Admission & Application Information

We select our students on the basis of qualities that are most favorable for achieving a high-level career as a researcher and teacher. The Ph.D. program is designed for full-time students, with admitted students beginning the program in the autumn semester. To enter the program you must be accepted by the graduate Accounting & MIS faculty, in addition to the university and the Graduate School. Applications are processed by the Fisher College of Business Graduate Programs Office.

Applicants may submit either a GMAT or GRE score, but the accounting and MIS graduate faculty strongly prefer that applicants take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). For more information on the GMAT (including registration, etc.), go to mba.com. We cannot accept an applicant without a minimum test score of 600, even though other application materials indicate academic success.

• To report your GMAT score to the AMIS PhD program, use institution code ZLJ-9D-02.
• To report your GRE score to the AMIS PhD program, use institution code 1592.

If your native language is not English, the university requires you to provide proof of English proficiency. This requirement is waived for applicants with a bachelor’s degree or higher from the United States or one of the other exempt countries. All of this information can be found on the Additional Requirements to Apply page on the Graduate and Professional Admissions website.

The admissions process is competitive, with 1-3 students joining the program each year.  While admission decisions are based on candidates’ overall applications, the most important items in your application package are your scholarship record as indicated by your standardized test scores (admitted applicants almost always have a total GMAT score above 700), your most recent coursework at the undergraduate or graduate level, and the quality of your recommendations. We encourage outstanding students with a bachelor's degree to enter the Ph.D. program directly. Such students may earn a master's degree while in the Ph.D. program.

Recent course work in economic theory, statistics, mathematics, and (possibly) organization theory and behavioral science, in addition to accounting and computer science, is especially helpful. Able students without such course work, as well as those without a strong background in accounting or MIS, may be admitted if they have a strong background in quantitative disciplines.