Ivey Business School

Our Background

The Ivey business school was established in the year 1949 as the School of Business Administration. Later in 1995, the school was specified as the Richard Ivey School of Business n honor of Richard G. Ivey. The school was recognised as the first business school to facilitate the Global Alliance in Management Education in 2010. Later in 2013, the school got its name “Ivey Business School”.

Ivey uses the case method to teach practical & action-oriented learning skills to students as well as to further incorporate their standardized Cross-Enterprise Leadership(CEL) approach. The CEL approach helps students to lead the endeavours that strengthen the whole enterprise.

Application Essay Questions:

Question 1: Goals

What are your short-term career plans immediately post-MBA, and why is an Ivey MBA essential to those plans? (250 word limit)

Tip: The admissions committee at the Ivey B-school has been constantly asking this essay question to the applicants. The agenda is only to understand one’s short-term career goals/objectives post-MBA degree and determine how the school’s MBA program can help these applicants realize their objectives. 

Ivey simply wants you to describe what you have in your mind as you reach this phase of life and career. The school is not referring to any of your past professional experiences but asking you to briefly explain some context for your career objectives. The committee wants to ensure that you are clear about your visions, why an MBA degree is important and why you are choosing Ivey.

So, the applicants are required to conduct in-depth career research and express the entire detail in the essay. Describe any position, job role or organization you are targeting along with existing skills that are aligned with your short-term career goals. 

To answer the “Why Ivey?” of this essay, thoroughly research the program you are targeting, along with the facilitated B-school programs and come up with the valuable features that can ensure the admission committee that are contributing to your objectives. You need to go beyond the school’s website, and other market materials and should make direct contact with students, alumni etc. If possible, you can attend its orientation programs, or visit the school to get an idea of the university in a better way. Check online events and draw a clear picture for your admission to Ivey.

Question 2: Decision 

Tell us about a challenge you have faced in your life, and what lessons you learned from it. (250 word limit)

Tip: You must’ve heard, “Greater challenges bring bigger victories”. Through this question, the committee wants to delve into your response as an individual in a certain phase of life when you encounter any type of challenge both personally and professionally. A challenge or say roadblock is vital for us to have a productive learning experience. Through this essay, they want to see how you react to a challenge such as whether you blame the situation & forcefully accept it or you take it as a chance to experience or grasp something new. 

To answer this essay, you can either come up with a specific event or any ongoing issue that you deal with on a regular basis. Since the school doesn’t have such criteria to mention only professional or personal incidents, you get access to several options you have from various aspects of your life. For example, it can be related to your workplace, academics, family, personal life etc. First, pick up a challenge and make sure it is recent, significant and has a major impact on your life. Ivey wants to observe you as an individual based on your response in a particular situation and measure your capabilities through how you tackled to overcome it. 

Please note that the essay asks you about a decision that you made in relation to the challenge you are describing as the title of the essay is “Decision”. We would therefore recommend you select a story where you had to make a noticeable choice. 

Video Essay

Click on the link below to be taken to your KIRA video essay space. You will have an opportunity to complete practice questions before recording live. You may complete this practice ahead of time before returning to KIRA to complete your live questions. You must submit your video essay in KIRA in order to be able to submit your completed application. (Two video questions of one minute each.)

Tip: Through this type of video-based essay questions, the Ivey admission committee wants to get a visual appearance of a candidate to get the statistics and other mentioned elements on the application compared with the results. Keep in mind that this is a vital part of your overall application, so try being authentic, and genuine. The admission committee isn’t looking for an over-the-top expert interview, rather, they just want to know as an individual deserving enough to join the Ivey community.

So, first of all, get yourself calm as we understand videos can put you in a nervous or anxious situation, but we aren’t making any science rockets here. The committee simply wants to get a more dynamic side of your personality other than a written essay. Do not get hustled on a “right” answer. Just answer each query with integrity and be yourself.

Previous Applicant Essay Question:

Please highlight any significant changes/developments since your previous application to Ivey. (250 word limit)

Tip: This question is simply based on getting an idea about the applicant’s recent development or achievements in terms of academics, professional life or personal life. Whether you have enhanced your academic track record, got a promotive position, started a productive hobby or a challenging project, or taken any personal challenge etc. You need to present any of these here in an impressive or compelling manner. Ivey community would be interested in knowing any of your recent efforts on your part to improve yourself as an individual. 

Upcoming Deadlines

The application deadline for the Full-Time MBA Class of 2025 are:

• Round 1: September 19, 2022
• Round 2: November 7, 2022
• Round 3: January 9, 2023
• Round 4: March 13, 2023
• Round 5: April 24, 2023

Reach out to our professional MBA Consultant and increase the probability of gaining acceptance to your desired business school.