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(4.4) |
I had an excellent overall experience during my MBA at McGill. Having a degree in electrical engineering, my pre-MBA goal was to acquire business skills to complement my technical background. McGill's intimate environment (only 60-70 students per year) provides for a great learning experience and a great relationship with your teachers. Furthermore, it allows you to get to know your classmates very well and form very strong friendships. McGill's brand is also very powerful worldwide. It gives you the opportunity to work in Canada or abroad.
My recommendation is to apply to McGill if you're looking for an intimate environment to acquire business skills at a world class university. If your goal is to network with as many classmates as possible, then maybe it's not right school for you.
Sujata Madan's Modern Corporate Finance class is a must take !
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A small cohort, McGill Desautels MBA provides you the opportunity to tale up leadership positions at clubs and provides you the opportunity to do projects in areas that you are passionate about. A scholl which focuses on overall development along with a strong community feeling. #DesautelsFamily. Montreal as a city provides you ample opportunity to immerse yourself in activities of your choice and McGill as a University provides a solid platform to grow and acvess to people who will help enhance your knowledge & exposure. It's not just a school, it's an experience. The biggest difference from other Canadian schools is the culture that you're a part of and the people around you.
Highly flexible classes & access to professors.
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I am a 2nd year MBA student at McGill. I come from an operations/supply chain background and am pursuing Business Analytics concentration at McGill. McGill is one of the top 3 B schools in Canada in my honest opinion. The university manages to recruit a really international class of close to 75 students from all across the world. Everyone brings in something new to the table and all of the students are quite competitive and smart coming from all walks of life. In my class of close to 75 students, we have 23 nationalities! The university is located in the most international city of Montreal and hence adds good flavor to the overall MBA experience. McGill is a brand name renowned across several countries. I came to McGill with the hopes of pivoting my career towards a managerial role in tech industry, having gained a lot of experience from the classes and my peers at McGill. They say that most of the learning in a B school happens from your peers and that is bang on at McGill. We have an international study trip every year which is probably the highlight of the MBA program. My class was taken to Singapore where we were given presentations from some of the top executives and government officials over there, combined with some leisure and fun activities. Finding a job in Canada depends a lot on the students capability to network with people and leverage the McGill brand name. Having said that employers recognize that McGill students are taught by professors who graduated from ivy leagues of US and hence education in most classes is world class. Some of my classmates have left behind lucrative admission offers from top schools world over to join McGill. My future advise for MBA students applying for Canada would be to keep McGill in mind if they plan to come to Canada!
1st Semester : Fundamentals of MBA... a mix of everything. We have had profs for whom we gave standing ovations at the end of the last class!
2nd, 3rd and 4th semester : Courses selected based on your choices
The school is home to world renowned profs such as Henry Mintzberg, Karl Moore.
Prof. Sebastien betermier is on the best 40 under 40 list! Everyone who takes his course vouches for him and his course investments and portfolio management
Placement process in Canada is unstructured with students trying to go on coffee chats, participating in networking sessions and doing a lot more to get jobs! Hence job hunt depends on the individual students capabilities. Having said that, McGill brand name should help one phone calls more often than other B schools. The advantage of doing MBA from a top B school might not directly translate to a top tier job in the Canadian job market! Having said that MBA is not a golden bullet. Its value is realized most often in the long run. If you are represent a sex other than male, you will have a slight advantage since Canada focuses a lot on diversity at workplace!
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McGill is an amazing brand, even if Desautels Faculty of Management is not as great a brand. The program has had some management changes and let’s just say as with any new management there are some gaps. If you come into the program assuming a great label (McGill MBA) is going to make things super easy for your career, you may be in for a surprise. The things I’ve enjoyed so far are - small diverse class, some amazing professors, the city, and the overall flexibility and experience. There is a sense of community, hands down. You will find a family within the larger Desautels family and it will sweeten your experience. You will know and hopefully get to work with mostly everyone in the program, including part-time MBAs. This will give you an immense opportunity to learn. The class is highly international (with a distinct Indian bias, which the program is attempting to change), and the exposure to different cultures and backgrounds is a huge advantage.
As you might have read recently, Montreal keeps getting in the headlines as the best city for student life. There is a gazillion various things you could do both on and off campus, adding to your overall student experience at McGill. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, you will get all the support you need through McGill. The international study trip at the end of year 1 would be etched in your memories, there is no doubt about it. A fantastic way to cap off the first year, it will be an intense immersion into how business works in an international context different from Canada. Overall, the experience is unique in its way and gives you the opportunity to learn a lot. So far I’ve enjoyed the program a lot and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an experience more than just a job. I’ve made some really good friends and the network is strong. Everyone here is super-friendly and will be more than willing to take time out for a coffee chat or a phone call to discuss the program and their experiences with you. So feel free to reach out to anyone and you’d be assured to get a response.
