Desautels (McGill U) 2013 - Calling All MBA Applicants

wishing you all the best of luck ... please share with us as well your application experience esp.the essay whether the final decision was a nay or hopefully a yay . best wishes

Hi Olivieri,

Congrats on the interview. Currents students in Canada have told me getting an invite to interview at a Canadian MBA is as good as getting an admit. So good luck and hope for the best, you are almost in!

Oddly enough, I submitted my application early december and still have not heard back. Wonder if that's a bad sign.....?

Hey echelon99,

I've heard that about McGill as well (interview as good as in), but I'm preparing for a solid interview none the less.

Where did you do your undergrad? Work experience? Your GMAT is right on point with the average at McGill last year, so your chances are probably pretty good. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Carl

echelon 99,

So I had my interview with Jonathan, I think it went well. The questions were straightforward and honest; Jonathan seemed more interested in getting to know me than to necessarily test me. I actually really enjoyed sitting down with him, he had a lot to say about the program and I was happy to hear it from the source. I was told that I should find out if I'm accepted within two weeks - I'll let you know what I hear back then. I hope it works out!

And to answer your question, my account still says "Ready for Review".

Carl

Hey Guys,

I applied in early November and was admitted to the program early December. If you have any questions about the interview or application process please let me know !

Last year I visited Desautels and spoke to Jonathan. I also had the chance to talk to several students and to attend a class. My overall impression is that Desautels genuinely takes into consideration all aspects of the application, and does not really care much about GMAT or GPA. Instead, they really want to understand what you can bring to the table and where Desautels fits in your career progression. These are things not measured by a couple of numbers. I don't want to say that it is a safe school, far from it, but if you can convince yourself that it is a good option, I reckon you can convince them to accept you.

Anyway, I insist Montreal is the best city in the continent and a great place to spend a couple of years, and even the rest of your career. Do take into consideration that education in Canada is very regionalised and most likely your job opportunities will be limited to Montreal. In other words, if after the MBA you intend to move to New York or New Delhi, this might not be the best place to be. If you are positive about a life in Quebec, by all means you will get a great education that will open many doors.

TheNona - I am actually a re-applicant from last year. I was interviewed last year by Antoinette Molino and everything went extremely well. However, the admission committee felt that I needed to get one more year of work experience before entering the program as I would have had only 2.3 years of work experience upon entering the program in September 2012. I took their advice as a sign of encouragement and decided to re-apply this year and was admitted ! I had a brief interview with Jonathan this year which also went well. I remember it took me 3 weeks to get an interview from the moment I submitted my application and received the admit one week after the interview. Both Antoinette and Jonathan make a serious effort to make you feel comfortable during interviews. They want to get to know you better as a person and they want to have a better understanding about your professional career. The interview was very conversational which was great !

Ducksworth - Thanks for your input ! I wouldn't say that McGill doesn't care about the GMAT or GPA. Their average GMAT is 670 and that would be much lower if they didn't care about it. I would rather say that they might put "less emphasis" on the GMAT if they feel that other areas of your application are strong. The way I see it, a good GPA can offset an average GMAT and vice versa. International experience is a strong asset to have at McGill as well.
I am also going to disagree with you on the job placement I am a McGill alumni, I graduated with a B.Eng. and I have many fellow classmates who ended up getting jobs in the US, India, Middle East and East Asia. I don't know much about the Desautels career center but I can say that I was very satisfied with the engineering career center. There were so many job openings and not just in Canada, but all over the world. McGill has a very strong brand across the world which opens many doors. I will agree with you that Montreal is a great city to live in Congrats by the way for getting into INSEAD and Oxford !

I agree. McGill has a great reputation that will open many doors to recent graduates. Actually, several members of my family have attended McGill (not me though) and they are all very happy. My comment was targeted to more senior roles post-MBA.

Carl, I'm currently the project manager for the construction of an 87MW power plant in Kenya. I graduated from McGill in 2010 with a B.Eng in electrical engineering, therefore I'll have about 3.3 years of work experience upon entering the program. I chose McGill for different reasons: first of all I did my undergrad there and was extremeley satisfied with the education they provided me with. The diversity of students at McGill is amazing and they have a program that focuses on international business which is something that I am definitely looking for as I will be working in different countries later on. The small class size is also attractive to me because the teachers will be more accessible which translates to a personalized MBA. With a small class size, you get to know your classmates a lot better as well. Last but not least, McGill's has a great reputation around the world.

TheNona,

There is plenty of information on McGill GMAT averages in these forums, just run a search (it's 668 for McGill). Information on the average GPAs of admitted students will be much harder to find. That being said, you'll want to get at least a 600 on the GMAT when you retake it in March. At that point my recommendation would be to focus on applying to HEC Montréal and Concordia John Molson (but then again I do not know your full profile).

Carl

Hi TheNona,

I did a lot of research about McGill's MBA program before applying.
Their average GMA scoreT is 670 and average GPA was mentioned as 3.3 on many different sites.
To offset your GPA, you might want to aim for a 700+ GMAT. But then again, you have 7 years of work experience which puts less value on your academic credentials.

Good luck!

Okay, so now that I know a little more about you (i.e. a Human Resources position interests you). I think Concordia's JMSB might be a fine fit for you, especially if you plan on working in Quebec. It is not as reputable as McGill or HEC (in my humble opinion), however it is a good school, and a lot of headway has been made in terms of the quality of education in recent years, notably in the JMSB department. If you do well on the GMAT (650+), I would suggest applying to McGill, but your undergrad GPA might end up hurting you. What is your mother tongue, what other languages do you speak?

Maybe even 600+?

Also, I found Desautels to be a very approachable school. You can introduce yourself by e-mail and ask if they would encourage you to apply (try directly to Jonathan). They have been very friendly with me in the past, and the most down-to-earth school I researched.

Dear Every body I am really speechless towards your kind support . I contacted Jonathan and he encouraged me to apply but I must achieve a score of at least 600 on my retake .However , I will still have a plan B HEC Montreal (they advised me to apply and catch the deadline then update my score upon retake ) and JM Concordia .Hmmmmmmmmmm ... the next GMAT will be a life or death battle

Ducksworth could very well be correct with the 600+; I know someone who was admitted with a 630. My suggestion was to achieve a high score on your GMAT to make up for your GPA. It's too bad the GMAT can be such a tough nut to crack. In my experience with the admissions process at McGill, it seemed like Jonathan put more emphasis on raw numbers than essays and the sort.

Case in point, the following is a verbatim discussion I had with Jonathan on the day of the interview:
Me: How could I improve my chances at receiving a scholarship?
Jonathan: Get a 750 on the GMAT.
Me: Really?
Jonathan: Yes.

That being said, I received a 35% scholarship with my admission (almost certainly due in large part to my 700 on the gmat).

I decided not to waste time struggling with the HEC Montreal essay especially that some transcripts will take more time than expected to arrive by mail .I will focus on the GMAT keeping an eye on Desautels and JM only .Better safe than sorry

Good luck nona, give it your best shot.