Schulich (York) 2013 - Calling All Applicants

@deadlycat,

how important is UG gpa to the schulich admission process?

My recent chats with them during the economist fair have not been very positive regarding this concept. While the rest of my application is decent enough (Heavy ECs, good Work Experience - multiple promotions, Ielts 8.0, Gmat 670), Schulich chats have been kind of discouraging when I ask them if I should even apply or not. Is UG gpa (2.9) really that big an issue?

With Rotman, Ivey and McGill, they have told me to go ahead and apply and that the rest of my application will make up for the sub 3.0 gpa but its been quiet the opposite with Schulich.

I'm thinking MAYBE I shouldn't apply here, and spend this crucial time working on essays for another school. What do you think?

GPA under 3 is a bit of an issue at both Rotman and Schulich. I know this because it's a topic that came up when I did my interview with both of the schools. The reason behind that is 3.0 GPA is the minimum requirement for graduate school at both U of T and York. Students that have GPA below 3 have to get the OK not from the business school but by the umbrella group of graduate admission committee. Even if the business school likes you as an applicant, they can only recommend that you be accepted but the final decision lies with the graduate committee.

With that being said, if the bschool wants you then the graduate admission committee usually go with the bschool's recommendation. Personally I wouldn't worry too much with a 2.9 GPA, if the rest of your application is strong. For what it's worth, I got the same speech when I was applying.

I have received an interview invite for next week

1) Do you think interview at schulich is just a formality ?
2) Within how many days do they communicate about the final decision ?

Thanks for helping us here

Thanks for the info deadlycat. I didn't know the business school and graduate committee were separate entities.

P.s. it seems American schools dont consider it that big an issue. Not top 10 but many in the top 30 seem ok with it.

Yeah, GPA is not a priority in the States, they're more focused on the GMAT.


Totally unscientific but most people I know who had interviewed with the Canadian bschools, get accepted. Of course it might just be due to poor sampling but I am of the opinion that the Canadian school's interviews are just for show.

Hi,
I will be joinin Schulich intake Fall 2013.
Would request perspective, esp. from ppl in Canada on the following:-
1. I heard Schulich is famous for marketing. How is strategy / management consulting elective option at schulich? I went to websites such as BCG, mckinsey and none of these firms are visiting Schulich. They are visiting Rotman / ivey / HEC montreal and other top B-schools.
Also, can anybdy tel me more about of YCG (York Consulting Group).
2. I am looking to work on Strategy, Finance and Org. Behaviour during my MBA prgram. Can anybdy give their perspective on these courses at schulich.
3. I have seen some extreme views on brand schulich. Very good to bad which is worrisome... wud lov to hear from this forum on this too..

cheers!!!

1) Marketing is only one of the strengths of the school. Its strategy and accounting programs are equally strong. You can check electives option on the website, its pretty substantial. If you want to go to BCG or McKinsey then from what I know, you had to have your undergrad from Ivy league school. I dont consider odd person or two that gets hired from Rotman or Ivey a real recruitment drive when tens of people get recruited at Booth. Having said that, job postings for those companies are always up. YCG is student run and from what I understand not very difficult to join.

2) Again, very strong offering.

3) The bad reviews are mainly online from the people who never went to Schulich. I can tell you that the caliber and diversity of the students in the classroom is phenomenal. The faculty is absolutely world class (with the few exceptions). The only thing that needs serious overhaul is career center which is 90% useless.

Even though teaching quality and calibre of classmates is important, I consider the career center as one of the most important aspects when evaluating business schools. After all, for international students who are entering a new market with no previous connections, you basically have 5-6 months to network before internship season is upon you.

In that regard, I have heard poor review regarding Schulich's CDC. Why is that exactly, can you be more specific? And does the school have any plans to introduce some changes?

Career centers in Canada are all more or less the same. They are all in a bad shape because they struggle to leverage the brand of the school. Unlike the U.S. no school in Canada has a decisive upper hand in its branding and job openings are very hard to come by. So comparing to U.S. schools, if you are graduating from Stern, or Booth, it really means something and a recruiter will at least take a look at you. In Canada, value of MBA in general is very diluted and not as prestigious as you may think.

CDC at Schulich in particular is very frustrating to deal with because the people who work there do not realize that I am a "product" that they need to "sell" to recruiters. Instead they have adopted approach of "no entitlement". Basically the school in general agreed that MBA's should not feel entitled to 80K+ jobs just by virtue of having MBA. Which is fine, I agree. But CDC managed to take that message out of proportion and uses it as an excuse for not doing anything. Sure they will read your resume, mock interviews, but this is BS resource that I can get elsewhere. The only thing that they do very well is networking sessions. This is something you wont get from Queens, not because its inferior program or university but because their alumni base is only a fraction of Schulich. CDC at Schulich organizes volumes of networking events, on and off campus and invites many of its senior alumni. This part they do very well I have to admit. Everything else... is a nightmare. Their antidote prescription for every problem is LinkedIn. I feel that I will punch someone next time they suggest it, its so frustrating you have no idea.

