Getting an admit in Queen's

My first interaction with the business school was when I met their representatives as a part of the MBA tour in Bangalore. You can read up about them in their website. In a nutshell, these tours offer you a chance to meet the representatives, alums and members of the admission committee of various schools. While every representative will showcase their school's merits, this event gives you an opportunity to ask questions, identify what the school seeks, and like in my case, opens up newer options, schools that you might not have considered before. I was impressed with the way the school's representatives spoke, and also had the opportunity to talk to alums who were in India.

A cursory look at their website reiterated my decision. The school was well ranked, had a good reputation, but most importantly, the Team Based MBA model and the rigor of the program impressed me the most. More about the Team Based MBA in later blogs.

Like every business school, Queen's requires you to first take up the GMAT. For more details about the GMAT, please visit GMAC's page.

I had taken the TOEFL, but I believe there have been a few students who were waived of this requirement as they had completed their studies in English.

After sending these scores to the school, one has to write a few essays (3 this year). The essay topics vary from year to year, but are aimed at out your overall personality. The school gives heavy emphasis on team work, and experiences in working with teams. So, it is better to chart out your professional / academic accomplishments and how team work helped you through it. These essays can be submitted online. An online application page is listed in the school's website. Also, one has to have a 1 page resume ready, and the resume also has to be uploaded to the website.

Post submission, the essays are evaluated and one is shortlisted for the interview. While I am not sure about which parameters are considered while shortlisting a candidate for an interview, I believe it is a mix of your GMAT Scores, work experience, uniqueness you bring to the program and most importantly your essays and resume. My interview was with Ms. Lori Garnier and it was a very smooth interview. Again, during the interview, I could make out the emphasis that was given to team work, as a considerable questions were hovering around my experience in teams. Typically a call for interview takes about 2 - 3 weeks from the date of submission.

Post interview, the admission committee takes about a couple of weeks to decide on your candidature. In my case, it took 3 weeks. Once they have reached a decision, the program management team sends an email indicating the same to you.

After getting an admit email, the school sends a FedEx package that has the temporary admission letter. A student is required to make a deposit of 2000 CAD to the school by means of a pay order. (For Indian students, this process is a very simple one. All you need to do is have funds equal to 2000 CAD in your savings accout, and ask the bank to issue a DD for the same. If you do not have an account in the bank, you can remit 80,000 Rs in cash and get the DD done. It is a hald-a-day process.)

Once you get the pay order ready, send it across to the school. Upon reciept, the school sends across a huge package consisting of official admission documents and some assignments, which are useful for securing a education loan.

Next... You have got the admit letter... What next?