A Run

Outgoing May Cohort

The second week, I met with numerous outgoing students and every one seem to have had a phenomenal experience with Ivey. They had their convocation ceremony the day before and the Valedictorian speech seems to have left many to tears. The single most important thing makes the Ivey MBA experience commendable, is the “cohort”, itself. They seem to be bonded so well and I was completely taken aback watching them party and dance for the final time at Ivey, as students. Apparently, we had the Ivey MBAA formal night last week where the September and the incoming Spring MBA cohorts, along with the professors and families bid a farewell to the outgoing class. It was such a great opportunity for the incoming class to connect with senior students and professors. Everyone was dressed up in complete suits and the ball room (where the event was held) reminded me of several English movies. This was my first time to be exposed to such events and I enjoyed every bit of it. Everyone had a great piece of advice/story to share with. I also had the opportunity to dine with Prof. George Athanassakos and he exposed me to what “Value Investing” was all about. He also narrated about his (and a few Ivey students’) meeting with Warren Buffet. Most of the outgoing students have jobs and some of them did have multiple offers. Recession does seem to have had an effect on the number of offers a company would traditionally have offered; however, the situation has been manageable.

International Orientation Program:

These sessions were intended to equip the international students with Canadian Cultural prospects, a guided tour of the Spencer leadership Centre (where most of the MBA classes are held) and the UWO Campus, Program services, information technology requirements, the Case method, Career Management, norms/values, etc from an International Student’s perspective. This was the kind of start that I was expecting for a person like me, with no previous international experience. The international student senators of the MBA Association (apparently from the September 2009 cohort), had organized a mixer where we had connected with the international students of their cohort.