is similar. What do others say? --~~~~

I think it might be useful to merge the content of this page with the contet in [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]. The subject is similar. What do others say? --[[User:Emetts|Emetts]] 20:50, 2 April 2009 (MDT)

Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A

2009-04-03T01:22:26Z

Emetts:

{|style="width:100%;background-color:#AFBBC9;color:blue"
|-align="center"
|
[[Image:Q&AHeader.jpg |626 px|left|Header1]]
|
|
[[Image:ScottHeader1.jpg |248 px|right|Header2]]
|}
{| style="width:100%;border:1px solid #E4E7EA; background-color:#F6F5FA; color:blue;" align=center
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"

|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Topics for Those Considering the Ph.D. Prep Track
|-
|
* [[What will I learn in the Prep Track that I won't learn elsewhere?]]
* [[Should I work in industry before getting a Ph.D.?]]
* [[What is life like as a doctoral student?]]
* [[What is life like as an accounting professor?]]
* [[Why I didn't get a Ph.D.]]
* [[What classes should I take?]]
* [[How much do accounting professors make?]]
* [[Should I get a Ph.D. in a subject area other than accounting?]]
* [[Am I cutting off options by deciding to do the Prep Track?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Preparing for Doctoral School
|-
|
* [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Should I find a teaching opportunity before my Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Where can I find teaching opportunities?]]
* [http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~amarino/prin.htm Mathematics Review for Doctoral Students]
* [[How do I prepare for comprehensive exams?]]
* [[What should I do to excel during coursework?]]
* [[The CPA Exam|Should I take the CPA exam before entering a doctoral program?]]
* [[GMAT Suggestions|How should I prepare for the GMAT?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Deciding on a School and Applying to a Doctoral Program
|-
|
* [[Do's and Do not's on Campus Visits]]
* [[What Ph.D. program should I attend?]]
* [[What should I expect when I visit a campus?]]
* [[How do I get into a research intensive PhD program?]]
* [[When will I hear back from schools?]]

|-
|}
----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]]</small>
|}

__NOTOC__

Accounting Program Rankings

2009-03-27T01:03:34Z

Emetts:

===Accounting Program Rankings===
[[Coyne, Joshua|Coyne]] et al. (2009) have a [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1337755 working paper] that ranks accounting research institutions. The paper ranks universities by topical area and methodology (see [[Research Interests]] for a discussion of different topical areas and methodologies). It also gives institutions credit only for publications of faculty currently employed at the institution.

'''Accounting Doctoral Programs Rankings'''

Ranking different institutions is difficult. In order to do so, one must determine what characteristics are desirable in an institution. There have been many different rankings based on many different things, and the purpose of this ranking is to combine all the rankings in order to demonstrate what program excels at all the different parameters defined in rankings, and not merely on one narrowly constructed characteristic. These rankings combine 5 different rankings (one for two different years) in order to get a list of the top programs, using such parameters of perceived quality of the institution by other academics, faculty productivity in the accounting and business journals, recent graduate research productivity, and quality of job placement upon graduation. These rankings take the top 25 schools in each ranking system. Then, every school on this list that was not included in the ranking is given a ranking of 26. In the end, these rankings subtract a schools added rankings from 156, and the school with the lowest score wins. These rankings use the following rankings:

'''''Public Accounting Report Annual Surveys from Years 2005 and 2006:''''' The trade journal The Public Accounting Report surveys faculty members and accounting firms, and these are the results of the survey. By including two years of data, this parameter is doubly weights, and, given the value of being highly regarded in the field, this seems reasonable.

'''''Number of Publications in Top Three Accounting Journals by Faculty:''''' This is from a database put together by the University of Texas at Dallas, and measures the number of faculty publications in the top three accounting journal from 1990 to 2007. It weights the publications for multiple authorship, and for the number of faculty at the school.

'''''Number of Publications in all major business journals by Faculty:''''' While accounting publications are important, most accounting faculty would be pleased with a hit in the Journal of Finance, for example. Thus, the overall productivity of a university in all business publications is important. This is from the same UT at Dallas database, but includes all major business publications.

'''''Larry Brown Productivity of Recent Graduates:''''' While productive faculty are important, one important measure of a PhD program is the productivity of the graduates of the program. Larry Brown ranks programs based on the number of publications of graduates of the institution in the top three accounting journals 5 years after graduation. This number involves graduates from 1995-1999.

'''''Placement Rankings from Stammerjohan and Hall (2001):''''' (Journal of Accounting Education
Volume 20, Issue 1, Winter 2002, Pages 1-27 ) This ranking considers placement from 1978 to 1997 from PhD programs in accounting. Institutions are ranked based on the quality of where their graduates go directly after graduation. The quality of the institutions where graduates go is gages based on US News and World Report: America's Best Colleges (1997).

As mentioned, rankings are a difficult construct, and there are certainly limitations to this methodology. Perhaps the most important is that some programs change over time, and as some of these rankings are based on how programs performed a decade ago, what was a very good program may have lost a lot of good faculty, and have subsequently become not as desirable (or vica versa).

The standard deviations of the 6 (the 5 distinct rankings, with one having two years) different rankings are reported. Notice that the schools with smaller standard deviations are more consistently ranked in that same spot throughout the different rankings, thus, while MIT shines on some rankings, its poor performance on others lands it at number 17, but with a high standard deviation.

To see the spreadsheet where I did all this (which includes all the rankings uncompiled, as well as schools that did not make the top 25), [http://phdprep.byu.edu/index.php?title=Image:Rankings_PhDprograms.xls Click here].

<TABLE FRAME=VOID CELLSPACING=0 COLS=3 RULES=NONE BORDER=0>

<TR>
<TD WIDTH=57 HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER><B>Rank</B></TD>
<TD WIDTH=71 ALIGN=CENTER><B>SD</B></TD>
<TD WIDTH=309 ALIGN=LEFT><B>University</B></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="1" SDNUM="1033;">1</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="2.78687399547713" SDNUM="1033;">2.79</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Chicago]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="2" SDNUM="1033;">2</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="3.68781778291715" SDNUM="1033;">3.69</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>Wharton School of the [[University of Pennsylvania]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="3" SDNUM="1033;">3</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="3.32665998663324" SDNUM="1033;">3.33</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Stanford University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="4" SDNUM="1033;">4</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="4.63680924774785" SDNUM="1033;">4.64</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Michigan]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5" SDNUM="1033;">5</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.4233751915118" SDNUM="1033;">9.42</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Texas - Austin]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="6" SDNUM="1033;">6</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="6.06630035524124" SDNUM="1033;">6.07</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of North Carolina]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="7" SDNUM="1033;">7</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="8.16496580927726" SDNUM="1033;">8.16</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Northwestern University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="8" SDNUM="1033;">8</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5.2820450584977" SDNUM="1033;">5.28</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Washington - Seattle]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9" SDNUM="1033;">9</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="7.67897562612792" SDNUM="1033;">7.68</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Harvard University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="10" SDNUM="1033;">10</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.38971068066885" SDNUM="1033;">9.39</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Cornell University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="11" SDNUM="1033;">11</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="7.92464510246358" SDNUM="1033;">7.92</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Southern California]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="12" SDNUM="1033;">12</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="8.82420912414629" SDNUM="1033;">8.82</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Illinois]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="13" SDNUM="1033;">13</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="11.0950439386241" SDNUM="1033;">11.1</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Rochester]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="13" SDNUM="1033;">13</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="7.79102047231298" SDNUM="1033;">7.79</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Iowa]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="15" SDNUM="1033;">15</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.52190457139047" SDNUM="1033;">9.52</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Indiana University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="15" SDNUM="1033;">15</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5.7850381733111" SDNUM="1033;">5.79</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Michigan State University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="17" SDNUM="1033;">17</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.93478736561583" SDNUM="1033;">9.93</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="18" SDNUM="1033;">18</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="10.1275202624664" SDNUM="1033;">10.13</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[New York University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="19" SDNUM="1033;">19</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="4.03319558993445" SDNUM="1033;">4.03</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Penn State]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="20" SDNUM="1033;">20</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.07009739014233" SDNUM="1033;">9.07</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of California - Berkeley]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="21" SDNUM="1033;">21</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="8" SDNUM="1033;">8</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Columbia University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="22" SDNUM="1033;">22</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5.68037557443754" SDNUM="1033;">5.68</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[The Ohio State University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="23" SDNUM="1033;">23</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="9.20326029187483" SDNUM="1033;">9.2</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[Duke University]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="24" SDNUM="1033;">24</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="6.05530070819498" SDNUM="1033;">6.06</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Arizona]]</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD HEIGHT=17 ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="25" SDNUM="1033;">25</TD>
<TD ALIGN=CENTER SDVAL="5.70672118354022" SDNUM="1033;">5.71</TD>
<TD ALIGN=LEFT>[[University of Minnesota]] at Twin Cities </TD>
</TR>

</TABLE>

Another ranking is available at http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/areas/accounting/productivity.htm

'''Location of Top Ph.D. Programs'''
For those of you who are interested in locations of the top Ph.D. programs in accounting, this map shows their rough locations. The top 9 are numbered in bigger stars and the rest are represented by smaller stars.

[[Image:PhD top 25 school locations.jpg]],
----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[University Information]] ► [[Accounting Doctoral Program Rankings]]</small>
|}

Research

2009-03-27T00:55:23Z

Emetts:

{|style="width:100%;background-color:#AFBBC9;color:blue"
|-align="center"
|
[[Image:ResearchHeader.jpg |626 px|left|Header1]]
|
|
[[Image:ResearchHeader2.jpg |248 px|right|Header2]]
|}
{| style="width:100%;border:1px solid #E4E7EA; background-color:#F6F5FA; color:blue;" align=center
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"

|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | General Research Questions
|-
|
* [[What do accounting professors research?]]
* [[Where can I find data?]]
* [[How do I find good co-authors?]]
* [[How do I publish lots of papers?]]

|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Research Development
|-
|
* [[How do I determine my dissertation topic?]]
* [[How can I build my research pipeline while in my Ph.D. program?]]
* [[How can I get some research going before my Ph.D. program?]]
* [[What is the best way to manage the review process?]]
* [[What should I expect when I go on the road with my dissertation?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Other Researching Resources
|-
|
* [[Individual Research Skills]]
* [[Research Ideas]]
* [[Researching Resources]]
* [[Research Interests]]
|-
|}
----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Research]]</small>
|}

__NOTOC__

Teaching and Service

2009-03-27T00:54:53Z

Emetts:

{|style="width:100%;background-color:#AFBBC9;color:blue"
|-align="center"
|
[[Image:TeachingServiceHeader2.jpg |626 px|left|Header1]]
|
|
[[Image:TeachingServiceHeader1.jpg |248 px|right|Header2]]
|}
{| style="width:100%;border:1px solid #E4E7EA; background-color:#F6F5FA; color:blue;" align=center
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"

|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Service
|-
|
* [[How to ask good questions in workshop]]
* [[How important is discussing papers and being a moderator at conferences?]]
* [[What conferences are the best to attend?]]
* [[What is a Ph.D. seminar really like, and how can I prepare?]]

|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Teaching
|-
|
* [[What are effective ways to prepare to teach an accounting course?]]
* [[Accounting Humor]] - Great for the classroom
* [[Accounting Quotes]] - Great for the classroom
* [[Recommended Books]]
* [http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm#motivating Teaching Tips] - The University of Hawaii has created a extensive guidebook to help improve teaching. Some of the tips listed cover topics such as designing courses, improving teaching techniques, teaching using questions, spotting plagiarism, and avoiding stress.
* [http://www.freeloadpress.com Freeload Press] provides free textbooks for students. Textbooks could be used for a course or alternatively as a test bank of ideas for homework, quizzes, or tests.
* [http://www.swlearning.com/accounting/car/gita.html Great Ideas for Teaching Accounting] - This site offers several ideas for teaching introductory financial and managerial accounting concepts. The examples are fairly basic, but they can be a good way to help students in early accounting courses understand important concepts.
* [[General Teaching Issues]]

|-
|}
----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Teaching and Service]]</small>
|}

__NOTOC__

Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A

2009-03-27T00:54:15Z

Emetts:

{|style="width:100%;background-color:#AFBBC9;color:blue"
|-align="center"
|
[[Image:Q&AHeader.jpg |626 px|left|Header1]]
|
|
[[Image:ScottHeader1.jpg |248 px|right|Header2]]
|}
{| style="width:100%;border:1px solid #E4E7EA; background-color:#F6F5FA; color:blue;" align=center
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"

|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Topics for Those Considering the Ph.D. Prep Track
|-
|
* [[What will I learn in the Prep Track that I won't learn elsewhere?]]
* [[Should I work in industry before getting a Ph.D.?]]
* [[What is life like as a doctoral student?]]
* [[What is life like as an accounting professor?]]
* [[Why I didn't get a Ph.D.]]
* [[What classes should I take?]]
* [[How much do accounting professors make?]]
* [[Should I get a Ph.D. in a subject area other than accounting?]]
* [[Am I cutting off options by deciding to do the Prep Track?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Preparing for Doctoral School
|-
|
* [[How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Should I find a teaching opportunity before my Ph.D. program?]]
* [[Where can I find teaching opportunities?]]
* [http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~amarino/prin.htm Mathematics Review for Doctoral Students]
* [[How do I prepare for comprehensive exams?]]
* [[What should I do to excel during coursework?]]
* [[The CPA Exam|Should I take the CPA exam before entering a doctoral program?]]
* [[GMAT Suggestions|How should I prepare the GMAT?]]
|-align="left"
! style="background:#001E4D; color:white; height: 30px" | Ph.D. Prep Track Members- Deciding on a School and Applying to a Doctoral Program
|-
|
* [[Do's and Do not's on Campus Visits]]
* [[What Ph.D. program should I attend?]]
* [[What should I expect when I visit a campus?]]
* [[How do I get into a research intensive PhD program?]]
* [[When will I hear back from schools?]]

|-
|}
----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Ph.D. Prep Track and Doctoral Student Q&A]]</small>
|}

__NOTOC__

Help:Contents

2009-03-27T00:49:15Z

Emetts:

'''You must log in before you can edit this site.''' To edit these pages please request a user name by emailing [mailto:phdprep@byu.edu phdprep@byu.edu]. Please include your desired user name and graduation date.

