Who Are We Looking For?
Our students are the leaders of tomorrow: people with exceptional talent and ambition to succeed in areas they are passionate about. In each class, we create a dynamic environment with candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences that mirror the reality of the business world.
Leadership Skills
From extracurricular activities to academic or career success, personal accomplishments or volunteer initiatives — we’re looking for candidates who can bring their leadership potential into the Ivey classroom.
Academic Aptitude
Ivey Business School’s MBA program and case method are immersive, fast-paced, and interactive. That’s why we look for candidates who are analytical and comfortable solving problems and making decisions with ambiguity or incomplete information. Our assessment of this is based on your academic history in combination with your GMAT or GRE score (exemptions provided) and/or professional designations. We view these within a holistic framework that seeks to understand all aspects of a candidate’s character, qualifications, and experiences.
Professional Experience
So much of the Ivey classroom experience is fuelled by real-world applications. We accept candidates who have been working full-time consecutively for at least two years to ensure that you and your classmates will have experiences to contribute to team and class discussions, along with the context and maturity to apply this learning in a professional setting.
Application Checklist
- Two years of full-time professional experience up to 10 years of experience.
- A current CV is required to be uploaded as part of the application.
- Previous University education is a requirement for our MBA program.
- Three-year degrees are accepted as are MBA degrees achieved from other Universities.
- Unofficial transcripts must be uploaded with the MBA application.*
- There is no minimum GPA requirement. The last two years of University grades are considered to create a cumulative average. Both the GMAT/GRE and GPA together are considered for the academic strength of the applicant’s profile.
*For University of Western Ontario Graduates(UWO), Ivey's Admissions office will contact UWO directly to obtain transcripts, so you are not required to order them
- GMAT and GMAT Focus Edition are accepted equally (Designate Ivey with code CMB-MG-18)
- GRE is also an accepted standardized test (Designate Ivey with code 0292)
- GMAT/GRE exemptions for candidates who have the following. Please click here for full information:
- A strong GPA from a degree in engineering, science, computer science, statistics, mathematics, business or economics with an emphasis on quantitative analysis with professional work experience that demonstrates quantitative abilities . We primarily look at the GPA over the last two years of your degree.
- CFAII, CFAIII or equivalent designations in other jurisdictions.
- Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation or equivalent designations in other jurisdictions.
- Attained the professional designation in Engineering (PEng) or in Actuarial Sciences (ACIA or FCIA) or equivalent designations in other jurisdictions.
If you are contemplating applying to our Ivey MBA, we offer a pre-assessment (click here) for a potential GMAT/GRE exemption. We will require your unofficial University transcripts and a current resume to complete the assessment. An assessment result will be communicated within seven business days. Please connect with the recruiting team for any further questions or clarifications.
- Only professional references will be accepted.
- Two professional references are required.
- There is not a letter each referee has to complete but instead, within the Ivey MBA application, there is an online form that is emailed to each referee.
- Applicants qualify for a waiver for the English proficiency test if English has been used as a first language for at least two years during education and/or in a professional setting.
- Within the application there is a section where you can indicate that you have used English in an educational or professional setting for at least two years. This needs to be completed by the applicant, sharing the reasoning for requesting the waiver.
- If English has not been used as a first language for at least two years, we accept the following English Proficiency tests
- TOEFL (minimum internet-based score of 100)
- IELTS General OR Academic (minimum score of 7 in each category and overall)*
- MELAB (minimum score of 85)
- PTE (minimum score of 70)
- CAEL (minimum overall score of 60 required with no part less than 60)
- DUOLINGO (minimum score of 125)
You can review further information on the waiver and applicable English proficiency tests on the International Applicants web page.
- Online application including completion of two required written essay questions and two required video questions.
- Application fee of $150 CAD.
- Forte launcher applicants receive an automatic application fee waiver.