How I Got Into Western’s Ivey Business School

I am Colombian and grew up in Ecuador, a place where everyone has a bit of hustle. I really wanted an iPhone in Grade 9, but my mom wouldn’t buy me one. So I did what I knew would definitely get me some cash: I sold candy to my classmates at school. 

I became known as the “candy guy,” but after a few months, people started asking for healthier snacks. I added apples, celery sticks and protein bars to my offerings. After seven months, I had saved up enough money for a phone. I also served as my high school’s student council president for two years. In that role, I had the opportunity to explore the project management and financial side of running an organization. When I organized a COVID-friendly talent show with the council, I learned a lot about budgeting, logistics and delivering on my campaign promises. 

Outside of school, I enjoyed playing basketball. I was the captain of the local semi-professional team, which pushed me both mentally and physically. When I was in Grade 10, I played a 26-hour express tournament, where we played five games with only a few hours in between. We took quick 15-minute naps between games to recharge. I was running on bananas and chocolate chip cookies all day and could feel the exhaustion creeping in. Our final game was against the current national champions and we won. I made the winning basket right as the buzzer went off. It was equally dizzying and liberating to know it was finally over. 

I knew I wanted to study and work in Canada, since there are so many more opportunities than there are in Ecuador. In Grade 12, I learned about a highly competitive scholarship at Western University, available to international students, called the International President’s Entry Scholarship. It was worth $50,000. I had to be nominated by my school and write an essay about a topic of interest related to the area I wanted to study. I was interested in international relations, and I wrote about corruption in Latin America. I also buckled down on my school work and graduated with a 97 per cent average. I was one of only three students to get the award that year. I had also applied to York, Wilfrid Laurier and the University of Toronto as backups, but, once I received the International President’s Entry Scholarship, which would cover a significant amount of my tuition for the next four years, Western was the obvious choice.

I moved to Canada in 2022 and started studying at Western in the social science program. I kept hearing about the highly competitive and prestigious honours business administration (HBA) program at the Ivey School of Business. The more I learned about it the more it reignited the excitement I felt back in high school selling candy or running student events. The HBA starts in third year, and I learned there were two different ways to get in: the advanced entry opportunity (AEO), which provides high school students conditional pre-admission, and the 2+2 program, where students apply after two years of undergraduate studies. Since I hadn’t gone the pre-admission route, I spent the first two years of my undergrad looking for ways to set my application apart. 

The beginning of my efforts was very humbling. A classmate told me I needed a 90 per cent average to even apply for Ivey. My hopes quickly deflated after I saw my grade on one of my first quizzes at Western: a 50 per cent. I thought to myself: this is never going to happen.

Even though my ambitions sank, I started speaking to recruiters from the HBA program, and they gave me the details on what a competitive average really looks like. For non-AEOs like myself, a minimum average of 80 per cent with strong extracurriculars was a non-negotiable for applications. I kept that average in mind and started to chase that goal. 

I got involved in everything I could squeeze into my packed schedule. I was a floor rep for my student residence, a student representative for the social science faculty, an orientation leader for new high school students coming to Western, and the vice-president of events for Purple Hands, a homeless advocacy group. In addition, I had a part-time job as a cashier at Spoke Rim and Tavern, a campus cafe. I didn’t get a lot of sleep: I often pulled all-nighters to keep my grades up. I managed to finish with an 84 per cent cumulative average in my first two years.

Applications for the HBA program are due around the end of the first semester in second year. The admissions officers look at your grades as well as two essays about your extracurriculars and five supplementary written questions. For the first essay, I wrote about my time as vice-president for Purple Hands, focusing on the impact I had on my team and the homeless community in London. In my second essay, I focused on the RBC Design Thinking program, an extracurricular for undergrad students. We developed a prototype app that used gamification to teach financial literacy to underprivileged people. I chose both of those extracurriculars because I’m genuinely proud of them, and they make me feel like I’m making a positive difference in the world. 

In the spring, during an early round of acceptances, I got in. I’m now in my fourth year preparing to graduate. My schedule is still packed, as I tend to jump into any leadership opportunity that comes my way. Right now, I’m a TA for the decision-making with analytics class at Ivey. I’m also working at Scotia Wealth Management, as an administrative assistant. This work has really gotten me interested in wealth management, so I’ve started on my Canadian Securities Course, which is the first step to becoming a recognized mutual fund representative. I’m excited to apply these skills and one day hope to start my own financial firm. 

As told to Kassandra Guevara