Ivey Class of 2016 Calling all applicants!

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: Feature Profile: Kevin Davis, Ivey MBA 2015

Degree: Bachelor of Applied Science, University of Toronto Hometown: London, United Kingdom Leaving a successful, advancing career to go back to school can seem like a huge risk. Prior to Ivey I had worked as a project manager leading varying-sized energy infrastructure projects across Canada and the UK. Even so, I wanted to challenge myself across a broader scale of business problems, engage with other innovative and enthusiastic students, and raise the bar on any potential limitations on my future career progression. I had already completed the PMP and P.Eng designation requirements but lacked the general business strategy element in my education that could take my career to the next level. I began to feel that not going to business school now might be a far greater risk if I wished to reach the goals I had set for myself. In choosing the right MBA, I looked for a business school capable of providing the key elements I needed: practicality, brand, strategic focus, and personalization. I was already aware of the quality of Canadian schools through my undergraduate degree and was cognizant of Ivey’s reputation. Based on this I applied to Ivey and one other school alone. Both had a strong focus on business strategy and practicality; however, Ivey takes this to the next level with their case method. The Ivey Case-Method uses scenario-based learning (often based on real companies) for students to assess and make strategic decisions. I truly believe this is the most interesting and practical way to learn. After being accepted to both schools, the decision to choose Ivey was much easier than I thought. Ivey quickly demonstrated personalized career guidance even before I had agreed to enlist. I was put into contact with an Ivey alumnus who currently works in my chosen field. Immediately Ivey showed they understood my personal goals and took the time to help me make the connections necessary to get there. I was also greatly impressed by the strength of the Ivey network. Highly successful Ivey graduates now work across the globe, many of whom are happy to be contacted by current Ivey students. I couldn’t wait to join such a strong resource. My experience at Ivey so far has been very positive. The material has been extremely engaging and I am shocked by how much I have learned in such a short period of time. The small class size and team-based learning has meant I have a much greater understanding of the material and have further developed my project management abilities. I am excited to see how much I will gain from my remaining months at Ivey.

Thank you seedy. Can you share your Ivey experience? Any information other than that available on the website would be helpful. Also, I have been trying to find the program schedule but all I have been able to find on the Ivey website is that it starts "Mid-March" ....

Thanks in advance..
dmmk

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: Resumé Best Practices

Written by: Jenni Denniston What one needs to keep in mind when submitting a resumé to an MBA program, either as part of an application or for preliminary assessment, is context. A resumé can quickly go from fascinating to frustrating if key information we’re looking for to determine if a prospective applicant meets our minimum criteria and has the qualities we’re looking for in education and experience are missing or buried in too many details. Here are a few Do’s and Don’ts for putting a resumé together with the goal of applying to an MBA Program. DO Include year of graduation from any post-secondary education you have completed If you have taken courses but not graduated, make sure this is very clear Focus on the impact/achievements you’ve had and quantify where possible Use the CAR model (Context, Action, Result) to explain your experience, not tasks from your job description Include your contact information (email and phone number) List your experience in reverse chronological order Save and share your resumé as a .pdf file to make sure your info is conveyed visually just as you’d like it to be Limit your resumé to two pages if possible Only include what is relevant to your MBA application; we don’t need to know about your summer jobs through university, for example, unless you feel they are relevant to where you are today and relevant to your post-MBA goals DON’T Include an objective; you’re interested in applying to an MBA program, so that aspect is clear! List too many technical qualifications related to your specific field; if you have an IT role, we’ll assume you have the skills to be there Include a hobbies/activities section unless you have significant involvement in a sport/charity/club that you feel demonstrates your leadership or teamwork ability Include a “References available upon request” section Include your marital status, citizenship, or blood type (yes — we see this regularly!) Ultimately, think of your resumé as prime real estate: you don’t want to waste precious space with information that is irrelevant. Instead, focus on sharing information that highlights the experiences, activities, and qualities that will make you a strong candidate for an MBA program and the type of person a potential recruiter in your desired field would want to hire!

It is great to read posts by Jenni Denniston. I followed advice from her posts not just for my application to Ivey but for other schools as well.

Has anyone who applied to R2 or R3 heard back yet? I applied right at the end of R2 but I'm thinking I should have waited an extra day to apply at the beginning of R3.

Jashan87
stevenwhite
bodhi
ETE
dmmk

Would you happen to have any updates from your end?

I'm wondering if Ivey would still grant admission even after each round's decision date.
Thanks!

Hi gmathelp800

You should contact the school regarding your query.
About myself, I did apply in R3 and I am invited for interview.

