Meet The Toronto Rotman MBA Class of 2017

Alexdia González Vera

Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Hometown: Mexico City, Mexico

Undergraduate School and Major: Anáhuac University, BS in Actuarial Sciences

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Risk Management Analyst; Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit

Deputy Director of Financial Programming; Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit

Deputy Director of Debt Issuance; Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? It is very important to take advantage of your time and prepare in advance. Having enough time to study and practice leads to better results. There are many types of tools available. What worked for me was attending a GMAT preparation course first and self-study and practice by myself after.

Presenting these tests can be a very stressful and draining process; I know many people who quit half way through. That´s why it is very important to stay focused on your goal, be patient, work hard and do not despair and over-worry. If you do not get the results you expected the first time, try again and remember that perseverance is key in this process.

Based on your own selection process, what advice do you have for applicants who are trying to draw up a list of target schools to which to apply? Investigate carefully. Do not get influenced only by the school name or the ranking. Pay close attention to the program, school philosophy, and environment. Apply to the schools that you really feel identified with and match your career goals and life plans.

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf? Contact current students and alumni that can give you a more objective and certain perspective of their experience and the pros and cons of the program you are applying to.

Find recommenders who truly know you and are willing to take the time to write about you, your work, and your achievements. It is better to have someone with a clear insight than having a top letter with no real reference about yourself.

Finally, admission interviews are good not only because the school gets to know you better, but also because you learn many more things about the school. Prepare for the interview, investigate in detail about the school and what strikes you about it, and (very important) be yourself.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? There are basically 3 reasons why I chose Rotman for my MBA. First I felt really identified with the school philosophy and environment. Second, the strong focus in finance and its top faculty on the topic appealed to me. Third, I was drawn to the wide range of professional development both the school and the country provide.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I want to widen my financial knowledge, improve my leadership and communication skills, and get an integral education by learning from other fields and subjects I haven´t studied before (i.e. strategy, marketing and sustainability) given my technical background. In that way I can become a better leader with a clear perspective of every important aspect in an organization.

I also want to achieve an internship position in a top global organization and get invaluable international professional experience with a different perspective of the financial world than the one I got before by working in a public institution.