Dear Experts,

I am highly interested to apply at Rotman for my MBA career, please evaluate the stats -

B.Tech. in Computer Science & Engineering (8.04 degree gpa).
10.5 years of IT experience in total - Fortune 500 companies (including 2.5 years at US & Europe).
Organizational level applause awards and certifications.
Worked with NGO's for some time.
Into family business for 1.5+ years expanding business.
As a hobby, professional trainer, teaching for 2+ years.
Worked in various roles and different locations in India and abroad.

I am considering Canadian top 10 b schools to live & work in there.
I am targeting schools which can provide scholarships / co-op options. So, what GMAT score should i target?
I am considering to take GMAT in next 2-3 months with the predictive score of 650.

Please suggest.

Thanks in advance!

Guys from India, has anyone received an interview invite in the past week.

What is your GMAT score?

If you haven't taken your GMAT yet, you should always target 700, because it's at that point employers stop caring. However, before really going into it, I'd suggest taking a mock to see where you are, and where you realistically think you can be in 2-3 months.

With your profile, I don't think you'd have an issue with scholarships if you get an offer, and it doesn't look like you'd have an issue with getting an internship either. It seems like you're looking for a career change, so I might avoid schools like Ivey who don't have an internship.

Also, I don't think Canada has a Top 10. It's a Top 6: Rotman, Ivey, Sauder, DeSautels, Schulich, and I think HEC. Of these I'd avoid Ivey because of the lack of internship. DeSautels and HEC are in Montreal so you might want to avoid them if you're lacking in French. I don't know if Schulich has changed their admissions protocol but when I was thinking of business school, the admissions interview portion wasn't mandatory so they admit a lot of students who can't actually speak a word of English (not good for group work).

Anyone that has submitted their application, could you please elaborate on the recommendation letters? Do you know what questions your recommenders were asked?

Guys I was admitted last week and was offered some scholarship ! Yayee !

Can someone guide me what is the maximum scholarship Rotman offers to entering students? It will help me in negotiating further.

30K.

jigglypuff Does Rotman offer feedback on your previous year application. I was WL'ed for almost 2 months and finally couldn't secure a place. Can e mailing admissions team help here?

Thankyou very much for helping us with our questions here.

That's a tough question. I don't know the answer since I only applied once and got in, so I never needed a feedback.

On one hand, the admissions team is pretty helpful and they do help with profile checks before your actual application to see how you can improve your candidacy, on the other hand, they have no reason to help you and I'm not even sure if they'd bother going back to previous years to check it out considering how busy they must be now. Bottom line, I have no clue whatsoever.

I might email the team to ask this. I'm sure they'd be interested to know a previous applicant is interested in applying again. However, you do have to make sure that your profile has improved since you last applied. A promotion here, an accolade there. I'd be interested to know what they say.

jigglypuff What are your thoughts on post MBA salaries at Rotman. I know the numbers. It was 82k average. But how is the taxation in Toronto. What is a realistic in-hand number (post tax). Assuming we take a loan for 80% of tuition (say 80k), how soon can we pay that off. What is the average cost of living in Toronto. This would be very helpful in taking a well informed decision on any loans that we plan to take. Many thanks.


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Income tax is high in Canada. At that kind of salary you're making, expect to be taxed around 36%. You can easily find the numbers online and do your own calculations, but that's the ballpark. But honestly, your question is very vague and very hard for one person to answer. How long it takes to pay it off depends on how much of your income you put back into it, whether you put in the minimum or you put in much more.

The average cost of living in Toronto is also very high. But that's the average, and the range is very, very wide. It might be easier to do research on your own looking into Toronto neighbourhoods with your own specifications than me giving an anecdote based on how I've lived here... my two cents.

Thanks. There are quite some changes in the last nine months since my submission of application in Round 2 in Jan 2016. I will write to the Admissions Team and since they're visiting my country next week, I might put up my case to the representative there as well.

Thanks again for all the help you've been doing to all the prospective candidates. Appreciate your time!

Hi Guys, I submitted my application on October 16th and have not heard back yet from the school. I know the Rotman team is visiting India next week and will conduct few interviews. Does this mean that for applicants who have not heard back as of yet are rejected without interviews. Thanks!

No, it does not.

People, you have to understand one thing. They have no obligation to respond before their deadline.

Just because you haven't heard back yet and someone else has, doesn't mean it's a ding. I know you're all worried and super stressed, I understand that having been there myself. But you're going to hear back when you're going to hear back.

As for the team being in India doing interviews, realize that they can only do so many interviews while they're there. If they can do 50 interviews and you're the 51st, they're not going to tell you anything. Also realize that there's going to be over 100 applicants from India. And in-person interviews are not the only way they'd talk to someone, you all know that.

If you've been waitlisted, that means you've been interviewed. I would reach out to your interviewer, unless it's Sheldon. From what I hear, he's moved onto another post now, and I'm not sure if he's still doing interviews. Correct me if I'm wrong though. The best way is to build a connection, and having been interviewed already helps you get a jump start. It could very well help you jump the line for interviews if they know you're applying and they're expecting your application.

Hello, I was waitlisted without interview. That was quite strange as it didn't made sense to me In fact, they sent me a post mail letter informing about my WL! That is unlike what most of the schools do (other schools just update you electronically) In short, I have no specific person from Admissions Team to reach out to. However, I'd try to network and will possibly put up a case before him/her intimating about my last year application. Lets see how they respond.

I am also interested in this. Additionally, do people usually negotiate for these sorts of things? If so how does one go about it? I intend on funding my MBA studies myself (as I'm sure many of you are), and as such any sorts of scholarships help. I just don't want to try to negotiate and end up sounding ungrateful for the offer I have already received.

Please let me know.

It's $30K. At least that's what the ceiling was in my year. It's possible they've increased it but the Rotman family might be pulling funding (there was a big debate on what was going to happen when Joseph Rotman passed away).

And yes, I'd say people do try to negotiate, but usually the school won't budge. At this point they've made the offer and can't retract it, so it won't hurt to ask. The only way they would increase the scholarship is if you're already a star candidate and they think you might go elsewhere, like say Harvard. But that would typically only be for star candidates who do indeed have a chance at Harvard (e.g. 750 GMAT, 3.9 GPA, 3+ years as a consultant at BCG).

Still, doesn't hurt to ask.

Oh, and do the Problem Solving Challenge in March. Top prize is a full ride.

Congratulation guys! All the best for your future.

I was getting some jitters, so thought of reaching out to the people who have gone through the process.

1) Any tips for Video essays?, where to begin, what questions to prepare? How does the process work?
2) I'm an international candidate, so can I just upload the scanned copy of original transcripts and later on if I get admitted, could send over the original docs by mail-post as well.
3)Would be great if anyone could PM the set of recommendation questions, would be a great for me to help chose my recommendors.

Thanks a lot guys! Really appreciate your help.

Hey guys,

Need help with recommendation letters. I would like to know if there are any specific questions that are asked. Otherwise, can I just ask my references to write about my performance in general? with focus on my leadership, along with examples where I excelled. My question is , if the recommendation is more generic in nature, so I can use the same for other schools as well. Obviously, I cannot ask my references to write school specific letters.

Any help on this is much appreciated

Sid