McGill Desautels MBA

Rankings | Class Profile | Employment Report | Sample Essays | Interview Questions

McGill MBA – Introduction

McGill gives the students an option to pursue either one year or two-year MBA Program. Students can choose between their 48-credit and 54-credit programs, keeping in mind that every student begins at the same time and takes the same number of classes. The difference in credits comes down to the time you spend in the internship, not the classroom. The 48-credit program can be completed in 12 months. The 54-credit takes 20, though many students accelerate it to finish in 16.

The school also provides opportunities for exchange programs and practicum in the 2-year program. The schools also provide a range of specializations from Finance, Marketing to Business Analytics that students can choose from to suit their career goals. For more details Click Here…

McGill MBA Class Profile & Employment Report

McGill MBA Application Deadlines

McGill MBA Application Tips

Why do you intend on pursuing an MBA at this point in your life? Describe your mid-term and long-term visions for your post-MBA career path and how will the Desautels MBA program add value to your future career? (500-word limit)

Quick Essay Tips – To write career essays for the McGill MBA program, a very simple structure to follow is

1. Explain your current position and work experience → 2. State your short and long-term goals → 3. Skillsets you have acquired throughout your career so far → 4. Explain what you currently lack to attain your short and long-term goal → 5. Show how an MBA from a school like Ivey can help you bridge the gap in your skills to achieve your short-term goal.

Detailed Essay Writing Tips – The best and an easy approach to write this McGill application essay is to break it into two parts:

• First Half – explain “what are your goals and why you need an MBA”
• Second Half – establish ”Why or how McGill MBA program is the perfect fit for you?”

First Half – Goals and why MBA?

Start with a strong introductory paragraph on who you are and what are your desired goals from an MBA.

Eg: “I am an engineer with four years of experience in the IT sector leading projects for clients across multiple countries. In the short term, i want to transition from a software developer role to a product manager role” 

For the main body, start on a strong note, show what skills you already have. B-schools, in general, prefer to see a strong academic track record, progress in a professional career, client management exposure, leadership, and international experiences. Highlight some of your key achievements with numbers or awards that you may have received. Show your outstanding performance via the promotions or opportunities to lead or international deputation.

After establishing the strengths of your profile, move on to show how the limitation of your current role and skills are hindering your future career progress or desired transitions. Establish the need for upskilling yourself which can only be done via an MBA at this stage of your career. Talk about how an MBA can enhance your business acumen, leadership skills, soft skills for communication and presentation or provide you the network to grow your career or business.

This sets the context for your “Why MBA” argument. The first half of the essay explains what you already have and what you lack to grow in your career. Lastly how an MBA can unlock opportunities for you to grow. 

Second Half – Why McGill MBA Program?

To answer the – “why McGill ” part of the essay, build your argument on 3-4 points which helps you fulfill the gaps in your skillset and achieve your goals. Reasons to choose McGill MBA Program should align with your reason to do an MBA as mentioned in the first half of the essay.

Ensure your reasons portray a holistic approach to how you intend to gain/upskill from the MBA program. An easy way to structure can be to break it down across three buckets –

• Inside the class – what excites you the most about the McGill MBA program in regards to the academic curriculum? Is it a particular specialization? Range of Electives? Quality of Professor?  Feel free to name-drop a few.
• Outside the class – outside of the academics, how do you plan to make the most of the opportunities available at McGill? Clubs? Networking event? International exchanges? Leadership seminar? Speak with Alum, current students and find specifics which perfectly aligns with your needs to achieve your goals in a particular industry or function.
• Outside of campus – show how the overall school brand, alumni network which you would carry and be a part of long after your campus stint can help you build a successful career in the long term.

Closing argument

Summarize your entire essay in 3-4 lines and confidently portray how you believe the McGill MBA program is the perfect next step or logical step for you to achieve your career goals and how you would be a great fit and valuable addition to the class if selected.

For the McGill MBA application sample essays, you can also read some of the great essays written by our clients here on the sample essays page.

2) What qualities would you look for in an MBA classmate when working on a team project and describe how your background and leadership skills will enhance the experience of others? (500-word limit)

Pick 2-3 qualities that you would look for in your batchmate with respect to working on a team project. Explain why each of these qualities is important and how they will benefit the team in about 150-200 words for each quality.

Explain how your leadership skills and background will enhance the experience of other members of the team. Here is a short example to help you understand: One of the qualities that are important for a team could be diversified skill sets or backgrounds. Why this is important is because people with different backgrounds can bring innovative ideas to the problem at hand. Additionally, you can learn to look at things from a different perspective. So this could be a quality that you expect from your MBA classmates. But different opinions can also potentially lead to conflicts among the team members. If you as a leader possess the quality to resolve conflicts or inclusive style of leadership, then you add value by managing conflicts and bringing the team on the same page.

Illustrate with a previous example in your professional life. Explain what the project was, what qualities the team members had, and how your leadership qualities helped the teamwork collaboratively and achieve goals.

3) Describe a difficult decision you made and the process that you went through to make it. (500-word limit)

The framework to answer this question is the STAR Method – Situation – Task – Action – Result

Describe the situation to give a context or background to the reader. Emphasize on the importance of the situation and its relevance to you. Explain what was expected out of you to do and the consequence of the task. Explain the reasoning behind your decision – and also what actions you took. It is important to show what the outcome of the decision was and what are the results that you obtained. Quantify your results with numbers as it effectively communicates the impact of your actions.

This question does not necessarily have to be from professional experience. It can be from an NGO, Start-up or some community work that you were involved with. It could also be from your personal front if it is a strong story. For example, you adopted veganism from being a non-vegetarian or that you decided to step out of the family at an early age to pursue your passion which is unconventional. It is important to focus on the phrase “difficult situations”. You need to effectively communicate to the reader why it was a difficult situation and why the decision-making process was also not an easy one.