Want to help out see the [[Things that need to be done]] or list [[What else do you want to see on the site?]]. Not sure how to do it? See the "Getting started" section on this page.

===This Site===
The mswiki is viewable by anyone with a web browser, but can only be edited by current and past Ph.D. Prep Track students. The mswiki uses the freeware MediaWiki and is hosted on a campus server.

Current and past Ph.D. Prep Track students may obtain they own user name by sending an email to phdprep.byu@gmail.com. Please include your desired user name and graduation date.

===Getting Started===
* Information about editing a wiki page
** '''Start here!''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:CHEAT Wiki Cheatsheet]
** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_edit_a_page How to edit a page]
*** [http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-edit-a-media-wiki-site-158692/ Video Showing the Basics of Editing]
*** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial Tutorial] - This tutorial provides a basic introduction of Mediawiki.
** [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing Editing]
* WikiMedia Software
** [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
** [http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce MediaWiki release mailing list]
* Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.
* Easy to use Excel-to-Wiki [http://people.fas.harvard.edu/~sdouglas/table.cgi converter]

====Other Helpful links:====
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/First_steps '''How to upload a file''']
* [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Images_and_other_uploaded_files '''Using uploaded files''']
* [[How to upload a file]]
----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Help:Contents]]</small>
|}

Where can I learn about job openings?

2009-03-27T00:43:48Z

Emetts:

Two websites to look at are the AAA's [http://aaahq.org/placements/default.cfm Placement Center] and SSRN's [http://www.ssrn.com/update/arn/arnjob/arn_job.html Professional Job Listings].

In addition, you can find job postings at Chronicle.com's [http://http://chronicle.com/jobs/100/200/1000/ Careers] site.
----
{|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;"
|-align="center"
! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>[[Main Page]] ► [[Other Topics]] ► [[Where can I learn about job openings?]]</small>
|}

Time Management Suggestions

2009-03-27T00:43:10Z

Emetts:

One of the most important skills of a successful academician is time management. Academics do not fill out a time card, but are judged on their output. It is very easy to let a lot of time pass by without accomplishing important priorities. Here is some practical advice and tips along with gospel principles on how to manage your time.

==Practical Advice and Tips==
*Time management begins first and foremost with planning. Daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly planning meetings can improve the use of time. Many planning tools are available such as Franklin Covey planners, Microsoft Outlook calendar, etc. The planning meetings are good times to review past performance, analyze needs, set goals, establish priorities, and work through logistics.

*One purpose of planning meetings is to establish the "why" or the purpose behind work activities and projects. Remember that the only difference between "business" and "busyness" is the 'y' (why). Having a purpose can change busy work into effective work (business).

* In public accounting, professionals must keep track of all their time to properly bill clients. Try doing the same. Keep track of what you do at work for an entire week in short increments. It might surprise you how much time you spend surfing the internet, talking with peers, eating lunch, etc.

* Track usage and time on the internet. Mozilla's Firefox internet browser has several add-ons to do this including [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3482 Usage Counter] and [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1887 TimeTracker].

* Consider blocking the sites where you waste a lot of time. If you use Mozilla's Firefox internet browser, download the [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3145 BlockSite] add-on and block Youtube, ESPN, and other sites where you habitually waste time.

* Remember that time spent at work "playing" is time spent away from family. Share with your family what you are working on.

==Gospel Principles==
* "Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or reading books or magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best. When the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” ([http://scriptures.lds.org/dc/88/118#118 D&C 88:118]; emphasis added)." from Elder Oaks [http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=5ce926cb31cf5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1 Good, Better, Best], Conference Talk October 2007.

* "There is another way to look at your problem of crowded time. You can see it as an opportunity to test your faith. The Lord loves you and watches over you. He is all-powerful, and He promised you this: 'But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you' (Matt. 6:33). That is a true promise. When we put God’s purposes first, He will give us miracles. If we pray to know what He would have us do next, He will multiply the effects of what we do in such a way that time seems to be expanded. He may do it in different ways for each individual, but I know from long experience that He is faithful to His word." Elder Henry B. Eyring, From a talk given on the 75th anniversary of the Institute of Religion program at a Church Educational System fireside in Moscow, Idaho, on 6 May 2001 [http://uac.byu.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3367 link].

*"When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." President Thomas S. Monson June 2004 Worldwide Leadership Training Broadcast (also available in [http://www.lds.org/languages/additionalmanuals/preachgospel/PreachMyGospel___00_00_Complete__36617_eng_000.pdf Preach My Gospel] page 150)

* [http://scriptures.lds.org/dc/88/124#124 D&C 88:124] - "Cease to be aidle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated."

* [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/34 Alma 34:18-26] "Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save. Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him. Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks. Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening. Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies. Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you."

* Obey Word of Wisdom. [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/89 D&C 89:18-21] - "And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen."

* [http://scriptures.lds.org/mosiah/4/27#27 Mosiah 4:27] "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."
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How to gain an in-depth understanding of institutional characteristics as a Ph.D. student without prior work experience

2009-03-27T00:42:41Z

Emetts:

* '''Internships and part-time work'''
** Do a Big 4 Internship while at BYU
*** Be honest with the firms you intern with and tell them you plan to continue school and get a PhD. You should try to do an internship to gain some exposure to the firms and what they are like.
** Work in the accounting department of a local company while at BYU.
* '''Read business-related publications'''
** During the PhD program, buy a subscription to the WSJ and read it regularly. Of course you can't read all the articles every day, but try hard to read as many articles related to accounting as you can.
** For no charge at all, you can go to CFO.com and sign up for email news alerts related to “accounting.” CFO.com’s articles are the best content available for keeping up on current accounting issues—and the best part is it’s free.
* '''Stay connected with the profession'''
** Make an effort during your time at a PhD program to stay connected with the firms. In preparation for my dissertation, I met with employees of a large national consulting firm and teleconferenced with a national partner in the Chicago office to discuss my dissertation idea and see what insights they had about my idea. The firm had done some of its own research in my dissertation area, so their thoughts were helpful. That meeting was possible because of a connection I made when I interned.
** Seek contact with the top people in the profession
*** Universities often invite people at the top of the accounting field (e.g., chair of the PCAOB, etc.) to come speak to their students. When your schedule permits, volunteer to be part of the group that takes those kinds of speakers to dinner. Those are great opportunities to meet with people high up in the accounting world and hear their insights.
** Network in your neighborhood
*** Your ward will likely have people who are working in financial reporting. Ask them for their insights about different reporting issues that you are interested in researching. That’s a simple thing to do, but most people love sharing their insights about how things work, and you'll always learn from what they share.
** Talk to a professor who has taken a sabbatical.
*** My dissertation chair did a two-year sabbatical where he worked in research at an investment bank in New York. When he returned, he and I brainstormed about research ideas, and I participated in several conference calls with his contacts back in New York where we were able to ask for insights about how financial analysts do things “in the real world.” Those experiences were helpful because they provide insights you can’t get from staring at IBES data.
* '''Look for opportunities'''
** The bottom line is that you have to stay as connected as possible with the world of accounting. If you look for opportunities to connect, there will be plenty of them. Reading WSJ and CFO help a lot, but direct contact with the industry is also very helpful.
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Moving from one faculty position to another

2009-03-27T00:41:33Z

Emetts:

Getting a job the last year of your Ph.D. program is a fairly straight-forward process. You send out packets to schools in early January and wait for calls inviting you to fly out for interviews. At interviews you meet with faculty, present your job-market paper (almost always a paper based on your dissertation), and learn about the school and the local area. If all goes well, at least one of the schools you fly out to will offer you a tenure-track faculty position. Where things get difficult is when you want to (or have to) leave a faculty position at one school to take a position at another school (commonly referred to as "non-rookie recruiting").

The most common reason for leaving a school is that you have to. Tenure clocks at research schools run from 6-10 years. Generally there is a renewal or promotion decision early in the clock (around years 2-4) with the actual tenure decision at the end of the clock. Near the end of the clock you either know you won't get tenure and need to leave or you formally "go up" for tenure, a process that can take almost a year. If you get tenure there is no problem. If you get turned down, you generally have another academic year to find a new position. In addition to leaving because you are at the end of a contract, you may want to move voluntarily because you don't enjoy the school and/or your colleagues; you don't enjoy the area you live; you want to be closer to family; you want to work with particular colleagues at another school; or another school recruits you away with a good job offer.

So how does this process start? First, you may just get contacted by another school. This often happens just before milestones in the tenure process. For example, if you are about to come up for tenure or an earlier renewal decision and there is doubt that the decision will be favorable, schools that like you may call and see if you are interested in "re-starting" your clock. This means that you go to the new school and get a new tenure clock, allowing you more time to get publications before you have to go up for tenure at the new school. These kinds of moves are very common in the early years when schools are still forming their beliefs about you. Re-starts in later years can be tricky as schools may not ignore the fact that you have more years as a faculty member when you go up for tenure than a faculty member who didn't re-start. I've seen several cases of people spending several years at a school, re-starting at a new school, and then getting turned down for tenure at the new school. However, it sometimes works.

Re-starts also happen after milestones. Either you get renewed or receive a non-tenured promotion (schools such as Chicago, Harvard, and Duke have promotion to non-tenured associate at about the 4-year mark) or you get tenure at your school. Other schools interested in you may then contact you to see if you want to leave for a re-start or for tenure at their school. Individuals who get promoted to non-tenured associate at a top school will often get offers of non-tenured associate at other top schools or even tenured associate at slightly lower-tier schools. If you've worked hard, published, and kept yourself visible, you can expect some attention from other schools if things are going well at your school.

Another time where you get contacted by other schools is after presenting at the school. As part of your normal job, schools will invite you out to present research papers. If you have a particularly good experience at a school (they like your research and they like you) and the school is hiring, they may call you up to see how much you liked them! In this sense, every research work shop you give is a "job talk". Even if a school you present at isn't hiring, word of how you did will spread to other schools who then may decide to take a look at you.

You can also start this process yourself. If you're unhappy at your school or have realized you aren't going to make it at your school, you can contact other schools to gauge their interest in giving you a re-start. The best way is to contact friends or associates at these schools. Rarely will faculty formally apply for positions at another school without first talking to people at the school. At the annual American Accounting Association meeting in August you will see lots of people holding intense conversations in the conference hotel bars, coffee shops, and lobbies. If they aren't talking about research, they are almost certainly discussing career moves.

To make this process work you need to keep yourself visible. This involves attending conferences and presenting papers as much as possible. Responding quickly and professionally to editor's requests for referee reports is another way to get your name known among influential people. Finally, do your best to give helpful feedback and constructive criticism to researchers you see present at conferences and your own school. Nothing will endear you to a faculty member more than taking careful notes during their presentation and forwarding them along with thoughtful comments and suggestions of your own. Like everything else in life, live by the Golden Rule. Even if you never want to leave your first faculty position, staying there (i.e., getting tenure) will involve faculty at other schools writing letters about you, letters that will form a major basis for the tenure decision. To make those letters favorable you need to have a reputation for producing high-quality research, contributing to the academic profession, and collegiality.
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How should I use my sabbatical?

