Cornell vs. Rotman

Question

Hi guys,

I am struggling between these two schools. I've been admitted to Cornell (with 36k scholarship) and Rotman (with 19k scholarship).

Please give me a hand with your opinion.

Background:
- I am from Latin America
- Undergrad in Accounting from a Latin American University
- 32 years old
- 9 years of work experience in FP&A

Goals:
- 1st option: Management Consulting / 2nd option: Product Management Tech
- Able to live abroad
- Need to pay the debt
- Would like to have an international career (USA or Canada)
- Expect a close-knit environment

Rotman gives me a 3 year working visa but brand is not as strong as Cornell.

Also, I would like to know how USA MBA are perceived in the Canadian market.

Thank you very much in advance.

logro · Answer

Hey - As per my research the value of Rotman degree lies withing Canada but with Cornell you do get a international brand value not just in canada but across the world

bb · Answer

Hi! Welcome to GMAT Club. I see you are one of the 2021 members! That's awesome! Happy New Year!

If you would like to live/work in Canada, I suggest that you go to a Canadian business school. If you would like to live in the US, then you go to Johnson (based on your choice so far). Johnson would give you a STEM OPT which would also be good for 3 years though with a few constraints and implications.

In Canada, there is a lot more emphasis on the work experience and your resume with MBA not bumping up the paycheck as much and not being as big of a differentiator as in the US.

A few things about consulting - Johnson put about 25% grads into consulting in 2019 (pre pandemic) and my guess many of those were domestic students. You can see the consulting companies that hire international students: https://gmatclub.com/forum/top-mba-h1b- ... 43153.html - it is very competitive and not all companies hire internationals for example.

P.S. Personally I feel US would offer the most options for Tech and Consulting but that's in part influenced by the fact that I don't know the Canadian market as much.
-BB

will2009 · Answer

Real-life experience from someone's done an MBA in Canada and is working in Canada:
1. Canada is very school specific and Top 3 Canadian schools will triumph other US MBAs even Kellogg, unless you are from Top 3. I met a guy from Kellogg MBA and he moved to Canada to find job and has been working contract job only. That speaks a lot about how brutal Canadian market is in being school specific and favors its domestic schools. So in short Cornell is like a "nothing/ no-name" in Canadian market for the lack of a better word/ way to describe it. Hope I don't offend anyone but truth is never easy to digest. Two friends of mine at Stanford GSB and Columbia did not have much luck penetrating into Canadian market, just a point of reference.

2. Canadian firms pay much less than US counterparts for the same firms/ roles. Take a note of that. But you get a lot more work life balance and whatnot. Decide for yourself what you need or value more perhaps?

3. Finding job in Canada is generally more challenging not because it is more challenging in nature but because the market is way smaller. So the amount of networking you would need to do is insanely high. Guess you would have to network if you go to a school in the US too but I find it's more brutal in Canada. I agree if you disagree

scs

Hi guys,

I am struggling between these two schools. I've been admitted to Cornell (with 36k scholarship) and Rotman (with 19k scholarship).

Please give me a hand with your opinion.

Background:
- I am from Latin America
- Undergrad in Accounting from a Latin American University
- 32 years old
- 9 years of work experience in FP&A

Goals:
- 1st option: Management Consulting / 2nd option: Product Management Tech
- Able to live abroad
- Need to pay the debt
- Would like to have an international career (USA or Canada)
- Expect a close-knit environment

Rotman gives me a 3 year working visa but brand is not as strong as Cornell.

Also, I would like to know how USA MBA are perceived in the Canadian market.

Thank you very much in advance.

sebo08 · Answer

Hey,
I got admitted to Cornell and Rotman last year. I attended none because of visa issues but I can share my research.

