The University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business

Not far from downtown Vancouver, UBC Sauder sits on the edge of the Pacific Ocean on the University of British Columbia’s picturesque campus, near the epicenter of business in Western Canada. Often called Silicon Valley North, Vancouver is home to corporations such as Microsoft, SAP, Amazon and McKinsey & Company that have opened research hubs and offices, thanks to the innovative nature of the city.

UBC Sauder ranked No. 40 best in the world by Times Higher Education, making the school the second best ranked Canadian school in the world right behind University of Toronto, which was rated the best in Canada at No. 18.

MBAs at UBC Sauder have a plethora of opportunities to learn ethical and effective business.

“What sets us apart is over the past few years, we really shifted to thinking about business in terms of how it can be a force for good, in terms of what we can do as business people to improve the situation in the world, how we can innovate to be more sustainable, how we can bring social justice into every decision that we make in a boardroom or in a company, and how can we use the business tools that we have to solve the world’s problems. That’s something we take very seriously, and we’ve made real changes in the program over the past few years to bring that into aspects of our curriculum,” says Joey Hoegg, Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Science Division at UBC Sauder.

The full-time MBA program is set up into 7 periods over the course of 16 months. UBC Sauder offers six career tracks in finance, product and service management, innovation and entrepreneurship, technology and analytics leadership, climate, and a custom track tailored to help students meet their specific career objectives.

The curriculum is molded from what the school says are five categories of critical business skills – creativity, decision-making, global issues and macroeconomics, ethics and sustainability, and leadership development. Students choose between two experiential learning options at UBC Sauder: an internship where they practice as strategic consultants, testing their skills through real business problems, or through an entrepreneurial or industry project where they create a detailed business plan for a new venture or identify new business opportunities.

UBC Sauder is also proud of the fact that they are the only Canadian school in the Global Network for Advanced Management, a prestigious collaboration of 32 international graduate schools around the world where students can immerse in numerous global opportunities, including the Global Immersion Experience; a five-month consulting project where students pair with an overseas company where students familiarize with the local business landscape and help the company’s local management team solve their unique business challenges.

If you’re looking to apply to UBC Sauder, you may just fit the bill if you’re a well-accomplished MBA applicant but more importantly, if you’re eager to embrace a diverse and cosmopolitan environment.