Posted on: 22-04-10 10:43:33
Hi all,
I will be landing in Ontario as PR this summer. I am planning to do an MBA from one of Ontario universities. I was looking to apply to Rotman, Schulich and Ivey as they are the best ranked business schools. However I have been advised by someone (himself a Rotman MBA) that it is much cheaper to get the MBA from a lower rung school and the job opportunities are the same for both.
The fee difference is really there (something like DeGroote school costing $26,000 and Rotman costing $75,000) and there should be some payoff for spending 3 times the money.
I am confused and wonder whether it really doesn't make a difference which school you get the MBA from as far as career prospects are concerned?
Any thoughts will be highly appreciated!
Cheers
Try the Wilfred laurier MBA from Waterloo. Its good and about 28000 grand. Its more exp to do the same course in Toronto.
If you want the best, the Ivey is the way to go.
Doing a MBA from a Business School is not a golden ticket to a successful career in Canada. Your past experience, education and the specific industry will be the major determinants of what kind of career you will have post MBA qualification.
A few months back, I was interviewing candidates for a junior level position which paid around 50-60K and had 4 Richard Ivey Graduates applying for that. Now, Richard Ivey is ranked as the top B-Scool in Canada and it costs close to $80 K in tuition. All of them were white,Canadian born and educated with 5-6 years of solid work experience. One person had three degrees - B.Pharm from U of T, CFA and MBA Finance from Ivey.
In my previous company, a really smart desi guy who had done his BE from India and came to do MBA from Richard Ivey was lamenting that his first job post MBA was a 35K entry level position, because he did not have the relevant "Canadian"experience. The most this person was able to progress to was a 60K job (compared to the 100K plus jobs that you keep on hearing in the media) and ultimately got married to someone from the US and left Canada.
Since, you have indicated that you are just about to land in ON, it would be extremely "brave" of you to invest $75,000 upfront on an education where there is no guarantee of getting a ROI for several years.
Not to discourage you, but this is the level of competition you will face in the market today and the ground reality of the job environment.
Freakoutguy, Could you comment on the job prospects and ROI for Canadian MBA's in the US?
freakoutguy / desiskywalker: thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
freakoutguy: considering that the MBA will be over only around 2012, do you think the instances you mentioned are only a reflection of the current economic situation and we can expect things to change once the recession is over?
so nntksv, what did you decide? are u applying fr ivey?
I myself am searching for good mba from uk/us or singapore. ( I am CA from india, working in gulf for two yrs now). I googled a lot about diff uni. and find mixed reviews always.Now i imagine there are hundreds of more uni across the world to think of.
Let me share that its so difficult to get all +ve review about any particular mba program.
Quote:
Originally posted by nntksv
freakoutguy / desiskywalker: thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
freakoutguy: considering that the MBA will be over only around 2012, do you think the instances you mentioned are only a reflection of the current economic situation and we can expect things to change once the recession is over?
As mentioned in my post,the biggest obstacle is this whole "Canadian" experience, that cannot be mitigated easily with a top MBA. Think about it from the employers perspective- you have a "nice" Canadian educated person who has atleast 3-5 years experience in the Canadian job environment and can furnish local references versus a new immigrant with a foreign accent, who has no Canadian experience with a MBA(albeit a top one). Why should he choose the unknown?
In terms of the effect of recession, you will be surprised to know that enrollment in B-schools is actually up during recession as people who have been laid off with a severance decide to do a MBA to further their prospects. So you have a large MBA cohort, who will be looking out for employment at the same time.
Goldfinger-Americans are not as hung up on the source of your degree and local experience as Canadians. Also, given that the U.S is the world's largest economy, it is easier for them to absorb potential employees.It is ironical that a Canadian MBA would have better prospects in the U.S, than a U.S MBA holder in Canada.
