Canadian MBA now or US Next Year

[pberry]

Hi All,

I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands. I have been accepted to University of Toronto Rotman for the fall 2013 intake. At the same time I have been offered a pretty interesting promotion at work from a tech engineering role to a business development role. I know I do want to take an MBA but I am trying to decide whether to go to school now or wait and apply in R1 for top US schools. I have a 740 GMAT, 4.5 years WE at matriculation for 2013 (5.5 years for 2014) and 3.1 GPA in engineering. I am currently 27 years old. Also I am Canadian so Visa advantages in Canada don't really matter. I am a technical engineer in the energy efficiency industry but like I said I am making a move right now to BD.

My post MBA goals are to work with a top management consulting firm (eventually specializing in energy) or to work in internal strategy for a clean tech related energy company. The reason I am considering waiting and going for top 15 is they have much better recruitment to top consulting firms and they get more interest from top clean tech companies.

In terms of where I live, I am pretty adaptable to working wherever I find the best opportunities.

My target schools are all top 15. Do you think waiting and applying to a top 15 is a better career move than attending Rotman this fall?

Any guidance you can give is very appreciated.

Thanks!

[MBAApply]

Hi All,

I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands. I have been accepted to University of Toronto Rotman for the fall 2013 intake. At the same time I have been offered a pretty interesting promotion at work from a tech engineering role to a business development role. I know I do want to take an MBA but I am trying to decide whether to go to school now or wait and apply in R1 for top US schools. I have a 740 GMAT, 4.5 years WE at matriculation for 2013 (5.5 years for 2014) and 3.1 GPA in engineering. I am currently 27 years old. Also I am Canadian so Visa advantages in Canada don't really matter. I am a technical engineer in the energy efficiency industry but like I said I am making a move right now to BD.

My post MBA goals are to work with a top management consulting firm (eventually specializing in energy) or to work in internal strategy for a clean tech related energy company. The reason I am considering waiting and going for top 15 is they have much better recruitment to top consulting firms and they get more interest from top clean tech companies.

In terms of where I live, I am pretty adaptable to working wherever I find the best opportunities.

My target schools are all top 15. Do you think waiting and applying to a top 15 is a better career move than attending Rotman this fall?

Any guidance you can give is very appreciated.

Thanks!

I think you want someone to tell you to hold off on Rotman and apply to a top 16 instead because that's what you seem to be inclined to do. Or at least trying to figure out whether you're competitive enough to get into a top 16 with your background/profile.

As you know, Rotman is a great school in Canada. However, it is harder to get jobs in the US from a Canadian school. It's also self-selecting too, as folks who tend to go to the Canadian MBA programs tend to be more interested in remaining in Canada post-MBA.

You said you're open geographically, but if you really want to work in the US, you should aim for a US school.

As for your competitiveness, I think you have enough of a shot - no top 16 schools are safeties for anyone, but schools like Ross, Darden, Duke, Yale and Haas are all sweet spots within reach (Stern, Cornell tend to attract more folks interested in finance; UCLA is more west-coast oriented). Schools like Kellogg, Sloan, Tuck, Booth and Columbia will be stretches but where you have enough of a shot that it's worth applying to 1-3 schools on that list. H/S/W are big stretches but they are keen on non-Indian STEM folks (they will never say it out loud that way obviously but the thing with HBS proclaiming how they are big on STEM folks in the last year or so only suggests that they are looking for non-Indians, since 99.9% of the Indian applicants out there are STEM guys and have been applying in droves for the past 10 years). So with H/S/W, maybe throw in 1-2 applications if you have time.

[PrepMBA.AlexLeventhal]

If you allow a second Alex to weigh in, I think that so many Indian engineering applicants struggle to get that more commercial position, and here you have that opportunity. It will indeed make you more attractive to US schools. I would take that job and wait to apply to some top 15 US programs given your career aspirations. Sounds like you may be leaning that way anyways. You will still be age desirable if you wait.

Alex

[pberry]

Thanks you both! As you both picked up on, I have been leaning towards taking the position. I think the extra experience and the resume bump will put me in a good position to apply to my dream programs next year. Plus the experience will lead me nicely into my MBA. I appreciate your input and also welcome any other opinions on the matter (even from non Alex's);)

[MBAPrepAdvantage]

From a non-Alex over here, I think you should wait and apply to a top 15 program because the added job experience would diversify your background and make you even more competitive for top 15 programs and your subsequent employment in consulting.

Ross and Haas not only have top recruiters but also are strong in energy. Ross has Energy conferences (https://ross.campusgroups.com/energy/ros ... onference/) and competitions (https://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom/Artic ... s_id=18637). Haas has an Energy and Clean Technology Program (https://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/academics/energy.html).

Note that PG&E recruits only from Haas, Ross, Booth, Tuck and Anderson for its prestigious MBA Leadership Program (https://www.pge.com/about/careers/college/mbaleadership/) so that might give you an idea of five schools off the bat to target.

Best of luck,