Which 2-Year Programs to Apply to in Canada?

Question

Hi, guys! I am planning to apply to business schools in Canada. I haven't taken GMAT yet, but confident that I can at least score very close to 700 judging from a couple CATs I've taken after just 2~3 weeks of studying. If I can score close to my practice CAT scores in the real exam, I think my GMAT score would be good enough to apply to any program in Canada. I am looking at Canadian schools only due to the ease of getting a work permit after graduation and possibly getting a permanent residency. I thought about US schools but just didn't feel like leaving my future up to luck in H1B lottery.

If you are wondering, I am a South Korean male in early 30s with 7 years of work experience (3 years as an officer in Korean Army, 4 years in a managerial role in the Middle East). My college GPA is disastrous (2.4... ouch. B.A. in Economics from a good public university in the US consistently ranked in #50~60 range) but I think it can be overcome with good essay, interview, and work experience. Hoping to score over 700 in GMAT but I don't know if it will happen this time... well, I can always take it again after more studying. I am planning to apply in R2 so I still have a couple months to improve my score if needed.

Anyway, I am scheduled to take GMAT in a week, and am trying to decide which school to send my scores to. I am definitely sending scores to Rotman and Schulich. Possibly considering Sauder (UBC). Are there any good 2-year programs to consider other than these three? I am a career switcher (wanting to become a Consultant) so I decided not to consider 1-year programs as I want to do an internship to gain Canadian work experience.

I am preferably looking to settle down in Toronto. I wouldn't mind Vancouver at all but the job market is not as strong there. Therefore, my #1 choice is Rotman and #2 is Schulich. Whichever program I get into, this year is possibly my best time to do MBA with both my work and financial situation. Getting any older than I am now would probably not help my chances of getting accepted at good programs and doing a career switch.

I would greatly appreciate any help in choosing 3 other schools to send my scores to! Thanks in advance!! Oh, and thanks to everyone on this forum for such valuable information as it has been helping me tremendously in pursuing my goal!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

McGill, HEC Montreal, Alberta

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

Rookie84 · Answer

Thanks! Actually did some more searching after I posted and added McGill and McMaster to my list to complete the list of 5. HEC Montreal MBA full-time program is 13 months long so it actually doesn't fit my needs so well.

Thanks again!

99Colleges · Answer

Hi Rookie84,

These are pretty much the top schools. I want to give you some food for thought, though.

If you want to change career to consulting (that’s what you’ve mentioned), then most one-year programs are at least as competitive as two-year programs. You may   read it here   for Canadian schools. That way, you may consider including Ivey and Queen’s.

And this is not just in Canada. INSEAD, for example, places 40+% of its class into consulting, and has traditionally been the largest hunting ground for mckinsey.

However, things change a bit for other industries. If a career-changer applicant wants to pursue a career in Finance, post-MBA, then a 2-year program is better because lot of recruitment in the industry happens through internships.

Hope this helps.

Rookie84 · Answer

Thank you so much for your advise. The reason why I am avoiding 1-year program is that I do not have any work experience (or any kind of experience whatsoever) in Canada, so I feel like I am at a disadvantage there. Therefore, I thought doing an internship during summer would grant me much higher chances in successfully being hired after graduation.

I have considered Ivy and Queen's but ruled them out for this reason although I do know that they place very well into top consulting firms.

As for INSEAD, I wonder how much of the graduates that have gotten consulting jobs previously came from a different sector. I guess I will try to find that information.

Thanks again!

99Colleges · Answer

Hi Rookie84,

Consulting firms, when recruiting, rarely look at lack of work experience in the host country. If you’ve any concerns in this regard you should speak to the school’s career management office. (Take the number from the website and call them. It’s as simple.)

Verify the facts before jumping to a conclusion.

Rookie84 · Answer

Thank you so much for pointing this out. I was always under an impression that to career switchers, 2-year programs are much more beneficial regardless of field. I will certainly reconsider Ivey and Queen's!

Since my undergrad GPA is disastrous, any pointers on how to overcome it in the application? I was going to address it in my essay and interview, and was thinking of telling my story truthfully, which would be: "I was very immature back then and lacked motivation, but was taught discipline during my service as an officer in the army and excelled at my job which got me transferred to the best position available in my 2nd year. After completing my military service, I got a job as in a team leader position in a medium sized company (declined an offer from Samsung to join this company - people told me I was crazy to do so as the competition to get a job at Samsung in Korea is ridiculous with the applicant to selected ratio of hundreds to 1 - since I thought I'd learn much more in this job than being a bottom level employee in a corporate office), and shortly afterwards was sent overseas to manage a foreign branch of the company which I had done successfully for past 3 years (huge growth in revenue). I am now extremely motivated and have clear goals." I have a lot of stories to tell but that would be the basic structure I was going to focus on.

Thanks again for your advice. I really appreciate it!

Which 2-Year Programs to Apply to in Canada?

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