Does Area of Interest affect your application?

Question

Hi just a quick question, my first post on here actually, so hi!

I'm applying to Schulich (IMBA) and Rotman (full time MBA),

I was wondering if anyone knew if it would affect my application if I specified an area of interest/ specialization? ex. Operations vs. General Management vs. Marketing? Do you think they are trying to fill a quota for each, or if its a specialization the school isn't known for would they not take my application seriously? Wondering if it is better if I simply put undecided?

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

Your specialization must be aligned with both your short terms and your long term goals. Therefore, I see no harm in mentioning your specialization or expressing bias towards a particular field. However, I would highly recommend that you write to an admission consultant to be completely sure. All the best.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Yes, this is correct. Your areas of interest generally must align with both your short-term and long-term goals. For example, if you wrote about your desire to go into banking but put your areas of interest as general management and entrepreneurship, admissions will be confused.

There does exist a lot of wiggle room here - since (as an example) you can do tech, consulting, and even entrepreneurship within the finance industry. But try not to navigate too far from what you have written about and what your goals indicate.

Regards,

GyanOne · Answer

Hi

Thanks for posting. Here's our advice: 
- You do need to specify an area of interest or a specialization. Schulich and Rotman both have plenty of those, so make sure to go through all the options to find the one best aligned to your short-term post-MBA objective. 
- Beyond this, they are not looking at filling up quotas for any specialization. It is alignment with your profile that matters. Try and avoid the 'undecided' choice. This is especially relevant for Rotman - as their main essay does not cover your career goals at all (for Schulich, this is not the case), so you want to give them as much as a sense as you can of where you are headed after you graduate. 
- A school will not take your application less seriously if you mention a specialization that is not aligned to the traditional strength areas of that school. However, it may do that if what you mention in your specialization has little relevance to what you have done earlier.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

ExpertsGlobal · Answer

Hello unasir , Hope this finds you well. You must indicate an area of specialization that goes with your career goals. Mentioning "undecided" is not recommended. Besides, we do not think they are trying to fill a quota

Thanks. All the best!

unzm · Answer

Thanks for your input everyone!

Does Area of Interest affect your application?

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