I am a senior studying finance in a top-tier business school and currently I am thinking of getting a finance PhD. I love academic research and I know the difficulties that I am going to face but I only have a main problem:
First, my undergrad has practically has burned out all my savings so I cannot afford to pay for the PhD. Do schools in general offer tuition waivers and stipends to international students? I have a 3.6 GPA and I have done 3 internships so far for really good companies.
How good are my chances of getting stipends and tuition waivers if I manage to send a good application ( strong GMAT scores, good letter of recommendation, etc.)
Most good PhD programs in finance will provide full funding for PhD students, regardless of their international/domestic status. That will usually include a tuition waiver, health insurance, and a stipend for ~5 years.
For example, Stanford’s GSB provides all business school PhD students with a stipend of $40,500 for five years plus tuition and health insurance. Harvard offers the same at a similar stipend level, as do Yale and Penn (Penn’s is a bit over $35K). I would expect that most other comparable departments do as well.
Your chances are difficult to comment on even with a full application, but they’re impossible to comment on with no information. If you are admitted to a program that offers funding, you will be offered a full financial aid package, as most of these programs offer funding to all admitted students.