Ivey (Western) Full Time MBA (2021 Intake) Class of 2022

How did the interview go?

Sorry for the radio silence - didn't want to jump the gun!

I just received an offer last night! Personally, I thought the interview went very well. The questions matched those in interview debriefs found online with the exception of one. I'll share the list soon! Just want to check with the admissions team if it's okay to publish.

Congratulations sirmeowalot!

That is awesome. You have a whole year to learn about London, network, and shop for winter clothes.

In all sincerity, i do encourage you (and everyone on this thread) to lay as much groundwork as possible for your post-MBA goal NOW and don't wait for b-school - update your Linked In with Ivey 2021 incoming and make some things happen.

I really like clients to do this before arriving because in b-school there are so many things competing for your attention. Recruiting is a distraction from getting the most out of your investment, if it can be sorted earlier on.

I've posted a debrief here!

https://gmatclub.com/forum/ivey-western ... brief.html

I wrote mostly about the interview itself but I'll share the prep work I did here, if anyone should find it useful.

The three best resources for me were:
1. The interview overview podcast with 2 of the associate directors of the admissions team - they likely will have shared this with you as well: https://soundcloud.com/ivey-business-sc ... w-overview
2. The list of interview questions shared by other interviewees here on gmatclub and another link I found from an MBA consultant: https://ameerkhatri.com/ivey-mba-interview/
3. A meet up I had with an Ivey 2020 student in my city. I pretty much exhausted all my questions and I got to see what their personality was like. The admissions team endorsed me to two students but I noticed that Ivey encourages you to directly email students via their website: https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/mba/student-life/profiles/

Secondary resources:
Canadian news websites (visited from time to time leading up the interview)
Articles and analysis on the sectors I was interested in.

For prep work, I:
1. Outlined the interview overview of the podcast and used it to form mindmaps of key words addressing ALL the questions I could find from the interview debriefs plus a few that I expected based on my profile. I spent extra time on challenging questions such as "biggest weakness" and "time I failed".
2. Fleshed out my post-MBA plan in more detail: my plan A, B, and C, and the short, mid, and long-term goals for each.
3. Had several mock interviews (with myself and others) to practice my flow and release anxiety through familiarity.
4. Looked up my interviewer on LinkedIn (they shared a name ahead of time) to see if they have anything in their background that would be of relevance/interest during the interview. Plus, I think being able to put a face to your interviewer also decreases anxiety and lends some familiarity for when they appear on the screen.

During the interview, the questions were pretty much exactly what I expected aside from the "give me a good idea for a business case" which didn't appear in any of the debriefs. I may have also preempted some questions as I would repeatedly touch on certain topics during answers to the interviewer's other questions. For instance, I didn't really get asked any leadership, teamwork, or networking questions as I made it clear that these traits were heavily used during my day-to-day. I think this reinforcement was useful however, I had to be conscious not to overshare (I prepared too many talking points, I think) and would trim my answers when the interviewer would check their questions list.

Finally, Ameer Khatri has some very good advice on his page on engaging the admissions team and the importance Ivey places on culture and fit. Don't know about emailing each member of the AdCom but take as many opportunities to interact with them throughout the process, especially when they ask if you would like to have a call - and come with relevant and thoughtful questions (I was actually kind of struggling here because they have a lot of info online already). During the phone call revealing the decision, positive feedback from each member I interacted with was mentioned as a factor, among others. That said, the admissions team is already extremely engaged, upbeat, and friendly! The whole application experience was actually quite enjoyable.

Thanks, that's great advice! Perhaps also worth heading over to Canada a month or two earlier than planned to follow up on that networking in person!

Congratulations I'm guessing you're one of the first for the 2021 cohort. Thanks a tonne for the debrief. My interview is on Monday! Fingers crossed.

Thanks and good luck on Monday! Let's meet up in 2021!

Hi Everyone,

Have been silently following all the threads here and found them very useful so decided I would post as well. Applied to Ivey MBA for 2021 intake, and have an interview scheduled:

Applied: Feb 2, 2020
Interview Invitation: Feb 4, 2020
Interview Date: Feb 14, 2020

I have an engineering undergrad degree from the University of Toronto. Currently at a management consulting firm based out of Toronto. Been with the firm for about 2 years, have had decent reviews and support for tuition reimbursement (Should I choose to return). After MBA, I am looking to remain in consulting for a little longer but transition to a different firm.

All the best to everyone else applying! Will keep you all posted on what happens.

Hello Everyone,
I am also in the process of applying to Ivey business school.
Can anyone provide what kind of questions are asked in the video essay?
Thanks and Regards

How did it go, srcons?