2009-03-27T00:40:22Z

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How do I avoid salary inversion?

2009-03-27T00:39:22Z

Emetts:

Salary inversion happens when starting salaries increase at a more rapid pace than salaries at your institution. In other words, market salaries raise more quickly than your annual raises. Salary inversion is fairly common especially at public institutions because the demand for Ph.D.'s in accounting outstrips supply.

There are a couple of ways to avoid salary inversion and both involve building a resume that allows you to be competitive in the market. The first way is to move. If you are willing to move periodically and you have an attractive resume than your salary will always be close to market. Another way is to put pressure on your current institution to do what it takes to keep you from moving. If you have an attractive resume and market salaries keep escalating, then your department head will constantly be worried about the possibility of losing you to "greener pastures". Your department head will also recognize that it will require the current market salary to replace you. So, if your resume continues to improve, then your department head will likely find money each year to keep your salary within reason of market salaries. Some public schools don't have the budget to give raises to match market increases but there is often a mechanism at the university level that allows for salary "adjustments" to keep good faculty. So, your department head may need to make a case for you at the university level but if your department likes you enough, then your department head/dean will try to do whatever it takes to keep you because replacing a collegial, research-active accounting Ph.D. can be difficult and more costly than doing what it takes to keep you.

Another thing to keep in mind is that flexibility is also key to avoiding salary inversion. Good jobs open up all over the country and many of the high-paying jobs open up in the eastern time zone. A strong geographical preference that limits you to one state or one particular region of the country will hinder your ability to move. If there are only one or two universities that pay market salaries in your geographical preference and those universities are not hiring or are not hiring in areas that match your resume, then you do not have a credible threat to relocate. Thus, you cannot count on the market to discipline your current institution in terms of salary concessions.

Check [[How much do accounting professors make?|here]] for information on market salaries for public universities.
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How do I avoid salary inversion?

2009-03-27T00:39:07Z

Emetts:

General Teaching Issues

2009-03-27T00:36:18Z

Emetts:

==Challenging Your Students==

The article below highlights a growing trend in higher education: teachers are accommodating students rather than helping them mature. Interestingly, the author (Charles Murray) recommends that high school students take time off for volunteer work or other worthy causes before entering college. More importantly, Murray discusses the importance of helping students to learn life's lessons.

[http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0901/032.html Forbes Article on College Difficulty]
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Accounting Quotes

2009-03-27T00:35:29Z

Emetts:

*'''From the Autobiography of Ben Franklin:'''

In 1733 I sent one of my journeymen to Charleston, South Carolina, where a printer was wanting. I furnish'd him with a press and letters, on an agreement of partnership, by which I was to receive one-third of the profits of the business, paying one-third of the expense. He was a man of learning, and honest but ignorant in matters of account; and, tho' he sometimes made me remittances, I could get no account from him, nor any satisfactory state of our partnership while he lived. On his decease, the business was continued by his widow, who, being born and bred in Holland, where, as I have been inform'd, the knowledge of accounts makes a part of female education, she not only sent me as clear a state as she could find of the transactions past, but continued to account with the greatest regularity and exactness every quarter afterwards, and managed the business with such success, that she not only brought up reputably a family of children, but, at the expiration of the term, was able to purchase of me the printing-house, and establish her son in it.
I mention this affair chiefly for the sake of recommending that branch of education for our young females, as likely to be of more use to them and their children, in case of widowhood, than either music or dancing, by preserving them from losses by imposition of crafty men, and enabling them to continue, perhaps, a profitable mercantile house, with establish'd correspondence, till a son is grown up fit to undertake and go on with it, to the lasting advantage and enriching of the family.

*'''From Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship by J.W. von Goethe (If Goethe thinks accounting is cool, it has to be)'''

Away with it, to the fire with it!” cried Werner. “The invention does not deserve the smallest praise: that affair has plagued me enough already, and drawn upon yourself your father’s wrath. The verses may be altogether beautiful; but the meaning of them is fundamentally false. I still recollect your Commerce personified; a shrivelled, wretched-looking sibyl she was. I suppose you picked up the image of her from some miserable huckster’s shop. At that time, you had no true idea at all of trade; whilst I could not think of any man whose spirit was, or needed to be, more enlarged than the spirit of a genuine merchant. What a thing it is to see the order which prevails throughout his business! By means of this he can at any time survey the general whole, without needing to perplex himself in the details. What advantages does he derive from the system of book-keeping by double entry! It is among the finest inventions of the human mind; every prudent master of a house should introduce it into his economy.

*'''Also from Ben Franklins Autobiography'''

In 1737, Colonel Spotswood, late governor of Virginia, and then postmaster-general, being dissatisfied with the conduct of his deputy at Philadelphia, respecting some negligence in rendering, and inexactitude of his accounts, took from him the commission and offered it to me. I accepted it readily, and found it of great advantage; for, tho' the salary was small, it facilitated the correspondence that improv'd my newspaper, increas'd the number demanded, as well as the advertisements to be inserted, so that it came to afford me a considerable income. My old competitor's newspaper declin'd proportionably, and I was satisfy'd without retaliating his refusal, while postmaster, to permit my papers being carried by the riders. Thus he suffer'd greatly from his neglect in due accounting; and I mention it as a lesson to those young men who may be employ'd in managing affairs for others, that they should always render accounts, and make remittances, with great clearness and punctuality. The character of observing such a conduct is the most powerful of all recommendations to new employments and increase of business.

*'''From Historian Alfred Crosby's book The Measure of Reality:'''

In the past seven centuries bookkeeping has done more to shape the perceptions of more bright minds than any single innovation in philosophy or science.
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Accounting Humor

2009-03-27T00:34:56Z

Emetts:

== Comics ==
* [[Image:Big5.jpg]]

* [[Image:PorkandBeans.jpg]]

* [[Image:Comic.gif]]

* [[Image:SprintPCS.jpg |400 px|Enron Comic]]

== General Humor ==
* [http://www.despair.com/viewall.html Funny posters] that are a spoof on motivational posters.

== Jokes ==
This is a [http://www.tuckprofit.com/0611_vol2_iss3/0611famafrench.htm very funny article] about Ken French.

You Might Be An Accountant If...
* You refer to your child as Deduction 214
* You deduct Ex-lax as "moving expenses"
* You have no idea that GAP is also a clothing store
* Getting to sleep is an exciting event that you look forward to all day long
* Your idea of thrashing your hotel room is refusing to fill out the guest comment card
* You are doing it now because you checked the file and found that you did it last year
* You decide to change your name to a symbol and you choose the double underline "========"

== Videos ==
* This is perhaps one of the funniest accounting videos ever. I always show it on the first day of class to introductory accounting students, so they know what they are getting into. (See [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8428827001690074658 here]).
* How the market really works, just watch the first 2 minutes (See [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_qK4g6ntM here]).
* If you students are struggling with small math errors, [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3069606245026550004 this video] is pretty funny.

==Links==
* [http://www.groco.com/readingroom/humor.aspx Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen, & Co.] - This San Francisco-based CPA firm has a great list of one-liners, David Letterman top tens, and other stories.
* [http://www.moormanharting.com/humor.htm Moorman Harting Financial Services] - This Ohio-based CPA firm has several one-liners and offers perplexing insights on tax preparation, such as, "Have you ever wondered why people are quick to brag about their income, but refuse to list it all on their income tax?"
* [http://www.taxhelp.net/AccountingHumor_000.htm Tax Help LP] - This site for a Texan CPA has several short stories and comics. One comic includes two mosquitoes about to dig in and one comments, "Sure, I believe in reincarnation--in my previous life I was an IRS agent."

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What is a Ph.D. seminar really like, and how can I prepare?

2009-03-27T00:33:59Z

Emetts:

'''How are Ph.D. seminars structured?'''

Ph.D. seminars vary in how they are set up. Some universities have methodological seminars such as archival, experimental, judgement and decision making, etc. Others have topical seminars such as auditing, financial, tax, managerial, etc. The structure of the seminar is largely dependent on the university you are at and on the faculty who teach the seminar. You will likely take seminars in the accounting department as well as other departments such as finance, management, and/or economics..

'''What do I do in a seminar?'''

Faculty take different approaches as to how they structure their seminars. During your doctoral program you will have multiple seminars and will likely have more than one approach. Some faculty may assign one doctoral student to each research paper to be the disussion leader. Others may ask that you come prepared with overheads or Powerpoint slides and present the research paper assigned to you. Still others may prefer to lead the discussion themselves for all papers but will likely expect your involvement in the discussion. The frequency of you taking the role of "discussion leader" or "presenter" will depend largely on the number of students in your seminar.

'''How do I prepare for a Ph.D. seminar?'''

Regardless of the approach taken in the seminar, the best preparation is to thoroughly read all of the papers assigned and come prepared with questions and comments. If you don't understand something in the paper you would be wise to cross reference with other papers (even if they are not assigned) to get a deeper understanding of the material. All faculty recognize thorough preparation and your efforts will pay off down the road.

'''Other Resources'''

* Financial Accounting and Reporting Section - Interesting website that contains [http://www.fars.org/ syllabi from various PhD Seminars]
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What conferences are the best to attend?

2009-03-27T00:32:28Z

Emetts:

In my experience the best conferences to attend are the following:

*AAA annual meeting (great for connecting with almost everyone).

*AAA section meetings (for me the FARS and International Section meetings have been useful)

*Journal conferences such as:JAE, JAR, JAAF, JBFA, RAST, CAR, etc. This are by invitation so to get invited you may need to submit papers or lobby with some people you know who go to these conferences. Great way to network and get feedback on your research.

International conferences are also very good. The best being the European Accounting Conference (annually) and the IAAER world conferences (every two years).
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How important is discussing papers and being a moderator at conferences?

2009-03-27T00:32:04Z

Emetts:

Attending conferences could be a good way to network for future research projects.
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How to ask good questions in workshop

2009-03-27T00:31:35Z

Emetts:

At most universities, professors from other schools will visit and present research they are currently working on. In these sessions, the audience can ask questions and make suggestions. Although not all participants may agree, the primary purpose of the workshop is to provide feedback that will help the author(s) improve the paper and potentially prepare it for publication. Keeping the purpose of the workshop in mind will help provide context and mold the content of the comments you might make. It may be helpful to consider the following questions that often come up in the referee process for journal publication:

* What is the research question?
* Is this question important in the context of the current body of research?
* Do the hypotheses effectively test the research question?
** Is the hypothesis development internally consistent?
** Can the hypotheses be rejected?
** Can the results of the hypothesis testing address the research question?
*** What if the paper rejects the hypotheses, fails to reject, or goes the other way?
** Does the sample and methodology effectively test the hypotheses?

Here are a few suggestions for making workshops productive.

* Be prepared. For several reasons, in most workshops, there ''is'' a such thing as a stupid question or comment. Although you should not be excessively concerned about this, adequate preparation by reading the paper, and potentially related papers will help you distinguish between "good" and "bad" comments and make the workshop productive for you and the presenter. An example of a stupid question is a question that is already addressed fully in the paper (you can question whether they addressed it fully/correctly but make sure to put it in the context that you already read/understand their current thinking).

* Do not ask questions or make suggestions to demonstrate your intelligence. You are there to help improve the paper not show off how smart you are.

* Seek to be constructive. Even if you find a fatal flaw in the paper, provide some suggestion for how to fix it (even if it means doing the experiment/archival analysis over again).

* Don't take your questions or the presenters response personally. It is hard to present and be politically correct at all times. Understand that the presenter is under a lot of stress and is trying to do their best to answer questions.

* Don't beat an issue to death. If a few people have made comments about a problem in the paper and the presenter has discussed it, move on to another area. Workshops get bogged down and waste the presenter's time if you stay on the same issue for the entire workshop.

* Not all research is connected to what you do. Be careful not to always tie everything everyone else does to your research (e.g., I'm interested in banking and so every paper has something to do with banking or should have something to do with banking).

* Realize that each research methodology has limitations. Be careful not to spend to much time criticizing inherent limitations to a research methodology.

* Be open minded. If everyone does the same type of research, research would get very boring very quickly. Try and see what are the benefits as well as the costs to research design choices.

* It's nice to provide written comments or marked up manuscripts to the presenter.

* Providing positive feedback can be very helpful as well. While it may not be appropriate to spend an inordinate amount of time on positive aspects of the research in workshop, a brief comment is nice to hear as a presenter. Another excellent place to provide positive comments is in written comments.
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How do I get into a research intensive PhD program?

2009-03-27T00:29:50Z

Emetts:

* Study for the GMAT and get a good score. At "top" schools, most students will have a GMAT score of 700 or above with a minimum of 600. (However, the GMAT is just one factor in your application.)