Best of Luck!

dmmk

It would not have made any difference if you waited an extra day.I for one know for sure that Ivey does not stick to the deadlines completely and they read applications as they come. In fact, I submitted two days after the R2 deadline but received my admit decision in mid-dec itself.

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: Feature Profile: Niki Liu, Ivey MBA 2015

Degrees: B.A. Economics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China MSc Economics, University College London, London UK Hometown: Tianjin, China Before coming to Ivey, I worked as an Associate Principle at Meritco Services. While at Meritco, I was immersed in ten industries including CPG, healthcare, industrial goods, auto, and real estate and engaged on projects covering due diligence, portfolio management, and strategic growth. As Meritco Services rapidly grew from a staff of six in a cramped space to a team of seventy in three offices in five years, I progressed from business analyst, to managing one engagement, to leading a practice with multiple ongoing engagements and profit and loss responsibility. Completing my MBA was a crucial decision for me along the career development trajectory. Choosing Ivey, I was particularly drawn to Ivey’s case-based learning method, which reflects real-world situations. It’s not only the preparation of a case with the learning team that helps you to push your thinking to the next level, but also the class contribution that pushes you to think on your feet and provide quick reactions — both of which are crucial training for real business environments. In addition, with the diversity of the Ivey class, the class discussion has always been knowledgeable and informative. Classmates with different backgrounds bring diverse perspectives and industry knowledge to class and make the theories and techniques taught in the courses more tangible and practical. Learning classmates’ perspectives on analyzing a case is always helpful to deepen and broaden your own thinking. As an international student, although I already had international exposure studying in the UK, working in Tehran, and serving clients from both North America and Europe, I still feel Ivey’s pace is quite challenging. I am glad that class contribution and networking continue pushing me to step out of my comfort zone. Both curriculum and non-curriculum activities are well designed to help you to push the boundaries. Each time I face a challenge and am at the edge of giving up, the suggestion from the 2014 graduates always comes to mind: trust the system and keep trying. Also, you will never lack support from your team, classmates, faculty, and alums. I am confident that my decision to come to Ivey was the right one and I believe the year at Ivey will be memorable.

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: Guest Blog: Women in Management Panel Event

Women in Management Women in Management   Women in Management   Women in Management                             Big thanks to Stephanie Garisto, MBA 2015 and Co-President of the Ivey Women in Management Club, for writing this week’s blog post! On February 26th the Ivey MBA Women in Management Club hosted a wonderful panel and reception event at the Ivey Tangerine Leadership Centre in Toronto. Over sixty current, incoming, and prospective MBA students gathered to attend the panel discussion and network. The purpose of the event was threefold. First, we gathered to celebrate the achievements and successes of our female alumni. Second, we engaged in a fun and open discussion around the topic of decision-making and the tough choices that are often made alongside changing career and personal priorities. Finally, we hoped that attendees could individually glean lessons to apply in their careers as Ivey MBA graduates. I’m very happy to say that the event was successful on all fronts! We were extremely fortunate to have a group of amazing panelists participate, each of whom has achieved impressive success within her respective career and industry. Our panelists included Nancy Bertrand (Director at Citi Private Bank), Louisa Greco (President and CEO, Johnson & Johnson Canada), Beth Shaw (Head of Equity Capital Markets Desjardins Group), and Tineke Keesmaat (Principal at TiltCo Consulting Group). Each shared her own personal and career anecdotes about the challenges, motivations, and outcomes of making tough decisions. All of these anecdotes offered valuable insights, of which the following are just a few: Don’t be afraid to take the job that doesn’t necessarily have a clear path to success, but which offers you the opportunity to make an impact or grow. Look for mentors but, more importantly, look for sponsors throughout your career. Mentors will advise you, while sponsors will help you determine your strengths and champion you on your behalf. Tough career decisions might include resigning, making a lateral organizational move, or transitioning into a new industry. No matter the circumstance, make honest decisions that will make you happy and align with your real priorities. It’s important to realize that at some points in your life, you can’t do it all! There’s not one person who always has it figured out. Utilize your ‘Ivey Ladies’ network! During the panel, Q&A session, and cocktail reception that followed, I personally took away a great deal. Above all, I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and support of all in attendance. The overwhelming turnout and participation of such distinguished alumni is a real testament to the strength of the Ivey Community. Thank you to everyone who helped to make that evening such a great success!

