Calling all Rotman (Toronto) MBA Applicants:(2017 Intake)Class of 2019

I'm a Rotman alumnus, and I can go on record to completely agree with tallyho_88: it is better that you have a complete and well-rounded application that you feel that you cannot improve upon, than rush to submit an application for Round 1. There is a matter of debate with regards to whether or not competition increases as you go into the later rounds. It is difficult to confirm or deny, because no one has transparency into the admissions team other than the admissions team, but having spoken to many of my colleagues, we feel (based on anecdotal evidence only, not hard evidence) that there really isn't a difference in how hard it is to get an interview in the first four Rounds. Round 5 is very late in the game, and the admissions team would've started contacting waitlisted applicants, so that's why my peers and I believe that competition increases in that Round.

That being said, while we do not feel that competition increases from Round to Round, we do believe that scholarships decrease. But this is your choice to make, try to get admitted with a half-assed application for a higher chance of a larger scholarship, or have a better chance of getting admitted with a complete application with a lower chance of a large scholarship? The choice is obvious to me.

guys..i need to know about the process of sending the transcripts...i will be sending the labelled envelopes to my university, the address of rotman that needs to be mentioned on the envelope- do i need to mention the program that i am applying for?? or i just put the address of the university and they will figure it out.

Wouldn't it be good to have your university mail the transcripts to you and then you can mail the same to Rotman?

Am i missing something here? The above seems to be the most logical way

But it says that the transcripts have to be sent directly to rotman from the undergrad university in a sealed envelope.

PGN is correct. You can do it the other way - get it from your university & post mail to Rotman- as well

If it says so, then it would be best to ask someone from rotman . I am not sure whether my college will even bother to comply with my request for sending transcripts to international destination. BTW tally hoe, lets make a rotman group over https://gmatclub.com/chat. I am from pune and would be applying for the 2017 intake . My number is +91 9028055169 .

I think this will work as long as the envelope is sealed..

Yes you can send it, I'm doing the same thing because my university won't do that. We have to ask the university to put our transcripts in their envelope and close it, I had my transcripts validated by the UofT in 2014 when i applied for the Canadian immigration program, they told me to ask the university to put a stamp right on the envelope opening just to make sure the envelope wasn't opened after that. That's what I did, than I sent the envelope inside another Federal Express envelope (I didn't want to risk the regular mail service, that's why I used the Fefex). Although UofT had my transcripts validated already, I'll have to do it again, the exact same process. If your transcripts are not in English don't forget to send the translation too.

awesome!..thanks a lot Coruja

Hi, guys. I am just starting to prepare my application and will apply by R2. Best of luck to everyone!

guys...why is this place so dead??....i am having a hard time with the essay..has anybody contacted Rotman asking what they expect in the essay??

They say they want you to be yourself, they want to know you. I'll take the Gmat on Saturday, I'll only think about the essay next week. Email Rotman and ask to schedule a pre admission interview with them, it's very helpful, I did this. Also there's a program called student ambassadors, write one of them and ask for advice.

https://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/Degrees/ ... mbassadors

My greatest fear is the Gmat

I just found this update on their admissions blog https://inside.rotman.utoronto.ca/admissions/

I may caution you against asking too many questions. Well, specifically sending too many emails. It would be best to have all your questions in one email. I don't know how true this is, but I'd think you would prefer the admissions team not make any pre-interview biases; one of the easiest ways for them to form an opinion of you is to send too many emails and asking questions that you can google, or questions they obviously cannot answer. Just a precaution.

There are tons of information everywhere. Student ambassadors are a great source, I was an ambassador and we didn't have any influence on admissions. Rotman Inside is another. This forum has great information too; go back on the older threads for the older classes. Poets & Quants has a few Rotman articles; they're actually pretty good reads.

As for my take on the essay, don't just be yourself. Be your best self. Be your differentiated self. Don't be someone that anybody else can be, because then they'd question why they would pick you. Don't let them have a doubt that you're the best candidate for them. For example, I used to be a very good billiards player. But I didn't just say that, because there are a lot of very good billiards players. I said that I competed in tournaments and I won many of them; which is true. While there are a lot of very good billiards players, there aren't that many that win many tournaments. Again, it's about showing a version of you that no one else can be.

