Reviewed on Jun 6, 2025(Enrolled 2022)
What Students Say
Likes
- Exposure to Waterloo's startup ecosystem
- Campus facilities in terms of extra circular activities
- Diverse culture
Dislikes
- Burnout, it is tough to survive in a competitive environment as an international student,
- Less part time jobs were available,
- High cost of living,
Course Curriculum
8
- The course is designed in a way that irrespective of your professional background, you will be able to blend in easily. they take regular classes and assignments. the course is demanding overall, but that's the good part about it. The positive aspect is if you are willing to learn, you can kill it. The negative part was as an international student, it sometimes becomes tough to manage. Classes are held from 9 to 1 mostly. There were 6 Indian students in my batch
Admission Experience
- I applied to 5 colleges, out of which I got admitted to 3. I received confirmed admission from the University of Waterloo, Ontario Tech University, and Algoma University. I received a rejection from the University of Ottawa. what went wrong at this University was that they were asking for more professional experience, and that was one of the reasons for rejection.
- I chose the University of Waterloo because of its brand name and reputation. Also, the course offering was something aligning with my future goals. To get into MBET, they ask for IELTS with a minimum of 7.5 bands; your CV should be good and align with their offerings, and then you have to clear an interview round. it is mostly to see if you will fit in their culture or not. The overall admission process was very smooth. in terms of challenges, it was the interview round and scholarship, as there are fewer resources available to prepare for them.
- I applied at the end of 2021; I got the invite by spring 2022. what influenced my decision was I wanted to go and pursue my master's in Canada; that was the plan, and I got invited by one of the prestigious Universities. The application process takes somewhere around 5-6 months, from filing in the application form and basic queries to completing the interview.
Faculty
10
- The faculty-to-student ratio is 7:28; it was balanced in terms of ratio-wise. Each professor had their own unique way of teaching, as they carry tonnes of experience to share and help you set up for success.
- The course content does allow you to secure a job but totally depends on the individual. There were TA openings available for 2-3 courses only. I admired Harvir Bansal a lot; he used to teach us Marketing, and the way he taught, I remember it till today.
Campus Life
10
- The University was covered within 1000 acres of land. There were separate departments; my building name was E7, which means engineering 7. There are two major libraries and PAC , which is our sports facility. There are other activities available in the Student life centre.
- The major campus festival is St Patrick's Day. You can participate in different activities happening but it depends upon your department. we were allowed to participate mostly in pitch competitions or sports-related activities.
Part Time Jobs
- There were only three openings for the TA position; we were a class of 28 students, and only 3 were able to get the TA job. They used to get CAD 20 per hour, and they had to work 10 hours per week. Apart from this, students can work part-time for the food services. The min wage is around CAD 16-17 per hour. Students are allowed to work only 20 hrs per week. It's tough nowadays to get a part-time job on campus.
- It is the same for everyone; when it comes to earning hourly wages, it ranges from CAD 16 to 17 per hour. It depends upon you and your networking skills to get a part-time job. Normally what students do is they network with people already working, identify companies they want to work for, apply directly to their websites, and secure the interview.
- Apart from this, you can also walk in and meet the manager and tell them about yourself and ask them if they have any openings. Securing a licence, like security, can also help you end up with a part-time job.
Placement
8
- Mostly in our batch, almost 90% of the students had a job within 6 months of graduating. The average salary for a fresher with one year of foreign experience can be expected to be between CAD 50K and 70K, or if you have experience, you can target CAD 100K as well. MBET is designed in a way that most people end up doing their own startups; in the case of international students, they are the ones who look for jobs.
- Common jobs available after this course are into Management Consulting, Software Sales, Business Development, programme management, or working with accelerator centres. For grad hiring, Bell, BIG 4 companies, Mckinsey, the BCG group, and others roll out grad hriing programs and they are good to target.
Accommodation
Off Campus
6
- I found my accommodation on Facebook Marketplace. Normally everyone there uses FB marketplace for finding listings. Rent ranges from CAD 800 to 900 for a private room, which includes utilities. Sometimes they are separate, like hydro, water, etc. laundry services you have to pay for depending upon the building. My accommodation was on Lester St; it was a 7-minute walk from my class.
Exams
- They ask for IELTS. in terms of documents, you have to send them your undergrad transcripts, IELTS result, 10-12 marksheets, and your SOP has to be very strong, and your resume should highlight professional experience and why you would be fit for this course. Interview was part of the process as well. The interview is about you, why this course, and mostly other behavioral questions.
Fees
- The fee was divided into 3 semesters; you can pay accordingly as you like. Overall, it was somewhere around CAD 67,000 for the whole course; it included tuition, miscellaneous , insurance, etc.
- The monthly expense to stay in Waterloo is somewhere around CAD 1200-1300 per month. Rent costs are between CAD 800 and 900 per month; transportation for the 1st year is free, as it is covered in your fees.
Scholarship
- Usually when you are about to start the course, there is an opportunity to get the scholarship; it is called the Business Plan scholarship, in that you have to pitch a business plan based upon some criteria, and if you clear that, you get a CAD 10,000 scholarship.
- In my batch, 2 students were only able to get that. on an average mostly 2 or 3 students can avail themselves of this opportunity.
