There’s some people who are going to Ivey here, and yes, congratulations, however, I just wanted to share with you some of my thoughts before you make that final decision.

Last year, I got accepted into Ivey and Schulich. I also applied to queens, but didn’t get in. I chose Schulich over Ivey, and boy, did I make the right choice. Going to Ivey is a huge rip-off; you may not feel like it at first, but Ivey at the end of the day is a school for MBAs, not a school for undergrads.

Here's a few of my points about going to Ivey:

A) The degree you get from graduating from Ivey is a Honours Bachelor of Arts (HBA). Seriously, you’re paying like double to get an Arts degree on Honours Business Administration. If your parents can afford it, great, but in reality, if you are going to go abroad to anywhere outside North America, recruiters are going to see this and it’d be a huge waste of money. Ivey has done well to hide that in their marketing, but if you ask them straight up, they will eventually tell you that its an Arts Degree you're getting (with the University of Western Ontario printed on it).

B) Ivey is a 2 year program, not a 4 year program. Most of the stuff you learn in third year at Ivey you learn in first and second year in 4 year program like Schulich. By the time you start third year, an Schulich 3rd year (or Queen’s or wherever you go) is in a much better position than a Ivey third year.

C) A lot of people on this forum talks about jobs, co-op, internships, etc. Well, students who are in AEO in first and second year do not receive career support from Ivey like they do from Schulich. All those job postings, benefits, etc are all stuff you get in year 3 and 4, not in year 1 or 2.

D) If you decide to go on exchange, Ivey is definitely not a good choice for that. Again, it’s about what you pay for vs. what you get. If you go on exchange to Mexico or Europe or wherever, you are losing half a year of Ivey which is 25% of the program. Why would you do that? At Schulich if you go on exchange you only lose 12.5% of the program.

E) Ivey says that they have electives and they have diverse classes, etc because you are in another program in year 1 and 2. In reality, you’d be taking arts or social science courses like every other “regular dude” in class sizes of 400 to 500, or even bigger, in year 1 or 2. Most people who go to Ivey start with BMOS, and the entering average of BMOS is not high at all – how would you find year 1 and 2 challenging when you’re in a class full of regular non-achieving students? Again, I’d rather be paying my money to go straight into a business program that has 300 or whatever (less if you’re in iBBA) students in the ENTIRE program. Just look at how many offers they are making to try get lots of people to get in - and they are even increasing their program size to 500 students?

F) Lastly, Ivey has no huge advantage these days anymore. Maybe 10 years ago they do, but lets get serious here. Everyone has case-based courses, everyone does cases, every school has a great career centre (especially at Schulich and Queen’s), and the top schools like Schulich and Queen’s are highly selective in admissions. We at Schulich also have smaller classes than Ivey’s class sizes of 75, and that’s just in third year. Classes get even smaller when you go up. Just look at the Ivey website… just look at it – it disgusts me that they use simple marketing campaigns to make their program look complex while it’s offered everywhere else. “Ivey Select (TM)”, “Ivey Immersion (TM)”, “Ivey Environment (TM)”, “Ivey Career View (TM)”. It’s a huge marketing scam and really they’re just trying to make you think you’re making a good investment while in the meantime they are getting your money to fund their MBA or executive programs.

You may disagree with some of my points, and that’s totally fine. But I just want to let you know that last year I was in the same position of many of you guys: Ivey vs. Schulich (or maybe for some other people its ivey vs queens or ivey vs. mcgill or ivey vs. laurier), and I almost chose Ivey – and I’m glad I didn’t. If I chose Ivey I would’ve been sitting without a proper job for the summer right now. I would not have been able to meet some really great people in my classes – hell I might still be drifting off in geography or psychology or some other useless subject. And I also think there’s a reason why people on the forums who chose to go to Ivey don’t post here… I think it’s because they feel ripped off and are little too embarrassed to come back. Schulich, Queen’s, McGill, Laurier are great schools and you need to really consider all your cards that is available to you.

Think before you make your decisions… think… think… think… it’s a huge decision and I know a few of my friends at UWO who was on the Ivey track are already kind of not happy about their decision. Don’t regret your choice.

i mean, how many kids at queens/schulich have interships in year 1 and 2? not too many.

Also, what's wrong with spending the first 2 years in the regular program? Easier standards means that you get to party, relax, no pressure, and u end up with a kick ass degree after 4 years...

i wouldnt want to waste my parent's $50,000 on 2 yrs of an easy program in y1 and y2.... it just doenst make sense....

u wernt sent to university to party - u were sent to university to enter the real world

if u do more research and actually talk to real students in business schools the stuff they do isnt much different (schulich, ivey, queens)... so why pay double?
come to schulich

Yeah, I'd agree that most business schools teach the same thing from the same textbook. Ivey is case-based though, that's one thing you have to remember. Another reason why you're paying more to go to Ivey is for their larger alumni base, their large career management team, the prestige of the program, career options after graduation, etc.

University of Texas at Austin is a pretty good school, lol.

the problem is u'd likely be taking psychology and all other courses with students who got into western with 70s or low 80s avgs in yr 1 and 2...... to me thats kinda yuk. BMOS is kinda like York's atkinson or some unknown college program - the name BMOS isnt even internationally recognized - and its funny u talk about brock cuz the first 2 yrs at western is like going to brock... which i honestly do not want. honestly, id rather be in a class that has been selected with the brightest minds in day 1, and that is my preference. id rather be in the small classes with U style shaped seating and comfortable environment along with my peers and friends who have earned their way in

and plus the whole management career team etc is only 3rd yr and 4th yr.... at schulich it's throughout yr1 to 4.