Why Ivey?

by: Khalil (Kevin) J. Mouchantaf - MBA2008

When I first started researching schools, the Richard Ivey School of Business was not even on my list. However, after investigating MBA schools thoroughly, the Ivey MBA quickly rose to the top of the list.

I am a Canadian of Lebanese origin in my early 30’s. I am currently a practicing physician in Boston, US. However, over the course of my career I had become drawn to management. In addition, I was drawn to an international career. At this point in my life, an MBA makes the most sense in terms of helping me switch careers and aim for the international career. While my background is slightly different from most prospective MBA students, my aspirations were similar, I wanted to change one or all of the following: function, industry and country.

I researched and visited countless top MBA programs in the US, Canada and Europe. It was hard work to sift through the endless marketing campaigns which schools use. No wonder many students just decide to apply to a program based on reputation or rankings. I concluded that when comparing Canadian MBA programs to the ones in US, the ones in Canada have very solid and competitive curriculums but lack their counterpart’s full blown marketing machines. The latter was probably the reason why I had not heard of Ivey during my initial MBA research.

After visiting a number of US programs, I was disappointed with the low percentage of International students (around 30%), and the relatively sparse discussion of non-US businesses. I was also disappointed with the schools’ limited ability to place graduates globally, despite their powerful brands. Lastly, in today’s busy world the two year program is starting to became a less attractive option.

As a result, I started looking into European programs. Over the last couple of years, those programs have come a long way with their global reach. However, I found their respective curriculums uneven (in terms of balancing out the soft and hard skills) and placement outcomes inconsistent (each school has a reputation for focusing on one type of industry but not all three out of finance, consulting, and industry)

So what is so special about the Ivey MBA (in no particular order)?

1) Ivey’s revamped Cross-Enterprise Leadership curriculum putting increased emphases on both the soft and hard skills. The program uses the case method as a starting point, looking at each business as a complex matrix enterprise. Not to mention, that more than 35% of the cases are international. A lot of those cases are written by Ivey faculty, the second largest producer of cases after Harvard. Concerns about the case method not being best suited for teaching finance and accounting turned out to be not well founded, since a number of the Professors who teach using the case method are well published finance writers.

2) Ivey’s brilliant professors. During my class visit to Ivey, I had the chance to hear the new program director, Tony Frost. I was blown away by his assertion that the mission of the Ivey MBA is to “change our lives.” I also attended the finance case led by Professor Jim Hatch, an equally accomplished finance professor with significant experience in entrepreneurial and biotechnology finance.

3) Ivey’s admission’s office was by far the most personable and professional I had encountered. Unlike a certain top UK program, where I encountered dispassionate approach towards potential students, Ivey staff treated me respectfully. My first encounter with the admissions office was through sending my resume in order to get feedback about potential fit for the Ivey MBA. Following that, I had multiple phone conversations in order to learn more about the program. I was interviewed by a relationship manager from the career office which helped me jumpstart the process of thinking about a post MBA career. I also had a face to face interview with a member of the admissions’ committee. Everyone displayed utmost professionalism.

4) Ivey’s career placement office has come a long way in helping students locate their dream jobs, surpassing their Canadian peers. I hope they continue to do that and attract recruiters from more countries. Ivey boasts more than a 92% placement rate, with graduates entering very competitive fields, including I-banking and management consulting.

5) Ivey’s participants come from diverse backgrounds, are articulate, well accomplished, independent thinkers, self starters, and are future global leaders.

I can go on and on about my positive experience even before setting foot on campus. The above reasons sum up my decision to attend Ivey. If you were to ask me about the one negative so far, I would have to say, the school’s limited brand name, at least where I currently live in the Northeastern part of the United States. I hope this blog that George started will at least play a small role in getting the word out about our “hidden gem.”

Khalil (Kevin) J. Mouchantaf
Ivey MBA- Fall 2007 cohort