EMBA program options, traveling from Canada

Question

Hi all - I have completed three years at an MBB firm in Canada, enjoy consulting and wish to stay in it. I have a family and am in my mid-thirties. Total years of experience is ~14. In an earlier post, I discussed MBA vs. EMBA and the suggestion was to explore an EMBA if I wanted to go. I’d like to pursue it and my question is what are the most appropriate programs I should consider.

I’ve thought of Ivey EMBA in Toronto, and Cambridge Judge Global EMBA in London (given the travel is around 6 weeks and I’d fly from Toronto).

The US options seem too expensive. INSEAD and Oxford Said are fairly travel intense. The other location option is Rotman.

What is the best program I can pursue without having to relocate, but while remaining open to travel? What I’m looking for is personal and professional growth, return to academia, an expanded global network, and adding a prestigious program to my resume. My GPA in undergrad is strong, and my work experience spans Big 4 and MBB. Thank you!

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bb · Answer

Thank you for pointing out the post and welcome back and good to see you again 👍

Can I push a little bit the boundaries of your dilemma just to understand your priorities?

For example, would you consider doing a six week executive training program at Harvard, Wharton or Columbia? Or maybe three week or two week course?

Similarly, would you consider not doing an MBA at all?

Also, what are your professional plans after getting a degree? What would you see yourself doing in five or 10 years? How does business school fit into that vision or dream or goal?

Sorry for all the hard questions. It’s hard in parts to give you helpful recommendation without knowing some of these answers and I feel it would also be helpful to understand the scope of options and your flexibility.

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adonis88 · Answer

Thanks bb. And appreciate all the questions!

- 6 week executive training program: would not consider it because we get ample executive training opportunities at MBB and my desire is to get a second degree

- Not doing an MBA at all: would definitely consider it and that’s where I am at generally. I don’t need an MBA on the path I am on. I have 14 years of experience now. But I also believe in the value of education, networking, reset, and building professional and personal presence. Given I have my wife’s support to pursue what I’d like, I’ve been interested in the EMBA. If I knew what I know now, I would’ve applied to get into MBB from undergrad and pursued the renowned MBA programs. Since I only ventured into this field 10 years into my career, I realize I was too late to go to a regular MBA program (opportunity cost), not to mention MBB asked me to apply as an experienced hire anyway. In short, yes, would be okay to forego.

- Professional plans: Probably status quo in the short run, as in staying with consulting. I could eventually pursue other opportunities and a degree may or may not come in handy. In transparency it doesn’t clearly fit into my professional goals. It’s been a personal desire and I think I’m at the EMBA age.

So in short, I’d like to do it for personal growth and satisfaction. Since I cannot take two years off for HSY and need to keep working, looking for the next best option. If not EMBA, perhaps will consider a different Masters.

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bb · Answer

I think from the standpoint of what you’re looking for, Any program will get you there. I don’t mean low rank or anything like that but among the prestigious executive programs.

Ideally, your employer would consider this a worthwhile investment and be willing to shoulder some of it.

The biggest value that will extract from this programs will be in the shape of of course personal growth, additional confidence and network. But if this network is in London or New York and you are based out of Toronto for example, what’s the value of a network in London?

If you’re looking to stay engaged with your Alma mater over a long-term especially, such as mentoring or partnering or recruiting or as you look to leave a legacy (That’s may be a bit down the road), but since you are expecting to leverage the benefits of the network a bit later down the road, it seems to make the most sense to be local. I’m sure you can get into Oxford and Columbia Booth and Wharton. Your profile seems to be very desirable, but this networks start degrading the military graduate. Just think about your undergrad and how much or little you’ve stayed in touch with those people and how disconnected you probably are at this point in time. I surely am. But that would be business school 10 years later and if you’re not close to the university, you can’t really take advantage of getting involved in the events, and so on.

At the same time, you are making this investment into yourself and into a network that you may or may not leverage to the most. Obviously you’ll be better and more confident and perhaps more arrogant after business school 😂 but on the pure RI front, would it change your trajectory enough to warrant the investment. This part is that’s very hard to quantify because we’re getting into the business of predicting the future.

Anyway, my suggestion would be looking at a local program. I know Schulich had a Kellogg joint EMBA - I know very little about it but it may take some of the prestige boxes you may have been looking for... or perhaps some of the travel and bigger network if that is of interest but in terms of personal Development, I feel most of the business school programs would give you more than you could take advantage of.

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adonis88 · Answer

Thanks for that - everything you said is spot on.

I will look local, and find a program that accommodates the consulting schedule (eg Thur and Fri off once a month might be a bit tough).

Do we have any resources comparing the EMBA programs in Canada? Brand wise my understanding is they go like this:

- Ivey 
- U of T Rotman, or Rotman-Bocconi 
- Schulich Kellogg or Queens Cornell

How do you view joint programs such as TRIUM?

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bb · Answer

Hi. I don't think there is a whole lot in terms of EMBA comparison in Canada specifically. Maybe... I have not searched much.
Whatever you do, you will be married to it. I think TRIUM and other "group" progrmas have their strengths. At the same time, while you get 2 or 3 diplomas it is tricky to list all of them and can be a question why you are listing 3 schools on the resume and if you and your classmates mingle with larger cohorts, you expand your network but likely it won't be deep enough. It is defintely valuable and cool if you are trying to dip your toes in the water in a lot of places and have some diversity and fun with it - I think it could be worth it but on the downside, will likely cost more and won't really give you access to extended networks or internal alum systems (which is probably not a big deal). I am sort of debating it in my head. I see negatives but I can also see diversity and variety, which can benefit. However, taking classes from LSE or HEC or Stern vs. Rotman for example is really not going to make all that much difference. A class is a class - that's not what MBA and esp EMBA deliver as their primary value. So good marketing and probably fun to do but not a game changer by any means.

adonis88 · Answer

Coming back to this thread, oh how the internet leaves a footprint of your internal thoughts.

So I am now done four years at MBB and will be relocating to the UK this fall for one year. I could simply apply to Said or Judge or LBS EMBA programs and pursue that in parallel. One of the programs only requires taking one Friday a month off (for Fri-Sat classes once a month).

I know it might be a terrible idea to add an EMBA program on top of learning a new office and striving for excellence in case work. And I also don’t qualify for any of the scholarships this late in the game. But wondering if it’s worth considering this idea or maximize the opportunity? The scholarships issue is a big one - at 30% it could’ve saved me £30K pounds which would easily cover flights once a month for the whole program if I pursued it later from Canada.

Thoughts?

bb · Answer

I would probably advise somewhat against it.

I think it’s an enticing opportunity and seems like you could sneak it in and get the degree done but at the same time, you would not get as much out of this in the process and also your entire network of friends and colleagues that you would’ve built over a year, you would be leaving it behind.

I mean if you just want a checkmark and just have it on your resume, which is what some people need, they just need to have that degree, there’s a number of online options you can do. Probably much cheaper and easier logistically.

But at the same time, you can try and see if you get in 🤷‍♂️

EMBA program options, traveling from Canada

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