During the MBA application process, you’re faced with numerous choices, each of which has a long-lasting impact on your future.
However, many applicants forget that their first semester of business school means navigating many more important decisions!
That’s why we sat down with Pablo Nazé, a Rotman School of Management student to get insider information into how to navigate your first semester of business school.
(Pablo Nazé, Current Student at Rotman School of Management)
EL: How did you choose to attend Rotman?
PN: Rotman is one of the most well-known business schools in Canada. It has a rigorous curriculum, which was one of my priorities in choosing a school: after all, it is a Master’s program.
Additionally, Canada offers great quality of life, smooth immigration policies for graduate students and being in the financial center of the country provide us with good opportunities for networking and connecting with companies.
EL: What was most surprising to you immediately after arriving on campus?
PN: I was positively surprised by the diversity of the school.
Boat cruise on the reception week, Photo courtesy of Pablo Nazé
I think I’ve never seen so many different cultures, accents and work-styles reunited in one single place. 50% of Toronto population was born outside Canada, so our class reflects that. As result, my experience is being enriched by interacting with this diverse set of people.
EL: How was the orientation process?
PN: Amazing! We had so many different activities: panels with second-year students and alumni, lectures on what to expect of our experience, lots of social events and a hands-on consulting challenge with McKinsey, where all incoming students did on-site research through Toronto to tackle the biggest challenges of the city.
EL: What are classes like? Did you feel you were prepared before arriving? If not, what do you wish you had done differently to prepare?
PN: Classes are very challenging! I love how our professors push our thinking and present a myriad of concepts in such a short time.
I felt prepared before arriving, but I would recommend to anyone to brush off their basic business skills: accounting, math, basic economics, finance and also to get familiar with the case method.
Most classes will ended up having one or more cases to study, so reading some before class and imagining what discussions may arise from them is helpful (Pro tip: you can buy single cases from Harvard for less than $10!)
EL: What was the process of finding housing in Toronto like? Any surprises there?
PN: I was *very* lucky to find a house.
My story is that I arrived on a Wednesday, looked ads on Thursday, visited a house on Friday and signed the lease on Saturday. Record time and under-budget: a true fairy tale.
However, that was the exception to the rule. Housing in Toronto can be quite challenging due to the city’s construction regulations.
My advice is to take advantage of any university housing opportunities and contact classmates and 2nd-years to check out opportunities. If possible, I also took the time to find a house in Toronto 2 months before school started. It was a period when most students were not moving so it was easier to look for options and less stressful to do it before any academic activities.
EL: What activities did you get involved in during your first semester?
PN: Besides academics I’m involved in a lot of workshops and lectures promoted by several clubs at Rotman.
For example, a digital marketing workshop, a design thinking bootcamp and a behavioural economics workshop to practice “nudging” behaviour changes.
Pablo’s team presenting on the Marketing Case Comp (1st place!), Photo courtesy of Pablo Nazé
Additionally, I’ve been in some case competitions, which provide great exposure for participants to new industries and companies.
EL: How did you manage to balance classes and extracurricular activities? What did you prioritize?
PN: It is a challenge for any MBA program!
I’d do a couple of things to organize myself: have a defined weekly schedule in advance to make me go through the week and also have a “macro-schedule” of things I want to prioritize in my experience.
For example, I decided to spend the first months focused in academics, then doing some case competitions and now my focus is in networking. I believe this is also a very personal decision for anyone, involving your goals coming into the program and also the timeline for your industries, as some companies start recruiting before others.
EL: What has been the best experience you have had thus far during your MBA?
PN: So far it has been in academics. I really enjoy being exposed to new ideas, very frontier topics in management and recent business cases: it is great to be exposed to the most recent knowledge in management.
EL: Overall, what surprised you the most about your MBA experience?
PN: The intensity of the program. Although I knew there would be a lot of hard work involved, it still surprises me how much my colleague and I are being able to accomplish in such a short time, either in academics, case competitions or networking efforts.
EL: Do you have any final advice for prospective MBA students?
PN: Engage in deep self-knowledge before approaching any applications.
If you don’t know exactly what your goals and passions are probably your application will be much weaker than it could be and you won’t take as much as you can from the MBA experience.
Also, for students interested in relocating to Canada, recent legislation has made this even easier!
EL: Thank you so much for your time, Pablo. You’ve definitely helped us gain greater insights into the Rotman experience!
My team and I pride ourselves on being with you at every stage of the process as you apply to an elite program, giving you the confidence that you are taking the right steps toward your future with the information you need not only to get accepted into a top MBA, but to find a program you love for life. That’s why I truly enjoyed talking with Pablo, and bringing this information to you.
If you need help planning how to navigate the first weeks of your MBA, designing an application strategy, or even if you’re just starting the application process and aren’t sure exactly what to do next, my team and I can help! Schedule your free consultation with us today.
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