* Take your [[Main Page|Ph.D. Prep Track]] courses seriously and learn as much as possible.

* Get research going with faculty. Take your ideas to them and take initiative so you have the opportunity to have co-authored work in progress.

* Seek the advice of current professors and doctoral students so you know which schools you should apply to.

* Apply to programs that fit your needs and interests. This is critical as those Ph.D. prep students who have not finished their Ph.D. did not fit well at the schools where they began studying.

* Your statement of purpose is very important. Make sure you spend a lot of time crafting this document and have several individuals read it and comment on it.

* Get good letters of recommendation. Although you cannot control what is written about you, you should be professional in your interactions with faculty. A good letter of recommendation can go a long way, and a mediocre letter can shut doors very quickly.

* Consider attending an academic [[conferences|conference]] Fall of your last year in the MAcc. Doing so will allow you to meet the faculty you could be working with at schools, and making a decision to accept you is much easier if the faculty have met you and know that you are into research enough to go to academic conferences. In the 2007-2008 year, I know of two students that attended conferences, who, as a result of going, got into the program they decided to go to.
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What Ph.D. program should I attend?

2009-03-27T00:28:28Z

Emetts:

There are several important factors to consider when deciding which program to attend. The most important factor is to decide what you want to do in your career. Different schools highlight the importance of researching versus teaching. If you have a strong desire to focus on one of those areas, you should go to a Ph.D. program that is strong in the area of your interest. If you want to have a balance of teaching and research, you should consider schools that value a balance between research and teaching. The answer to this question is the most important part of deciding which Ph.D. program is right for you.

Once you have decided what you want to do with your career, then the following suggestions will help you decide where to go.

* Gather as much information about different schools as you can. A good starting point is visiting each school's web page. Another resource is a survey conducted by the AAA--see [http://aaahq.org/temp/phd/StudyMaterials/index.htm here] (individual school responses are identified as well as overall averages).

* Talk to people who have either been at a school or are currently at the school of interest. See [[University Information]] for help finding who has been where. Please be respectful of the time of the people you are contacting. Ph.D. students and faculty are busy so asking them questions that are already answered on the school's web page is wasting their time. Also, don't send out the same email to multiple people at the same school. Students and faculty talk and it looks bad for you to send out a form e-mail requesting information.

* Consider schools where other BYU students have not gone. Pre Ph.D. students tend to follow a herd mentality and don't give wide consideration to different schools.

* Determine what type of research you are interested in conducting. Certain schools do not support some [[Research Interests|research methodologies]]. Make sure the schools you are considering do what you want to do.

* Consider which [[Research Interests|topical area]] of research you are interested in examining. Do not expect to go to a school and convince professors to change the area of research they are focusing on to work on projects that interest you. You can expect them to continue working on what they find interesting and letting you work with them if they think you will be helpful to them.

After you have gathered information about schools that interest you, you will need to apply to these schools. Hopefully, you will get to visit several schools and find which one fits right. An important warning: while you may be tempted to go to the school other people consider "best," it is far more important that you feel comfortable and like where you will work. Several Ph.D. students have dropped out because they didn't fit with the school. Making sure you fit with the school is far more important than making sure you are at the school others consider the "best."

Another thing to consider is that many great PhD programs are often not mentioned in the PhD prep track simply because there have not been any (or very many) prep track students who attend. You may want to consider [[Great schools often forgotten by PhD-Prep track members]].

Also see this external website: [http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/doctoral/admissions/selecting.cfm Am I ready for a PhD Program? And, which program is right for me?]
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The CPA Exam

2009-03-27T00:26:26Z

Emetts:

==Introduction==
The Certified Public Accountant Examination (CPA Exam) is administered to test one's knowledge of accounting and general business practices. Acceptable completion of the CPA Exam bestows the title of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) on the candidate, assuming all other state requirements have been met.

==Reasons to get, and not to get, the CPA designation==
On its website, the AICPA asserts that the "CPA credential is a symbol of trust and professionalism in the world of business. It's a highly challenging professional track, but the reward is that CPAs are considered the most trusted advisors in business." In the business world, the CPA designation adds potential for career growth and entitles the CPA to receiving extra trust in serving in advisory roles for clients. Usually, the easiest and most convenient time to take the CPA exam is right after finishing the accounting program at BYU and before entering a Ph.D. program or the workforce.

However, accounting academics will be able to receive different benefits from earning the CPA designation. The CPA designation may add credibility in the classroom (This is not proven, but is a great [[Research Ideas|empirical question]]). Some schools want you to have professional certifications, in particular, schools that are more teaching oriented. Also, receiving the CPA desgination is probably more important for those with research and teaching interests in audit and/or tax.

Similar to working as a practitioner, the academic may be able to secure consulting opportunities in the profession because of the CPA credential. It also gives you credibility with practitioners. Additionally, if you ever decide to leave academia, this is a helpful certification for employment. The CPA designation is also useful for expert witnessing or serving on a corporate board.

For academics, there are also several reasons not to take the CPA exam. Early in one's career, time may be better spent on conducting research or improving teaching effectiveness. Keeping up on CPE credits may be a hassle. Also, some schools (most likely research intensive schools) may view it as a negative signal of where you are devoting your time; i.e., you are not a serious researcher.

==Exam Content==
Because of planned changes to IFRS for SEC filings, current exam content as of Spring 2009 includes the following sections:

===Auditing and Attestation (AUD)===
The Auditing and Attestation portion lasts 4.5 hours. The following six topics are part of this section:
# Auditing and Attestation: Engagement Acceptance and Understanding the Assignment (12-16%)
# Auditing and Attestation: Understanding the Entity and Its Environment (including Internal Control) (16-20%)
# Auditing and Attestation: Performing Audit Procedures and Evaluating Evidence (16-20%)
# Auditing and Attestation: Evaluating Audit Findings, Communications and Reporting (16-20%)
# Accounting and Review Service Engagements (12-16%)
# Professional Responsibilities (including Ethics and Independence) (16-20%)

===Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)===
The Business Environment and Concepts portion lasts 2.5 hours. The following six topics are part of this section:
# Corporate Governance (16-20%)
# Economic Concepts and Analysis (16-20%)
# Financial Management (19-23%)
# Information Systems and Communication (15-19%)
# Strategic Planning (10-14%)
# Operations Management (12-16%)

===Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)===
The Financial Accounting and Reporting portion lasts 4.0 hours. The following five topics are part of this section:
# Conceptual Framework, Standards, Standard Setting and Presentation of Financial Statements (17-23%)
# Financial Statement Accounts: Recognition, Measurement, Valuation, Calculation, Presentation, and Disclosures (27-33%)
# Specific Transactions, Events and Disclosures (27-33%)
# Governmental Accounting and Reporting (8-12%)
# Not-for-Profit (Nongovernmental) Accounting and Reporting (8-12%)

===Regulation (REG)===
The Regulation portion lasts 3.0 hours. The following six topics are part of this section:
# Ethics, Professional and Legal Responsibilities (15-19%)
# Business Law (17-21%)
# Federal Tax Process, Procedures, Accounting and Planning (11-15%)
# Federal Taxation of Property Transactions (12-16%)
# Federal Taxation of Individuals (13-19%)
# Federal Taxation of Entities (18-24%)

==FAQ==
In addition to the following questions, which are geared towards future academics, the AICPA also answers some [http://www.aicpa.org/Becoming+a+CPA/CPA+Candidates+and+Students/Becoming+A+CPA.htm Frequently Asked Questions] regarding the CPA exam and the CPA credential. The official web page for the Uniform CPA Exam also answers many [http://www.cpa-exam.org/cpa/computer_faqs.html Frequently Asked Questions] about the exam itself.

===What resources are available to help me review for the CPA exam?===
* [http://www.beckercpa.com/ Becker CPA Review] is generally considered to be the best CPA review course. Most students who use Becker choose the in-class instruction option, which provides course manuals, offers in-class instruction several nights each week, and assigns homework for each class. This method is purported to have a very high success rate; however, it is also very expensive.
* [http://www.wiley.com/cpa Wiley CPA Exam Review] is not quite as structured as Becker, perhaps, but it is much cheaper and is sufficient. If you've done relatively well in your courses at BYU, this should be enough to help you pass the exam. Though, additional material is on the CPA exam that is not covered in BYU's accounting program. In particular, accounting for non-profits and governmental entities on the exam but is not taught at BYU.

===Where can I find information about the CPA exam requirements for each state?===
The [http://www.beckercpa.com/state/index.cfm Becker CPA Review] website has a comprehensive listing of the CPA requirements for each state.

Additionally, you could try the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy [http://nasba.org/nasbaweb/NASBAWeb.nsf/WPHP?OpenForm (NASBA)]. While they possess all the information you would ever need, accessing the information is difficult. Each state has a NASBA representative assigned to it, and the helpfulness of the representatives varies wildly by state.

The AICPA has also created a [http://www.aicpa.org/download/states/require_pract.pdf document] that lists all of the requirements for certification and a permit to practice in each state.

===How can I be a CPA without any work experience?===
There is a difference between passing the CPA exam, receiving certification, and meeting the necessary requirements for licensing and public practice. In most states, once you meet the minimum degree and course requirements, you can sit for the CPA exam. After this point, most states require those who pass the exam to meet certain work requirements before they can receive a certificate showing that they passed the exam. This requirement is met by crossing one of two thresholds, either (1) working a specified minimum number of hours or (2) working in professional practice for a certain number of years after finishing your degree. Each state sets its own requirements for certification.

Additionally, some states require that certified professionals receive more experience beyond the aforementioned requirements before they receive a license to practice.

Though, keep in mind that some states do not have experience requirements for certification or licensing to practice; e.g., Colorado, Florida, Maryland, and Puerto Rico. Others allow substitution of additional education for experience. The AICPA has created a [http://www.aicpa.org/download/states/require_pract.pdf document] that compares the educational and experience requirements for each state. Note: The posting date for this comparison is not listed, so always be sure to check with each state's own board of accountancy for current requirements.

===How can I study for the CPA without a firm to purchase study materials?===
Without proper study materials, taking and passing the CPA exam may be difficult. In addition to buying the materials, there are many different ways to obtain study materials. Several options are available to the diligent seeker.

* [http://www.financialprep.com/ Financialprep.com] offers a free trial version of their practice test software, which contains 100 questions per section. 100 questions is sufficient to give one a general sense of how the questions on the test are.

* If you are currently a doctoral student, you may approach one of the companies that provides CPA study material. They sometimes give free copies to future professors. Contact the representative who services your school to discuss this possibility.

* Becker has several ways in which to get free or discounted materials. If you work as the one campus representative for BYU, then you can get a Becker course for free. Dr. Black has something to do with the selection process for campus representatives. Further, you can help set up the classroom for the classroom reviews Becker does, and they will give you a $500 discount.

* You can purchase hugely discounted Becker (as well as other brands) materials from Amazon.com or eBay.com. The ethicality of this is in question. While the [http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=45241 100 Hour Board] at BYU claimed it was fine and legal, many (especially Becker and other test prep publishers with financial incentives to do so) would tell you it is not.

* Consider borrowing materials from someone who has already taken the test. However, the same ethical issue is involved as in purchasing it from Amazon or eBay.

* Some of the preparation courses are actually reasonably priced, between $300-400. Still a lot for a starving student, but this is a far cry from the $2700 Becker wants. One that has recently worked for a recent Ph.D. Prep student who passed all four sections the first time is the [http://www.wiley.com/cpa.html Wiley CPA] software and books.

* The Accounting lab at Utah Valley University has a current, full set of the Gleim materials for use in the lab. You could go over there or somehow petition [http://www.gleim.com/accounting/cpa/ Gleim] to outfit our lab as they have the UVU lab. The BYU library currently has limited materials in its collections.

* You might consider just taking a couple of the sections without studying, and see how it goes. BYU has a very good program and you might find that you pass without much, if any, preparation. Do this at your own risk, as it is somewhat expensive to retake exams. But you might save on prep materials and extra working hours. Though, keep in mind that not all topics on the CPA exam are taught in the courses at BYU.

===How long will it take to get the CPA?===
In the summer of 2008, there were several Ph.D. prep students who decided to sit for the CPA exam. The goal was to finish all portions of the exam before Ph.D. programs began. So far, the endeavor has been successful. Before you decide to take the exam consider two important questions: (1) how long will it take to study for the CPA and (2) is it worth it? The first question is considered on this page, the second question is considered in the above section on the benefits of receiving the CPA designation for academics.

