Class Diversity That Isn’t Just a B-School Buzzword!

Michael Moses - Assistant Director, Recruitment & AdmissionsBusiness schools love to talk about how diverse their class is but we thought rather than just saying “Rotman has a diverse class!” we’d use our latest blog post to talk to the many of the really exciting things happening on and off-campus for students from all walks of life.

For whoever you are or where you are from, we have a club for you:

    • The Letters at Rotman (Rotman’s LGBTQ and friends club)
  • Association Francophone de Rotman
  • European Business Club
  • Latin America Business Association
  • Middle East Business Association
  • Rotman Asian Business Association
  • Rotman African and Caribbean Association
  • South Asian Business Association
  • Women in Management Association

What’s especially great about these clubs (and all of our student clubs in general) is that they are exclusively for the MBA student body and therefore arranges networking events, helps students maximize their Rotman experience, etc, JUST for Rotman MBAs. As a result, the events and resources provided by each club are perfectly suited to our student body’s needs.

Despite the above clubs list, you might be wondering, “how much do these clubs actually do on campus?” And the answer is lots! In fact, every club has at least a few events happening every month:

Feel like getting reconnected to your Indian roots? Come out for the Holi party!

Want to expand your network in South America? Come out to Latin America Business Association networking night!

The Rotman calendar is filled with all sorts of events like this. -And in order for a student club to exist at Rotman in the first place, it is required to have a certain number of events every semester. This guarantees you that when you join a student club, you will get to take part in some pretty cool activities!

Beyond the Rotman walls, our students get access to some pretty awesome networks as well. For our women, we are one of only three Canadian b-schools that partner with the Forté Foundation. Forté organizes seminars and very prominent guest speaker events with the goal of helping women accelerate their careers through the MBA. These are initiatives that you simply cannot find in b-schools that are not affiliated with Forté.

Some of our students move to Toronto with their families as well. –Such students are here studying away at Rotman while their significant others are not. To this end, we host events on and off-campus to ensure these “Rotman families” are settled in, enjoying their time in Toronto and are having their needs met, beyond just those in the actual Rotman MBA program.

For our LGBTQ community, the University of Toronto hosts an orientation week at the start of the school year specifically for the LGBTQ community. The university also offers LGBTout, the University of Toronto’s student group for the LGBTQ community.  As well, every year Rotman takes part in Out on Bay Street, a weekend-long conference and networking event entirely around helping the LGBTQ community pursue its post-MBA goals. Out on Bay Street was also founded, in fact, by a Rotman Alum as well!

Clearly Rotman has quite the diverse class but thanks to our amazing on and off-campus initiatives, we make sure Rotman feels like a second home to you, wherever your first home may be. 🙂 

Experience Rotman on October 18th

Sarah PinkcardIt’s that time of year! The leaves are turning, the mercury is dropping, and the U of T campus is buzzing once again.  It’s fall, which means our annual Rotman Open House is just around the corner!

On Saturday, October 18th, Rotman opens its doors for the biggest and most exciting school-wide event of the year. A captivating exhibit of all Rotman programs, the Open House provides prospective students with the opportunity to meet staff, students, alumni, and faculty in an interactive showcase of everything Rotman. Featured this year will be welcoming remarks by our new Dean, Tiff Macklem, a keynote address by Associate Dean Mihnea Moldoveanu, and a jam-packed agenda of sample classes, panel discussions, and info sessions. Current students will be available to answer your questions and provide insight into life at Rotman, a panel of Alumni will fill you in on their MBA experiences, and the Career Centre invites you to drop by to meet coaches and advisors. Kevin Frey, Managing Director of the Full-Time MBA is hosting a coffee chat and we’ll have trading simulations running all day in the BMO Trading Lab. If that’s not enough to get you to Rotman on a crisp fall day, wait ‘til you hear this: you’ll have a chance to take a class- a real, live, Rotman class with real, live, Rotman instructors! Maja Djikic, Director of the Self Development Lab will give you a 45-minute intro to the Self-Management module that will leave you wanting more. You’ll have a blast with Mark Leung, Director, DesignWorks at his interactive class on Business Design, and Associate Prof. Walid Hejazi will blow your mind when he tells you about the ROI on your MBA. Associate Prof. Bernardo Blum will give you a sneak peek into Rotman’s unique approach to model-based decision making. Prof. Alexander Dyck will teach a finance class entitled “Does Private Equity Create Value?”, and Associate Prof. Tiziana Casciaro will deliver “Competent Jerks, Lovable Fools and Social Networks in the Workplace”. Intrigued? That’s not all, but I won’t give away the farm. Stay tuned for our full agenda.

The Admissions team will be in attendance and available to answer any questions about the program, the school, and the application process. Drop by our table outside Desautels Hall to speak to one of them. Our joint programs will also have an information table, and Quantum Test Prep, The Princeton Review, and U of T’s School of Continuing Studies will have advice for those who haven’t written their GMAT yet. If you have questions about financial aid or our loan programs, that’ll be available too.

The Open House is a must-attend for anyone considering Rotman. Don’t miss out on the chance to experience the School first-hand. Whether you stop by for an hour or the whole day, it will be worth your while.

Register now and we’ll see you on October 18th!

Tips to “Unlock” the 2015 Rotman Admission Essays

Leigh Gauthier, Director of Recruitment & Admissions for the Rotman Full-Time MBA program

MBA essays are designed to allow prospective students to express themselves in formal prose. In doing so, applicants convey to the Admissions committee why they should be considered for the program not only through the content of the essays, but the style and tone in which they are written. It goes without saying that the grammar, spelling, and punctuation must be impeccable. If that sounds daunting, or you’re struggling with writer’s block, you’re not alone. Each year we post a few tips to “unlock” the admissions essays so that you can put forth your best application.

Essay Question #1: Please state your professional goals and how you plan to achieve them.

Completing the MBA is a big decision. Students at this stage should be able to accurately demonstrate how the MBA will help them achieve their professional goals. This doesn’t necessarily mean unequivocally stating your final destination upon graduation. Knowing your future function and industry is important, but not critical to admission. We’d rather see a thoughtful response that is authentic. Some students have always known what they want to do post-MBA, while others are using the education to help them discover career options that will fulfill their purpose. Either response is acceptable provided that it demonstrates a certain amount of research and consideration has gone into drafting the professional goals and how an MBA would support that.

Essay Question #2: Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have received recently. Please detail the circumstance and your plan to address it. 

This is a common question asked by top MBA schools and we thought it fit well with the ethos at Rotman as well. For example through our Self Development Lab we are fostering a developmental versus evaluative culture. We provide students with real time feedback on many dimensions and teach them how to respond for a better effort next time, whether it be through a presentation or a one on one dialogue.  In addition, our career coaching model stresses an accountability partnership between the student and coach. Students set career goals for themselves throughout the year along with an action plan to achieve them. If goals are not met, coaches can help students identify underlying issues and help them get back on track. In answering this question, we are looking to identify students who are not afraid to admit that they have made mistakes, or have areas to develop and are taking action toward that.

Reflection Question: List 3-5 attributes or characteristics that best describe you. 

This is one of our favourite questions! Corporate employers repeatedly tell us that self-awareness is paramount. The response to this question will help signal to the Admissions Committee which applicants really know themselves and are not trying to be like anyone else but themselves. There are definitely no right or wrong answers here, but an important tip, your word choice will need to be congruent with the rest of your application (essays, interviews, video interviews etc.) Additionally, when you arrive on campus, these five words will help you and your personal Career Coach begin to build your personal brand, an important part of your job search strategy.

Best of luck to you as you complete your essays – we look forward to reading them!