Frequently Asked Questions

• Review the MBA Resource Centre: Our team is working hard to curate a package for MBA students to review ahead of classes that includes resources to help set you up for success, especially for quants-based courses for students who do not have a business or math background. We will let you know once these resources have been uploaded to this onboarding website this summer. 
   
• Register for the Quants/Math Workshop: This two-part workshop is running during August 2023. Students will be invited to RSVP for the virtual workshop in early July.

Once you’re registered, your tuition and ancillary fees will appear in your student account on Mosaic.

Program and tuition fees are due on September 25th. Late fees and interest accrue following the payment deadline.

Visit the Student Accounts Payment Methods page for payment instructions.

More information is also available on Mac’s Money Centre site.

More information about payment plans can be found on the Office of the Registrar payment plan page.

Once the Student Experience team has registered you in courses, you can download confirmation letters on Mosaic. You’ll be able to get letters confirming:

• Program enrollment
• Specific course enrollment
• Your financial invoice

Once you are registered for courses, log into Mosaic and click on the “academics” pull-down menu. Look for the “request enrollment/financial letters” option.

We anticipate all incoming Full Time, Full Time with Co-op, and Blended Learning MBA students will be registered prior to July 15th. Accelerated students will register themselves for their selected courses on July 4th.

Follow these three easy steps to get your student ID card.

1. Upload your headshot to the Mosaic Student Center by July 15.
2. Check your McMaster email for possible photo status updates.
3. You will receive your student ID based on your program as follows:
   • BLPT students get the student ID during their first residency.
   • Full-time and Full-time with Co-op MBA students receive the student ID in the welcome package.
   • Accelerated Full-time and Part-time MBA students will need to pick up the student IDs from the Student Experience Centre and the concierge, respectively, at RJC during their first week of classes.

OSCARplus is McMaster’s online career portal.

You use OSCARplus to learn about and/or register for:

• Student events
• Company information sessions
• Job postings
• Academic support appointments
• Career support appointments

You can log into OSCARplus using your MacID. (See the Registration & Activation page for more information.)

To register for an event:

• Log into OSCARplus using your MacID.
• Click on “events.”
• Click on “business.” A calendar of Career and Professional Development events will appear.
• Select each event for more information or to register.

Please only register for events which are relevant to you. You’ll be removed from an event’s registration list if you don’t meet its eligibility requirements. (Let the Student Experience team know if you have any questions.)

To book an appointment:

• Log into OSCARplus using your MacID.
• Click on “appointments” on the left side of the screen.
• Follow the prompts from there.

If you don’t see any available appointments, our team may be fully booked. But the schedule is live, so as soon as a spot becomes available it will be listed.

Appointments will become available in early July.

SGS is McMaster’s School of Graduate Studies.

• More information about SGS
• The SGS Calendar

All McMaster graduate students have to complete two online training modules during their first month of study:

• SGS 101 – Academic Research Integrity and Ethics
• SGS 201 – Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA) Training

Learn more about these SGS sessions and how to complete them.

Avenue to Learn is the online learning platform McMaster uses. It gives you access to course information from your instructors in one convenient location.

Most faculty members post their course syllabus on A2L, as well as lecture notes and other materials.

You can log into Avenue to Learn using your MacID. (See the Registration & Activation page for more information.)

Please wait until you begin your courses in September to explore textbooks, as each course will be different and may have different options available (such as virtual materials instead of hard copy textbooks).

Your course outlines and instructors will be able to assist you with these decisions for what works best for each of your courses.   

The Quantitative Refresher is hosted in the MBA Skill Development course in Avenue to Learn.  Students will be added into this course shell in early July and alerted to their enrollment in the July Onboarding Newsletter.

The quantitative refresher includes a pre-assessment. The score on the pre-assessment will provide visibility into how much value this refresher will hold for you.

It consists of two synchronous live sessions, delivered on August 12 and August 19, via Zoom.  Registration and Zoom details will be accessible in the MBA Skill Development course.  These sessions will also be recorded and posted into the Avenue to Learn course shell.

