McGill Desautels Faculty of Management

I was wondering if some of you could share their taughts on Desautels for econ/finance? I am also considering HEC Montréal because I am a french Canadian. How hard is it to get in honours program? Thanks alot!

 

Very good program at an awesome school (although in a crap building). The honours program only take a few people every year so it is competitive. It also really help for recruiting (pretty much everyone in the program gets a top job). As to the difference with HEC, it really depends on what you want to do. If you want to stay in Montreal, it makes no difference, you'll have access to the exact same opportunities. Similarly for Toronto, McGil obviously has a lot more alums, but opportunities through OCR will be the same. The huge difference is with regards to US opportunities, McGil gets OCR from NYC banks and places decently there and HEC doesn't (although HEC does rather well with London since such a high % of the class is french). Note that a significant % of the class at McGil are from outside Quebec so they join a year earlier than those coming from CEGEP which makes for a weird integration. PM me if you have other questions.

 

If you're planning on breaking into banking or high finance, make sure you get into the HIM (honors investment management program) if you decide on McGill. It's true they do only take a few candidates a year but almost 100% of students in the program do get the top jobs. They receive private recruitment ops, tours at banks, and have their own dedicated CV book from what I heard so you're pretty much set. If you're left out of the program it'll be A LOT more difficult to get a job in high finance since you're essentially on your own (unless if you have the network and an incredibly high GPA). McGill doesn't have a strong alumni community with banks in Montreal, and the career service office is mediocre albeit it has improved. There's also the joint honors in economics and finance program but it's an incredibly tough program to maintain top grades. From what I heard HEC has a solid alumni in Montreal and has a strong placement with some of the banks. If you're planning on staying in Montreal, mtnmmnn is somewhat right in that it doesn't make all that of a difference but I'd highly consider HEC. Feel free to ask any other questions.

 
Best Response

Actually, McGil forces banks doing OCR to post job offers to the entire school (ie. they don't allow restricting to Desautels students) so technically everyone has the same opportunities. However, people have in the HIM program have a significant leg up due to the exclusivity of the program (ie. the best students are already enrolled in HIM and signaling is very important for IBD recruitment) as well as the learning, exposure and experience gained through the program (especially running the fund). Plus they get to participate in a lot of events with industry professionals so it really helps to built connections. That being said, banking recruiting is very competitive and you need a strong GPA (cutoff will be 3.7-3.8 depending on the bank) to stand a chance whether you are in the program or not. No one is getting a high finance job without a stellar GPA. Having run the recruiting for one of the top bank in Canada, I can assure you that McGil recruiting is top tier and the only Canadian schools that can claim to offer better recruiting opportunities are Ivey and Queen's and the difference is fairly marginal (especially in the case of Queen's).

 

Thanks alot for the infos, now I just need to figure out what I want to study next... I feel like studying administration in cegep doesn't really help me to find the field that fit me the best. I only had 1 business class and 1 econ, but we never studied accounting. Do you guys think that 33 r score (about 92% school average) is enough to get in honours econ/finance?

 

Itaque voluptates laudantium sed. Esse voluptas voluptatem eos incidunt eum tenetur reprehenderit nemo. Non ad ut qui voluptatem recusandae qui est recusandae.

Dolor magni placeat laudantium voluptatibus voluptatibus facilis libero. Voluptas temporibus est optio. Sequi et voluptatem qui commodi ipsa.

Fuga non praesentium tenetur eius similique qui pariatur. Suscipit quaerat inventore quasi. Possimus sint occaecati officia maxime. Eum voluptas quia sequi tempora voluptate. Numquam cupiditate rem deleniti est aperiam sequi sed. Molestiae cum et exercitationem perferendis dolorem perferendis fuga ea.

Eos aut et minima quis sit iure aliquid. Consequatur harum in amet natus quia distinctio et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”