Echelon,
It's because your profile says Location: United States (maybe you hadn't realized that until now?
GPA will also be sort of an issue for me, but I have contacted admissions people from Schulich and Rotman and both schools encouraged me to apply.
As for schools: I'm finding it kind of hard to decide among Canadian schools. It's not like in the US where some schools (HBS, Wharton, Stanford) are obviously better than others. The rankings differ a lot, and personally I'm more inclined to Rotman, then Schulich, then McGill. They are all great schools, but the location to me will be very important, since I don't speak French either. If I were to sum up the pros and cons, they would be:
Rotman - pros: location, international reputation, good rankings; cons: tuition.
McGill - pros: international reputation, job placement rate, smaller program (I have the impression this could mean it's easier to get a job); cons: location, small network (the "other side" of a small program)
Schulich - pros: good rankings, location (not as good as Rotman, but still Toronto) and tuition; cons: York doesn't have great overall reputation.
If you plan to go to finance, I'd say Rotman would be the best choice. Yes, you're going to be just one more of half of the class, but then again the best opportunities might be there after all. That's just my opinion, though. I'll probably have a more informed one after I visit the schools. And just like you, scholarships will play an important role in my decision. All things equaled I'd go to Rotman, but I'd need a generous scholarship from them for that condition to be true (and no scholarships from the others).
Now, even more important than which school, what do you think it's gonna be like in the Canadian job market for foreigners like us? I contacted a girl from Rotman and she said it's actually hard to get a good job. A guy from Schulich was more optimistic and said that it's totally possible to get a good job on par with Canadian-born MBAs.
I agree with most points in your pros/cons list. I have the same concerns you have about the job market for foreigners. Even more so for myself, at least (I think) you'll have an easier time with accent similarities. Mine will really stand out.
If you go through businessweek profiles, each college has b/w 45-60% international students and their placement rates are in mid-80s (95+ for McGill) so unless the programs are flat out lying about their employment rates (which has been known to happen), it means some of the non-Canadians do get placed. Plus Canada is a much more diverse country than say Australia (where employers are extremely reluctant to give non PRs a job) and employment laws are much easier, so maybe it'll turn out ok? I do know that for international students looking to 'shift' Canada is the best opportunity, in relative terms. Europe and Aus are pretty much off the list and U.S. is a gamble, a gamble that seems to pays off very well though, if the placement rates of US unis are really accurate. Anyway that's what I'm going with, whether it works out or not, at least I made sure to give myself the best chance out there. Maybe 'good' jobs wont come easily, but a job is a job I guess. I've heard about PHDs and MBAs driving cabs and stocking shelves, but they don't have Canadian degrees. I hope at least a Canadian MBA will get us something better than that.