Yogesh Joshi
Doctoral Candidate of Marketing
The Ph.D. Experience
Four years ago, as someone who was very excited about joining the marketing academia but had no idea what it really was, deciding which school to go to for my PhD was not an easy decision. I chose Wharton because it was the largest, most productive, most diverse and reputed department for research in marketing. Coming in, I felt that there were multiple faculty members in the department with whom I could see myself working with on interesting research problems. As I have spent time in the department, I have realized this to be true. In addition, I have found Wharton to be incredibly open-minded and independent while at the same time being demanding and supportive of its doctoral students.
In choosing courses at Wharton, my experience was that there were always a lot more courses available that I would have liked to take than I had the time for. Same has been the case with research: given the breadth of faculty, their productivity, and their willingness to work with PhD students, my time has always been the constraint in terms of selecting the number of research projects that I have been working on. The faculty doors have always been open when I have felt like discussing some research, or get one-off reactions to some ideas that I have in my mind. I particularly like the department’s initiative of keeping up with current research by organizing semester long seminar courses where each week a faculty member takes the lead in discussing the broader research that he or she is involved with. I have found this seminar series a great way to think of new research ideas.
And finally, living in Philadelphia has been a very pleasant experience. My #1 favorite spot in the city is sitting on the spacious steps of the Art Museum, looking onto the City Hall. I enjoy biking or taking a walk along the Schyukill river in Fairmount Park. There are plenty of places within driving distance for a short respite: our favorites are Penn's Morris Arboretum, New Hope and the Valley Forge park.
Four years in the program, I am more than convinced that I have made the right choice.
