The criteria and guidelines for admission of transfer students to the PhD program midway through their programs are given here. Masters students of this school who wish to upgrade to PhD are considered as a special case of transfer, and guidelines with respect to this pool also are provided.

The decision and the responsibility to admit the student rests with department to which the student has applied. The department must follow certain guidelines in the evaluation of the application and its decision. It is the departments responsibility to clearly show that the applicant has met the minimum requirements, and to make a case where exceptions to requirements are sought.

The faculty PhD committee retains its oversight responsibility for all transfer cases. If the application meets the guidelines and minimum requirements specified, the committee will pass the application with no objection.

1. Transfer candidates must already be enrolled in a doctoral program for at least one semester in a recognized university. If the candidate has spent less than one semester in any one doctoral program, s/he has to apply as a fresh candidate and will compete with the regular applicant pool for admission.

2. Transfer candidates should not have defended their thesis proposal and/ or completed their comprehensive (preliminary) examination.

3. The student should meet the basic criteria for admission. These include
a. A recognized degree with a strong academic record, and at least four years of tertiary education
b. GMAT/ GRE scores
c. Recommendation Letters

4. The candidates must have obtained a minimum average of B+ (plus) or equivalent in the doctoral/ graduate coursework at the point of application.

5. In addition, candidates applying for transfer should provide a statement of research interest. This statement should be more than a preliminary statement and should demonstrated advanced thinking and in-depth understanding of material. The evaluation of such material is the responsibility and prerogative of the department.

6. Transfer students may be exempted from submitting GRE/ GMAT scores under one or more of the following conditions

a. The student has outstanding academic record at the doctoral level at an equivalent of A- (minus) with at least four (4) courses at the doctoral level or equivalent.
b. The student has at least one main (first-) authored top-tier conference paper during the last one year plus strong recommendation letters from established colleagues in other universities/ faculties.

7. Where the candidate is not in a position to submit a recommendation letter from recent mentors or advisors, performance indicators can substitute for the letter. These indicators include, outstanding academic record ([a] above), papers ([b]), GRE/ GMAT scores and other recent accomplishments.

8. It is also up to the department to conduct an interview and/ or a test of English.

9. It is the departments prerogative to consider or not to consider the institutional and subject background of the candidate in reaching a decision. However, these matters should not be taken lightly. Please note that points (5), (6), (7) & (8) afford sufficient autonomy to departments. They also introduce subjectivity in evaluation, and for this reason, care should be exercised.

10. Exceptional cases will be dealt with at the faculty level by the faculty committee. Please see below.

11. All normal transfer applications will be forwarded to the concerned departments. The faculty committee shall be given only the summary indicators and evaluations for final approval.

12. Important note: For transfer cases, the department and the school should take into consideration institutional implications of reputation and confidentiality. Ideally, the transfer should be initiated by the student, and this fact should be transparent to the originating institution, once the student is offered admission. As a general guideline, if a faculty member initiates such transfers, the involved department must advise the faculty member to make the transfer process transparent at all times to the originating institution.

1. All accepted candidates will have to fulfill the coursework, preliminary examination and dissertation requirements of this faculty. 

2. All program rules and requirements such as MBA courses, expected student responsibilities also apply to all accepted candidates.

3. All accepted candidates will be offered scholarship under the same terms as other students in the program. Scholarship shall be for 3 (three) years in the first instance, and may be extended by a maximum of two (2) university terms at the discretion of the department and the program office.

4. The maximum number of course exemptions granted to a transfer candidate shall not exceed 50% of the total number of required courses in the department, regardless of the coursework done by the student in other universities.

5. Only graduate research seminars/ courses qualify for exemption if these courses are equivalent to doctoral seminars offered in this faculty or university. Independent study courses and advanced undergraduate modules do not qualify.

6. The department should carefully examine the relevance of the completed courses to the candidates area of research. For instance, if a candidate has done several Strategy and Economics seminars but wishes to dissertate in Finance at this university, exemptions may be fewer.

7. The candidate will only be exempted from courses in which s/he obtained a minimum grade of B+ or equivalent.

8. It is the candidates responsibility to demonstrate equivalence in content and grades when seeking exemptions.

A few MSc students in the faculty convert to the PhD program after spending some time in the Masters program. The following are the guidelines for such cases.

1. The student should indicate an interest to pursue a PhD at this school at least two (2) months before the submission of the masters thesis.

2. The following guidelines apply to these students for admission:
a. CAP of B+ in masters coursework
b. Evidence of scholarship and inclination through papers, thesis work and/ or a research statement for the doctoral program
c. Strong and detailed written endorsement by the Masters thesis advisor and at least two other colleagues who have instructed or mentored the student. The endorsements should precisely identify the scholarly attributes, general attitude and language skills.

3. The student should be informed by the department that this is an irreversible decision. This is especially important if the student wishes to convert early. Please refer to the relevant document specifying the penalties for re-conversion to MSc.

4. The following are the guidelines for course exemptions for such students:
a. A maximum of 50% of the required number of courses for the departments doctoral program.
b. A minimum grade of B is required for exemptions to apply.
c. Only graduate research seminars and courses qualify for exemption. In instances, where the faculty has specified a lower level course to meet the requirements (e.g. Statistics), the lower level course can be considered for exemption.
d. Exemption from a required (core/ foundation) course can be given only if the student has already attended the course at this faculty.
e. If the student has already attended a required course but did not obtain a B grade, the student cannot repeat the course. S/he may substitute the course with another acceptable graduate research seminar/ course.

5. All converted students must fulfill the coursework, preliminary examination and dissertation requirements of this schools doctoral program.

6. All converted students will be offered scholarship under the same terms as other students in the program. Scholarship shall be for 3 (three) years in the first instance, and may be extended to a maximum of five (5) years from the date of their entry to the university (not the doctoral program), at the discretion of the department and the program office.