Is it worth it? mcgill over US schools?

Is it really such a bad idea to go to Canada to study from the US?

My range of schools in the US would be limited to the middle tier public schools(e.g UMD, PSU, UIllinois, etc) and possibly even NYU and USC, though I have a pretty slim chance at the schools.

But the problem is I am in love with Montreal and Mcgill university. I am applying there but experience from these forums has made me a little skeptical. Is it really such a bad idea to go to Mcgill, let alone a school in Canada if you're from the US?

Let's just say I'm not going to upper tier and ivy league schools, and was limited to schools like the aforementioned UMD, UIllinois, and PSU. Considering the cost of tuition will be just about the same and every other factor would be pretty similar, besides the fact that Mcgill is in Montreal, and the other schools are kinda in the middle of nowhere, should I still pick America over Mcgill?

How is recruitment at Mcgill? I wouldn't mind going into IBanking but I don't have my heart set on it - I'm really up for anything given the opportunities. IS it extremely hard to land a job in the U.S or would I be limited to jobs in Canada? Also, if anybody can speak from experience, is Mcgill only really worth it if you do the joint hns econ and finance program or do the Management school undergrads fare well also? And if anybody has anything to chime in about the other schools I mentioned, please go ahead.

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Best Response

Recruitment is decent a McGill. We get a lot of on campus recruiting from all the bulge bracket and big 6. A significant number get interviews and obviously the rest of teh way depends on how well interviewees do.

The Joint Honours Econ Finance program is too heavy on the Econ in my opinion. I think I would've liked to do the Major in Finance more.

But there are some ppl who love it. There are certainly some good profs here in Finance. We have an ex-GS banker who is one of the most entertaining and informative profs for Investment portfolio management and the Capital Markets and Banking class.

 

Hey MonkeyBusiness, just curious, how many of your classmates that got interviews from BB and non-BB in the States got offers?

I'm just wondering how the other Canadian schools are doing (I'm from Ivey). It seems like a lot of people that had banking jobs during the summer went back this year.

 

So would you suggest just the plain Finance option or the honors joint program? I'm assuming companies weight the honors option more, but is it worth the extra hard work?

 
NanaoHey MonkeyBusiness, just curious, how many of your classmates that got interviews from BB and non-BB in the States got offers?

I'm just wondering how the other Canadian schools are doing (I'm from Ivey). It seems like a lot of people that had banking jobs during the summer went back this year.

Honestly speaking...I don't know exactly how many placed this year in the BB. I do know that last year not including the 5-8 in Canada, we placed one analyst each at GS NYC, Lehman HK, Summer Interns at GS NYC, Ryan Beck, UBS NYC. Those are the ppl I know on a relatively good basis.

This year, excluding myself and the summer interns who are all returning to their summer employers we got M&A analysts: 1 @ RBC, 2 @ BMO, 1@UBS NYC, 1 @ GS NYC, 1 @ Scotia. Those are the known ones.

disketSo would you suggest just the plain Finance option or the honors joint program? I'm assuming companies weight the honors option more, but is it worth the extra hard work?

I don't know how well the companies rank our honours program but my mediocre CGPA (3.51) was enough to land me 3 ibd interviews and an equal number in capital markets and 1 Pension plan interview.

 

I doubt you should have nay problems reaching your goal of working with a BB by going to a Canadian Uni. The labour market is too hot right now, and Canadian education, I believe, is really starting to get more appreciation from BB

 

I couldn't agree more about the grades...

Also, it's good to try and get relevant work experience during your summers leading up to your final year. Well, relevant could very well be just any back-office job to start, but work your way up.

Aside from McGill, there's also Ivey (Western), Queens, Toronto, Schulich (York) and Laurier for undergrad business schools. To me it seems like US firms like to go to Ivey, Queens and McGill, but Laurier is a pretty good school for co-op programs.

 

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