The MMPA Program takes great pride in announcing the 5 winners of the $10,000 Admission Scholarship for domestic students from the class of MMPA 2015. These scholarships are available in addition to the Program’s Entrance Scholarships of $3,000 or $5,000.
Our outstanding winners have written short stories about how each made her or his choice to join the MMPA Program, and how they have enjoyed their experience in the Program to date. From these stories, prospective domestic applicants for 2014 admission will get a very informative look at the decision they face, and the experience the MMPA offers.
Annie Shepherd, MMPA 2015
In June 2012, I graduated from the University of Guelph with a BA in European Studies, a minor in French Studies and a Specialization in European Business. While I enjoyed my undergraduate experience, I knew that a career in accounting was better suited to what I wanted out of a job. Having only an arts degree, I knew that there were few options out there that would allow me to take all the accounting courses I needed to pursue a CPA designation, without having to do a full undergraduate degree again.
Finding the MMPA program was perfect. It allowed me to enter into the program with advanced standing, as I had already taken introductory business courses, and offers co-op terms to gain work experience (I did not have any prior to entering the program) and the potential for future full-time employment. Even though I’m a 24-month student, the program invites everyone to the orientation for the 27-month students and the recruiting events during the summer. I found these to be great opportunities to meet my future classmates, and take advantage of the amazing networking opportunities with representatives from the accounting firms. The program’s annual Golf Day is especially unique and was a great experience, even for a non-golfer.
From an academic standpoint, I can say that the coursework is challenging but the program uses cases to apply the knowledge to real life situations, making it more relevant. Some of my favourite aspects of the program so far have been the Integrative Case Competition and the Audit File Contest. Both of these competitions allow you to work as a team and apply knowledge that spans multiple courses. Overall, my experience with the MMPA program thus far has been fantastic and I’m happy to be a part of a community that has such a strong presence in the accounting profession.
Jina (Dong Jin) Bae, MMPA 2015
Joining MMPA was one of the turning points of my life, and one of the best decisions I have made. I studied human biology and economics in my undergraduate degree. Throughout, I realized I had no passion to pursue a science stream, but had difficulty in finding a way to change my career to an accounting field—which had been one of my professional goals since high school—without needing to go back for additional 4 years of undergraduate as Accounting major. I feel very lucky to have come across the MMPA Program during my research because it has provided me with everything I looked for: MMPA is very unique in a sense that it provides a stepping-stone to the Professional Accounting field for students without accounting background, which was exactly what I needed. Because of my earlier studies, I was able to take advantage of the 24 months advanced-standing, accelerated-entrance option, and I used this extra time to further gain work experience, save up for tuition, and to travel.
Since the start of the program I have had many wonderful experiences. Nowhere else you will be part of such selective, bright group of people (half the classmates with above A- GPA and 700 GMAT score) in wide range of age, cultural and educational backgrounds, as well as work experience. The class contains only 86 students (split into 2 sections of 43), all of them pursuing the same goal of becoming a professional accountant. It is such a small group taking the same classes every day, that your classmates become your best support, resource, and motivation. I was amazed how much of a moral support it is to be surrounded by people walking same path; I am sure that the MMPA will provide me with a network of the closest and long lasting friends.
One of my best experiences so far in this program is going through the recruiting process for the co-op semester. MMPA is so great in providing students with many opportunities to meet and network with firm representatives (Firm Info Session, Office Visit, Golf Day, Career Day), and for getting us ready for recruiting (week-long sessions on resume and interview classes, image and branding workshops). These summer-long extensive network opportunities with the firms that are MMPA exclusive gave me a chance to meet many reps and to build personal relationships with them; this made it much easier and smoother for me to land interviews with all of the Big 4 Firms, except Deloitte. I was lucky and enjoyed so much attending office tours, pre-interview dinners, offer parties, and post-offer lunches and dinners with each of PwC, EY and KPMG. I think this may not have been possible if wasn’t for all the opportunities and supports provided by MMPA to help students in landing a great career.
MMPA is indeed a challenging program with a heavy workload and high performance expectations. However, extensive group assignments help us build teamwork skills, and handling overwhelming workloads prepares us for a busy audit season. Our close friendship and support from classmates make all this enjoyable.
I am looking forward to successfully finishing my study term, and very excited for my upcoming working experience at KPMG.
Peipei Yu, MMPA 2014
First of all, I am really glad that the MMPA program chose me to be one of the recipients of an Admission Scholarship. This scholarship really helps me work through this program financially. I am Peipei Yu and I am in class 2014. I joined the 16-month program stream in the summer of 2013. One of the biggest advantages of MMPA is the availability of programs with three different lengths. Because of my background in accounting, I was allowed to join in the second year of the program and will graduate in 16 months.
