It’s an exciting time of year for us at Rotman-not only are we gearing up and welcoming our 2012 intake on campus, but we are also putting the final touches on our application and admissions process for our 2013 intake. I thought it would only be fitting as my first point as Director, Recruitment & Admissions at Rotman to talk about the changes we are implementing to our admissions process this year.
Some of you may have noticed that we have moved from a rolling admissions cycle to a Rounds process and I wanted to share our rationale for this change. We believe that evaluating applications with this batch approach will not only allow our Admissions Committee to make even better decisions about which candidates are the best ‘fit’ for Rotman, but will enable us to predict volumes and required resources to process and review applications so that we can support continued growth as we expand our Program size. The added benefit from an applicant’s perspective is a more predictable process and guaranteed response time from the School.
The 2013 deadlines are included below:
| Deadline | Admission decision by |
| Round 1: October 9, 2012 Round 2: January 7, 2013 Round 3: March 4, 2013* Round 4: April 29, 2013 Round 5: June 1, 2013** |
December 14, 2012 March 8, 2013 May 10, 2013 June 14, 2013 June 30, 2013 |
*Round 4 is the final deadline for international applicants, but we strongly encourage you to apply by Round 3 to ensure adequate processing time for study permits and loans.
**Round 5 is the final deadline for domestic applicants.
You may also be wondering how strict the ‘Deadline Date’ requirement actually is. We are committed to working through complete files submitted within a reasonable window in and around our Deadline Dates. For example, if you submit your application October 9th, but it takes 5 additional days before your official transcripts arrive, we will absolutely still honour your submission as a Round 1 candidate! Of course this is all within reason, to use a different example, if you were to submit the online application October 9th, but didn’t actually submit your transcripts to complete your file until December 1st, we simply couldn’t guarantee that your file would be reviewed in time for our Round 1 decision date. If you have any questions about the specifics of your application – contact us anytime (mba@rotman.utoronto.ca)
One other point to note about our process – if you decide to submit your application in between Round deadlines, we will absolutely not delay the review of your file to the next Round – we will not have applications sitting ‘on hold’ between deadlines. Our team will begin working on your application after we receive it. Of course, if you apply mid-cycle we aren’t able to guarantee a specific decision date, but rest assured your application will get reviewed.
We are aiming to under-promise and over-deliver with our admission decision dates. All candidates who apply according to Round guidelines will hear back from us no later than corresponding decision dates. This was an important component of our admission process to try to alleviate some of the anxiety that comes with wondering when you will hear back from us.
Lastly, I wanted to provide you with a few tips on how to approach the 2013 admissions cycle at Rotman.:
- When possible, beat the rush, submit a week or two prior to the deadline. This ensures that we begin working on your application before the wave of applications that come in right at the deadline so it will be likely that you will hear back with respect to next steps in the process (i.e. an interview invitation) even quicker.
- Apply as early as possible since both scholarships and seats in the Program are awarded to the best candidates throughout each Round (Note: there is no allocation of seats that must be filled at each round! We simply make offers to the best candidates who apply throughout the admissions cycle.)
- Plan ahead. Most candidates underestimate how much time it will take to complete the different components of the admissions cycle (which is precisely one of the reasons that we have multiple deadline dates.) Identify which Round you want to apply for, and plan the key milestones you need to coordinate to hit that deadline (i.e. the GMAT, ordering transcripts, writing essays, and selecting referees).
We are very excited to start building the Rotman MBA Class of 2015 and look forward to reviewing Round 1 applications soon!
PS-Stay tuned for my next blog post, we are implementing some exciting new changes to our admissions process this year…
-Niki
Hi Niki,
I had took the gmat earlier but have a score that is not competitive (530) because I were too busy at work. I want to apply in the first round and have registered to take the GMAT exam again, unfortunately I can only take it on 5 October and it takes 20 days for the score of Integrated Reasoning and Essay score to be available. Now the deadline is 9 Oct, so can I fill in the new GMAT score for verbal and quant as well as total score that will be available immediately on 5 Oct and use the old score for Essay and Integrated Reasoning to fill in temporarily since they are required before I can submit the form? Or can I just fill in only the quant and verbal and total score and leave the other 2 blank? I do not want to miss the round 1 till I receive the score which is only a few days after the round 1 deadline. Please help!!!! Thanks so much!