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: Featured Student Profile: Graham O’Neill, Ivey MBA 2015, MBAA President

Degree: Honours Bachelor Civil Engineering – National University of Ireland, Galway Hometown: Galway, Ireland *This profile was written by Graham when he was just a few months into the program. He completed his MBA this month. The biggest challenge of my life so far — that’s what the Ivey experience represents for me. Right now, I am so far out of my comfort zone that I doubt I will ever see it again, and I couldn’t be happier. Before I became part of the Ivey family, I enjoyed my time working as a Transportation Engineer on a diverse range of public and private sector projects in Canada, Ireland, and the UK. The work I did was hugely rewarding and made a real difference in people’s lives, but I wanted to do more. Specifically, my goal is to apply my knowledge and skillset to the business environment and make a deeper and broader impact on the world I live in. With those goals in mind, Ivey was the natural choice for me. The Ivey MBA is a transformational experience on both a professional and personal level, which changes not just what you know, but who you are. As an engineer, I am constantly learning new skills from my classmates that complement my own analytical strengths; similarly, I strive to share the benefit of my own skills and experiences with the class, to improve the overall learning experience. The Ivey Case-Method facilitates this knowledge-sharing like no other learning program I know. When I entered the Ivey classroom for the first time, I distinctly remember the mixed feelings of overflowing excitement and sheer terror as I thought to myself: “Just look at the people I am sharing this room with! They are all heroes — what am I doing here? How did I get in?” By the end of the first week, I realized that we were all thinking the same thing. In retrospect, I understand that my emotions were entirely normal. In this kind of company, to think otherwise would be almost arrogant. My nervousness subsided as the weeks passed and we got up to full speed in the program, but as I write this, I know that a little bit of nervousness will remain with all of us until the very end. The class became lifelong friends almost instantly, but as a collective we are still outside of our comfort zone. We all want to ‘pull our weight’ in the cases, discussions, and the 24-hour reports. Every day counts, and it is this thought that crosses my mind every morning, as I open the Ivey front door to take another step on my journey. If you’re interested in hearing from more Ivey alumni, join us for our From Here to There Alumni Panel event in Toronto on Tuesday, April 21.

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: Bloomberg Businessweek Recruiter Report

On April 23, 2015, Bloomberg Businessweek posted a new feature, The Recruiter Report. This report was developed based on a survey of 1,320 recruiters at more than 600 companies around the globe to discover the skills that are in high demand by employers and which business schools are best at teaching those skills. The report showed that Ivey’s MBA graduates ranked first in leadership skills, strategic thinking, collaboration, and communications skills — among the most-wanted and hardest-to-find skills sought after by recruiters. Here’s how Ivey MBAs ranked among 122 global MBA schools in the skills most in demand by recruiters: #1 Leadership Skills #1 Strategic thinking #1 Ability to work collaboratively #1 Communication Skills #2 Motivation/drive #2 Quantitative skills #3 Analytical thinking #11 Adaptability #17 Creative problem solving It is important to note that this report combined the U.S. schools and the International schools so this is a truly global report. We are very proud of how our MBAs stacked up among other well-regarded MBA programs. This recognition from recruiters builds on Ivey being named the top international full-time MBA program by Bloomberg Businessweeklate last year. Ivey topped the list of twenty-seven international schools (located outside the U.S.) based on criteria from three distinct categories, including a survey of overall student satisfaction, a survey of employers, and faculty research in esteemed journals. In particular, Ivey ranked first overall in the employer satisfaction category, which identifies just how well a school prepares its students to enter the business world. The results of this report reinforce that our Career Management approach of high-engagement with both recruiters and students is working; that our faculty members excel at teaching both essential content and capabilities; and, that our students and alumni are world-class talent.

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: Reflecting on the First Month of the Ivey MBA