As in any university or college, there are a few professors who stand-out, not because of their academic and research credentials (come on, seriously, students don’t care, to say it politely) but because of who they are and how they helpful they can be in your student life. The ones I mention below are people who I’ve studied under or have had verifiable and trustable reviews from my classmates. Philippe Levy will be one of the first professors you’ll meet as part of the basecamp, and he will help you look at accounting in a completely different way. He is an amazing professor, and one you will want to talk to when you see him later anywhere in the campus. Sujata Madan's classes will be unlike any you take and her warmth and infectious joy add to the personal touch of the program. For people like me who dread the word economics before b-school, she makes it livable. Corey Phelps' lectures are really good ones in the MBA core. Hearsay is that, you have to at least one marketing class with Louis Gialloreto, if you do not intend on graduating with a marketing concentration. This is a view shared by the outgoing class and alumni from a decade ago. I enjoyed Margaret Graham’s (retired) ‘Managing Innovation and Strategy’ class, but my batch is the last she’s taught. These are but some of the excellent professors at Desautels. Luckily you can shop for classes and figure out which classes suit you best. Even more luckily, you can do cross-disciplinary classes to complete your concentration requirements - meaning that even if you do a dual concentration, you can mix in select important classes from other concentrations and make your MBA curriculum a lot more holistic. I’ve known students who have done way more classes than required to graduate, just because they were keen on learning from certain professors.
Montreal is a very multi-cultural and vibrant place to be at, especially as a student. In fact, it has often been named the best city for student life. But, if you do not speak French, it is not the best place to be in when looking for jobs. Career services will extend support to you, but only to the extent to which you seek support. The better the rapport you have with them, the better aligned you are, the better help you will get. It is simply a matter of getting a return on the effort you put in. The key is to work hard from day 1, if you need an internship/job, especially in the Montreal scene. It gets harder to land a job if your efforts are not sincere from the beginning. Just don't expect things to be handed to you on a platter here - job placements are tough to secure and the Canadian market really values word-of-mouth recommendations and personal connections.
Having said that, there are folks who have landed opportunities in companies such as: RBC, TD, Scotiabank, CIBC, BMO, Rogers, Telus, Bell, Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney, CGI, Facebook, Ford, etc. McGill Business Consulting Group is an interesting option to consider for those who are not keen to convert their internships into a full-time opportunity and are after an experience. If you are smart enough and connect with Part-Time MBAs, Alumni (not just from Desautels, but from McGill as a whole), and do your homework, internships and jobs are easy to find. People also look to Toronto for options, which works out pretty well for non-French speaking students. In a nutshell, a brand can only get you so far, and just getting into a good school does not guarantee a job. There is work to do thereafter..
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The McGill brand makes this program super attractive. However, you need to keep in mind that the program was completely revamped in 2010 and is still going through some teething problems - so expect a slightly bumpy ride. There are a few things that are really good about the program - the small yet diverse class size, some exceptional professors, and a lot of flexibility to tailor your experience.
The class size deserves special mention because the community feel at Desautels means that you feel at home for the duration of your MBA. You literally become a part of a family, one that will extend far beyond your school years. You will know and hopefully get to work with every single person in the program - and this means that your skills will be authentically endorsed by your peers. The class is also highly international (with a distinct Indian bias), and the exposure to different cultures and backgrounds is a huge advantage. Of course, there are downsides to this - it is harder to attract companies to the campus - but these problems are acknowledged and the faculty is working towards fixing them.
The location in downtown Montreal is a huge plus and keeps you right in the middle of activity. It also means that you can sneak in networking coffee chats between classes. Montreal itself may not be the best job market in Canada, and for most jobs is behind Toronto and Vancouver. However, the city is a hub of activities and there is so much to see and do beyond the classroom. My classmates have joined fencing , swing dance, quidditch, and board games clubs across the university - just to give you an idea of the diversity of options available. McGill University is beginning to strongly lean towards innovation and entrepreneurship and there are many exciting programs and cross-departmental collaboration opportunities across the campus. Special mention must be made for Gerts and Thomson House - the two on-campus watering holes that have led to many memories over the years.
Of course the focus of an MBA program is on career be it progression, acceleration or switching. Like all other B-Schools, and some may blame it on how magazine rankings work, Desautels also has to focus on finance and consulting as the leading career options for its students. Expect lot of support, events and workshops to prepare you for a career in these. Of late there has also been a focus on analytics, including starting a new concentration on business analytics. This is not to say that other career choices do not receive support - it just may not be as obviously visible as some others. If you are interested in entrepreneurship, there are tons of resources across the university including the Dobson Center, and it is not really difficult to blaze your own path. Also for many students, myself included, Toronto ends up becoming the target job market, and the school organizes a really good Toronto Networking event and is looking to increase their profile in the city.
