F1GMAT: Queen's MBA is highly regarded in International community. In what ways do you think Queen School of Business were unique?
Zach: Queen’s is unique is many ways. The history of the school, the location and many other things makes the school unique. However, from an international respective the school is unique because of the teachers, the schools international partnerships and their approach to the MBA. To elaborate, the teachers at Queen’s are excellent and very well versed in both domestic and international topics related to their respective disciplines as well as business as a whole. The teachers at Queen’s are top quality. Furthermore, the school’s undergraduate commerce program has a strong tradition of exchanges across the globe and the MBA program has taken advantage of these connections to set-up exchanges with many excellent schools in other countries. This benefits both students that go on exchange and those that don’t who then take class with students arriving from abroad. Finally, Queen’s approach to teaching and delivering the MBA is unique since they have done an excellent job centering the program around teamwork, development of personal strengths and complete integration of the business curriculum throughout all the courses.
F1GMAT: The competition for Queen’s School of Business is very high. What strategies did you follow to outsmart your competitors?
Zach: I do agree that the competition for Queen’s School of Business is very high, but I really did not take a strategy of outsmarting my competitors. When looking for a business school, I strongly encourage candidates to consider their own learning styles, career goals and personal fit with the school they are choosing. After looking at a number of programs, I recognized that I was a great fit for Queen’s. Of course, I studied and wrote a good GMAT. Of course, I made sure my resume was showing my interest in business. Of course, I made sure I was on my best for my interview. But most importantly though, I made sure that in my interview, in the answers to my essay questions and the references I used all spoke to how I was a great fit for Queen’s team based integrated teaching style. This wasn’t tough, as I had already made sure the school was right for me at the outset, so I was just making sure “I” came across throughout the entire process.
About Zach
Zach is the author of the popular Blog QUEEN'S MBA: GOING THE DISTANCE and is more popularly known by his pseudonym, Appleseed. After acquiring his professional engineering status while working in the Canadian Oil and Gas Industry, Zach returned to school to earn an MBA in the full-time program at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. His blog details his research into MBA programs, decision process to return to school, week-by-week experience in the program and subsequent job search.