Ivey vs. Queen's vs. Schulich - 2020 Admit

Also I've added a list of qualities/details of each school that are important to me to the thread. Thanks!

As far as I know Ivey is strong in the Financial Sector as well due to its strong UG placement in the sector. But if you are focusing on the Visa aspect then yes, Schulich gives you the 3 years PSW Visa.

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Hello @Kanachi94

First of all, congratulations on securing the admissions. It's so nice to see that you did some preliminary research on the schools yourself. I am a Canadian myself, and I've seen a lot of people face the same dilemma. I'm going to write a detailed analysis on this forum soon.
Now coming back to your question, let me give you some stats:
Ivey- Class Size 2021= 154; Domestic (70% with 51% Canadians), International (30%); 1 year work permit; Case Method teaching style; GMAT Range= 520-780, Median= 660.
Schulich- Class Size 2021= 241; Domestic (43%), International (57%); 3 year work permit; Class based teaching style; GMAT Range= 550-780, Average= 660.
Queen's- Class SIze 2021= 91; Domestic (58%), International (42%); 1 year work permit; Team based teaching style; GMAT Range= 550-700, Average= 654;

Employment:
Ivey 2019 Class: Size- 130; Employed(3 months)-91% (95% reported); Avg base salary= $ 93,146; Consulting-42%, Financial services-25%.
Schulich 2019 Class: Size- 420; Employed(3 months)-89% (93% reported); Avg base salary= $ 90,120; Consulting-15%, Financial services-22%.
Queen's 2019 Class: Size- 82; Employed(3 months)-95% (100% reported); Avg base salary= $ 90,562; Consulting-32%, Financial services-40%.

Ivey has good consulting recruitment due to case-based teaching approach (No subject knowledge) and a large number of domestic students so that they can use those links for final recruiting. Ivey is located at London, ON (approx. 200 Kms from Toronto). Queen's is located at Kingston, ON (approx. 250 Kms from Toronto), good in both consulting and financial services. Schulich is located at York, ON ( approx. 20Kms from Toronto), good in financial services, technology, consulting.

My advice- First of all, decide what kind of teaching method is best for you. Overall base salaries are same for all the top Canadian schools and signing bonus & other guaranteed compensation is received by 20-40% only. Networking in Schulich is easier because of the large alumni base and closer proximity to Toronto whereas you have to stay more in touch with career services at Ivey or Queen's. From these schools you can get into any organisation so it would be better to decide based on tuition fees, amount of scholarship and location.

Admissions Team= Queen's>Schulich=Ivey
Career Services= Queen's>Ivey>Schulich
Ranking= Ivey>Schulich=Queen's
Reputation= above 3 are considered reputed along with Rotman, Desautels.
Salary= More or less same in above 5 schools.

Well, I hope that would help. Please feel free to ask any other questions you might have.

Thanks Nicoz! Interesting that you evaluated the admission team at Queen's above Ivey as for me it's more Ivey > Queen's > Schulich.

I thrive on self-study and discussions, so I'd enjoy case-based or team-based approach at Ivey/Queen's. But their one-year program would only give me 1 year post-study work permit. While the Schulich program would give me 3 years. So to me, Ivey = quality, Schulich= visa, and the struggle is quality vs. visa.

I know all 3 will give me enough points to apply for permanent residence, I'm just afraid that things may go sideways (doesn't have enough time to wait for decisions, got rejected and have to reapply, etc.). At least with the 3-year work permit I'll have a safeguard. Should I be THAT worried about this?

It’s great that you liked the admissions team at Ivey more than Queen’s or Schulich. The majority will find the admissions team and process better at Queens and Mcgill because of the prompt individual response they get due to the small size of the class.
I get it your primary concern is regarding work permit. This is the key reason international applicants go to Schulich or Rotman. But I do not think you are trading quality when you choose schulich or queens over ivey. As I said before, all the above schools are reputed and have their own strong areas. It would certainly be safer to have a 3 year work permit to defend you against any odds.

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Thanks Nicoz! One last question: how important is it to be physically in Toronto for networking/finding jobs?

