Best Cost/Quality Canadian MBA for entrepreneurs?

[MBAyo]

I am preparing to apply for an MBA starting September 2014. By the time I get into the MBA program I should have 3 years experience in a top IT company. I am taking the MBA for two reasons:

1) To have time to work on my own business (can't do it while working full-time)
2) To switch to a management position in IT if my business doesn't take off

The program has to be in Canada. Due to 1) and the fact that I don't have much money saved, I am not going for a Top MBA. What I would like is to go to an MBA school where I can network with other like-minded individuals that may potentially become my business partners. I know Waterloo has a program specifically for entrepreneurs, but it is expensive and it doesn't give me a back up option (2).

So far I am very convinced that HEC Montreal is the best option in my case (cheap Quebec tuition, 1 year so I don't accumulate debt). I am starting to prepare for the GMAT and I also have quite high undergrad GPA, so may get a scholarship as well. Is there any other school I should be considering?

[mbaguy2012]

Hi,

Mediocre business schools do not add much value these days. If MBA is an important part of your future career plan, try to get into a good MBA program, not just any MBA program. Anyway most mediocre MBA programs worldwide are full of mediocre students from India & China (no offense intended) so you may not meet many like-minded people. Save some money, gain some more experience & them go for a good MBA program.

Hope it helps.

[MBAyo]

Hi,

Mediocre business schools do not add much value these days. If MBA is an important part of your future career plan, try to get into a good MBA program, not just any MBA program. Anyway most mediocre MBA programs worldwide are full of mediocre students from India & China (no offense intended) so you may not meet many like-minded people. Save some money, gain some more experience & them go for a good MBA program.

Hope it helps.

Thank you for your reply. Would you be more specific as to which Canadian MBA program offers better ROI than HEC Montreal? I know it is hard to predict the future salary of a graduate, the MBA being only one among many factors, but look at the ratings:

FT 2012:
44. Rotman: $87,532 . Compare to: 42. SDA Bocconi $58,916; 18. HEC Paris $63,550.56;

FT (Masters in Management) 2012:
36. HEC Montreal: $7,600 . Compare to: 32. Vlerick Business School $46,339; 36. Aston Business School $38,550;

Between HEC Montreal and Rotman we are talking 80K difference. How long will it take for a Rotman graduate to make 80K more than a HEC Montreal graduate? And that's just tuition, Rotman also carries double the living expenses due to the duration of the program. Weighted salary for HEC Montreal grad is $54,348 vs. $97,652 for Rotman. So 3 years after graduating, a Rotman MBA grad would have made up the tuition difference compared to a HEC Montreal grad? Can we say that, or the Rotman average is unrealistically high while the HEC average is absurdly low? I think in real life it would take on average 5 years to make up the difference.

I know my thinking is flawed, HEC Montreal and Rotman are not even in the same ranking at all. But as far as recognition, from what I have found so far HEC Montreal appears to be the only reasonably priced Canadian school that is even mentioned on international rating charts.

[AbhiJ]

Hi,

Mediocre business schools do not add much value these days. If MBA is an important part of your future career plan, try to get into a good MBA program, not just any MBA program. Anyway most mediocre MBA programs worldwide are full of mediocre students from India & China (no offense intended) so you may not meet many like-minded people. Save some money, gain some more experience & them go for a good MBA program.

Hope it helps.

So according to you SP Jain Dubai campus is a good program(as per your another post) and Rotman is a mediocre program. Dude where are you getting your facts from. Even top MBA programs are full of students from India and China (LBS, INSEAD, MIT). Please don't mislead people if you don't have your facts on.

[mbaguy2012]

Dear AbhiJ,

Thanks for your comment dude and whats with that tone of yours. I think many people like you on this forum need counseling on how to discuss issues without making hard-faced comments. Where in the world did i mention that Rotman is a mediocre program, i think you need Reading Comprehension support dude. Rotman offers one of the two top MBA programs in Canada, the other being the MBA program at Ivey but MBAyo isn't targeting Rotman or Ivey here.

Every MBA aspirant has a certain profile and not everyone can target Harvard or LBS just like that. SPJain Singapore/Dubai is certainly a better choice for an average MBA aspirant from India, who otherwise goes to a tier 2 or tier 3 European/Canadian/Australian school these days in search of an international career only to return back home to battle with a job market full of MBA graduates from reputed Indian schools and where most HR personnel either don't know about his international school or don't give a damn if it is ranked amongst the best MBA programs in some isolated international rankings. I have come across many such Indian/Chinese grads and have had detailed conversations with them.

You are right that most top MBA programs worldwide including the ones at LBS, Insead & MIT have close to 10% to 30% bright students from India & China alone but you cannot discount the fact that most tier 2, tier 3 and tier 4 business schools in Europe, Asia Pacific & Canada are also full of mediocre to disastrous Indian & Chinese students many of whom can't even speak business level English (no offense intended). In most cases this number could go up to more than 50% of the class size.

Hope it helps.