Western Ivey or McGill Desautels

Let me start off by saying that I know this has been discussed previously - but I need clarification with better detail in order to make an informed decision.

[Have Western AEO and i'm confident I can keep 80% avg. by working hard]

Im deciding between Western Ivey or McGill Desautels for business in aims of breaking into investment banking at a top BB or EB after graduation.

However, I'm on the edge for which to choose considering these factors:

Western has a better employment report and constantly places more students in these position than McGill, but I know that I would need to be in the top 25% of students in either school to have a shot.

McGill is in Montreal which is a large city, and although ill be a broke college student [kinda] I still think it would be a great student life. I'm also a bit optimistic about learning French.

Lastly, Western has a general Bmos program which ill be in for the first two years, but does not start with proper case studies or rigorous business classes until 3rd/4th year at Ivey. Which might lead the first two years to be less engaging class wise.

Can anyone shed any light on what might be the better option based on personal experience, or just general advice?

Thanks in advance.

24 Comments
 

If you already have seen the previous discussions I don't see why this is a hard decision based on what you have described. London, Ontario is cheaper than Montreal. Western has a better social scene. Better for recruiting opportunities. Yes you are not in business classes but no business course is "rigorous" anyway. Take the AEO offer and study something other than business for the first 2 years. You will have a lot of fun. 

 

I’m telling you, people know what McGill is in Asia/EU not so much Ivey. I would be extremely surprised to see Ivey place better than McGill in Asia/EU, all else held equal.

 

See, when you said international reputation, you just meant US placement. I actually meant international reputation.

McGill as a brand is definitely very strong in places like the Middle East and South East Asia; there, Ivey is quite literally unheard of AFAIK. Outside of the North American business community, Ivey is just another meh business school.

 

As a European, I've heard of both. McGill is better known, but people don't see it as a good school. They've just heard of it. Whereas the few who know of Ivey know it's a solid school

 

Agree with your sentiment on "the few who know of Ivey know it's a solid school" when it comes to East Asia (specifically China/Hong Kong). I personally networked a ton for FO finance positions in Hong Kong/Singapore and a bunch of analysts from the elite universities there (Tsinghua/Peking/NUS) responded very positively to me, because of all the cases they use in the case-based classes they took were Ivey cases. 

 

Ivey - it's a no brainer. Better placements. 

Ivey classes really aren't that rigorous, and definitely not at a BMOS level. I've seen the type of finance/accounting content these guys learn - it's a joke compared to what you'd learn in a more specialized finance/accounting program. Ivey kids succeed because of their soft skills, sheer drive, and massive alumni network. If you look at search funds run by Ivey alum, they practically only hire Ivey kids as interns. 

 
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