The first question is quantitative in nature, but can vary greatly by candidate. One student who took the exam in the summer of 2008 kept track of all the studying he did for it, in order that other candidates might be able to see how long it takes. About this student: He had not taken advanced financial, audit, or managerial accounting, and is not naturally inclined to do well in accounting. Given this, much more study was required for him that would be required for an average Ph.D. prep track student doing the professional stem. Some of his cohorts in the prep track who took the test studied considerably less (50-80% less time), and did equally well.

Further, note that a 75 is required to pass the exam. Any score above a 75 can be viewed as over preparation for the exam (of course, assuming one is interested in the acquisition of accounting knowledge, scoring higher is a good thing). This student exceeded 75 on all the tests--and was thus over prepared for all four sections of the exam. Further, there were some logistical problems that created issues, requiring even more study time for this person.

Those three qualifiers being stated, [http://phdprep.byu.edu/index.php?title=Image:CPA_study.xls here is a spreadsheet] that contains the hours studied and the results of the CPA exams for this student. Hopefully they will help you have a better idea of how much time is required to pass the CPA exam.

==External Links==
For additional information, take a look at the following websites:
* [http://www.cpa-exam.org/ The Uniform CPA Exam] - This is the official site for the CPA exam. It has a lot of information about the CPA exam itself. Also, interestingly enough, it contains press bulletins listing passing rates for each of the four portions for the past several quarters (currently about 50%).
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Certified_Public_Accountant_Examination Wikipedia: The CPA Exam] - This is a great resource that describes the actual examination process.
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Public_Accountant Wikipedia: Certified Public Accountant] - This resource explains a little bit about what CPA's do. Additionally, it contains links to many international professional accounting organizations.
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Institute_of_Certified_Public_Accountants Wikipedia: AICPA] - This site explains some of the basics about the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), which is the professional organization for CPA's in the United States.
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_State_Boards_of_Accountancy Wikipedia: NASBA] - This site explains some of the basics about the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), which is the umbrella group of state boards of accountancy.
* [http://www.nasba.org/ NASBA] - The official website for NASBA.
* [http://www.aicpa.org/ AICPA] - The official website for the AICPA.
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How do I prepare for comprehensive exams?

2009-03-27T00:25:02Z

Emetts:

At most Ph.D. programs, students are required to pass at least one comprehensive exam after finishing coursework and before starting the dissertation. This exam usually consists of testing a students knowledge of the literature and of research methodologies. Here are a few suggestions to make passing this exam easier.

* Prepare for the exam during your seminars. For each paper that you read, write a summary of the research question that is being addressed, how the question was addressed, and what are the major findings. This will save you a significant amount of time when you are studying as you will not have to go back and review each paper. After you discuss each paper, update your "what, why, how" to include any major discussion items from class.

* Volunteer to discuss the most difficult papers in each seminar. You are going to have to know the literature and by putting in the time to learn the most difficult papers earlier in the program, you will be better prepared for comps.

* Consider creating or using a framework suggest as the one created by [[Christensen, Ted|Ted Christensen]] (see [https://marriottschool.byu.edu/emp/tc259/accframework/ Accounting Research Framework Database]). This can help you see the "big picture."
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Where can I find teaching opportunities?

2009-03-27T00:24:32Z

Emetts:

While at BYU you have several options for teaching opportunities.
* Ask [[Prawitt, Doug|Doug Prawitt]] about teaching at the BYU - Salt Lake Center.
* Contact UVSC. There have been a couple BYU students recently teach at UVSC, teaching financial and managerial accounting, and business math. They pay about $1600 a semester (As of February 2008).
* Contact Provo College. They pay less than UVSC and require more preparation. Provo College is not accredited by the AACSB.
* Contact LDS Business College

Sometimes schools will have needs outside of accounting. For example, past Ph.D. prep students have taught various math classes at Provo College.
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How do you succeed in a Ph.D. program?

2009-03-27T00:22:53Z

Emetts:

This is a question that is asked by every prospective Ph.D. student and there are many sources of advice. The best available advice on the internet is from fields other than accounting but most of it applies to accounting. See the list of links and citations below.

21 blog posts describing "grad school rulz" from orgtheory.net (http://orgtheory.wordpress.com/grad-skool-rulz/).

Advice from top economists for young economists compiled by Ngan Dinh of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program Vietnam Program of the Harvard School of Government (http://dinhvutrangngan.com/advice.html).

Getting the Most from Your Doctoral Program: Advice for the Ph.D. Student in Finance, by Frank Alpert and Thomas H. Eyssell, Journal of Financial Education, Fall 1995
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Am I cutting off options by deciding to do the Prep Track?

2009-03-27T00:22:09Z

Emetts:

Doing the Prep Track does not necessarily limit your options within public accounting should you choose not to pursue a Ph.D. The Prep Track may even open up unique opportunities because of the unique skill sets you have begun to develop in the Prep Track (e.g., statistical training, SAS training, reading/understanding research).

If you decide to not pursue a Ph.D. and want to work outside of public accounting, the quantitative background of the Prep Track may work to your advantage. Previous prep track members have gone into investment banking, consulting, internal auditing, and other areas. Their specialized knowledge has helped them to do well in these other areas.
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Should I get a Ph.D. in a subject area other than accounting?

2009-03-27T00:21:29Z

Emetts:

Although the purpose of this website is to help potential doctoral students to receive a Ph.D. in accounting, there are still viable reasons for choosing an area of specialty other than accounting. For many people, a Ph.D. in accounting may be too focused (i.e. their research interests may lie outside of the typical accounting research streams). Ultimately, the potential academic should weigh other options carefully to determine the path that will lead to both career and personal success. Most importantly, you should choose a research and teaching concentration that can sustain your intellectual drive and passion.

Many doctoral business programs around the country offer a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) rather than a specific PhD in accounting. Many [[University Information|research intensive programs]] award a DBA to their doctoral students who choose to specialize or concentrate in accounting. Because emphasis is put on learning the skills to research effectively, many seminars for doctoral students include students from all concentrations. You may share graduate courses with students who are specializing in economics, finance, organizational behavior, marketing, etc.

Although the academic community may not differentiate between those with DBAs and those with PhDs for hiring practices, some subtle differences may exist in program outlines. Institutions offering DBAs focus more on the practical applications of research, whereas PhD programs tend to focus more on theoretical applications. DBA programs focus on preparing students for solving real-world problems facing management. PhD programs focus on the economic and behavioral underpinnings in research. The skills learned in each program are similar, but graduates from DBA programs may be more inclined to enter the private sector and not stay in academia, than will graduates from PhD programs.

==External Links==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Business_Administration Wikipedia: DBA] - This page provides basic information about DBAs.
* [http://www.hbs.edu/doctoral/programs/dbavsphd.html Harvard Business School] - Harvard Business School, which offers both a DBA and a PhD, addresses the DBA vs. PhD question. Harvard's doctoral accounting students are enrolled in its DBA program.
* [http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php?topic=53160.0 Chronicle.com] - This is an online forum that addresses the differences between PhDs and DBAs in Accounting.
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What classes should I take?

2009-03-27T00:20:14Z

Emetts:

What is most important for a Ph.D. student to know before entering a Ph.D. program depends to a degree on the [[Research Interests|type of research]] that the student wants to conduct. The three "tracts" of research can be separated based on whether the student is interested in conducting [[analytical]], [[archival]], or [[experimental]] research.

===[[Analytical]] Skill Sets===
Students that are successfull in analytical fields often have engineering, math, or physics undergraduate degrees. If one is to master analytical accounting research, advanced mathematical skills are necessary. Good classes to take would be Econ 382 (Price Theory) and Econ 478 (Game Theory). Any of the 500 level Econ classes would also help. A potential analyst should consider pursing either a minor or a in economics and might consider spending some extra time to get a double major in economics.

===[[Archival]] Skill Sets===
Future archival researchers should consider taking Econ 588 rather than Stat 512. Additionally, it would be beneficial to take Stat 441 and 442, which are similar to 588 but are more in depth. The prerequisite for Stat 441 is Math 214 (Multivariable Calculus), so you will need to plan ahead if you need to take more math to get prepared. More math is also preferred. Linear Algebra is probably more important than Multivariable Calculus if one has to choose.

There are two linear algebra courses offered at BYU: Math 343 and Math 302 (which spends only half of the semester on linear algebra). Math 343 is a more theoretical course and as such is a rigorous course in mathematics. Students are expected not only to master computations, but also to demonstrate their understanding of linear algebra by creating abstract proofs. Developing proficiency in critical thinking and logical inference is a major goal of Math 343. Math 302 is Mathematics for Engineering I and covers multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and numerical methods. It is also known as applied linear algebra. The prerequisite for Math 343 is Math 112 or 119 and it is a 3 credit class. The prerequisite for Math 302 is Math 113 and it is a 4 credit class.

I took Math 343 after I had taken Econ 378, 388, and 588 (the statistical economics courses) and found that the first third of the class was somewhat of a review. Taking Math 343 before those courses could be an advantage. In either case, I still think it is beneficial to take a rigorous math course that requires doing a lot of proofs. The last part of the course gets into some of the foundations for OLS regression.

If you are worried about your math skills as you prepare to take the pre-Ph.D. classes, the engineering school offers a math refresher course, Eng T 295R. It is designed for engineering majors who took calculus before their missions and need to get back up to speed after having been away from school for a while. It is a review of basic techniques of algebra, trigonometry, differential calculus, integral calculus, and series and sequences. Calculus becomes important in the economics courses required for the prep track.

===[[Experimental]] Skill Sets===
One of the most important skills to develop as an experimentalist is research design. The strength of experimental methodology is internal validity. Experimentalists should rarely, if ever, sacrifice internal validity to achieve other types of validity; thus, being able to design high quality experiments is very important. To develop this skill, a Ph.D. prep student would benefit from a detailed study of Cook and Campbell, an experimental design class (Stat 431), and attempting to design an experiment and then seeking feedback from an experimentalist.

Experimental research is not as popular in accounting as archival research. An experimentalist may wish to take Stat 512 instead of Econ 588. Stat 512 goes over topics that are more relevant to experiments, such as experimental design and MANOVA whereas Econ 588 is more aimed at archival research methods. Since experiments are not the dominant paradigm in accounting research, experimentalists should be conversant in archival research methodologies. Because of this, an experimentalist may wish to take Econ 588 to develop these skills and to make life easier in your Ph.D. program (when you are likely to take similar classes).

The readings seminar provides a great opportunity to discuss the design and experiment in experimental papers. Especially when the author leads to the class discussion, take the opportunity to discuss the instrument they used and ask questions about their design choices. Even looking at the instrument from someone’s experiment provides a lot of insight as to what goes into a good design.

Since there are not lot of classes related to experimental research at BYU, take the time to read some books. As mentioned earlier, Shadish, Cook and Campbell is a book you should take very seriously when you take it with Doug. Read it again towards the end of the program as well because you will appreciate it even more after taking the other classes.

Sarah Bonner has a book, “Judgment and Decision Making in Accounting” that provides a good framework for the literature. Use the first couple chapters to get an understating of the framework and then the latter chapters provide a good review of the literature if you have an area of interest and want to know what papers to read.

An overall heads up for all of the methodologies, the Econ Probability and Stats course at BYU is a good fundamental class. Many of the things you learn in that course, especially the math, will be considered review material and surpassed quickly in a PhD Probability and Stats course. Also, the Wackerly book used for that class, Mathematical Statistics, is probably worth keeping as a resource.

==Short Description of Classes==
===Required Courses===
The following are courses required for the Ph.D. Prep Track:

====PhD Prep Specific====
*'''Acc 516''' This class goes over the basics of the theory of science and research methodology. The class will also offer an introduction to accounting literature. The class requires a lot of reading.
*'''Acc 517''' This class teaches the basics of SAS, a statistical software package commonly used in accounting research. While the class is only one credit, be prepared to dedicate a large block of time to it each week.
*'''Acc 591R''' This is a readings class. The curriculum varies each semester so students are required to take it every semester that they are not enrolled in Acc 516 or Acc 517. Generally the class requires students to read, discuss, and present on accounting literature.

====Statistics====
* '''Stat 511''' This class is a refresher course on basic statistics, most of which was learned in Stat 221. However, there are a few topics that will be relatively new.
* '''Stat 512''' This class continues where 511 left off. It goes into more detail with different types of tests and corrections. Topics include MANOVA, experimental design, logit regressions, and autocorrelation corrections. It is recommended that one take this class for preparation in performing experimental research.

