Hi Gandalf,
I'm from Montreal and seriously considered McGill's MBA program.
Here are my two-cents:
McGill University, as a whole, has a very strong global brand -- up there with UofT as one of Canada's top
university brands.
The business school, however, lags behind the "Big 4" Canadian b-schools -- both in terms of reputation and quality of program.
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Canadian "Big-4" B-Schools: Ivey, Queen's, Rotman and Schulich (in alphabetical order so as to avoid the age-old who's the best debate)=-=-=-=
That said, in 2009, McGill "privatized" their MBA program, closing the loop that allowed Quebec students (in particular) and Canadian students (lesser extent) to pay
outrageously low tuition rates. The extra tuition money has allowed the school to attract new professors, renovate their b-school facilities (quite nice), and improve the MBA program as a whole. Since then, McGill has steadily risen in the ranks gradually closing the gap between itself and the other big Canadian b-schools. Schulich had a similar "privatization" in the late 1990s; springboarding the school over the next decade to the top of several rankings (last year's Economist ranking being the crown jewel). Given this parallel, I would not be surprised if McGill's program became
much more competitive with the "Big 4" over the next 5-10 years.
In terms of recruitment, McGill is a bit of a mixed-bag. They have very strong placement in Quebec: many good corporate jobs (Bell, Bombardier, CN, Electronic Arts, Pfizer, etc.), some consulting jobs (McKinsey, Deloitte, IBM, Secor, Accenture), and a small selection of IB/PM position (all major Canadian banks have small Montreal IB teams, PSP Investment Management, Caisse de Depot, etc.). The only caveat is that a strong control of the French language is essential to landing a job. Quebec is a french-speaking province, and, even if you will not speak french on a day-to-day basis, you will expected to speak/read/write at a relatively high level. Fair or not, it is what it is.
Outside of Quebec, McGill does have placement in Boston, NYC, and Toronto. It is not unheard-of for students to get offers a BB firms and the M/B/B consultancies. However, you lose the home-field advantage of being a local school. If you're looking for a job in Toronto, you are better-off looking at the Ontario schools -- and so forth with the US schools.
My suggestion: (1) if you speak french, and want to live in Montreal, McGill is really the best option. There is a heavy favoritism for the local schools (especially McGill), and you will have better interview chances than all but the best Canadian/US b-schools. Montreal is also a fantastic city to live in: very high quality of life, with great food, beautiful women, and very affordable rents/housing etc. (2) if you don't speak french, you are better off going to one the Canadian "Big 4" or a US-School. Though landing a job in Montreal without speaking a lick of french is indeed possible, you won't be stacking the cards in your favor.
Food for thought, and hope that this helps you (or anyone else looking at McGill)
-Matty
gandalf007 wrote:
Hi Guys,
I am drawn to Schulich because of the course options available, especially in the arts and media administration.
My goal is to get into media and entertainment industry post mba and its a big career change; I have around 5yrs of W.E in IT industry.
I have few questions for Schulich:
How does the Schulich MBA program help career changers?
Do media companies recruit MBAs and in particular international students from Schulich?
I am planning to apply to Schulich this week for Fall 2012 program, is it too late since Schulich has a rolling admissions?
Lastly, at the risk of being off topic : Any comments about Mcgill's MBA program? ; its Reputation in Canada? ; and job opportunities in Montreal Location? (I understand this will be more of tech jobs)
Thanks!
Ganesh