Compare doctoral marketing programs based on your personal criteria, school rankings and how well the academic and research community respect the degree. School rankings are available online and in publications such as U.S. News and World Report. Select a school that matches your personal degree of emphasis on research or instruction.
Check departmental requirements, deadlines, prerequisites and application fees. Speak to the college of business graduate adviser to get a sense of the culture.
Apply to your chosen school. Send your GMAT or GRE scores directly to the university from the testing facility. The university typically receives the scores about 6 to 8 weeks after the test session. Some universities encourage online applications to reduce paperwork and the time to give students a response to their application.
Meet with a graduate adviser or faculty adviser to decide on coursework. Complete doctoral coursework, which will include a combination of lectures and seminars. Examples of fields on the doctoral level include Consumer Decision Making and Brand Symbolism. This course work goes into more depth than that of an MBA marketing class.
Complete marketing doctoral coursework. The length of time for the coursework varies by school and if the student already has a master's degree, but is approximately 3 years.
Begin an independent original research project after completing the coursework and once the faculty advisor feels you are ready. The research will be specialized in areas such as examining group influences in the market place or market evolution.
Write and defend your dissertation of the original research in front of a panel of faculty experts. The independent research portion can take an additional 2 to 3 years.