business at u of c

[iginla1288]

i was wondering how the business program is a u of c. i was thinking about tranferring to u of c into the b comm program since it would save me money. I am currently studying at University of waterloo and I wanted to get some opinions on whether or not calgary or even u of a has a good business program.

[Mr.Coffee]

Pretty much all the Albertan universities (U of A, U of C, U of L) have good business programs. Haskayne (U of C) is a pretty good school, I know that from experience, because I know that I've learned a lot going there.

I think one thing that's more important than what school you decide to go to, is trying to figure out what you'd like to major in. One problem with business is that it's pretty broad, you can do a lot with it. Sometimes that's good for people that want flexibility, but I've met a ton of people that feel like they have no direction coming out of school. Of course, the catch is that you don't normally know what you want to do until you've tried it or taken classes in it at school.

But yes, U of C is a great option.

[Clarkey]

The above coming from a plm grad with 99.9999% of being employed after grad.

[Mr. Ski]

I'm a 2000 grad, OPMA major. Excellent experience for me. Really good prof's and fellow students too (not to be disregarded, as there's a lot of team projects).

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

The above coming from a plm grad with 99.9999% of being employed after grad.

hahah hey! You went? Didn't like?

[Robbob]

My brother came form that program and said nothing but good things. Also I heard the program is very good compared to other ones across the country.

[calf]

I recently graduated (in Accounting - finished last December). Overall, a very good experience. Met tons of good people, had some great profs (also had some not-so-great ones, but they don't tend to last very long).

Some scattered thoughts on it:
-a bunch of group work...it sucks because it takes a lot of extra time, you're always in a group with a token 'idiot', there's always conflicts of varying degrees, but you come away learning not just about your assignment, but how to deal with other people, how to solve problems, think critically/analytically, deal with the unexpected, meet deadlines as a team, etc. You also meet some really great people, make friends, and set up contacts
-the accounting concentration was pretty focused, but I got a good base of knowledge for doing CASB (CA School of Business) afterwards...but the courses outside your concentration tend to make sure you look at the 'bigger picture'
-that being said, there's a lot of regurgitation of facts and telling the intstructor what they want to hear...I definitely felt like I was moulded coming out of it. However, based on our undergrad thread earlier, I'm willing to bet that the experiences aren't much different elsewhere.

What concentration are you in?

[Flames0910]

2nd year here and I love it.

[Ozy_Flame]

Just finished my BComm there, and I must admit it's a DECENT program. The classes were taught reasonably well, and there was plenty of options to choose from.

However, I found the student body to be a bit pretentious, so if I have to criticize anything it would be the students you're going to work with. As someone earlier said, there's always the 'token idiot' in the group, and I've seen my fair share in Haskayne...

[HitterD]

I'm not really one to believe in the McLeans ratings, but, some food for thought nonetheless. From what I can recall, McLeans consistently rates
U of C's Business program as one of the worst in the Country.

Obviosly, many here have had experiences that contradict those ratings. On that note, I really think any opinion you will find in a thread like this (or magazine) is very subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt. Everyone has their own criteria for evalueating their experience. Listen to others, but do your research as well.

As for my subjective opinion.... I graduated from the U of L and have nothing but great things ot say about it. It is cheaper than U of C, and has much smaller class sizes. U of L doesn't have as many options for Major's, though.

U of L is rated quite high for Business in McLeans. As much as I don't believe in these ratings, many employers rely on them for some reason.
I was actually told in a second job interview that I was selected to go further based on my U of L Degree, as this particular business thought that U of C wasn't preparing their students well enough to make a good transition into the business world.

Again, though, that was just one opinion.

[Sample00]

it used to be that SAIT's Business program was very highly regarded. In some cases more so than the University program. The SAIT program is a very hands on type of program. One tends to learn real world stuff. I thought the University program at the time was a bit watered down with too many "elective" classes...

mind you this was back in 1986.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Just finished my BComm there, and I must admit it's a DECENT program. The classes were taught reasonably well, and there was plenty of options to choose from.