If I am in your shoes, I would pick Ivey 100% of the time. The brand name and network in the financial industry is just too strong. Ivey and Rotman are both Tier 1 Canadian school.

Sorry, but I don't know anything about Canadian immigration laws!

I would say important. When all this comes to an end, I think people will be more than willing to meet different people. It'd also help you attend various events and seminars. Sometimes you may get an acceptance 30-60 minutes before the actual meeting. All the best!

Thanks for the input! What’s your take on Queen’s?
I got admitted to Queen’s with $$ as well and god forbid this doesn’t help.

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Congratulations again, I would suggest you to consider Ivey if location or 1 year work permit is not an issue otherwise choose Schulich which is a 16/20 months program.

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Is Queen's considered better with financial services just because they place such a high percentage in there?

And thank you for your patience with my endless questions! You can probs tell I have a different idea every 2 seconds. It's not an easy decision.

Queen’s is a great program as well. You can decide based on the amount of scholarship, program length and teaching style to select one out of the 3 schools you received acceptance.
As I said earlier Canadian schools are very different from schools in US or Europe. There is no tier 1/ tier 2 school here as organizations visit all the schools and they have pre defined numbers for recruitment. Obviously you are finding number at Queens more as their class size is small.

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The tiers in Canadian schools are still present, but it has a lesser impact compared to the UK or the US.

The schools are mostly regional and really depends on where you want to build your career. If your end destination is Toronto, then I would stick to a school in Ontario (Toronto, Kingston, London).

Again, personally, I would 100% go for Ivey compared to your other options.

kanachi47 Hello, hope you are staying well. I hope you have received adequate answers to your query and this forum has helped you make your decision. I would ask you to update here once you make the decision, along with the reasoning behind it, so that other forum members can benefit from your experiences. Thanks.

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Update: So it took me a while but I went with Ivey.
Rationale:
- Work permit: 1 year work permit still allows for enough time to apply under the FSW stream (Express Entry). CEC stream would not be a viable option because of timing. If something goes sideways with the FSW application, I don't think CEC would be much better. Processing time for FSW is 6-8 months. If anyone reading this in the future is in the same position as I am right now, prepare for your FSW application before you even arrive: take IELTS, obtain police certificates, etc. Please talk to a licensed immigration consultant as well.
- Admission process: out of every school, Ivey was the most responsive and supportive (thanks Julia!). That leaves a great impression on me.
- Scholarship: they increased my scholarship a bit. Not a lot, especially compared to what I got from Queen's (I believe what I got from Queen's is the max they can offer any one candidate), but it was a nice gesture.
- Ivey's prestige (at least from what I hear)
- My target sector is financial services, which Ivey placed for 25% of 130 candidates (~33-34 people), and Queen's placed 40% of 89 candidates (also same ~33-34 people). So basically they are the same. I'd argue that I may have less competition at Ivey since everyone and their mother wants to do consulting there.
- Timing: this is personal but March start date is better for me

Factors that were not important to me, but might be to you:
- Teaching method: either case-based or team-based is fine by me, as long as I don't have to sit in a class. I wouldn't recommend these 1-year programs if you do not have a business background.
- Location: Idk if I'll regret this later, but I chose to not be in the center of actions (i.e. Toronto). But I'll drive to Toronto when I need to, even if it's outside the school's program.
- Cost: Factored in living cost, Ivey was more than Queen's by around $20k for me, but it's still within my budget (Also might regret this later).

I may revisit this post 2 years from now and cry my way to the bank

kanachi47 Congratulations again, I believe you made a good decision keeping in mind all the factors.
Overall, I believe that Adcom members at Ivey and Queens are helpful. Thank you for sharing your decision with the Forum and best of luck with your future endeavours.

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hi , are you guys sure the 16 month mba gives a 3 year work permit?? i was reading the canadian immigration website and it says that if the program is greater than 2 years then only do you get a 3 year permit,if the program is greater than 1 year but less than 2 years you get a permit thats equal to the time of the program

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