The refresher also includes a post-assessment, which will allow you to measure how much you have learned from this programming and where you might want to focus additional study.

• If you are an out of province student who is receiving financial aid from your province, please upload your form (provided by your province) to our MacDrive.
• Before uploading the form, please make sure that you have filled out all of the student parts, and that you have dated and signed it.
• Save the form so that your name and student number are the ‘name’ of the file.

MBA students are expected to dress in business casual attire for day-to-day activities including classes, and business formal attire for activities such as presentations and networking events.  

MBA Student Experience team has partnered with Private Matters Psychotherapy (PMP) for Full-time students and with keep.meSafe by guard.me for Part-time students.

To initiate an appointment with Private Matters, students should email MBATalk@mcmaster.ca or call 905-681-7359.  They should ensure they identify as a full-time DeGroote Full Time, Coop, or Full Time Accelerated MBA student.

Part-time students have access to a wide variety of multilingual self-help resources, including articles, videos and assessment tools through the free My SSP app.

There are a number of ways to learn more and connect.

• Call or chat with a counsellor directly from the My SSP app
• Call directly at 1.844.451.9700
• Visit https://keepmesafe.org/

For more resources, please visit Wellness | MBA Student (mcmaster.ca).

DeGroote’s Ron Joyce Centre shuttle is just one way we deliver on our commitment to high-quality services for DeGroote students and staff.  As we plan for Fall, we will assess the schedule to support our students who are learning in-person for this upcoming term. 

As we near the start of the Fall term, you can expect to receive additional details related to the RJC shuttle service for MBA students, including how to access the shuttle service if you do not yet have your student ID card. 

We recommend all MBA students have a laptop.

PCs are recommended, but Mac’s are also an option.

Either way, make sure you have MS Office (including Excel) installed.

McMaster University has also put together this checklist of device recommendations to run key online learning tools.

There are many ways to connect to the various McMaster Wi-Fi networks. Follow the steps on this page for your operating system and device.

Information regarding hotel partnerships can be found in the Welcome Package that students receive with their offer letter.

MBA students have access to the Base membership, which includes use of indoor/outdoor track, pool, squash courts, saunas, open gym time and member rates for instructional/intramural programmes.  This does not include Pulse/Fitness memberships.

For more information about athletic offerings, and the cost to upgrade your membership, please visit: https://rec.mcmaster.ca/memberships

The Career and Professional Development team will support all incoming full-time (FT) students (including FT MBA, FT with Co-op MBA, and FT Accelerated MBA) in their career development starting with the MBA Career Launch Course in July.

You will also receive recruitment cycle information, specific to your job search through group sessions during your onboarding programming.

All FT Accelerated students will receive one-on-one coaching sessions with a Relationship Manager from August to September.

To book an appointment:

• Log into OSCARplus using your MacID.
• Click on “appointments” on the left side of the screen.
• Follow the prompts from there.

If you don’t see any available appointments, our team may be fully booked. But the schedule is live, so as soon as a spot becomes available it will be listed.

Appointments will become available in August.

The BLPT MBA term officially begins on September 1. You can expect webinars to begin following labour day.

Residency dates can be found here.

The Career and Professional Development team’s Relationship Managers are available to support BLPT students through personalized coaching appointments on areas related to job search strategy, career planning, application review, networking and more!

Book an Appointment via OSCARplus!
• Log into OSCARplus using your MacID.
• Select “DeGroote School of Business” on the left side of your dashboard.
• Under “Appointments”, “MBA” book “BLPT – Zoom Appointment”.
• Select a date and time that works best for you.

There are two types of scholarships:

• DeGroote MBA Admission Awards
  You are automatically considered for these scholarships. If you receive one, the information will be on your offer letter.
• MBA Named Scholarships and Bursaries
  (Fall Scholarships and Bursaries)
  We’ll be hosting a webinar about scholarship applications this summer. Keep an eye on your weekly onboarding newsletter for the link to register.