====Economics====
* '''Econ 378''' This course goes into the basic mathematics behind the statistics learned in Stat 221. The course does require calculus, but don't worry too much if you are rusty. The first day of class usually includes a review of Calculus that can bring a student up to speed.
* '''Econ 380''' This is a microeconomics course. Essentially you take the concepts learned about in Econ 110 and learn the math behind it. Similar to Econ 378, this class requires Calculus and it also generally has a Calculus refresher the first day of class.
* '''Econ 381''' This class goes over Macroeconomics. This class focuses on models that explain the economy and some basics of economic governance. While the class claims to require Calculus, generally very little (in some cases none) is required.
* '''Econ 388''' Econometrics is a difficult class for most students. The class covers the linear algebra behind regression analysis. While you are not required to take linear algebra before taking this class, it will give you a competitive advantage.
* '''Econ 588''' This class picks up from where Econ 388 left off, covering more advanced econometric topics. Again, this is a challenging class for most students. It is recommended that you take this class if you plan on doing archival research.

===Recommended Courses===
The following are courses recommended for those considering research in a certain methodology:

====Archival Research====
* '''Stat 124''' SAS Certification 1. If you want to beef up your SAS skills before entering a PhD program, consider getting SAS certified. Stat 124 and Stat 324 are a block classes on SAS that will prepare you to become SAS certified.
* '''Stat 212''' Statistical Computing 1.
* '''Stat 324''' Advanced SAS Programming Certification. See Stat 124 description.
* '''Stat 412''' Statistical Computing 2.
* '''Math 214''' Calculus of Several Variables. This class covers topics such as partial differentiation, the Jacobian Matrix, and integral theorems of vector calculus.
* '''Math 343''' Elementary Linear Algebra. This class covers basic matrix algebra. Topics include linear systems, vectors and vector spaces, linear transformations, determinants, inner product spaces, eigenvalues, and eigenvectors.
* '''Econ 382''' Intermediate Price Theory 2. This class follows up on what was learned in Econ 380. Topics covered include Welfare Theory, imperfect information, imperfect competition (in more depth), uncertainty, externalities, and public goods.

====Experimental Research====
* '''Stat 321''' Elements of Mathematical Statistics. This class looks at probability, random variables, frequency distributions, estimation and tests of hypotheses from a theoretical stand point.
* '''Stat 435''' Nonparametric Statistical Models. This class goes over permutation tests, rank-based models, analysis of contingency tables, bootstrap methods, and curve fitting.
* '''Econ 382''' Intermediate Price Theory 2. See description above.
* '''Econ 478''' Game Theory and Economics. This class applies game theory to the study of interactions between people and organizations. It looks at topics such as imperfect competition, insurance markets and bargaining. Strong math skills are recommended.

==Other Course Suggestions==
Here are some other tips on [[Course Requirements for the Ph.D. Prep Track at BYU|course requirements]] for the Ph.D. Prep Track. Also, here are several [[Suggestions from past Ph.D. Prep Track students about classes at BYU|suggestions from past students]] on classes at BYU.

Here are several minor options for Prep Track Students:
* [[Undergraduate Economics Minor]]
* [[Undergraduate Accounting and Economics Dual Major]]
* [[Graduate Statistics Minor]]
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Why I didn't get a Ph.D.

2009-03-27T00:19:44Z

Emetts:

==Jonathan Liljegren's Story==
I guess you could say I had everything going for me to get into a great doctoral program in accounting. I had started working on research with [[Christensen, Ted|Ted Christensen]] and [[Black, Erv|Erv Black]] before I left on my mission gathering data for their Pro-Forma Earnings analysis papers. After the junior core I began working as a research assistant to [[Glover, Steven|Steve Glover ]]and worked on a few papers. I had entered the PhD Prep track with every intention of pursuing a doctorate at a university that specialized in behavioral audit, but somewhere things changed. That somewhere was on Highway 101 in San Jose, California.

I had gone to San Jose to work for Ernst & Young during the summer. It was all part of my "Big Plan" to work in audit for a few years before going back to get my PhD (remember that I was an RA for [[Glover, Steven|Steve Glover]]). The only problem was after two weeks of auditing Hewlett Packard I realized on my commute home from Palo Alto on Highway 101 that auditing was not for me. I admit that my dislike for audit doesn't necessarily mean that I couldn't pursue a doctorate in accounting. However, I came to realize that the tools I had been given in this life would be put to greatest use in consulting. More importantly, I believe I would be a more enjoyable person after coming home from a consulting job versus coming home from an audit engagement. It is the old adage "''Choose a profession that you love and you will never work a day in your life.''"

In a way I should have seen it coming. My goal when I graduated from high school was to get my accounting degree from BYU and work as a consultant for Arthur Andersen in the Bay Area. Well, the dream of working for Arthur Andersen is never going to come true. But I did learn a lesson from my experience. As we are accepted to one of the best accounting programs in the ''universe'' we can lose sight of where we really want to go. Let me be clear that I really thought I wanted to be a professor, but the reason I was interested in becoming a professor was because I love to teach and I could do freelance consulting on the side. So in a way, my potential side job has now become my career.

There is still a possibility that I will return to a PhD Program someday but it would probably be a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA).

===My Advice===
* Auditing, consulting, or investment banking may be better options for you if you find yourself more interested in how the research could be implemented than actually doing the research.
* Consider just getting an economics minor in conjunction with your undergraduate accounting degree if you're not sure about a PhD ([[What will I learn in the Prep Track that I won't learn elsewhere?|course comparison]]). You can socialize with all of the Prep Track students in your economics classes and see if what they are talking about still interests you.
* You don't have to love accounting research or fully understand it at this point, but if the very thought of running regressions and digging through statistics the rest of your life makes your stomach churn then follow your gut and don't get a doctorate.

==Brad Gibb's Story==
My decision to not pursue a PhD was ''not'' based on a realization that I dislike what is involved in earning a PhD or the future career that it would allow me to have but instead it was based on the fact that I learned that I have other goals, desires, and passions that I enjoy ''more'' than a PhD. I originally entered the accounting program at BYU with no intent of ever being an accountant or getting a CPA. I entered because accounting, as I was told, is the language of business and I wanted to speak that language. I planned on eventually owning and operating a small business of some kind so some firsthand knowledge or the basics of business seemed like it would be useful to me. Additionally, the program was one of the best in the universe.

As I went through the Jr. Core, I was slowly lulled into believing, as one may easily be convinced, that all those with an accounting degree is destined to work for a Big 4 accounting firm. This was a short lived courtship and as soon as the opportunity of a PhD was presented, I was in. I knew I loved teaching, I knew I have the intellectual ability, and (maybe the most important) I didn't hate school. All of these made me think I would be a good candidate. The bonus to all this was the more I was exposed to research the more I enjoyed it.

Only one doubt remained. I knew I had an appetite for what I called ''the adrenaline'' of the business world. I knew I would miss the excitement of working on my own company and enchantment of what is the entrepreneurship spirit. The changing point in my decision began the summer before my last year. I quit my job keeping books for a company and along with my brother and two partners, began investing in real estate. Our small group's holding quickly grew and I began to feel the adrenaline that I was missing in the PhD world. From the investing in real estate, I began to see numerous other opportunities and began to see where I would be most happy. I began again to look outside accounting and realized there are many jobs that would build on the base of accounting I had acquired other skill sets that will eventually prove valuable to me.

Unfortunately, I made the decision to not get a PhD a bit late. It wasn't until the end of the fall semester, while others were preparing to take the GMAT, that I decided not to apply for a PhD. While there are still opportunities for work, most companies recruit for their most desirable jobs during the fall semesters.

At this point, the possibility of my coming back to do a PhD is not likely.

===My Advice===
* '''''Before you start your senior year''''' you need to decide whether or not you will pursue a doctorate degree immediately after graduation. If you wait until winter semester to decide that you don't want to pursue a doctorate program and instead would like to work you will have missed the key recruiting opportunities available in fall semester.
* Remember that your only choices are not between a PhD and the Big 4. Its not even between a PhD and public accounting. You are graduating from one of the premier business programs with many added skills that few other business students possess. There are many jobs in consulting, banking, finance, industry, and more that will build your skills, provide very well for your family, and will still allow you to have a life when you come home from work.
* Any career worth having (PhD included) will require an upfront sacrifice. Any career requires that you put in your time before you get the perks associated with that particular career. Putting in your time at a Big 4 will require 50 to 60 to 70 hrs weeks, and so will the 4 to 5 years that it takes to earn a PhD. Putting in your time at a company to work up the ladder, or at a bank to become a VP or even to start your own company will require a significant sacrifice. It need not consume you, but even a PhD will be 4 to 5 years of long weeks followed by years working hard to earn tenure. I agree with Jonathan. Do what you love and you won't work a day in your life. But don't choose a career because of the work/life balance ''alone''. Don't kid yourself that the PhD road will be easier than others. The thing that makes it easier is that those who make it through love it, not because it requires less of you.
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What will I learn in the Prep Track that I won't learn elsewhere?

2009-03-27T00:16:10Z

Emetts: adding bread crumbs

==Introduction==
Many students who enter the Ph.D. Prep Track [[Why I didn't get a Ph.D.|choose not to pursue]] doctoral studies for many reasons following completion of the MAcc Program at BYU. For that reason, some may wonder about the benefits of the Ph.D. Prep Track, which is an integral part of the Professional and Tax Routes at BYU, as compared with the more general approach taken by most students in the MAcc Program.

==Course Comparison==
The following table displays required courses for completion of the MAcc Program and compares each specific option to the other available options in the program. This schedule is flexible and can be customized based on feedback from the Prep track coordinator and individual students. See the Prep track coordinator for all scheduling issues.

<big>'''Course Comparison between the Tax and Professional Routes'''</big>

{| {{table}}
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Course'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|''' Credits'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Pro Route'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Ph.D. Prof'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Tax Route'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Ph.D. Tax'''
|-
| '''MSM Graduate Core'''||||||||||||
|-
| Finance||MBA 520|| 3.0 ||x||x||x||x
|-
| Operations Management||MBA 530|| 3.0 ||x||x||x||x
|-
| Organizational Behavior||MBA 540|| 3.0 ||x||x||x||x
|-
| Marketing Management||MBA 550|| 3.0 ||x||x||x||x
|-
| Management Seminar||MBA 593R|| 0.5 ||x||x||x||x
|-
| Communications||MBA 509|| 3.0 ||x||x||x||x
|-
| |||||| 15.5 || 15.5 || 15.5 || 15.5
|-
| ||||||||||||
|-
| '''General SOA/Management'''||||||||||||
|-
| Money, Banking, & Business||Acc 453|| 3.0 ||x||||x||
|-
| Strategic Management||MBA 581|| 3.0 ||x||x||x||x
|-
| Ethics, Business, & Society||P Mgt 582|| 3.0 ||x||x||x||x
|-
| |||||| 9.0 || 6.0 || 9.0 || 6.0
|-
| ||||||||||||
|-
| '''General Accounting - Professional'''||||||||||||
|-
| Research Seminar||Acc 515|| 3.0 ||x||||||
|-
| Advanced Taxation||Acc 522|| 3.0 ||x||||||
|-
| Accounting Information Systems Risk and Control||Acc 525|| 3.0 ||x||x||||
|-
| Advanced Financial Statement Auditing||Acc 530|| 3.0 ||x||x||||
|-
| Advanced Managerial Accounting||Acc 531|| 1.5 ||x||x||||
|-
| Advanced Professional Financial Accounting||Acc 540|| 3.0 ||x||x||||
|-
| Financial Statement Analysis||Acc 541|| 1.5 ||x||x||||
|-
| Fraud Prevention & Detection||Acc 550|| 3.0 ||x||||||
|-
| Finance Elective||MBA 621-9|| 3.0 ||x||||||
|-
| Elective 1|||| 3.0 ||x||||||
|-
| Elective 2 (Non-Accounting)|||| 3.0 ||x||||||
|-
| Elective 3 (Non-Accounting)|||| 3.0 ||x||||||
|-
| |||||| 33.0 || 12.0 || - || -
|-
| ||||||||||||
|-
| '''General Accounting - Tax'''||||||||||||
|-
| Advanced Financial Accounting||Acc 503|| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Advanced Taxation OR||Acc 522|| 3.0 |||||||| x
|-
| Tax Research Methodology||Acc 523|| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Special Problems in Federal Taxation||Acc 560|| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Corporate Taxation I||Acc 561|| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Corporate Taxation II||Acc 562|| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Taxation of Partnerships||Acc 563|| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Taxation of Estates, Gifts and Fiduciaries||Acc 564|| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Federal Income Taxation||MBA 602|| 3.0 |||||||| x
|-
| Tax Elective 1||Acc 5xx|| 3.0 |||||| x || x
|-
| Tax Elective 2||Acc 5xx|| 3.0 |||||||| x
|-
| Elective 1|||| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Elective 2 (Non-Accounting)|||| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| Elective 3 (Non-Accounting)|||| 3.0 |||||| x ||
|-
| |||||| - || - || 33.0 || 12.0
|-
| ||||||||||||
|-
| ||||||||||||
|-
| '''General Ph.D. Prep Courses'''||||||||||||
|-
| Introduction to Academic Research||Acc 516|| 3.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| Academic Research Applications||Acc 517|| 1.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| Readings & Conference||Acc 591R|| 2.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| Statistical Methods for Research I||Stat 511|| 3.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| Statistical Methods for Research II OR||Stat 512|| 3.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| Econometrics||Econ 588|| 3.0 ||||||||
|-
| Statistics for Economists||Econ 378|| 3.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| Intermediate Price Theory I||Econ 380|| 3.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| Intermediate Macroeconomics||Econ 381|| 3.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| Introduction to Econometrics||Econ 388|| 3.0 ||||x||||x
|-
| |||||| - || 24.0 || - || 24.0
|-
| ||||||||||||
|-
| '''Total Credits'''|||||| 57.5 || 57.5 || 57.5 || 57.5
|-
|
|}

