How is on-campus recruitment? How many students want to/actually end up getting into banking? Can BSc students (i.e. math/cs majors) also experience the same recruitment and job opportunities as BComm students (I may have already asked this sorry :$)?

I just got accepted into McGill Arts, but with a 90.83 average I know I won't be accepted into Desautels. Should I choose McGill Arts over UBC Sauder? Student life is extremely important to me, and I know McGill has a great environment. If so, is it possible to transfer into Desautels second year? Difficulty level?

Thanks!

@iliketutles
1) Campus recruitment is good! During the beginning of each semester it’s pretty hectic with around 1-2 different recruiters every day. Finance usually picks up a lot heavier in the winter though. Of course the campus recruiting is more catered to 3rd and 4th years but anybody can attend.
2) The ratio of students going into i-banking is about what they say on the Desautels website. So around 30% of the 40% of students that go into finance (near 10 – 15 %). A lot of students probably think of banking at the start of their degree bust most people rethink because some they think they time commitment isn’t worth the rewards, which is respectable for sure!
3) Yeah you asked something similar to that, and yes they have some opportunities, but obviously not as much.

@ rothstein18
1) A good chunk tend to stay in Quebec because of the convenience of on campus recruiting, but at least 45% go to the rest of Canada or in other countries. McGill adds some pretty good leverage when you go internationally, because McGill, U of T, and UBC are most known outside of Canada. From what I heard from my American friends, northern states (so like NYC, Boston, etc.) all put McGill OVERALL as a school the best choice in Canada (not business).
2) In terms of CICA, I’m not entirely sure because getting a CA is different in Quebec. From what my friend pursuing a CA told me is that the requirements to get a CA in Quebec requires less pre reqs as well as other factors than the rest of Canada. However, McGill does have a program where you can take an extra year in your degree where you AUTOMATICALLY will get your CA (much like the Waterloo program). Of course you will be required to take some extra courses and take exams etc. etc.
3) Yes, we have the honours in investment management program. Great program, pretty competitive, and A LOT of work, which is a big turn off to a lot of people. Usually the people who get in are the people who are actually really passionate for asset management. People without the passion won’t bother applying.

@Grace Pan
To be honest, I’d go with UBC. Sauder is a great school and I could imagine student life at UBC to be pretty darn good although montreal and McGill is pretty legendary in my humble opinion! This is because getting into Management from arts is pretty difficult, because it does demand a pretty high GPA; I had a friend with a 3.7/4.0 in first year in Arts trying to transfer, and I didn’t get in. Rumour has it a 3.8 is the cutoff and then they start looking at other factors after you achieve that. So if you think you CAN get 3.8+ and work really hard, then it’s possible, but it’s pretty high risk.

However, if you do attempt to pursue this, you will only need to take the few mandatory first year management courses (unless you have IB) such as calculus, linear algebra, and a few intros, and then electives. Those courses in my opinion are pretty straight forward and as long as you keep up with your work, you should be okay. Our calculus and linear algebra finals are both worth 80% (up to 90% if you do better than the midterm) so if you’re good at succeeding in a high pressure exam, that would be good! The exams are very fair, but the class average for calc was 55% in my year, but we curved it to a 70 so not everybody would fail haha. However, most of the people I know who kept up with their work did pretty well. As for electives, I can tell you some pretty straight forward electives you can take that can help your GPA out IF you choose to go down this path.

@Elubendo
No. Desautels does not cut 50% of its students. 1/3 of the students are from Quebec, 1/3 from the rest of Canada, and 1/3 are International. Out of that, probably 40% speak French, but English is definitely widely used. Billingualism is a welcome asset but is definitely not a requirement to thrive in the program or montreal. I don't speak much French and the city of Montreal as well as McGill has been a wonderful experience for me!

It's just 1 calculus course that takes into account differentiation and integration (anti-derivatives). Probably 2/3 of the course focuses on differentiation and optimization while the rest is just integration.

Yes I did take Calculus in High school

Just to clarify: I did better on my McGill math exams than the mark I got for calculus in high school. If you're coming from a regular Ontario high school, everything except derivatives and interest will be new to you in terms of material but it's straight-forward.
It's actually 15% assignments, 10% midterm, and 75% final, but for both courses the prof decided that if you did better on the final he would count 85% final and drop the midterm for you. Not sure what our class averages were in actuality, but they were put at 75% anyway (I think - or maybe 70%) and the prof actually said that next year he needs to make MATH 123 harder lol.

Also note: This is referring to MATH 122 and 123 which the standard math courses for management. HOWEVER if you want to take any honours, investment management major, or a math/statistics minor, then you need to take the science maths which are much MUCH harder from my understanding. I know a lot of people here aim high so that might be the case for you.

AND I think that when you are transferring, you need to take these science stream math courses because the MATH 122/123 are only open to students in management already. I know this because my friend was trying to transfer from Arts to Management.