Cornell:
- 2yrs of super cold location but good community 
- strong job market in the US compared to Canada
- way more expensive than Rotman even considering the 36k

- Cornell carries a big brand name so still you stand in a much better place compared to other many other MBA s in the US

- you get the 3yr opt in cornell

Rotman 
- metropolitan location, still cold
- much smaller market in Canada. 40m ppl in Canada vs 300m ppl in the US
- less expensive but considering your annual income and savings of Canada vs US it will almost take the same amount of time for the ROI
- everyone was telling me that Rotman is a guarantee that you get a good job (in Canada only)
-you get a 3yr work visa AND a much much easier Permanent residence. Like you can get your PR almost when you are done with the MBA

To sum it up: I am 33 and looking to get into consulting as well. Ppl tell me it is going to be difficult because the consulting companies stats (at least in MBB) for H1B is low, and they look for younger applicants who can handle the burnout of consulting longer than us. We as 30+ y.o. have gotten intelligent enough not to put so much pressure on ourselves for our jobs 😄 but thats subjective and I am sure it is possible to get into consulting if you really dream for it. 
Between US and Canada:

if you want money, it comes with some more challenges and uncertainty, but the rewards are high. Even if you get an 80k paying job, you still can close your loans with your savings (if you want to go all-in) at your 40s. Thats the US.

If you want a safe side, you have kids, want to settle and look for a nice job and security, Canda is the place, with less money in it obviously.

I ran Cornell/Rotman choice through AHP system for myself last year (with the criteria important to me obviously, scoring the criteria roughly based on my guts and estimates) and Cornell got the upper hand.

Posted from my mobile device

thomasedzhang · Answer

They are really narrowing down to the choice of country. Both of them are no doubt top school in each country, but maybe Cornell is slightly higher brand name than Rotman. But at the end, they are giving you two different job market and two different life opportunities.

Hard to say which one is better. For sure, if you are someone who is rich enough and not to think about finance during and after school, then Cornell is no brainer. But if you want to think about finance, quality of life, possibility of staying permanentlt, etc, then you will have to think about twice, because these two countries provide two different life styles.

Posted from my mobile device

ANALysis · Answer

cornell is obviously a better school than rotman, but the choice is actually quite simple here:

if you want to work in the USA, pick cornell; if you want to work in canada, pick UT
if you don't plan on settling in either country long term, cornell would probably be a better bet

b7jiang · Answer

Let me weigh in here as I've been looking into post-MBA consulting opportunities. (btw, I'm working in Toronto and have similar backgrounds as yours)

Rotman is really a finance school. Many of my ex-colleagues with finance backgrounds went into Rotman hoping to pivot to strategy consulting, but most ended up in non-strategy related consulting roles. (big 4 or smaller boutique shops)

The reason for this is two-fold: 
1. Rotman's consulting network is not as strong as Ivey's, which is another top Canadian MBA using case-method learning. IMO, case method learning gives you the skillset to pivot into consulting, especially if you have no prior consulting exp. And I wouldn't be surprised if recruiters feel the same way. 
2. Assuming that you are looking at MBB opportunities, MBB Toronto offices typically hire from top 20 US programs and a few Canadian programs (Ivey, Rotman, Queens). This is a disadvantage working against you because US MBAs carry a stronger reputation than Rotman/Ivey (yes, even in Canada). When it comes to the final round of interviews at MBB, you're fighting for a spot against candidates from top US MBA programs (And yes, a lot of Canadians go to US B-school and recruit in Toronto markets). I'm not saying it's impossible to get to MBB from Rotman, but just think about your competitiveness in terms of the reputation of the business school, your GMAT (MBB cares about your GMAT) and other factors that are out of your control (i.e. certain spots reserved for US MBA grads).

I can confirm this is true from my conversations with current Rotman (and even Ivey) students. I've been thinking about consulting too, and I really don't like my MBB chances if I'm at Rotman. With Rotman, you'll likely end up at tier 2 consulting firms or big 4 implementation groups. Then again, Ivey trumps Rotman in consulting...

On the point about US MBA's prestige factor in Canada. I believe top 20 US programs are perceived highly in the Canadian job market. Outside of that range, I'm not sure how they compare to top Canadian MBAs. One thing to consider is that with a top US MBA, you can always choose to work in Canada after your MBA. (the reverse is almost impossible)

Hope this helps. At the end of the day, recruiting is only one aspect of your MBA experience. Toronto is a nice place to study, work and live. But going by pure employment opportunities, I'd recommend Cornell.

Cornell vs. Rotman

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