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UBC Sauder MBA, Canada
Rankings | Class Profile | Employment Report | Sample Essays | Interview Questions
UBC Sauder Business School – Introduction
The full-time MBA program is set up into 7 periods in 16 months. UBC Sauder offers four career tracks: finance, product and service management, innovation and entrepreneurship, and a custom track tailored to help students meet their specific career objectives.
Periods 1 and 2 feature foundation courses, integrated case days, global immersion pre- departure workshops and project work. In periods 3 and 4, MBAs take part in career track courses, electives, and travel abroad for the Global Immersion Experience, or GIE, which allows you to go abroad and consult for a pre-selected overseas company on a real-world business challenge.
During period 5, MBAs apply what they learn through internships or entrepreneurial/industry projects. Those interested in the industry project can spend their summer developing a viable product with market testing or in-depth research. Resources include on-campus incubators, such as HATCH, UBC’s technology incubator and entrepreneurship@UBC, the school’s venture accelerator.
Periods 6 and 7 include an optional international exchange or Global Network Weeks, run by the Global Network for Advanced Management, elective courses, and the Capstone project. Global Network Weeks are a prestigious collaboration of 30 business schools from around the world. Participating students travel to international universities, tour local businesses, and meet with local business experts.
It’s ranked as the number 1 school in Canada for business and economics by Times Higher Education. UBC ranks number 1 in the world by Times Higher Education for taking urgent action to combat climate change; and 1 in Canada for creating safe, sustainable cities – for which UBC Sauder has played a key role. For more details Click Here…
Sauder’s MBA Ranking
| Class Profile Summary | |
| Class Size | 196 |
| Average GMAT Score | 635(520-780) |
| Average Work Experience (yrs.) | 5 years |
| Average Age (yrs.) | 29 years (24-35) |
| Employment Summary | |
| Average Salary | $85,289 |
| Average Bonus | |
| % placed within 3 months | 85% |
| Tuition Fees Summary | |
| Total Tuition | $85,761 |
| Living Cost | $ 142,990 |
| Total Cost | $ 142,990 |
Sauder MBA Application Deadlines
| Deadlines | Applications |
| Round 1 | 25 May 21 |
| Round 2 | 27 July 21 |
| Round 3 | 28 Sep 21 |
UBC Sauder MBA Application Tips
UBC Sauder Essay 1: What are your motivations to pursue an MBA? (200 Words)
Quick Essay Tips – To write career essays for the USB Sauders MBA program, a very simple structure to follow is
- 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 goals → 5. Show how an MBA from a school like USB Sauders can help you bridge the gap in your skills to achieve your short-term goal.
Detailed Essay writing tips:
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 strong academic track record, progress in 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.
UBC Sauder Essay 2: What excites you about the UBC MBA Program? How do you plan to get the most out of this journey? (200 Words)
To answer the – “why UBC Sauder MBA” essay, build your argument on 3-4 points which helps you fulfill the gaps in your skillset and achieve your goals. Reasons to choose UBC Sauder 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 UBC Sauder 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 UBC Sauder? 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 UBC Sauder 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.
UBC Sauder Essay 3: The UBC MBA program prepares leaders who seek to create value for the world. Please describe a situation in which you created value for an organization or group. What was the outcome? We encourage you to consider your contributions in both professional and community settings.(500 words max.)
First of all start jotting down all the impactful experiences you had in life – big or small – whatever you think are significant achievements of your life. It may be easier to bucket them across three areas – professional, extra-curriculars, personal. Your first championship medal in sports, founding an NGO, leading a team towards a great vision, it could be anything you consider is a big part of YOUR life and you think you have created a lasting or a profound impact on others.
Then pick one story that you believe is most profound of all and that you want to portray to the admission committee. Remember with every story you are revealing one more dimension of yourself to the reader. Pick stories that are impactful, and the ones that let the reader know more about you than just the resume.
When illustrating examples, an easy method to follow is the STAR methodology. Situation → Task → Action → Result.
Start with describing the situation or problem at hand to give a background to the reader. Explain what was expected out of you to do and the consequence of the task. Explain how this difficult situation drove you to take certain actions. It is important to show what the outcome of the action was and what are the results that you obtained. Conclude by showing how YOUR actions created value to the organisation or community. It is better to quantify the results as they effectively communicate the impact of your actions to the reader.