No, it is not. You can read this page for information on the U0 (first year) classes:
http://www.mcgill.ca/des...ture/120-credit-program

It is a little frustrating that we have to do a more general year before getting into management classes but it lets you explore the arts/science programs and get your GPA up. Also it means that you won't spend your first year and time in rez as stressed out over classes as if you were entering U1.

Hi, I was accepted to McGill Desautels and was looking for some answers to some questions..and McGill.ca did not do a great job so I am thrilled to have you here.


1) I am looking to transfer to Hotel Administration at Cornell after my first year, have anyone of your acquaintances done that? What were their stats? (If you know)

2) What are some employment opportunities that Desautels graduates have?

3) How is Desautels deemed by the American Graduate schools? (i.e, how many of your colleagues made it to there?)

Thank you.

@DecemberStorm

Hey thanks for the inbox, my bad!

1) It's honestly tough to decipher as the employment data is based on the amount of people that actually "report" back to McGill on where they are working in the span of let's say 6 months. This I believe also applies to other schools in which their employment data is based on people who report back to them. So of the people who reported, 10% are in IBanking. Therefore it is probably not based on the 600 base number, but I believe it should be relatively high enough to act as a suitable sample. For the people who didn't reply, it might be because they did not feel the need to reply or those who have not chosen a suitable job yet. So my guestimate is probably 40/600.

In terms of recruiting, Ibanking departments (from regular commercial banks) host networking events early first semester in which people go to, network, and apply for the jobs which have a fairly challenging interview process that often requires you to do relevant work to the job on site (EG: solve a case, value some stocks, etc.) McGill also has clubs that actually make trips to NYC to visit firms in wall street and separately host networking events/workshops. So if you join those clubs, you will have the edge over some other people who just take advantage of career service networking.

2)Career services is meh. They offer you some advice and post some jobs online but don't really baby you to get you a job, so in the end, it's all on you to find a good job. This is like a double edged sword because it forces you to build networking skills and to research on your own time, BUT it makes things a heck of a lot more competitive... Nevertheless, career services is still a useful asset when looking for a job, it's not bad.

Most banking jobs will be in large financial centres such as Toronto, Montreal, NYC, etc.

3) I don't know much about UBC's PMF but I know the HIM program at McGill is a pretty good program. It takes about 15 students a year (actually gives a slight preference to girls because of the large influx of guys in Finance), and requires a high GPA (3.7+), large interest in finance (specifically asset management), extreme work ethic (no joke), and ability to pitch stocks. It is structured almost the same way as a regular majors in finance but it has a few extra classes. The main factor that differentiates it is that people in the program get their own mentor and have their own study space as well as real money (200 000+K) to manage their own stock portfolio in which they learn HANDS on how to manage stocks. That is probably the main factor that differentiates them, that people in the program get more resources and more real world experience. On average HIM people receive better offers than majors in Finance but many major in Finance people do get better offers than the HIM people because it's not always the case in which the MOST talented individuals are recruited because:
1) Lack of interest
2) Other commitments because the program is very time consuming (most people don't really want to spend day and night infront of bloomberg all day looking at their stocks and finding the best opportunity to buy/sell

Neverthless, great program! If you have the work ethic and interest as well as the GPA, awesome choice to make.

@LeeJason

1) Sorry man, I don't really know much about Hotel Admin at Cornell :S.

2) In terms of employment, "lemony" posted employment information above which should give you a general idea of how graduates fair in the real world. Again, those numbers should be slightly distorted because not everybody will reply to McGill giving them their job status after graduations.

3) In terms of grad school, a lot of americans here (20% are prob american here) say that McGill is regarded as #1 in Canada overall (not business) as a University (One could argue U of T, but its basically 1a) and 1b) between the two IMO). So I think going to McGill will look good for grad school for sure, assuming you will have a HIGH GPA. A lot of the times its the GPA you get and not the school you go to that helps you get into a good grad school.

OH haha. yeah its basically mostly the Quebec Students protesting for tuition hikes. McGill is very unique because every university in Montreal is on strike for it EXCEPT for McGill. This is because McGill has less of a Quebec prescense in terms of their student population so they do not have majority vote to go on strike.

Therefore its rather interesting seeing the tactics some extremists use to get their way. However, MOST protestors are very rational and are fighting for a good cause because education should be a right, but unfortunately its not. And just to clear some air, a lot of outsiders say Quebec shouldn't be striking because they have the lowest tuition fees in Canada but those fees are built FOR the people of Quebec, and nowhere else. It's not that the Quebecers have less money, its that they live different lifestyles and spend money differently and choose different career paths, so that's why the current tuition fees are those that suit their life style.

I personally don't support the strike but I do believe people have the right to strike IF it is peaceful. Anyways, that was my two cents, sorry for rambling!


That's odd, your average is pretty high. I think you should get your acceptance soon because deadline to accept is by the end of May correct? Unless you had a poor first semester, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't have gotten an acceptance yet. Have you tried calling to ask?

Good luck!