A couple notes about the table:
* Make sure to review the updated course list from the accounting department before adding classes to your schedule.
* The Ph.D. Prep Track is an integral part of each of the Professional and Tax Routes. The major differences as shown in the table are the substitution of certain professional and tax electives for additional courses in economics and statistics.
* Tax students may also choose between taking Advanced Taxation (Acc 522) and Tax Research Methodology (Acc 523).
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History of the Prep Track

2009-03-26T23:44:36Z

Emetts:

The [[Main Page|BYU Accounting Ph.D. prep track]] has its informal roots in 1994, when BYU accounting faculty member [[Prawitt, Doug|Doug Prawitt]] encountered several students who had an interest in pursuing an academic career but had little idea what earning a Ph.D. entailed; moreover, since academia is suffering from a significant long-term shortage of accounting professors and is projected to face even more significant shortages in the future, [http://aaahq.org/temp/phd/AccountingFacultyUSCollegesUniv.pdf] the program seemed ideally suited for the situation.

Department approval to begin the SOA Ph.D. Prep track was received in 1996, and several students were mentored on an individual basis through 1999. The Ph.D. Prep track was launched on a larger scale in 2000, when Professor Prawitt began proactively recruiting Jr. Core accounting students into the program, initiated a formal application process, and created a new Ph.D. Prep seminar designed to introduce Ph.D. Prep students to the philosophy of science and academic research in accounting.[http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2074] In 2002, seven students from the initial group that began the Ph.D. Prep track in 2000 entered accounting Ph.D. programs at [[Stanford University]], [[University of Chicago]], [[Cornell University]] and other top universities that fall. Each year since that time, the program has placed between four and eleven students into excellent Ph.D. programs across the country.

The program has steadily grown and evolved with the help of several members of BYU's accounting faculty. Several faculty members have contributed significantly to the program's development, including Professor [[Christensen, Ted|Ted Christensen's]] initiation of a course in 2005 that introduces students to financial accounting research and instructs them on the basics of the widely used SAS programming language. Several other faculty members make regular voluntary contributions of time and energy by visiting the Ph.D. Prep seminar, hosting academic research readings sessions, and mentoring students. As of the Fall of 2008, the leadership of the Ph.D. Prep track consists of Professors Doug Prawitt (Coordinator), Ted Christensen, and [[Wood, David|David Wood]].

The primary objective of the Ph.D. prep track program is to provide students with an excellent pre-Ph.D. preparation. Our preparation objectives are concentrated in four areas:

# Provide an excellent quantitative preparation through coursework:
## Mathematical foundation (differential and integral calculus, matrix math)
## Theoretical statistics (mathematical statistics, distributions, probability theory)
## Applied statistics (hypothesis testing, statistical tests, general linear model, experimental design, econometrics, statistical software, etc.)
# Provide a foundational understanding of and experience with academic research:
## Introduction to Academic Research Seminar (Acc. 516--introduction to the scientific method and the philosophy of science, development of research questions, academic writing, research paradigms and methods, etc.)
## Participation in 1 credit-hour academic research readings seminars led by Professor Ted Christensen (for financial research) and by volunteer faculty members every semester except when enrolled in Acc. 516.
## Active participation in faculty research workshops
## Research Assistantship (RA) with faculty member active in academic research, participating in meaningful research projects.
# Provide an introductory teaching experience:
## BYU
## UVSC
## BYU—Salt Lake Center
## Other opportunities
# Provide advice and guidance on preparing for and applying to a Ph.D. program:
## Regular meetings with Ph.D. Prep Track coordinator
## Establishment of a mentoring relationship with a faculty member (ideally through RA position), and informal, regular visits with other faculty members.
## Regular social events at Ph.D. Prep Track coordinator’s home to help create a strong group identity.

Ph.D. Prep Track alumni are also invited back to BYU to participate in the [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/soa/ School of Accountancy's] annual ''[[BYU Accounting Research Symposium| Accounting Research Symposium]]''.[http://marriottschool.byu.edu/conferences/accountingsymposium/] [http://marriottschool.byu.edu/marriottmag/winter07/features/spfeature1.cfm]
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What should I expect when I go on the road with my dissertation?

2009-03-19T23:09:54Z

Emetts: New page: ---- {|style="width:100%;margin-top:+.7em;" |-align="center" ! style="background:#fafaFe; color:black; height: 20px" | <small>Main Page ► Research ► [[What should I expect when...

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What is the best way to manage the review process?

2009-03-19T23:08:53Z

Emetts:

==Managing the Review Process – Advice for the Accounting Academic==
'''Contributed by Derek K. Oler'''

===Overview===

The review process is an important tool that you can use to improve your research, and it is the pathway to publications in academic journals; therefore, it needs to be carefully managed. Although there are unfortunate exceptions, the review report(s) and comments from the editor reflect a detailed and critical reading of your paper by objective (and often very smart) 3rd parties, and so their advice should be very carefully considered. This often takes time. Seeking the advice of senior colleagues is very helpful. If the editor allows a resubmission then you should prepare a detailed response to both the review report(s) and the editorial’s suggestions. Be courteous. Even if the paper is rejected, the comments are still often useful, and should be carefully considered before you send the paper elsewhere.

===Introduction===

The review process is a critical component of our academic system. Editors and reviewers play a key role as gatekeepers over what gets admitted into the accounting literature. A poor paper that is accepted can be very embarrassing to those involved; therefore, editors and reviewers are rigorous and will err on the side of rejecting a paper. Top journals typically have an acceptance rate of around 10%.

An accepted paper is a form of academic currency, and without accepted papers (especially at top journals), you will not get tenure. This means that the review process is also emotionally difficult as well as intellectually challenging. Success at this game requires hard work and persistence.

While this article is focused on managing the review process, I note that the review process is intimately connected with the overall management of your research project. Don’t take on a project when you can’t see a clear path to your targeted range of journals. Never send a paper for review that has not been read by anyone other than you and your co-author. Have some colleagues read it and give you critical feedback; these can be individuals at your current university, and faculty you know from your PhD as well as colleagues you meet at conferences, etc. Ideally, you should submit the paper to one or more conferences to get some exposure for it. Conference participants will likely not give your paper a detailed read, but the discussant probably will, and the act of presenting paper will sometimes reveal flaws that should be fixed before you submit the paper for review. Tell friends at other schools that you have a new research paper that you’d love to present at their workshop sometime…maybe they can fit you in. Post the paper on SSRN when it’s in good shape. An editor who recognizes your name will be more favorably disposed to your submission, and a paper free of obvious mistakes is more likely to be carefully read.

Your writing should be as clear and succinct as possible. A great idea, even with fabulous statistics, will be quickly overshadowed by poor exposition. If you read over the paper and find yourself saying “the reader will figure things out by the end of the paper,” it is very likely that the reviewer will not bother to reach the end of the paper. Make it as easy as possible for your reader to understand why your paper is important, and what your key results are...in the introduction, so the editor and reviewers don’t have to go hunting for it. Papers that are convoluted, repetitive, or have grammatical errors, suggest sloppy thinking, and the reviewer will react accordingly. Finally, my personal rule of thumb is to keep the text down to under 30 double-spaced pages; longer papers are less likely to get a careful and thorough read. Another signal of good research that reviewers will appreciate is to include (usually in the conclusion) some discussion of possible limitations of the paper, and where possible future lines of inquiry might exist. Papers that pretend to be flawless, or the complete and final word on a topic, are likely to be found wanting.

When you submit the paper, include a brief cover letter that points out the highlights of the paper (most importantly, why it is interesting and what it adds to the literature). Editors are busy, and they want you tell them why they should consider publishing your paper. Once your paper is in review, my advice is not to ask the editor about its status unless the review is seriously late (at least one month overdue, and more likely two, based on the review times that the journal publishes). If you do ask about the status of paper, do so pleasantly. Reviewers are often busy, and they won’t take kindly to nagging.

===Responding to Various Editorial Decisions===

Read over the letter (typically an e-mail) carefully, and don’t send any quick response. Forward it to your co-author(s). If you need a break, do something else for a while. When you do return to the report, be sure to understand what is in it. Ask a senior colleague to read it over and give you advice.

====A “Revise and Resubmit”====

If the decision is positive (typically a “revise and resubmit” – where the editor will allow you to make revisions following the editor’s and the reviewers’ comments and resubmit the paper), be sure to read the reports in detail. Cut-and-paste the editor’s comments and the review reports into a Word file where you can easily write in your response to them. This file can also serve to hold your initial thoughts as you think about each point, and if you have a co-author, it can be useful to pass this file back-and-forth as you both think about how to respond. If at all possible within a reasonable time frame, do what they ask. Ultimately, you will want a document that gives a detailed response to each point raised by the editor and the reviewer. You will want to be concise and deliberate here. The editor and reviewer have invested time and effort into improving your work, and if you ignore, sidestep, or discount their comments, they will not be pleased. Spell check. If they’ve made a typo in their verbiage to you, fix it without comment. Thank them for their efforts. If you can do so, try to add more to the paper than the reviewer and editor explicitly asked for. You don’t want to submit a completely different paper, but you do want to make it as easy as possible for the editor and reviewer to be impressed with your work.

You may disagree with what the editor and reviewer want; if so, explain why you think your approach is better (or, in some cases, why what they want can’t be done or would be incorrect), and be pleasant about it. If at all possible, put the results to what they wanted in a supplementary table that you can include in your response when you resubmit the paper. Remember, your name is going on the paper if it is published, so you are ultimately responsible for it. Having a senior colleague read over your revision and your response to the editor and review can be very helpful before you return it to the journal, because you don’t want to miss anything.

A typical turn-around time for a revise and resubmit is 2-3 months. If you anticipate the revisions will take longer, a quick note to the editor might be in order so that he knows you are still pursuing the project.

====A Rejection====

Rejections are, unfortunately, much more common in our profession. Take a longer break before you revisit a rejection. You will not want to simply throw the review report and editor comments away, because they often contain useful information. If you believe the comments have some quality, sending a brief thank you to the editor is often appropriate (e.g., “although of course I would have preferred a different outcome, I was pleased to see the thoughtful comments you and the reviewer have made. If possible, could you thank the reviewer for his efforts?”). We live in a small world as accounting academics, and if you are rude in a response to an editor, it will come back to haunt you. Don’t respond if you can’t think of anything nice to say.

You should spend some time thinking about why the paper was rejected. Sometimes your paper might have been scooped by another recent paper, and you will need to consider whether you can redirect your paper into another interesting area where it could be publishable (or, at least, you should determine if you can explain why the earlier paper doesn’t trump your results). Often the editor or reviewer might believe the marginal contribution is too small. These can be difficult problems to overcome. If you can’t convincingly explain why the results of the paper are important, it may be time to either drop the project or send it to a lower-tier journal. Sometimes it might be a “taste” issue – where the editor or reviewer just doesn’t like the topic (or perhaps your approach to the topic). In these cases, you can often send the paper to another peer journal, because tastes vary between editors (but see below: you should still consider improving the paper before sending it elsewhere). Advice and feedback from a senior colleague can be very helpful when receiving rejection. They have experienced the same thing – multiple times – so they can relate and can offer useful feedback.

It can be emotionally pleasing to be hyper-critical as you read the review report on a rejection, and therefore easy to be dismissive. But even in a bad review, there are often nuggets of insight that you can draw upon. You don’t need to make a detailed response to the review or editor comments, but you should read things over carefully to glean what you can. For example, the reviewer might find fault with your particular statistical methodology. This suggests that in the next revision you should at least consider using a better methodology (or adding a robustness check to show that the methodology the review wanted won’t change anything).

