Which is best MBA between Sauder Schulich or McGill for operations management ???

Hi all, I applied for a full time MBA at (1) Sauder(UBC), (2) Shulich and (3) McGill, I have just done my interview with Sauder and am waiting for the final decision, for Schulich and McGill still waiting for an answer. I have 680 Gmat,…

Hi all,

I applied for a full time MBA at (1) Sauder(UBC), (2) Shulich and (3) McGill, I have just done my interview with Sauder and am waiting for the final decision, for Schulich and McGill still waiting for an answer.

I have 680 Gmat, 106 Toefl, 7 years experience in operations and have an undergraduate degree en Mechanical Engineer.

I am particularly interested on information regarding:

- Which of the 3 programs is best suited for operations management or consulting, I am definitely not interested in Finance at all. I have a hard time trying to rank them on this aspect.

- Which of the 3 programs offers best possibilities on job placements at operations management, I am interested in mining, energy, manufacturing or any industrial company.

- Which of the three cities (Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal) is best for job placement on operations management or industrial companies?

Thank you all for your help, best regards Echebergajo.

Hello Echebergajo,

Congratulations for your GMAT score and selection of schools. Amongst Sauder, Schulich & McGill. Traditionally Sauder was most oriented towards a specalization in Operations/SCM. That was till last year, when they decided to revamp their curriculum. I have not investigated their new program structure / curriculum.

McGill & Schulich, both have a decent amount of Electives present for Operations. However, Vancouver is a traditional Hub for SCM/Logistics. I am not sure that by Operations you mean Projects, Operations / Productions / Manufacturing? or SCM/Logistics.

McGill has a very good concentration in Operations & Technology Management. You can get in touch with Jonathan Khyatt, he is a gem of a person and will most surely help you as much as he could.
Schulich also offers you the flexibility of choosing electives from Operations/SCM. Should you choose to do so. You can get in touch with Charmaine Courtis, she is a wonderful lady and will guide you well.

Though Vancouver is a hub for SCM/Logistics, Toronto offers more employment opportunities. Montreal on the other hand is cheap (as I am told) and gives you the feel of a European city in Northen America (an idea I am personally attracted too).

For Consulting However, Richard Ivey is numero uno in Canada. McGill also has a good tie ups with the likes of McKinsey, but I presume, it will require working knowledge of French.
Schulich is in Toronto, and should give you location advantage.
Sauder on the other hand is a shorter MBA program and thus should save you cost of living.

BTW, in case you want to pursue MBA in US. there are some good schools for SCM/Operations Purdue, Penn State, Arizona State, Ohio State other than the CMU, MIT, U Mich, NYU, Kelley

P.S. Disclaimer: I am no pundit and just another aspirant. All information provided by me are my views, please verify the facts from an independent source :)
I also want to major in Operations / SCM with finance as my minor.
I was admited in Schulich India MBA program, but had to let go due to financial reasons.
I was rejected after interview by McGill (I'll be reapplying as soon as I can manage funds and improve my GMAT)
Sorry for spellings/typos (I am terrible without MS Word)
Hope it helps
Ayon

Hi Ayon, thank you very much for your answer.

By operations i mean operations, production and manufacturing, although my previous experience is en SCM I dont want my experience - or my future - to be framed through it, I am also looking the whole MBA experience as a chance to think all over again what do I like and where I see my self later on my career, but I feel attracted for operations so thats why I am looking for that. What I am sure is that I am not interested in finance at all.

Keeping the previous thoughts I think I would like a program that does not has a strength in one particular area (as for example I see Rotman in finance). I am also a little afraid of Montreal and french, I know I can search fro jobe then in Toronto, but my wife should face the french problem from the biggining. Vancouver seems ok, but I am afraid of having difficulties looking for a job out there given that it is small and distant from the rest.

As I write I am kind of taking conclusions....is Schulich my choice? I am afraid I reach to this conclusion and not get accepted!!! I can tell you I am already accepted from Rotman (but it is my choice 4/4), and already got interview from Sauder, no news yet from Schulich and McGill.

Hope everything goes alright with your GMAT, by the way how much did you scored?

Echebergajo.

Hi Ayon, thank you very much for your answer.

By operations i mean operations, production and manufacturing, although my previous experience is en SCM I dont want my experience - or my future - to be framed through it, I am also looking the whole MBA experience as a chance to think all over again what do I like and where I see my self later on my career, but I feel attracted for operations so thats why I am looking for that. What I am sure is that I am not interested in finance at all.

Keeping the previous thoughts I think I would like a program that does not has a strength in one particular area (as for example I see Rotman in finance). I am also a little afraid of Montreal and french, I know I can search fro jobe then in Toronto, but my wife should face the french problem from the biggining. Vancouver seems ok, but I am afraid of having difficulties looking for a job out there given that it is small and distant from the rest.

As I write I am kind of taking conclusions....is Schulich my choice? I am afraid I reach to this conclusion and not get accepted!!! I can tell you I am already accepted from Rotman (but it is my choice 4/4), and already got interview from Sauder, no news yet from Schulich and McGill.

Hope everything goes alright with your GMAT, by the way how much did you scored?

Echebergajo.

Hello Echebergajo,

I could manage 630.
Well to be honest, if we are clear on the distinction between Operations & SCM. Then let me tell you that Majority of students opt for Finance when it comes to Bschools in Canada. Infact, Canadian economy is driven by Finance & Banking sector( services), Oil & Gas of Alberta and Forestry in BC.

So the perceived strength of colleges are as follows
Ivey - Consulting / General Management - 1 yr
Queens - General Management (team based approach) - 1 yr
Rotman - Finance (Investment Banking) 2 - yrs [ check out their tuition fees btw]
Schulich - Finance (Deloitte is a happy recruiter here) - 2 yrs , lot of electives, Marketing , CSR, Banking sector
McGill - Finance / Brand Management (Marketing) , Technology & Innovation - 2 yrs
Sauder - SCM (or was SCM, I havent investigated their new curriculum) - i guess its 15 months or so.
Alberta - Oil & Gas , Natural resources

amongst all the mentioned Bschools, Ivey is number 1 in Canada. UBC & McGill are the names people are aware of outside Canada and around the world due to their University Brand name / undergrad programs.

Schulich / Rotmann are in Toronto, and they graduate students in good numbers. Do keep in mind that Canadian market is smaller than US market. US has large internal combustion, hence people tend to find employment relatively easily in US than in Canada.

Why don't you look towards US ? else, let all the results come in and you can decide which turns out to be a cheaper one.

hope it helps
Ayon