They’re here! It’s hard to believe that just over a year ago I joined the Rotman Full-Time MBA Recruitment and Admissions Team to support the team in recruiting the Class of 2017. As a transplant from the Career Centre I was quite sure that I would be able to hit the ground running and help the team bring in the best and most capable class that would attract the top employers. (and I believe we did, but more on that later!)

But, what I quickly learned is that there’s more to building the perfect MBA class than meets the eye. When making offers of admission, not only are we looking at candidates at an individual level (see more on what we look for here) but also at a macro level. How are we actually building the cohort to provide a world-class experience to all who come? While I was quite confident on the individual part having had the privilege of insider information from some of the world’s top employers, I learned that the sum is greater than its parts.

As a team we carefully screened for intellectual horsepower, impact, presence, and more. Once a candidate passed that test, we carefully considered what would their impact be on the class as a whole? Did we have the right mix? What were we missing from a diversity perspective, a talent perspective, and spikiness perspective? How would we carefully choose individuals to make up a community that works; something that both we and they will be proud of for years to come?

The Class of 2017 can be classified in a myriad of ways:

• Class Size = 351
• Average Age = 27
• Average Experience = 4 years
• Female = 32% (111 in total) Male = 68%
• Domestic /International = approximately 50/50 split from 34 different countries
• GMAT = 680 (Median), 663 (Mean)

But what I am most proud of is some of their impressive accomplishments, in many cases beyond the work realm that the statistics don’t quite capture. Each student was chosen based on their experiences which will bring a unique perspective into the classroom and demonstrate resilience, perseverance, and creativity. Characteristics that many of our top recruiters demand.  For example, we have students who are a:

• Published author
• Varsity athlete – soccer, badminton, football, hockey, Frisbee, swimming
• Pro poker player
• International sailing champion
• Singer or music producer
• Band member who toured Latin America and the US
• Black belt in judo, karate, jujitsu, taekwondo and karate
• Patent holder
• 1/2 and full marathoner as well as triathlete and former Ironman competitor
• Surgeon or MD

And I could go on. The cohort is in their first week of class and what I hear in the halls most consistently is where did you find such an impressive bunch?

The beautiful part about Recruitment and Admissions is that when one year is complete, we get to go out and do it all over again. Next year’s perfect class will be different from this years’ because each student who is admitted will bring something equally distinctive. The next class will take on its own persona and I can’t wait to see who’s out there. In fact, I enjoyed the Recruitment & Admissions experience so much (thank you Class of 2017) I’ll be staying on as an Assistant Director this year.

I look forward to meeting you on the road in our pursuit for the perfect Class of 2018!