A lot depends upon what your career aspirations are. From what I understand Ivey and Rotman are tops for Finance and Consulting, York and Desautels cater to a more global/diverse student-base and tend to offer a more generalized education which would likely be great for the non-quant heavy students, Queen's is great for the High Tech or Info Tech inclined, and Haskayne (UCalgary) is really strong for those interested specifically in the Oil&Gas industries. Aside from that I think the rest of the programs are decidedly regional (even Sauder in BC) so a decision where you'd like to work post-MBA is an important consideration when dealing with those schools.

Thanks. I'm interested in consulting. I understand that Rotman is more focused on finance. Any ideas on how good placement is for international students at either of these universities?

gzeidan wrote:Thanks. I'm interested in consulting. I understand that Rotman is more focused on finance. Any ideas on how good placement is for international students at either of these universities?

I'm sorry I don't know what placement statistics are like for international students wishing to remain in Canada. I do know that both McGill's Desautels School of Management and York's Schulich School of Business offer the most "global" programs in terms of their class composition and the international focus of their studies. Specifically, one of the schools I've recently interviewed with (Desautels) admits 40% of their incoming class of 75 from outside of Canada with a representation from 22 different countries in that composition. Unfortunately that's where my knowledge ends. In terms of employment stats specific to international students I can't be of much help. However, in comparison to the United States I believe the process of employment post-MBA is much simpler in Canada due to a better economy and less strict work-Visa requirements, but I've obtained this information anecdotally so unfortunately its unsubstantiated. I do recommend that once you've targeted a few schools that you think would be good fits for you to call their Career Services Offices and make inquiries about the employment statistics for students from your cultural/WE/academic background. This practice isn't uncommon and would definately help shed some light on the situation.

Since you've noted that your interest is in consulting then definately I'd start your search with Rotman and Ivey as they've got the better consulting from what I hear. Best of luck