Desautels September 2011 - Intake

Well, it seems we've got an empty house here but I suppose I'll continue with the updates in case anyone with interest is lurking.

I received an interview invitation today for January 18th. I'll let you know how it goes.

Good luck!

I just finished my interview a few hours ago with Antionette Molino. You couldn't ask for a more pleasant interviewer. The interview was very laid back and very standard questions were asked:

- Tell me about a typical workday
- What are your goals post-grad?
- Why MBA, Why now, Why Desautels?
- What does leadership mean to you, tell me about some of your experiences in a leadership role?
- What is important to you outside of your working life (interview opener)?
- How do you function in scenarios involving team work?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses and what do you plan to do to highlight those strengths and tackle those weaknesses?

There was also ample time at the end of the interview to ask questions about the anything. I targeted the curriculum changes in 2008, Desautels' culture, opportunities to learn French while studying etc.

If anyone else is applying and has yet to interview and has any questions, feel free to PM. Although it looks as though this whole thread is just a conversation I'm having with myself

Got emailed acceptance notification today with official letter to follow later this week. Was surprised to find I was also awarded a 1/4 tuition scholarship. As one of my top choices I feel like the "decision" cycle has finally begun. Now I'm awaiting replies from two other schools.

For anyone wondering about the process, approximately one week after my file went complete I was emailed about scheduling an interview (all applicants that meet the minimum standards get an interview) which happened the following week. After the interview (roughly 30 minutes long) the final decision came exactly two weeks later. The whole process lasted roughly 4 weeks and was very painless.

Best of luck to anyone applying

My Interview is tomorrow. How long after the interview should I expect a decision?

If I remember correctly, my offer came exactly two weeks after my interview date. Best of luck tomorrow. The interview is very straightforward and personal.

I like how you kept us all updated FergTron, despite the lack of responses to your posts. I found your info very helpful and have been considering applying for 2012.

You have one hell of a good GMAT score and wouldn't be suprised if that's the highest for your class this year. Was the scholarship awarded because of your GMAT score? If you don't mind me asking?

I cant say with certainty what my scholarship was based on, but since I have only 2.5 years of work experience (2 different jobs with a 16 month break in between them) and a rather pedestrian 3.33 GPA, although my final two years were much stronger, I'd say it was likely that my GMAT score played a very big factor in the scholarship. But like I said, I'm not sure. I do know that entrance scholarship range from 5k to 32K (half tuition), so with mine being only in the middle of that range yet my GMAT score being in the top percentile it follows that it would take some additional strengths in your profile in order to be awarded a larger amount.

Best of luck in your application cycle next fall should you decide to apply. If you have any questions in the interim please dont hesitate to ask.

I just read this yesterday:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le1941488/

Anyone want to speculate about what the effect on current and future students will be in terms of tuition cost, education quality, and ranking effect?

Hi Ferg, I think the interview went well and tomorrow it will have been 2 weeks ago. Just out of curiousity was the acceptance e-mail from the person you interviewed with or was it a system generated e-mail? Fingers crossed for some good news tomorrow!

Thanks

The acceptance email was from Antoinette. I also interviewed with her although I'm unsure if she being interviewer and the person who sent my offer is a coincidence or common

Posted from my mobile device

Guys, I have admits from UBC(Sauder), HEC(Montreal) and McGill
can you please discuss pros and cons of all 3 bschools above.

my personal post mba goal : work in canada for sometime(3 years) before i return to my home country.

All three of those schools are high quality. It all comes down to where you'd feel most comfortable working for 3 years, in Montreal or in Vancouver. UBC is the top school in that market and will place very well there, while McGill and HEC place very strongly in Montreal and Quebec City/Ottawa. I really can't say which school is better for the Montreal market because I've heard mixed reviews but from my own research it seems that McGill's prestige as an overall institution is finally starting to rub off on the Desautels program and its been shooting up through the rankings because of that. HEC, from what I've heard, is held in the highest esteem by the French community in Quebec and I'm not entirely sure how that translates into post-MBA job opportunities, but if you feel that you don't "need" a 2-year program then the HEC 1-year program will certainly provide you with a very strong ROI.

Anyway, I'd first consider where you'd like to live before trying to decide between the three.

Thanks a lot for your excellent reply. I would like to know your views on difference between McGill's 2 year program and HEC'c 1 year program. Which one should be preferred and by whom i.e. typical reason to join a 2 year program is if someone wants to make a career shift. 1 year program is fit for someone planning to come to back to same industry but in a different or higher role. Any other difference ?

That's my general understanding as well. There is also the internship component that may or may not be available in a 1-year program. But, this is all very general.

In my situation I will be switching career paths, and geographic markets so I felt that the 2-year program was absolutely necessary for me, whereas someone already living in Montreal and already within the industry they're interested in may be more geared towards a 1-year program. Having said that, I was also drawn to the McGill brand over the HEC brand, even though the b-school at HEC may be more "established" simply because the employment statistics and the recruiting employers I've researched associated with the McGill program were very strong and I truly feel that Desautels is a MBA program on the rise. Also, the intership component was a must for me and I'm unsure if HEC offers it (I didn't consider that program because of its duration) but even if they do, I question the utility behind an internship if it falls at the end of the academic program. Why not just move straight into that first job? Will it become more difficult to find your first job after the internship considering that on-campus recruiting would have occured already? Would that 3-month detachment from on-campus life also make it more difficult to secure a position after internship? So these would be some of my concerns, although they may not actually take place as I haven't researched 1-year programs.

So, overall, I'd say that if you want to switch one of "geographic market or career path" you would be fine with the one year program but would be at a disadvantage in that same program if you wanted to switch both. This is how I perceive the situation, but I'm not entirely sure I know enough to speak about it with any certainty

Nope there is no internship in HEC's 1 year program though they have supervised live consulting project during the course which has to be completed parallelly along with your studies. Typically 1 year program never have internship associated with them. UBC has 4 months internship in their 16 months long program.

I have spoken to ex and current students at both McGill and HEC; the response is HEC is more famous than McGill for finance. Want to know how much is that true according to your research ?

The only research I've done between McGill and HEC was regarding how they compare in terms of employment prospects in the Montreal market. Since I hadn't researched the HEC program, only the employment statistics, I can only tell you what I found there. And that was that yes, the HEC program has a long history and is favoured by some (especially in the predominantly French speaking community) but McGill's employment numbers show that roughly 45% of the class found themselves in finance-related employment after graduation and the average starting salary (for ALL graduates) was roughly $86,000 plus signing bonus and other gauranteed compensation which was superior to the numbers I'd found associated with HEC grads. Add to that, the fact that Finance grads tend to "carry" the average salary with higher starting salaries and that $86,000 will grow.

Overall, the one major problem with the McGill program is its size. At only 70-ish students its quite small and that "may" keep certain recruiters away from on-campus recruiting, but I think the McGill Alumni network and the extended time in the program make up for that disadvantage.