Just so you know, no matter where you go, dont count on any extra support because you are an international student. In fact, you are their last priority because you are most difficult to place. This is true not just for Canada but for U.S. too (although relatively speaking, because of Canadian immigration laws, it will be easier for you to get a job in Canada compared to U.S.).

I agree tml2004.

Specially with the last part, its not going to be easy wherever I go. I still believe though, the market the MBAs in US is massive. But yeah, the easier working laws are the reason I'm pulling towards Canada more.

I agree with the linkedIN recommendation as well. I connected with a senior adviser at Schulich's CDC and they had a very non-committal tone. I mean, take some pride in what you do. They mentioned the networking events (and said, that's really all they can do) and told me to start up on linkedin as soon as possible. and to make 'Canadian' contacts. Truth is Queens and Ivey have CDCs getting very good reviews from the student body, while Schulich and McGill are at the bottom of the barrel (even with McGill 98% emp rate). Even Rotman's CDC is considered marginally better.

I have seen so many Schulich graduates taking jobs in Asia, Middle East and Africa. Basically returning home after unsuccessfully trying to land a job in North America. The trend is not at all the same for Rotman, McGill, Ivey. Makes me wish I would have applied to Ivey. They only reason I didn't is a career change and breaking into a new market does not match their 1-year format.

Be careful, Schulichs graduates do get more jobs abroad its true, but that’s not because graduates cannot find work here. Rotman and Ivey attract most of their students from Canada. Therefore, most of them stay here after graduation. Schulich on the other hand is globally focused, most of its students are from abroad. It only makes sense for many of these people to return. This touches on another point, that Schulich's admission standards are lower.

I find that on online forums Schulich is really getting burned for its international focus. There are so many rumors that Schulich has lower admission standards and that its students are somehow not very good in English. Its funny, these negative remarks only show up online and never in person at networking sessions. This is because these accusations are based on purely racist merits. Some of the applicants in Canada are xenophobic and because culturally xenophobia is not acceptable, they vent online. These people tend to praise Rotman/Ivey which has high proportion of Canadian applicants and they are very negative toward Schulich which aggressively seeks international recruitment. The reality is, Schulich has many students with heavy accents, but they are all accomplished and smart with superb command of English language (they had to pass TOEFEL with the same grade as they would have for any other B-school in Canada). As for interviews... all international applicants were interviewed. In Canada generally no one interviews for admission to educational program, except for med school which is super competitive. Other competitive programs, such as Law, do not interview either and their selection process is twice as competitive compared to top Canadian MBA programs. Sorry, I just had to touch on that since we started on the whole international topic of the school.

I totally agree on this part as well. I found many flame wars going on about Schulich, but have been told admission interviews are mandatory for all accepted applicants. Plus, I don't know how people can say Schulich has low standards with its acceptance rating of 24%, compared to 33% for all other Canadian MBAs and 48% for Rotman. Plus as far as I know, Rotman, Ivey, Mcgills and Shulich all have the same breakdown of Intl/Canadian students in the full-time courses. Maybe Schulich has a bigger international focus for the IMBA?

I score an 8.0 in IELTS and talking to other Schulich applicants here, their IELTS/TOFEL score are in the same range. I'm glad you brought this up.

True guys.. I had score of IELTS 8 and international students are expected to the have the min. cut-offs in English test. So, I do not understand why people in various forums comment on quality of English Schulich grads speak.
But, I am really suprised by the extreme views schulich s attracting. I am starting to get real doubts on brand "Schulich".

The way I see it, Schulich is separating itself from the pack, and that's why we get hated on by students from the other Canadian schools. Student quality here is good, very diverse and international. Schulich GMAT and GPA for admission stack up favourably against any Canadian school. The haters can't dispute our entry stats so they just spread lies about Schulich students being unable to speak English then point to our large international student population as the culprit. This is very ignorant, if we can't speak English, how would we then fare on the GMAT and various other English tests? In an increasingly global world, it is actually a benefit to have classmates that bring experiences from all corners of the earth, than a homogenous native student population. A bit of logic will easily disprove these libellous claims.

While we are on the topic of logic, I’m going to make a very bold statement and say that “Schulich has more top students than any other Canadian school”. As the biggest school in Canada, with as good a stat as any, logic dictate that the number of top students at Schulich is the biggest in Canada

Accepted to Schulich and Ivey. Based on my research I think I will be attending Ivey. Im sure both schools have their Pros/Cons, I think i would do better in the Case Base Method based on my personality

Good Luck everyone who is still waiting.

hey guys, what is schulich's size of intake anyway? adcom told me it was 350 but businessweek reports it as 684
https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/ra ... /york.html

p.s. side note, wayahead123 have you heard back from schulich yet? the table on top says u submitted ur app ine early october. still haven't heard back yet?

684 is the size of the school. i.e. number of students enrolled including full time, part time, second and first year. So if ad com said its 350 it sounds very reasonable and in line what businessweek reports.