Rotman Vs. Schulich

Question

I've been very lucky and received admissions offers from both the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and York University's Schulich School of Business in the last two days.

I was hoping anyone could shed light onto either school for the following questions:

1. What is the lifestyle around York/UofT like? I know UofT is right downtown, but does anyone know what kind of life outside of school people have?

2. What is the ROI for both schools like? Rotman is about 30k more than Schulich, but they have to be able to justify charging so much for people to keep coming back. I've heard Rotman has a great track record for placement etc., but does anyone know how the two compare? Is York as prestigious as Rotman?

3. The main thing I like about Rotman is their Brand Management majour option - is this recognized at all? I know UofT is usually loved for financial grads, but what about their brand management grads?

4. With York, what are the classes like in Niche areas like Arts & Media and Non-Profit?

My profile is 23, M, Canadian, White, Gay, BA Communications, Diploma in TV Producing, would like to pursue a career in brand management/marketing

Thanks so much for your advice guys, you've been great through this whole process!

krussell · Answer

Anyone?

DrSatisfaction · Answer

hey there, did you accept either program already?

in terms of your questions - u of t's location is awesome. directly in the middle of downtown within a 5-10 minute walk of yorkville, which is one of the nicest neighborhoods in toronto. also fairly close to church street, which is the heart of the gay community here in toronto (and it's a huge one - probably 2nd largest in north american after san fran).

york is in the middle of nowhere. the closest major intersection is probably jane/finch,which is known as the scummiest part of town with the highest rates for violence, murders, drugs, etc.

locally, york does not have the same prestige as u of t. however, in terms of placement, it depends on the sector you want to be in. toronto is good for finance and consulting, whereas york's great for industry and marketing.

for brand mgmt, u of t is decent. probably considered on par with york. hence no real need for you to shell out an extra 30k for the program except to live in the downtown core. you can also consider living down here and commuting to york (driving is a viable option).

anyways, feel free to let me know if you have more questions about the city.

krussell · Answer

Thanks so much DrSatisfaction

I went to see both schools last week and still nothing stood out for one school or another.

UofT has a great location, no doubt, but the Rotman MBA school seems so small! I love the cohort based learning system they have, but it scares me a little that their brand management major only offered 10 courses to choose from last year, some of which are quite dry like Data Marketing or Financial Marketing. I am wondering if they are eager to get me because I would be such a fish out of water for them. When I went, the admissions staff seemed a little un-eager to answer some of my questions (like about how their job placement and career track for brand management majors has been). There is no doubt in my mind that they have a strong bias towards finance kids as they have a complete mockup of the TSX (very impressive, but not my main interest). However, it seems the lifestyle at Rotman is a little more communal, making it easier to meet people (more social clubs, cohort-style class setting, international tours etc.)

York is totally in hillbilly country and I definitely would live closer to Downtown, already causing a *complain* of a commute every day. However, when I went to Schulich they seemed way more excited to see me than Rotman - they had me meet with the Arts & Media Management program director and they have several marketing streams that you can major in. You can also have a double concentration in Arts & Media Management and Marketing, which seems nice. However, and I have no clue to say this so I sound politically correct, but from what I have read, Schulich is very internationally based and has about 50% of the students coming from abroad, which makes class discussions a little more jumbled. I would also be worried about meeting people on campus. A student ambassador told me that the students have a bar night every Friday and there are club socials almost every day on campus, but it would still be harder to make connections.

From what I can tell, both programs are interchangeable for top spot in Canada (I kinda think of York as Stanford and UofT as Harvard for Canada), but I am having a real tough time choosing which one will be better during and after school. I would love to get a job in high-concept brand management, and I have no clue whether Rotman, as the international leader in Canada for MBA status and what looks like a more communal feel, is better, or Schulich with more choices in classes in Marketing and a reputation (from what their admissions director told me) as the leading marketing school in Canada.

Any thoughts from your end? Have you known anyone who came out of either school? Any guidance or insight you might have is greatly appreciated! My York offer expires on Weds (the 31st) and my UofT offer expires on the 3rd (following Sunday).

DrSatisfaction · Answer

i know several grads from both programs. rotman is definitely more finance focused.

i currently work in an major advertising agency, and the group account director i work with is a schulich mba grad. judging from his case, i'd say he's not as quantitative as the rotman guys, but he's got much better social and people management skills (but then again that's more of a personality thing than anything you can learn in a classroom). one of the managers at our client is also a schulich mba, and she seems to be quite happy with the program. although, i might add, her position is laterally comparable to mine, which means she was not able to get a career promotion with the schulich mba, but rather just switch careers from IT to advertising.

this might be a bit late now, but it would be worth your while to consider the ivey program. you'll have to wait a yr but it's only a 1 yr program and you can still finish the same time as rotman or schulich. the senior vp at my company is an ivey grad and i really think they're the best in canada in terms of reputation and job placement.

i think a major factor to consider here is that, for something like marketing/brand mgmt, your work experiences and personality (esp your ability to maintain relationships and manage ppl/lead teams) carries a lot more weight than the pedigree of your mba. for instance, my vp here didn't even go to university as far as i know...got her college diploma and worked hard in the agency world for about 15 yrs and made it to vp. alot of the account executives/supervisors/directors also only have college diplomas. so while getting an mba will undoubtedly increase your profile and fast track your career, it wouldn't be such a big deal choosing between rotman vs. schulich. in other words, with either mba you'll be plenty qualified for the career you're looking for.

krussell · Answer

Thanks so much! After mulling over the decision, I think by tomorrow I should be ready to put a deposit down

Thanks for your help! BTW, I can't believe you got into both INSEAD and Oxford; good job!!!

Aishwarya1985 · Answer

Hi guys... Got admitted to Schulich but dinged on scholarships...

Wondering how to manage?? Any suggestons / options???How hefty is the expenses??Will it be easy to mange with loans alone??

gurpreetsingh · Answer

Great!! Congrats for the admission. Could you please share your profile and Gmat score.

krussell · Answer

I went to York to meet their admissions people after I was admitted. They told me scholarships are awarded on a rolling basis and you could receive one at any time.

Don't fret on that.

Otherwise, York is the most affordable of the big three in Canada (Ivey, Schulich, and Rotman) and if you're in Canada, RBC offers a line of credit of $70k to Schulich MBA students. That pretty much takes care of most of your tuition and living expenses.

Congratulations! I chose York and put my deposit down last week and hope to see you in person this August!

Aishwarya1985 · Answer

My profile :-

GMAT- 690
Work Ex -3.5yrs
Industry-IT
Ecademics-commendable
Extracurriculars- Above average

Aishwarya1985 · Answer

But does RBC offer loans to international students??

krussell · Answer

Beats me! Where do you hail from?

Aishwarya1985 · Answer

Am from India !!!

krussell · Answer

I have no idea then!

But I did just get a scholarship today after being admitted March 3, so keep your chin up!!

jasonch · Answer

Hi krussell,

How did you find Schulich eventually? Have you started?

cheers,
jason

Rotman Vs. Schulich

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