Decision time- have been accepted into 3 business schools.

[alexdallas]

Hello everyone

I currently reside in Dallas, and have been accepted in : York Schulich (Toronto), McGill (Montreal) and George Wash.Univ. (Wash, DC).

I am looking to pursue a FullTime MBA- interested in international business and economics. My ultimate goal is to work in the Toronto/NorthEast US coast.

With that in mind, it's decision time for me. The more feedback i get , the better, so if anyone has any ideas/suggestion, please let me know.
Here is my personal pros/cons breakdowns of the schools so far:


YORK Schulich
pro: good rep, cost not as great as G.Wash.
cons: they did NOT ask me for an interview (i just received an acceptance letter); i am not sure the campus area is all that nice, and seems kind of far from downtown Toronto; i've read some alumni comments that many students do not even speak english.

McGill Desautels
pros: good cost, good reputation,very diverse program (most diverse in N. America i think), had a good phone interview/good vibe
cons: reputation of a party school, lowest rated of all 3 business schools.

G.Wash.Univ.
pros: good reputation, excellent location, enjoyed the campus during the interview
cons: cost is high, DC is an expensive place to live in.

[money9111]

It seems like you really liked "G-Dub" the best but are concerned about the cost of living. Do you have any scholarship/fellowship money that comes into play at any of these schools? I don't much about any of the b-schools but if you're interested in international business and economics, does GWU offer anything in that arena that the other schools cannot, since it's in DC?

[GMATSUCKER]

I will vote for George Washington University D.C .It's the best for international business. And I have heard someone got 75% scholarship there.If you can procure fundng whether in the form of aid or some other way , go for George Wash. Univ.
GWU is the best among your options.

[hk]

Wow its a very difficult decision indeed. I think from a pure reputation point of view McGill will top your list in international standings. McGill is probably the only Canadian school in the list of Top 20 global universities ranked my Times Higher education.

And as you said the diversity of the student body at McGill in unmatched. But again, I'd recommend you not to decide based on how a school ranks. Instead talk to as many current students or alumni as possible and see which school do you find the best fit with. You could also list out your top 5 or 10 parameters that you would like in a b-school. This will help you filter to your best fit. Some of the parameters that i used to shortlist b-schools were - Student Diversity, Faculty reputation, Schools' connection with the industry, Career prospects, Location (I wanted to study in a place that had no snow) , Alumni/Students' impression and curriculum match!

Hope this helped.

[alexdallas]

thanks a lot guys!

i havent had a chance to do any other research since i posted.

i need to look into grants/scholarships, and take it from there.

i'm still torn between the 3, but leaning more towards McGill and GWU. The fact that York doesnt even interview the applicants still seems strange to me, i cant get over it.

tks guys,,,any more ideas/thoughts are welcome!

[Mr_T]

Hi,

I'm from Montreal so I can give you some insights on McGill.
They've actually completely restructured their MBA curriculum and tuition program. They were not happy about their MBA program as it lagged way behind other b-schools, so they 've made major changes. Actually, interviewing candicates is very new, I think it started last year. They've changed their teaching methods toward a more "integrated" approach and hired a bunch of new expensive teachers. Looks promising, but do you really want to be the guinea pig?

Party school? Not really. Party town? Absolutely!

As for myself, McGill is not on my radar, their tuition hike left a bad taste in my mouth. Mcgill decided to go private, so montreal residents now pay $60,000 instead of $14,000 like it was last year...

mr T

[alexdallas]

tks a lot for the info!