MBAs in Canada Any Good for US Recruitment?

I've been looking into some Canadian MBAs as of late and saw that it really comes down to a small list: 

  • Tier 1
    • Ivey Western (best for Consulting)
    • Queens
    • Rotman (best for Finance)
  • Tier 2
    • Schulich
    • McGill

I wanted to see if anyone's gone through these programs and successfully recruited into US market. I'm considering their respective Part-TIme MBAs since financing is a priority (also the reason why US MBAs are not a viable option). My intent would be pursue them alongside full-time employment, fund it through scholarships or financial aid separate of the corporate sponsorship (which is not a lot for a hefty lockup period). 

If my ultimate goal is US recruitment, I see it as having two options: 

(1) I go through these programs and opt for a firm rotation ~1.5 years after working in the Canadian office 

(2) I recruit directly and receive sponsorship

This is a huge investment in both time and money and I've also read mixed stories regarding the value of Canadian MBA (to the US and European counterparts).

Any thoughts?

tl;dr - Canadian MBAs for US recruitment: yay or nay?

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11 Comments
 
Most Helpful

You are looking at this the wrong way. I went to columbia / Wharton / chicago (a finance-y type school) for my MBA. As others have pointed out, the quality / pedigree / brand cache / network of a top US MBA is on a completely different level.

In Canada, Ivey is a great school for undergrad (I think of it as NYU stern of Canada), but the quality of your classmates in MBA will be quite different from what youd experience during undergrad. 

I will also add that based on my personal experience when i moved to Canada an MBA from a top school got me not only responses from my own alumni but also alum of other / peer schools (harvard / Stanford/ mit / kellogg / tuck etc.). Talent will recognize talent... I believe the same would have held true if I moved to UK/Australia/Middle East. I don't think I would have had traction with decision makers if I'd gone to a ivey / rotman type school for my mba

With respect to visa, I presume you are canadian and can avail TN. Sure, you'll be an international student but your visa journey will not be as arduous as it would be for a non Canadian international. 

If you can get into a top t10 school, I would highly highly recommend going to the US. Yes, it's expensive but you have to look at ROI over a broader term 

Hope that is slightly helpful 

 

Canadian MBAs have become road maps to PR. 60% of their classes are international students at this point and as you guessed it the quality of recruiting isn’t good. In Canada they don’t do mba associate programs anymore. I’ve seen people do one year mbas and start their analyst years all over again.

Better to just go in the US

 

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