Posted from my mobile device

Hello everyone!

Got my admit a couple of nights back Had a terrible week at work, and couldn't post earlier. Will share a debrief shortly with the questions and more details. Super excited!

Well, there's no kind of questions per se. It could be anything under the sun. It could be anything around "Tell us something you haven't mentioned in the application" to "Favourite holiday destination".

There isn't a structure or theme for this. They want to see your confidence and communication skills here. It's less about what you speak about, but more focussed on delivery. Check out the practice questions (You can practice an unlimited number of times) so you can get used to the Kira video essay.

PM me if you have any further questions.

Hey srcons! Hope it went well. You should hear from them soon enough. My interview was on the 10th and I'd heard back by the 12th.

Thanks for asking. Interview went well I think. Very conversational. Focus was on career goals and leadership, similar to what others have experienced. They have told me that I can expect to hear back next week. Fingers crossed.

Posted from my mobile device

Hello Experts,

I need a desperate suggestion regarding my profile before i consider myself for a candidate for JAN 21 intake.


1> I have taken my GMAT already in Nov 2019. I scored a dismal 650 (Q 49, V 28, IR 5, AWA 5.5).
2>STD 10- 91% (2006), STD 12 - 86%(2008) (state board)- For both these cases, as i was among the top most %ile rank holders, i received scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India.
--Represented school Soccer team & participated in different debate competitions.
3>B. tech in Electronics and communication Engineering from one of the top engineering college(Institute of Engineering & Management) with a 9.01/10 GPA (scaled GPA 4.0) in the year 2012
--Part of college student council that represented various college activities. Student co-ordinator for College events.
4>Placed in 4 different MNCs after my Undergrad degree.
5> Joined leading Telecomm. service provider in their Global services operations in India as a Engineering trainee on 2012, working for last 7 years.
6>Promoted twice in the meantime, currently working as a Senior Network Engineer.
7> Worked for multiple telecomm operators around the globe, giant names of Africa, US & Europian operators are among them.
8>Internation exposure in Zambia, Africa for couple of months and i was a part of the team who was engaged in commercial launch of a brand new Telecommunication technology there with cross domain interactions with the customer.
9> Also I was in Dusseldorf, Germany in 2018 for sometime as a specialist working for a new project. Leading a team of 10~20 people with constant customer interactions.
10> Part of technical recruitment team of my organization.
11> Part of cultural & brand awarness team in my organization.
12> Multiple key performance award winner for outstanding delivery efforts.
13> Team member for automation & cost-saving programmes in my organization.

I know i represent an over-represented Indian male demographic, but i truely eager to know if i stand any chance for a Ivey admission.
Your kind suggestions & feedbacks are really appreciated.

Thanks

Hi All,

I will my application soon and mostly will submit just before the second deadline. Do the admissions prospects really come down because I applied in the second cycle or do I still have a fair amount of chance. My profile:

Graduate from IIT Kharagpur - CGPA 8.61/10 , GPA 4/4 - tier 1 college in India
GRE - 326 - Q169 V157 (GMAT 720 - Conversion by GRE)
Work Experience - Fortune 50, Leadership rotation program (2.8 years now)
-> Worked in strategic sourcing consultancy - 1.5 Years
-> Operations head for a Company's venture - 1.3 years
Extra curricular - Worked with an NGO for 3 years in college in various leadership roles

Any inputs will be great!!

Hi everyone,
I have been thinking of applying to IVEY for next year’s MBA batch. I had got my profile assessment done where I have been found a good fit to the program. I, however, have a few questions as far as post MBA job options are concerned since I have around 8 years of experience which is relatively higher than that of the typical IVEY MBA class.
I have spent 8 years in Automotive Industry doing Sales and Marketing/ Capability building and Strategy. I will be looking for roles where I can use my experience both in terms of profile magnitude and compensation. On the basis of this, I have a few questions-

1. I believe that consulting firms prefer lesser experience (around 5 years) since they offer entry-level consulting roles. Will my Industry experience be a hindrance or it will be seen positively as far as the move to consulting is concerned?
2. Other than consulting, I am really interested to change Industry and function and target Strategy/Digital Marketing/Product Management. However, approx 70% of the batch is placed in Consulting/Finance. Does this mean that there are limited opportunities at IVEY as far as Strategy/Digital Marketing/Product Management are concerned?
3. I am currently part of the leadership development program in my organization and understand the opportunities of being one. Which of the companies hire for their Leadership Program at IVEY and what kind of experience do they look at?