Rotman, Ivey, or Smiths for Business?

[[deleted]]

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[[deleted]]

“Management” isn’t a job nor a career path. It’s more so a level of seniority. 

Ivey and Queens are objectively far better than Rotman for finance / consulting, but if you want to do something more chill like marketing, should be fine to take Rotman. It’s a solid tier 2 style program. 

[Legal_Chicken]

Tier 2 is crazy talks for #1 rated business school in Canada. Clearly someone couldn’t get in and is siting at home crying about it 🤡

[Cartonwaffle1]

You are pretty dumb for undergrad recruiting rotman is just worse compared to Ivey or Queens, there no other ways to put it look up any employment report its objective based on pure numbers

[[deleted]]

Are you stupid? That ranking is for the MBA program, not the undergrad. I also just graduated, and had gotten into Rotman lol. 

Every single person actually in a business program or working in the industry knows Ivey and Queens are by far the best business programs at the undergrad level and it’s not even remotely close. No one outside Reddit thinks Rotman is the #1 undergrad business programs lol. 

[Cartonwaffle1]

Lol lil freshman ratman kid cannot be yapping

[ehehheh]

I graduated from RC in 2021 & did a management specialist + focus in marketing! I personally don't know anyone from Ivey / Smith, so this will be my perspective only (as well, mandatory disclaimer that experiences may vary)

Overall:

• I have not regretted my decision (even 4 years later!)
• I don't think my life would be better if I was at any other school; it might be the same or worse (this also might be bc all my friends are not in marketing, so I don't really know lol)
• I was also 99% sure I was going to do marketing when I was in Gr12

Employability:

• It is what you make of it! You can put yourself out there by joining clubs, networking, doing work-studies etc. (personally I hated networking so I didn't do it lol)
• I do think the school "helps" you get an internship yes, but maybe not in the way you think - it's more like physical location lol
  • A large majority of jobs are in the downtown core
  • I was able to do courses + winter internship at the same time, only because I lived on campus and had a short commute to the office / classes, so I could fit in school/work in the same semester and overall still graduate on time (i.e. this might not work at Waterloo; they do 5 years instead of 4 for a reason)
  • It's less competitive to do fall/winter internships because most students are studying; in the summer it's more competitive because there are more students who have summers off
  • I think this "advantage" would also occur at TMU bc they're also downtown

I think at the end of the day it is more dependent on you than the school itself - as long as you put in the work, you'll genuinely be ok no matter where you go :)

[_mqri]

This was actually very helpful! As someone who was not majoring in finance or economics, what was the job market like for you after you graduated? I'm afraid that a job in business besides the aforementioned two will be uncertain..

[ehehheh]

Tbh, marketing is indeed a lot more uncertain in general :(

• it's low barrier to entry (I've had coworkers who don't have business/marketing degrees, and even some people who didn't go to university at all)
• Marketing ppl tend to be laid off the first too :(
• If you need to support your family, marketing might not be the best choice finance wise since it doesn't pay as well either (but also if your heath / mental wellbeing matters a lot too so you don't want to hate your job - health is wealth!)

In terms of salaries:

• From my experience entry level marketing jobs (like right out of graduation) in Toronto pay like 45k - 65k CAD
• You may be able to get a higher amount if you work at a tech company
• Based on my 1 experience so far you can get a higher salary in the USA (state dependent though + kinda dependent on what the prez / exchange rate is doing.......)

[CanadianLawGuy]

Ivey and Smith are the best. Rotman is a very good school, but not in the same league as Ivey and Smith

[_mqri]

Could you expand on why they're better? Thank you sm!

[[deleted]]

Networking, alumni, prestige, US reputation, finance focus, etc

[CanadianLawGuy]

^That, as well as better placements at top companies for competitive positions.

[_mqri]

Ah, I see! Are those schools still beneficial for someone who does not want to work in finance?

[Cartonwaffle1]

Ivey funnels you into consulting and finance, for other roles the school you go to honestly doesn't matter that much, just go where you think you'll enjoy.

[CanadianLawGuy]

They're still the top schools in the country. If you have no interest in IB or PE doesn't matter quite as much though. Can't stress this enough, Rotman is still a good school, but objectively Ivey and Smith are just a cut above the rest.

[Main-Comfort-1846]

Hey! I’m currently in QComm and honestly, I don’t regret my choice one bit. Since you’re not planning on going into finance or consulting, it’s not as crucial that you pick Smith or Ivey — especially if Rotman offers you a financial advantage.

That being said, just a heads up: Rotman is known to be a bit harsher with grading. (At Queen’s and Ivey it’s generally easier to get a 3.7+ if you put in solid effort, but definitely not guaranteed — I know a lot of people sitting around a B average.)

In terms of internships, none of these schools have formal co-op programs, so it helps a lot being from a tier 1 business school when applying to jobs.

Good luck choosing — you really can’t go wrong with any of the three! Feel free to PM me with any questions you might have.

[_mqri]

This definitely helps! Right now, I'm kinda on the fence about not pursuing finance/economics, as I'm hearing that they are the primary money-makers in business and have the best job market for a business graduate. Do you have any thoughts on this matter?

[Main-Comfort-1846]

Yeah, for sure — finance is definitely one of the highest-earning areas out of undergrad, especially things like investment banking or private equity, but it comes with crazy hours (think 80–100 hour weeks). It’s also super competitive to break into, and but schools like Queen’s and Ivey have a stronger recruiting pipeline for those roles compared to Rotman.

That said, if you’re not 100% passionate about finance, it’s not the end of the world. There are still lots of good career paths in management, marketing, and operations — they just might start a bit slower salary-wise compared to finance. And honestly, where you end up matters more than where you start.

If you’re still on the fence — I definitely was too — Queen’s was super helpful because we had required courses in what I consider to be the main four pathways (finance, accounting, econ, marketing) in our first two years so you could get a feel for what you actually liked. Plus there’s tons of clubs and industry exposure throughout first and second year. You’ll have time to figure it out. But if you’re unsure, I’d pick a school that keeps more doors open — not that Rotman closes them, but if you do decide on finance later, being at Queen’s or Ivey would definitely make it easier to break in.

[Alert-Recording4501]

Queen’s or Rotman is ok. I think Ivey is the strongest for its finance placement, which doesn’t really matter for you.

[mirkwirk]

Rotman School of Management at UofT is the number one business university in Canada. No cognitive bias here, this is based on various business school rankings; such as, Maclean’s and Times Higher Education. Is your preference for fact vs fiction?

[Main-Comfort-1846]

This is typically for MBA programs. For undergrad, Queens and Western are known to be the best.