Good luck!

Coruja yes i have contacted a student ambassador, still waiting on the reply. Have spoken to a few of the alumni and current students and I'm sure not many people will share their ideas about the essay here. Good luck with your GMAT.
jigglypuff ..thanks a lot for the input, I also had this feeling that sending too many emails would make me look stupid, so I am being cautious there. I will check out the other sources you mentioned.

Have you had any luck with the essay? Having a very hard time trying to figure out how to approach this new prompt.

I'm starting to think about the essay now, I'm also lost, but it's a kind of a goals essay.

Yesterday I found an article and they had this tips:

Let’s take a closer look at the essay topics for Toronto / Rotman in the 2016-2017 admissions season.
Essay 1
When you reflect 10 years from now, how will you measure your MBA experience? (500 words)
This prompt is a standard career goals essay that should incorporate your career plans, as well as your understanding of the impact of the Rotman MBA. Given the nuance of framing your reflections from a long-term point of view, establishing your goals—in other words, where you hope to be in 10 years—is a good place to start. You may therefore begin with a brief mention of long-term plans, as these would lend meaning to your proposed short-term goals. Then, identify the function or job title you plan to pursue after business school, as well as your target industry and perhaps one or two target organizations. This position should be a logical first step toward a longer-term role that you hope to hold 10 or so years after your MBA.
It would then make sense to establish why you needed an MBA to arrive at this point. You can include a few sentences about how your work experience had prepared you for these future roles, as well as the skills and knowledge that you still needed to gain in order to move successfully along this path. With this “why MBA” piece established, candidates will then want to offer a brief assertion about the timing of pursuing an MBA—perhaps you had made as much progress in your current role as you could, or perhaps an MBA was the only way for you to gain the necessary skills for your future goals. Detailed treatment of the ways specific elements of the Rotman MBA program would help you to bridge the gap between your current skill set and their future plans. We recommend that candidates aim to devote at least 150 words to this section of the essay, if not a full half of their response.
To get as much mileage as possible out of this essay, you should aim to develop a very detailed response that explains how lessons from key classes and participation in certain student organizations positioned you to accomplish your professional objectives. The adcom will also be interested in hearing about how you see yourself contributing to the community and enhancing the experience of other students, so naming some events that you would like to help organize or a club you would hope to lead will also bolster your case. An in-depth review of the program website, conversations with current students and alumni, or visits to campus are all viable sources of the information you’ll need here.
Reflection Question
List 3-5 attributes or characteristics that best describe you. (3-5 word maximum)
While at first glance, it may feel like a relief to only have to write 5 words instead of 500, each word in this answer will carry more weight simply because of the shorter length. In approaching this short answer, you can certainly start by making a list about yourself, but it would also be wise to ask your closest friends and colleagues how they would describe you in 3-5 words. Asking others how they perceive you could open your eyes to other aspects of your character and improve the diversity of the list. Also, if several people mention the same attribute or characteristic, the overlap could help you narrow down your list. As this short answer is for admissions, it will be important that each attribute or characteristic is somehow relevant to business or being a member of a b-school community. Some choice words may be passionate, generous, collaborative; other words, such as leader or impactful, on the other hand, may be too broad or popular to really create an impression on the reader. “Unique” would also be wise to avoid, as it literally means “one of a kind.” Overall, converse with those closest to you and develop a distinctive list.


I don't know what happened but I couldn't find the link again. I saved the text on my google drive.

I also google some sample essays in this style, some US schools had the same essay last year, I found a sample that the girl writes the essay like she was already in the future, looking back at the past and thinking about her MBA, it's very creative but I don't know id this style is recommended. I also made some research on some admission consultants websites, and they say some schools wants you to be very realistic, they give Columbia as an example. But I didn't find any information about the essay style Rotman likes. This consultants websites they focus more on the top Us schools.