Guest Student Blog Post: Fahad Tariq, MBA 2016 Last week I arrived at Ivey at 7:00 AM, almost an hour and a half before classes started. It was a sunny, brisk morning and the Ivey building was completely empty. Rays of sunlight passed through the building’s many windows and lit the wood-panelled student lounge. I took a seat in one of the leather sofas near the window and looked out at the picturesque Western campus. I had endeavoured to come early this day so I could have a few moments of quiet and reflection. Specifically, I wanted to reflect on my first month of the MBA program and how fortunate I was to be studying at Canada’s top business school, which strives to “Develop business leaders who think globally, act strategically, and contribute to the societies in which they operate.” As I started reflecting, I realized our MBA classes to date had not gone the way I was expecting — and I mean this in a very good way! Our core classes — Accounting, Leadership, Communication, and Macroeconomics — were extremely practical and centred on making informed decisions and transforming our business conduct. Theoretical ideas and frameworks were emphasized in so much as they enabled us to make effective decisions. In our Communication class each student was videotaped presenting to their respective study team and then we were all provided with feedback to improve our presentation skills, such as slowing our pace and engaging the audience. We also learned persuasive presentation techniques from budding magician Keith Brown whose tricks and, more importantly, confident presentation style left us amazed. In our Leadership class, we worked in teams of six to construct a Lego tower with dimension, input, and time constraints. The purpose of this fun and competitive exercise (also videotaped) was to examine our teamwork skills in stressful situations. We learned how to assert, compromise, persuade, question, lead, and follow when working in diverse teams in pursuit of a common goal. Macroeconomics, traditionally taught in a theoretical manner, was introduced to us as an additional lens through which we could analyze and evaluate business decisions. In this way, we answered practical questions such as “What is the impact of falling oil prices on a manufacturer in Ontario?” Our learning experience has been vastly enhanced by the outstanding faculty who are passionate about teaching and by peers who continue to impress with their diverse backgrounds and insights. We had a case involving a Brazilian brewery dealing with threats from municipal officials, and I was amazed that one of the students in our class had dealt with the same situation in real life when she worked in South America. Her unique perspective altered the class discussion by making us recognize the magnitude of our decisions. If the first month of the MBA is any indication, the next year will be a truly transformative experience. As students and future leaders we will learn much in class and perhaps more importantly outside of it. We will push ourselves beyond our comfort zones. We will laugh and form lifelong friendships. We will begin to “think globally, act strategically and contribute to the societies in which we operate.” And I for one can’t wait to continue this transformative journey.

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: Time Again to Get Connected

It’s that time of year again! Our MBA students are getting ready for their debut to alumni and recruiters at the annual Get Connected event in Toronto. This intensive, three-day event is the capstone to the initial 10-weeks of in-class, Career Management programming. During their time in Toronto, students will be invited to exclusive Information Sessions with top recruiting firms, participate in a networking event with over 200 Ivey alumni, spend the day practising mock-interviews with real company representatives, and listen to recruiter/alumni panels that discuss the most effective strategies for career success. As a formal kick-off to recruiting season, students embrace this opportunity to practise and hone the networking and presentation skills they have learned in first weeks of the program, and to make valuable connections with key recruiters and companies who will participate in on-campus recruiting this Fall. To give you an idea of what students can expect during Get Connected, take a look at this day-in-the-life video from MBA 2014, Leslie Shaw:   Get Connected

FROM Ivey MBA Admissions Blog: McKinsey MBA Case Competition – by Fahad Tariq

by Fahad Tariq, MBA 2016 The stakes were high — a chance to impress McKinsey consultants, a trophy with your name on it, and, of course, bragging rights. 140 well-dressed students in 23 teams prepared for the three-day MBA case competition centred on solving real-world business problems. This was an ideal opportunity to apply much of what we had learned in the first three months of the program, particularly operations, finance, and marketing. The cases involved a conglomerate exploring B2C opportunities in India, an established lawn company considering outsourcing its manufacturing to China, and a public clothing company debating going private. These complex cases required us to identify the key issues, analyze case facts quantitatively and qualitatively, and develop creative, well-reasoned recommendations. In each of the three rounds, teams presented to a panel of judges consisting of Ivey alumni and faculty. Each team had ten minutes to present their solution and five minutes to respond to questions from the judges. Presentations needed to be professional and answers on point. Teams could be seen anxiously writing strategies and frameworks on whiteboards and rehearsing their presentations in hallways. In the end, three outstanding teams were selected to present in the final round in front of McKinsey consultants and the entire MBA class. The tension in the auditorium was palpable. The finalists demonstrated not only their analytical thought and creativity but also highly effective presentation skills. Each speaker was confident and convincing, especially when faced with challenging questions from the veteran judges. In the end, one team was deservedly named the winner; however, the remaining twenty-two teams all benefited tremendously from participating in the competition. We learned to work in teams under extreme time constraints, to think like managers, and to examine problems from multiple lenses. This is the Ivey difference.

Hi,

I am an international student, just wondering about the English proficiency test, as per Ivey website it is mentioned that work experience gain in an English speaking enviroment, the test is not needed.

Can you confirm me that working around 5 years in Middle East (Oman, UAE etc) serving client across: Middle East, Europe, and US would count towards English speaking environment.

In case I have to sit for this, is it possible that I can submit my application along with GMAT and all other stuff with this test.

I am planning to apply before R3 deadline, my Gmat is schedule on 20 Sept, just before my leaves, I am just worried I would miss this dead line.

Am I reading that chart right? Did someone get in with a 2.1 GPA??