Hi Nanditha-
Thanks for your question. You can email us your unofficial score and we will work with that to ensure your application is processed right away. You can leave these sections blank on your application in the meantime. Best of luck on the GMAT!
Niki
Hi Niki,
I have taken the GMAT many times and while I have very good verbal and perfect analytical writing scores in all attempts, my low quantitative scores keep pushing my total score down to below 600. In my most recent attempt,
I obtained a score of 560 even though my verbal score is at 99 percentile.
I have a background in English literature and so Maths & Science are not my fortes. However, I want to pursue a career in Marketing post-MBA which does not require high quantitative skills. So will I be at any disadvantage in my admission application if I clearly state my goals and have other good components in my applications such as achievements in volunteerism, at work place and strong recommendation from respectable individuals?
Mel
Thanks for your question Mel. You are taking the right approach in evaluating whether the other components of your application will be above average and therefore help to compensate for a GMAT score below our typical range. The Admissions Committee will want to ensure you do demonstrate the capability to be successful in the quant courses in the MBA Program since a base level of knowledge is needed even if you aren’t pursue a post-MBA career in Finance/Accounting. You can also schedule some time to meet with us one-on-one to discuss further by contacting mba@rotman.utoronto.ca.
Hi Nikki,
I am creating my application profile today, however, I am stuck at the second step whereby we are asked to select the course and year of intake. I can only see the red square indicating required fields but could not see the options to tick to. I have tried on 3 different computers but still encounter the same problem. Would you please help to check if there is a system error ? Thanks so much.
Regards,
Thank you for this update – we have flagged this issue for our application provider and expect a fix by end of day tomorrow. Very sorry for the inconvenience!
Hi Niki,
I can assess the page now and everything is going smoothly. Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Vy
Hi Niki,
I have started my admission application but i’m a bit confused between the “Current Employer” tab and the “Professional Experience” tab. Should I repeat the current employment entry in the professional experiences as the most recent one? Or i should start with any experience before the current one?
Another question, regarding the English Proficiency, my Bachelor degree was taught completely in English, and this is indicated in the Transcript. Should I submit a TOEFL result as well?
Thank you,
Mark
Hi Mark,
You can use the current employer tab to outline what you are doing at the moment, and the professional experience section to cover your previous experience. Also, you can include a TOEFL if you have this. We do also interview all candidates who are ultimately admitted so have another opportunity to assess communication skills. Hope this helps and we will look forward to reviewing your application!
Niki
I am filling out my full time MBA application, but I\’m stuck. I\’m still with my current employer, what date should I put as the end date?
You can leave the date as ‘present’ for current employer, or indicate the date you are submitting your application. Best of luck!
Hi Niki,
I\’m planning on applying to the PT program, I\’ll have my application done by June 1st but my official GMAT score might not be available until mid June. Would that be a problem?
Your best bet for inquiries re: the Morning/Evening process is to contact my colleague, Rummy Gill (rummy.gill@rotman.utoronto.ca) directly! We are all in the same building but there are differences in process/policy between the Programs. Best of luck!
Hi Niki,
I’ve been preparing for the application of 2015 entry. I plan to visit U of T and Rotman during my trip to Toronto in the second week of this Aug so I’m wondering if I can submit my sealed original transcripts in person during that time? My university doesn’t help students deliver transcripts so I have to do it myself. Therefore I can either send by courier from Beijing or deliver them in person. Since the results of these two ways are the same,I prefer to bring them to Rotman by myself.
Hello Vera,
As long as the transcripts were sealed by your university, you can definitely bring them in person when you visit Toronto.