Remember I spoke about the international exposure? One of the most stellar parts of the program, and something of a once-in-a-lifetime experience is the international study trip. A fantastic way to cap off the first year, it will be an intense immersion into how business works in an international context different from Canada. With the program's focus on integrated management, synthesis, and reflection - I feel the program does create a unique type of leader.
For future applicants, I would recommend carefully evaluating whether Desautels is the right fit for you. It is a stellar experience even if not completely faultless, but the experience is not for everyone. Everyone here is super-friendly and will be more than willing to take time out for a coffee chat or a phone call to discuss the program and their experiences with you.
While I wish I could talk about every single class and every single professor in the program, it is only fair that I stick to the ones I studied under. And I must give a special shout out to a few of them. Philippe Levy will be one of the first professors you meet, and he will help you look at accounting in a completely different way. I hope that Demetrios Vakratsas comes back to teach marketing because there are few people who can make the topic as exciting as when he teaches. Sujata Madan's classes will be unlike any you take and her warmth and infectious joy add to the personal touch of the program. Corey Phelps' lectures are the best you will take in the MBA core (and maybe the best in the program) and the only complaint is that there are so few of them. Beyond the core, there are a couple of classes that you must take regardless of your concentration. The first one is Managerial Negotiations with Jay Hewlin - a street-smart take on one of the most essential skills you will cultivate during the MBA. The second one is Strategy in Context, the capstone course for Strategy and a mixture of critical life and business lessons, with Elliot Lifson, probably one of the nicest people you will meet. You must also take at least one marketing class with Louis Gialloreto, and be prepared for an intense, fast-paced, deep dive into the world of marketing that bears more than a passing resemblance to finance. I would also recommend taking a class with Margaret Graham or Reuven Brenner - they will force you to challenge your assumptions and teach you to look beyond the surface. These are but some of the excellent professors at Desautels. Luckily you can shop for classes and figure out which classes suit you best. Even more luckily, you can do cross-disciplinary classes to complete your concentration requirements - meaning that even if you do a dual concentration, you can mix in select important classes from other concentrations and make your MBA curriculum a lot more holistic.
The recruitment scene in Montreal is not the best. Most of career services will work hard and selflessly to support you the best that they can. However, to be honest, it is a matter of getting a return on the effort you put in. If you work hard on landing your dream job from day 1, you will be well off. The longer you wait, and the less honest you are with yourself, the harder it becomes. The statistics are not the most inspiring, and may not be transparently available at all times - but then they also do not tell you many things. Just don't expect things to be handed to you on a platter here - job placements are tough to secure and the Canadian market really values word-of-mouth recommendations and personal connections.
The biggest recruiters from the campus are the banks - RBC, TD, Scotiabank, CIBC and BMO. Consulting firms - McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture and the like - also do hire from Desautels but they are very selective. The faculty does have a strong connection with McKinsey and has a good track record with placements in the Montreal office. Several people do go on to work at other big Canadian firms - Rogers, Telus, Bell, Bombardier, and CGI to name a few. Alumni are also to be found at Google, Amazon, Microsoft, SAP and IBM. Beyond this, students have also gone on to work with P&G, Walmart, Kraft, Johnson & Johnson, Aimia, Pfizer, Sephora and many more. Students have also gone on to found their own ventures - some while they were also at school - and a quick google search will throw up several such names.
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Awesome review. Thank you for sharing! I can definitely see that McGill has a great community through my application experience. The admissions team was super helpful and friendly, and the student ambassadors willingly took time to talk to me, a complete stranger, for 30 minutes or so on the phone to answer questions I had about the program. I just got accepted last week and I am heavily leaning towards attending this program although I also have an offer from Schulich and am waiting to hear back from Rotman.
Hi Vijay, great work with the post. I have a GMAT of 640 and I am planning to apply for colleges in CANADA.
I have worked in IT for the past 6.5 years as SAP Consultant, what are the best colleges that I need to apply for seeking Job after MBA.
I checked in your old post about John Molson, Alberta and Sauder. I am planning to apply to these universities.
May be also consider DeGroote.
Hi Vijay,
Thanks for the helpful post. I am keen to apply in Round 2 for the 2018 intake. What are chances?
GMAT - 680. 3+ years of work-ex in Research with 2 Big 4s. Since Feb '17, working in a co-founded food truck start up.
Thanks in advance
It depends on the story you craft based on the experiences you've had. Looking at your GMAT and your experience purely quantitatively, I must say it is not competitive.. but if the overall story is great, then you'd have a better chance. Thank you.