However, I found the student body to be a bit pretentious, so if I have to criticize anything it would be the students you're going to work with. As someone earlier said, there's always the 'token idiot' in the group, and I've seen my fair share in Haskayne...

Most teams you work with in the working world will also have at least one 'toekn idiot' so its good to learn how to deal with them.

[Mr. Ski]

Originally Posted by HitterD

I'm not really one to believe in the McLeans ratings, but, some food for thought nonetheless. From what I can recall, McLeans consistently rates
U of C's Business program as one of the worst in the Country.

Regardless of what MacLeans says, I'd give more weight to something like this:

http://www.haskayne.ucalgary.ca/news...knights06.html

or this:

http://www.haskayne.ucalgary.ca/abou...instripes.html

or this

http://www.haskayne.ucalgary.ca/abou...uate/emba.html

or this:

http://www.haskayne.ucalgary.ca/abou...rds/index.html

MacLeans is far more worried about how good the campus bar scene is...

[simmer2]

Your best bet is to drop out of management and go into engineering. I hear you get a real job at the end of it all.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by simmer2

Your best bet is to drop out of management and go into engineering. I hear you get a real job at the end of it all.

There we go...

I was wondering why it was taking so long for the condescending engineers to hop into the thread...



Yeah. Your pretty screwed with a BComm out of U of C.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Most teams you work with in the working world will also have at least one 'toekn idiot' so its good to learn how to deal with them.

Not denying that. However, some idiotic things transcended group projects. For example, the student body seemed quite clique-ish, especially people who participated in the student services and associations.

Just my observation.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Not denying that. However, some idiotic things transcended group projects. For example, the student body seemed quite clique-ish, especially people who participated in the student services and associations.

Just my observation.

No doubt about it. I wasn't a big club guy when I was there, and there was a clear line between the "club crowd" and the non "club crowd". My favourtie thing was when they would all dress up in their suits to have one of their little club events, or their "costumes" as I liked to call them. Definately a bit of snobbery around there.

[Mr. Ski]

^^^ I was never a "club croud" guy either. That said, they were pretty harmless.

Show up -> work hard -> do well. That was me.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

No doubt about it. I wasn't a big club guy when I was there, and there was a clear line between the "club crowd" and the non "club crowd". My favourtie thing was when they would all dress up in their suits to have one of their little club events, or their "costumes" as I liked to call them. Definately a bit of snobbery around there.

It was kind of funny, they were pretty much the only ones participating in the Haskayne events, and were always the one, as you said, in costumes and full gear. Sometimes I wonder why they didn't hold any pep rallies like they did in high school? lol....

Regardless, I have a few friends who were/are in the clubs, and I found they pretty darn exclusive to themselves, no matter how polite. It's like if you don't join a club, you're considered an 'outsider'. I don't want to mention names, but the CPMT group really reeked of that aura....

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

It was kind of funny, they were pretty much the only ones participating in the Haskayne events, and were always the one, as you said, in costumes and full gear. Sometimes I wonder why they didn't hold any pep rallies like they did in high school? lol....

Regardless, I have a few friends who were/are in the clubs, and I found they pretty darn exclusive to themselves, no matter how polite. It's like if you don't join a club, you're considered an 'outsider'. I don't want to mention names, but the CPMT group really reeked of that aura....

University is what you make it. You'll have a different experience joining one of these clubs and doing stuff with them than if you just show up for classes and go home at the end of the day. You'll learn the same stuff, but I guarantee you won't have the same "experience" and memories.

Not to say that's required or anything, but often I hear about people complaining about UofC being a "commuter school" and lack of direct involvement in extra curricular activities and social events is the usual cause.

I hated the cliqueness of some of the clubs in particular, but it was pretty clear in my year that being a part of CPMT or ICBC got you at least an interview with the top dollar consulting firms or I-Banking shops. So if that's your goal, it won't hurt to be a part of these organizations.

I found the clubs were quite open at the beginning of the semester during recruiting drives, but as the year went on, it became a bit more cliquey.

I did think the suits for class presentations were a bit stupid. But come interview season, you're in those damn things because you have interviews during class hours on campus. Not sure if people in other faculties comprehend that little tidbit. Certainly not in the Arts.