I was born in China and came to Canada in 2005. After completing four years of high school at York Mills Collegiate Institute, in 2009 I began studying commerce at the University of Toronto St. George Campus in the Rotman program. I became a member of the Trinity College, which is one of the oldest colleges at University of Toronto, and it has a reputation of high academic achievements and cohesion among its students. After the first year of general commerce study, I decided to pursue the accounting stream at Rotman Commerce because I thought accounting could offer me a solid understanding of how businesses operate. In the summer after my second year, I worked as a Census Enumerator for Statistics Canada. This job really developed my customer service and leadership skills because I was dealing with local residents every day and the job involved a great degree of autonomy. Starting in my third year, I worked part-time as a research assistant for my marketing professor while attending full-time courses. In addition, I also worked in a student organization, GOVision, as the Human Resource Director. Managing my time to fulfill all my studies and extracurricular activities was challenging and yet beneficial. In my fourth year, I found a new part-time job and worked as a project assistant at the Rotman MBA Career Centre. This job gave me a unique experience in which I could work for MBA students from the school’s perspective.
While completing my final year of undergraduate study, I realized that there were still many areas of accounting which I wanted to explore, such as management control, management consulting and Canadian taxation. While searching for graduate schools, I was fascinated by the MMPA program for its amazing co-op opportunities and advanced accounting curricula. Without any hesitation, I started my application for MMPA. After graduating from the University of Toronto with high distinction, I immediately began my study at the MMPA program.
So far I have almost completed my second study term and I am very pleased with the MMPA program. My classmates come from diverse backgrounds and often offer sophisticated opinions to foster the class discussions. The professors have immense teaching experience and knowledge about the subject matters that they really make the learning interesting. The co-op officers give me tremendous guidance for my career search and I was able to secure a co-op position with PwC. The administrative staff offers help to students with a smile on their faces, which really makes me feel warm and welcome inside.
If I am allowed to use one word to describe my experience at the MMPA program, it will be “professional”. This program really prepares someone who wants to work in the accounting and related industries. Besides the vigorous classes in the study terms, the program incorporates work terms in between to give students opportunities to put knowledge into practice and gain professional work experience. In the end, I strongly encourage everyone who is interested to learn as much as they can about the MMPA program and then make the best decision for their career.
Lucas Nicodemou, MMPA 2015
I recently graduated from McMaster University with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. While I was in my undergraduate studies, I worked with the National Research Council of Canada and Natural Resources Canada as a research assistant. Although I enjoyed these positions, I quickly realized this was not the type of environment I picture myself working in for the remainder of my career. After a lot of research and talking to a variety of people, I realized accounting was the best fit. A career in accounting offers positions in a challenging environment with opportunities to continually grow on a professional level. MMPA is a great program that encompasses everything I was looking for to move forward in the field of accounting. I intend to obtain a CA, CPA designation and I know this will be possible through MMPA.
Coming from a science background, I had no experience in the business/accounting world, and was unsure of what accounting path would be the best fit for me. MMPA has provided many networking opportunities to meet with a variety of professional accountants, to talk about their firms, their positions, and what a day in their life is like. This has been really helpful, because I was able to hear from other accountants about their experiences, and paths they took to get to where they are now. Also through MMPA, I have gained a lot of knowledge in all areas of business including accounting through the many courses that I have taken. In less than 8 months I already have a good understanding of the accounting world and am able to register as a student with the ICAO during my work term. I have no doubt that at the end of this Program, I will be fully prepared to take on my next endeavor to obtain my CA, CPA designation.
Lindsay Colgan, MMPA 2015
My university education started with a BSc from the University of Toronto St. George, with a double major in Economics and Forest Conservation Science. I continued on to graduate studies at the University of Alberta, completing my MSc in Forest Biology and Management.
Before starting the MMPA program I worked as a freelance editor for almost two years. Developing my business and editing company reports piqued my interest in business. Through discussions with friends and family I started to learn more about opportunities in business, and accounting always seemed to come up. I learned that it was more exciting than I had thought and was a career with great potential.
Once I’d decided to take the plunge into a new career, I looked at different programs available. The MMPA program attracted me because of the co-op work terms and because it is geared towards people without accounting experience. Although the program is longer than some of the MAcc programs, the MMPA provides a foundation for a career in business beyond accounting.
What I like best about the MMPA is the case-based learning. Everything presented in the classroom is related back to scenarios in real life. This makes the content more relevant and enjoyable. The projects that span several subjects, like the case competitions and audit file contest, help to integrate the material. In addition to coursework, we are given many opportunities to network with recruiters from firms of all sizes, and we will graduate to join a strong alumni network. Since my first day at orientation I have known that choosing the MMPA program was the right decision.