What Students Say
Likes
- The school offers Diverse electives
- The cohort is enriched with diverse backgrounds and incredible people
- The professors are incredibly supportive and the teaching methods and very stimulating
Dislikes
- The term structure where you have new subjects each term
- The pace of teaching can be quite difficult to deal with, especially as an international student
- The events and case comps clash with exam times
Course Curriculum
10
- The academics in the first year are highly skewed towards Finance and Economics, there are also managerial subjects that help you understand the psychology of leading people.
- With that, you also have multiple case competitions that you could take part in to understand how you can apply what you've learnt in class to real business cases. All in all the theoretical and practical aspects are equal.
Admission Experience
- Universities I Applied to:
- UBC - Admitted
- Cornell - Waitlisted
- Melbourne Business School - Admitted
- Rotman School of Management - Admitted
- I did not apply to many universities since I did my thorough research on the kind of education each university offered as well as jobs post the course. I also took into account current political climate and ROI on the course. I think I got accepted because I catered each application very specifically to the kind of people these universities were looking for.
- I chose Rotman over others because it was the best Business School in Canada, I spoke to some alumni before I even entered and heard only great things about support in terms of job safety.
- The admission process was very simple. I sent over an application along with an essay on "Whats your spike factor", something that Rotman is very famous for asking. I then went through an interview with the career services team and received my admit shortly. There werent any challenges throughout the process. I also applied very early which is why things may have been quicker.
- I applied to the early bird intake. Generally people wait for later rounds to clean up their resume but applying early gives you more flexibility.
- The admission process took 2 months. I submitted the application during September, received an interview invite in October and early November I received the admit. The admit gives you 2 weeks to make te deposit to guarantee a seat.
Faculty
10
- We have 4 sections with about 60 students per section.
- There are 2 teachers for each course and split the sections within themselves. So the student to faculty ratio would be 1:60 for each course. The faculty that is most loved would be the Finance 1 professor Mike and the strategy professor Kevin.
- They break down difficult concepts into easy simplified learning so one without a background in either can understand.
Campus Life
10
- The college is filled with fun activities that one could think of.
- Each club makes an effort to create a homely and fun atmosphere for its members.
- If you join certain clubs, you would enjoy extra curricular activities more whereas some other clubs are more case comp focused. So depending on what you prefer you could prioritise time between these two types of clubs.
Part Time Jobs
- The TA positions mainly open up in second year for Rotman. However, there could be TA positions for undergraduate students in the same university.
- On campus jobs are plenty and the professional network is very dense.
- Currently Co-op is full time but the part time jobs should be upto 20 hours a week. On campus jobs aren't many as far as I know however, you could surf LinkedIn
- Most of the Indian students do not work part time. The course is very intense and hardly allows for any time left to work. If you end up working everyone believes that you are most sure to lack in grades which is why everyone puts their best foot forward for internships directly. This would be the best case scenario in my opinion. However, if you do require extra funds, you could contact student services to help out.
Placement
10
- Last year, 94% of the batch acquired full time opportunities 3 months after completing their course.
- Most students convert their internship opportunities to full time to help relieve the stress of economic turmoil.
- Major companies that hire from Rotman are PnG, Google, Bain and Co, BCG, Mckinsey, RBC bank, Scotiabank, etc. The key is to learn how to network with people.
Accommodation
Off Campus
10
- I opted for the campus accommodation. This helps with proximity to the college especially in winter when its snowing and is also cheap and well maintained. I would highly recommend this for international students.
- The residence is a 5 min walk from college. The rent is 1406 per month which includes utilities. The only challenge is that it fills up very quickly.
Exams
- The only 2 exams required were GMAT and IELTS.
- Rotman asks for a "What's your spike factor?" essay in which you have the chance to communicate how the 4Rs of Rotman are intertwined with your own morals.
- The interview was mostly of behavioural nature as well as asking questions like what's your 5 year and 10 year plan. They want to understand how realistically you see MBA as a stepping stone to achieving your goals.
Fees
- Tuition fees: 110,000$ (without scholarship) to be paid half-yearly
- Monthly expenses: 1400 - Rent (Utilities included)
- 500- Food expenses
- 100- Miscellaneous
- If you live within the campus things are incredibly easy as well as cheaper however accommodation on campus is the first to fill out so you need to apply as soon as possible.
- Food expenses are something that may be personal to people, mine comes to 500 and 100 would be any clothing or event you'd like to buy or go to.
Scholarship
- There are many different scholarships available for students throughout the year and they may even be specific for your background. For example, there are scholarships for people from an arts background, people in finance, women in stem, etc.
- The most common scholarship would be the entrance award that's given based on your GMAT score. Each 6 months there's a list of awards that could be awarded that you should keep an eye out for.