schulich(York university canada) admission |gmat bong can u pls evaluate

[namitb]

Hi GmatBong,
I got an admit in thi sschool .The ranking says its 2nd in Canada
but discussions on various forumns says quite negative things about the school ..Can u suggest something ...

[GMATbong]

You should stop looking at the ranking and start talking to the student. Things to find out from them:
1) Does ppl like you get the job they wanted
2) The pay they wanted
3) Where did they ended up
4) If they got the job they wanted, is this the job you wanted?

[namitb]

HI Gmat Bong ,

I had a talk with few international students in this school .They have due respect for the school and say they teh school is extremely good , but
the job prospects are minimal and most international students come back to their home countries ...thats a review that I can really pick up from other discussions on the internet as wel.

I have an admit from thunderbird business school as well , Its ranking howsoever is pretty down , howsoever its ranked 1 in International business in most of the ranking, which of the two would u suggest ..given I dont have place contraint .

[GMATbong]

Thunderbird will be even worse as you will not get the job you wanted in the US. Again, talk to those thunderbird students and see what they say.

Are you planning to go back to your home country? If so, it would not have mattered.

[halcyon_daze]

Hi namitb - I'm a Schulich Grad (2007 with distinction). It's a great school, but yes, the Career Centre is not up to the challenge of placing the large contingent of international students. That said, you'll have to work a little harder to create your own opportunities if you want to stay in Toronto. It's not impossible. Do you have any specific questions that I can answer for you? What area are you interested in specializing in?

[chan_space]

Hi Halcyon_daze I am currently in my 3rd of Civil Engineering @ McMaster. I want to do MBA. However, don't have enough work experience (WE). I was thinking to get some WE and then apply to some good B-schools at US/Canada. Would you recommend to get my WE in Business related area or Engineering related. B4 getting WE in business filed I probably have to do Masters in a course related to business (M Finance or M Accounting). Would this be a good approach or just stick to Engineering jobs.

Any help is appreciated

[halcyon_daze]

chan_space - as you may already know, the only way to get into b-school these days without any WE is to do a joint LLB/MBA (in Canada anyway; I don't know if that holds true for a joint JD/MBA in the US).

It seems that a lot of engineering types go on to do an MBA. In my final consulting project I was on a team with 3 engineers and a joint MBA/LLB student. My background is in finance and accounting. Two of the engineers had masters in their respective engineering fields and worked strictly in engineering before doing an MBA. Engineers tend to do very well in MBA programs.

My recommendation would be to get the work experience in engineering first then decide whether an MBA or a more specific masters (e.g. accounting or finance) is a better fit for you. IMHO, work experience is essential to enhancing the MBA experience and I don't think 2 years is enough, even though it's sufficient for most schools (5 is much better, but I don't make the rules ;-)).

Completing a masters in finance or accounting is different from an MBA. The former are much more focused, while the latter provides a broad overview of all disciplines. Working for a couple of years should allow you enough time to determine which will be best for you - - and earn $$$ in the process!

Good luck!

[namitb]

Hi Halcyon ,
Thanks a lot for your initiative . Well I applied to only schulich from Canada . But what I hear from internet forums is that Rotman and Richard Ivy are valued higher in Canada as compared to schulich .Is it so ?I intend to do an mba in finance . As the application season has almost ended my confusion nw is should I wait for another year and apply to Ivey or Rotman or should I go ahead with schulich admit ...

[halcyon_daze]

Namitb - Rotman, Ivey and Schulich are considered the top 3 MBA programs in Canada. While Rotman 'usually' takes #1 spot, Ivey and Schulich flipflop for 2 and 3. The three school regularly compete together in case competitions, MBA games, etc. Ivey is a case-based school a-la Harvard, while both Rotman and Schulich use more of a mix.

When deciding amongst the top 3, it's really about the best 'fit' for you and I'd have to echo the advice of GMATbong as things to consider with the emphasis on what kind of job you want when you're done. Finance is one of Schulich's strengths (and marketing). There's a new financial engineering stream that was introduced in the last 1-2 years. Schulich has an incredibly flexible program which is what appealed to me most as a domestic applicant. I don't know that an MBA from Rotman would really give you 'that' much of an edge in the job market in all honesty - - unless you want to work in consulting at McKinsey or Bain.

Finally, if you're asking a Schulich alumni whether or not you should wait for a year and see if you can get into Ivey or Rotman - - don't expect an unbiased answer . Go with the 'bird in hand' and see how you like Schulich . You can always transfer if you hate it (though 'transfer' may not be the right verb!)

Good luck!

[chan_space]

Thank you halcyon_daze!!