Sometimes the editor or reviewer will have a completely different take on how you should approach a topic, and they may recommend massive changes to the paper. If their comments are off-the-cuff, or otherwise not well thought out, be prepared to ignore them or consider them as ideas for a new and different paper.

A bad review can also be a signal that your paper was poorly written or not well motivated, because if you can’t explain why your paper is interesting, why should a reviewer or editor put much time into evaluating it? Also, if your topic was not clearly spelled out, or if the relationship with prior work was not established, the editor may have struggled to think of who might best review the paper. An editor will not read the paper in detail to hunt down this information, so you should help him out by getting to these critical points quickly and clearly in your paper.

It may be tempting to send the paper off to another journal without revisions. Consider carefully before doing so. Is there really nothing that could be done to improve the paper? A hastily resubmitted paper can cost you. I had a colleague recognize a badly written paper from a prior review a year or two ago for a different journal. The author had made no effort whatsoever to improve the paper, and the editor’s response to the author was not pleasant.

In rare cases you may feel that you should object to the rejection. Some journals have a formal process for this; with others, the process is informal. Before you challenge a rejection, be sure you can clearly, nicely, and objectively state why the decision was wrong. Even then, I have rarely seen objections result in a useful outcome. In my opinion, it is a waste of time (and sometimes money) to object to a rejection which involves the editor’s opinion. If you believe you have an airtight case (everyone, recite together…) ask a senior colleague for advice before continuing.

====Acceptance and Conditional Acceptance====

These are happy things. However, even with a conditional acceptance (where the editor agrees to publish your paper provided you can fulfill a short list of his requests), you should still respond carefully to what he has asked you to do. Be sure to provide a detailed response to his requests, and do them as quickly as you can while still being thorough.

===Closing Comments===

There’s nothing quite like reading the words “I am pleased to accept your paper for publication in the….” Prior rejections can make this all the more sweeter. Persistence is a well-rewarded quality in our profession. While you should be prepared to drop projects that clearly aren’t going anywhere, you should also stick to projects that make worthwhile contributions to the literature. Ball & Brown (1968) was rejected by a top accounting journal (it wasn’t accounting research to the editor at the time). Feltham and Ohlson (1995) was also rejected before being published. So, if your paper is rejected, it is in good company!

You will also likely be a reviewer at some point in your career. If you felt you were treated unfairly by the review process, it may be tempting to “dish it out” to some other poor shmuck. While you should be objective and rigorous, you should also be nice. Your goal as a reviewer should be to improve the quality of the research (and, if you can, help another struggling academic with some good feedback and advice!).

==Other Helpful Tips==
'''Where to send papers?'''

Different schools have different expectations for achieving tenure and receiving annual merit pay. Often, the schools will have a "journal rankings" list to give you some idea of the relative value of publishing in a particular journal. My own philosophy is that I should never work on an idea that doesn't have at least some chance at a top-tier journal. Then if it gets rejected, then I can decide if it is worth the effort to move it to a different top-tier journal after revising the paper or to move it down to the next level journal.

'''Showing Incremental Contribution: A Goal of the Reviewing Process'''

In my opinion, most manuscripts get rejected because of a lack of incremental contribution. The research design may be adequate, the data and research question interesting, and appropriate inferences can be made. But somehow, even after all that, the question is why are we in a better position because of this manuscript? Why will I think about the world differently now because of this paper? Therefore, a goal of the reviewing process is to heavily promote your incremental contribution to the literature.

'''Receipt of Revise and Resubmit Recommendation'''

First of all, say a prayer of thanks for getting past a major hurdle. Once the prayer is over, it is time to get to work! Focus on those items that will take some major effort (e.g., additional data collection and analysis, review of different research stream, etc.). Once those are addressed, focus on the smaller issues. Address each and every point in the revision in a thorough way. Then write a response to reviewers that provides a point-by-point response to each question. Authors are usually given one year to revise the paper. I like to return the paper in 3-4 months to show that I am able to quickly and completely respond with a complete revision.

Sometimes it does not make sense to revise the paper. Are the reviewers asking you to do something nearly impossible? Or do the results of your paper go away after some robustness checks. you must continually assess if a satisfactory revision will be able to be done. Sometimes it will take less effort or you may have a better chance of getting this article published with a different reviewer team at a different journal.

'''How to Handle Rejection'''

For most top-tier journals, the rejection rate is above 90%. Knowing this base rate, even the most accomplished authors can expect that their manuscript will be rejected. While frustrating, one should take the opportunity to learn why the reviewers did not extend an opportunity to revise the paper. Was it a lack of incremental contribution? Was it a research design flaw or error? Was it due to a lack of motivation? How can you use this knowledge to your advantage in a subsequent paper?
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How can I get some research going before my Ph.D. program?

2009-03-19T23:07:46Z

Emetts:

'''Short answer''': Be creative and work hard.

'''Long answer''': You should not be too worried about getting your name connected to working papers before a Ph.D. program. If the opportunity presents itself, then take it, but don't lose any sleep over not having a working paper (or more) when you enter a Ph.D. program.

If you really want to get started on a research paper, find a professor who does research in the area in which you are interested. See if you can help the professor with a research project. To help means you do whatever he/she asks extremely well, without complaining, and without expecting to be a coauthor. Most of the time, this means you are collecting data. If you do a good job on one, or a series of projects, the professor may be inclined to coauthor with you on another project.

You should not expect a professor to be willing to put you as a coauthor on a paper just because you helped out. Being a coauthor requires a significant contribution of time, thought, and ability to a paper. Also remember, that before you start working on a Ph.D. you have limited skills and ability to conduct rigorous academic research. Therefore, your main asset is to put a lot of time into the research process. Your one hour of work is not equivalent to one hour of a professor's time, and therefore you should not expect to be putting in a 1 to 1 ratio of time with the professor if you are going to be a coauthor (this is true even as a new Ph.D. working with senior level colleagues). This applies if you are just trying to ride on the coat-tails of a professor's good ideas. The game changes a bit if you come up with the idea, and present it to a professor. In all stages of your education (at BYU and beyond), if you approach faculty with well thought out and looked into ideas, even if they are not successful in the end, it will let the faculty know you are intrinsically interested in research and they will be more inclined to let you help them with one of their ideas.

At some Ph.D. programs, you may do the same work you would do as a coauthor at BYU as a non-coauthored research assistant. Individual professors and programs have different ideas as to what is sufficient to merit coauthorship--especially of Ph.D. students. You may want to consider this factor when applying to Ph.D. programs. It may even happen that individuals believe you were "given" a coauthorship while at BYU. The best way to demonstrate that this is not the case is to work on successful projects early on in your Ph.D. program with non-BYU people.

Before you start your Ph.D. program you might consider trying to coauthor a simple piece of research. You may not want to target a top-tier journal with your first piece of research, but instead try to replicate an important study and shed a small bit of new insight into what the paper did or some small way the paper changed. Being exposed to the research process at any level (even if it is not a top tier article level) will benefit you significantly in your Ph.D. program.

There are, however, several things to consider when thinking about this. First, if you target a lower tiered journal with lesser quality work, is it going to help you, or hurt you? The answer to this question is debatable. It may not help you if you apply to a school that does not value that type of research (and there is some possibility it could hurt you). One could safely say that if the professors at the university where you are applying sometimes produce the level of research you are intending to produce, they could never fault you for it.

For example, if you started working on what you thought was an amazing project, hoping to publish it in a journal perceived to be of low quality (call it Journal LQ), a school (call them school #1) might look down and say, "Wow, is that all this kid can produce? Is this the kind of research s/he wants to do forever?" However, another school (school #2) might say "Wow, this student is really a go getter. He is engaging in research as an undergraduate, is learning the process, and while he might not be producing amazing stuff now, with that kind of background and with our training, he will be amazing." These two reactions are both possible. Some individuals report hearing esteemed faculty at "great" schools saying, essentially, "You don't want your name associated with trashy papers, even if they get published in OK journals." Either way, it may be unwise to make your research "experience" the center piece of your application letter to school.

If you are intrinsically interested in the research process, and don't want to worry about any of the considerations above, you have several choices. First, just do amazing research at BYU. There have been track members who have done this--been a part of articles which hit top journals. Second, submit your lesser articles to non-accounting journals, like a general business journal. Third, don't submit your articles anywhere, and just use them as the basis for a great learning experience as part of a Econ 388 or 588 project. The knowledge you develop from working on any project (even a 388 or 588 project) will greatly help you as you work on research in the future.
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How can I build my research pipeline while in my Ph.D. program?

2009-03-19T23:06:43Z

Emetts: adding navigation bars

==Brainstorming Ideas==
One idea is to apply Elder Scott's approach to receiving revelation; carry a note card and write down any thoughts and ideas that might come to you during the day.

Another way to come up with ideas for research topics to fill the pipeline is to follow the advice of Brian Tracy, a professional sales trainer. Anytime a pressing issue is facing you, sit down and write a question at the top of a sheet of paper. Then, write down 20 ideas to answer that question. Some of the ideas may be the opposite of a previous idea; i.e. one idea might be to study how pro forma statements affect the behavior of investors, the opposite would be how pro forma earnings does not affect the behavior of investors. Usually the first several ideas will come easily, but it is usually the last two or three ideas that will be the best and can solve a question at the top of the page. Do this every day and eventually you will have so many great research ideas that you will not have enough time to do research on all of the great ideas you have come up with.

Have an effective brainstorming session with colleagues who are co-authoring with you on a project. Spend 45 minutes to an hour coming up with ideas. Every idea mentioned is written down. The longer the list of ideas the better. It is usually the last few ideas that will solve a problem better than any other solution. No one is allowed to comment on ideas that have been made because the purpose is to come up with ideas, no matter how stupid or ineffective an idea might seem.

==Selecting from a List of Ideas==
Choose the best one.
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How do I determine my dissertation topic?

2009-03-19T23:05:26Z

Emetts:

Universities require that doctoral students prepare a disseration for several reasons. Because the dissertation serves as one of final hurdles prior to receiving a doctoral award, careful consideration should be given to choosing a topic. The dissertation highlights the student's ability to think critically, purposefully express a position on the selected topic, and defend that position. It allows the student to show his/her ability to perform a complex, challenging project without using other faculty as a crutch; UNC's Writing Center notes that the disseration "marks the transition from student to scholar." Ideally, a dissertation should broaden the knowledge of the academic community, not just rehash what has already been said.

==External Links==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissertation Wikipedia] - Wikipedia offers a brief explanation of disserations and their purposes.
* [http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/dissertation.html UNC's Writing Center] - This page provides a comprehensive analysis and explanation of dissertations and the steps involved in successfully completing this step in a graduate program.
* [http://graduate-schools.suite101.com/article.cfm/dissertation_and_thesis_topics Suite101.com] - This page provides a brief article highlighting some key elements in choosing a topic for your dissertation.
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How do I publish lots of papers?

2009-03-19T23:04:38Z

Emetts:

Before answering this question, you need to decide what is your research strategy. Different professors have different opinions on what is the best research strategy, talking to several different professors will help you decide what is best for you. The two dominant research strategies are to try and publish as much as possible or to try and publish as high of quality as research as possible (the strategies are not mutually exclusive).

Before adopting either strategy it is important to realize what your school values. Some schools care more about the total number of articles published and other schools care more about the "quality" of the published articles. Adopting a strategy opposite that of your school's mission will make it much more difficult to earn tenure. Generally speaking, the top ranked research schools prefer quality of articles (and usually a high quantity of these articles) and lower ranked research schools prefer a greater quantity of articles.

==Publish as Much as Possible==
Some individuals believe that "any publication is a good publication" and you should attempt to publish as many publications as possible. Many times, professors who adopt this strategy will publish less in the top tier journals instead trying to publish a greater quantity of articles in lower tier journals. Several ways of increasing your ability to be successful at this strategy are to find high publishing coauthors, be the first to examine new issues in accounting, publish practitioner oriented articles, and focus on working on projects that you can use to publish multiple similar articles.

==Publish High Quality Articles==
Some individuals believe that you are wasting your time as a Ph.D. by working on articles that cannot be published in the [[top ranked accounting journals]]. Some go so far as to view publications in low journals as a negative. This group of individuals believe that you should select what articles you work on carefully and seek to publish articles that make a "big" contribution. A "big" contribution is often measured by how many others cite your work, whether the work becomes the de facto standard for work in an area, whether you win research awards, or whether you significantly change how people view an area of accounting research.

To be successful at publishing high quality articles it is important to understand where the research is at and forecast where it is going. Talking with thought leaders (e.g., editors, respected senior faculty, etc.) can help guide you on trying to find a high quality idea. Often times, high quality ideas are borrowed from other disciplines and introduced into accounting for the first time.
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