FT and FT with co-op students are distributed across all cohorts for term 1, while ensuring diversity across cohorts for factors such as the following to enhance your learning experience: 

• Whether you are entering the FT or FT with co-op MBA program  
• The subject you completed your undergraduate degree in  
• The number of years of work experience you have 
• Whether you are a domestic or international student 
• Your gender  

The same criteria is used when building your learning groups, which will be the group you complete your group projects with throughout the term.  

Your cohort and learning group have been carefully assigned to help each group reflect the breadth and diversity of our student population. As such, switching cohorts or learning groups is not allowed. You will learn more about which cohort and learning group you have been assigned to later this summer.

The Career and Professional Development team will support all incoming full-time (FT) students (including FT MBA, FT with Co-op MBA, and FT accelerated MBA) in their career development starting with the MBA Career Launch Course in July.

You will also receive recruitment cycle information, specific to your job search through group sessions during your onboarding programming.

All FT students will receive one-on-one coaching sessions with a Relationship Manager once you begin your program in September, so there is no need to book an appointment over the summer. We look forward to connecting with you during the Career Launch Course in July!

To book an appointment:

• Log into OSCARplus using your MacID.
• Click on “appointments” on the left side of the screen.
• Follow the prompts from there.

If you don’t see any available appointments, our team may be fully booked. But the schedule is live, so as soon as a spot becomes available it will be listed.

Appointments will become available in early July.

McMaster’s Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships (SFAS) is your resource for financial aid information.

We also provide information about the different types of funding available to new students.

If you’re considering applying to OSAP, read this first.

• MBA students are required to apply for OSAP on a term-by-term basis.
• You will need to apply for September to December online, then you can fill out the OSAP Extension Form to extend your application from January to April, and May to August.

You’re not permitted to book vacations during academic or co-op work terms.

Please check the MBA Dates and Deadlines page to find out when each term starts and ends before booking travel.

MBA students, via referendum, voted themselves out of the HSR bus pass program.  MBA students will need to purchase transit passes directly from the provider.

• Please visit the McMaster Payment Methods Page for guidance on paying tuition and fees as an international student. 
• As a reminder, we strongly recommend paying by CIBC International or Western Union.  

Be sure to be sure to keep up with all information and required action items on the International Grad Students Travelling to McMaster webpage as you plan your travels to Canada.

International Students engage two service providers for Health Insurance.  You will be enrolled in UHIP and in the GSA health and dental plan.

UHIP is a mandatory, comprehensive health insurance plan that provides health coverage for international students who hold a valid study permit and are enrolled full-time in a degree seeking program. UHIP covers medically necessary doctors and hospital visits within Ontario for international students, incoming exchange students and their eligible dependents (spouse and children).

ALL international students who are enrolled full-time will automatically be enrolled in and charged for UHIP every year. You must enroll your accompanying dependents within 30 days of their arrival date in Canada. If you enroll your family members more than 30 days after they arrive in Canada, you must pay a late application fee of $500.00 PLUS the monthly premium retroactive to the first of the month in which your dependents arrived in Canada.

More information on UHIP can be located here: https://registrar.mcmaster.ca/uhip-international-student-health-insurance/

GSA Health Insurance Plan provides coverage for those cost that UHIP cannot reimburse, such as prescription drugs. Therefore, those reimbursements will be handled by GSA Health Insurance Plan. Usually, the prescription drugs and UHIP non-reimbursed vaccines can be reimbursed 80% of the total cost by the GSA Health Insurance Plan.

Health benefit: http://studentcare.ca/rte/en/McMasterUniversity_Health_HealthCoverage

Vision: http://studentcare.ca/rte/en/McMasterUniversity_Vision_VisionCoverage

Dental: http://studentcare.ca/View.aspx?locale=en&uid=McMasterUniversity_Dental_Test2&random=538&

More information on GSA Health & Dental benefits can be located here: https://gsa.mcmaster.ca/services/health-and-dental/

MBA students, via referendum, voted themselves out of services provided by McMaster’s Student Wellness Centre.  To support students who would have used these services, we have ensured access to physicians via a partnership with MCI.  You may schedule an appointment here: Corporate Health Solutions Insurance McMaster – MCI onehealth (mcicorporatehealth.com)