Atlas Symposium
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About
Atlas Symposium is a debate in downtown Toronto between 3rd and 4th year students in the top undergraduate business programs in Canada to inform students who want to pursue business.
Atlas Symposium breaks through the surface and gives you real answers to your questions. Questions relating to school culture, opportunity, and overall experience are answered by those with the best kind of expertise: current students of the schools themselves. From their honesty, you will learn about the best qualities of their schools. Just as important, you will learn the worst qualities of others.
We were founded in 2011 out of a desire for a less frustrating university selection experience. We strive to accomplish this by simplifying the decision-making process and bringing you the information you want and deserve in one convenient location.
“A fun yet educational and very informative evening.”
~ Kulani Zwane, delegate at Atlas 2011
“It's not easy to come by an opportunity like this”
~ Shirley Zhu, delegate at Atlas 2011
Speakers
Jeremy De Mello
Moderator
Jeremy is the President of Marketing of Atlas Symposium. Double-majoring in political science and business, he knows how to manage a debate while reading the audience and asking the questions they want answered.
In his spare time, Jeremy enjoys cooking, swing dancing, and learning every possible superhero origin story.
Joyce Tan
York / Schulich
Joyce is in her last year of the iBBA program at Schulich, specializing in Accounting. She’s passionate about creating youth leaders and has led York University’s chapter of the world’s largest student run organization, AIESEC. This past summer, she interned at Procter & Gamble in Finance/Accounting after spending a term on exchange and travelling around Europe.
In her free time, Joyce loves to eat, game, and play badminton.
Tia Peric
Queen's / Commerce
Tia is in her final year at Queen's University, completing a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (French Studies), and plans to work in the capital markets industry upon graduation. Following a semester abroad in Belgium, Tia participated in the summer internship program at CIBC World Markets in Debt Capital Markets. She has also been heavily involved in extracurricular activities across campus, serving in various positions including Chief Marketing Officer of the Queen's Commerce Society.
In her spare time, Tia enjoys reading, playing the piano, and travelling.
Erik Reid
Western / Ivey
Erik is in his fifth year of studying Business in Ivey’s HBA program and English Literature at Western University. Currently, Erik manages and contracts his time in on-and-off project work for a computer science research organization called Moonbridge based in Barbados and a Toronto-based start-up sales consulting firm. Additionally, Erik is a Lecturer Assistant for Western University’s Business 1220 course. Erik’s other professional history includes project and sales roles.
Erik’s extra-curricular time is split between LEADER Project, an international development program geared toward entrepreneurs in emerging economies, and the Western Adventists, a Christian faith-based organization.
Julia Chen
Waterloo / SAF
Julia is a 4th year in the Biotechnology and Chartered Professional Accountancy program in the School of Accounting and Finance. Julia is the President of DECA U Ontario, which holds Canada's largest undergraduate business conference, and oversees chapters in 20 Ontario universities and colleges. She worked as a Staff Accountant in the Energy and Mining group in the Audit practice at KPMG Toronto for 4 co-op terms, is pursuing her CPA designation, and starting her Masters of Accounting in January.
Julia recently visited every country in South East Asia while on exchange in Singapore, and has worked for the past 3 years as a Residence Life Don.
Vincent Ho
UofT / Rotman
Vincent is a fourth-year student at Rotman Commerce completing an Honours Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) with minors in Economics and Women & Gender Studies. For the past two summers, Vincent has interned at KPMG and gained exposure in Audit, US Corporate Tax, and Campus Recruiting. On campus, Vincent has been the President of the Rotman Commerce Pride Alliance, and now Co-Chairs the Lead with Pride Leadership Conference, among many other things.
Through UofT, Vincent has traveled to Japan (twice!) and Germany for coursework and has definitely caught a travel bug. In his spare time he enjoys playing volleyball and running.
Nicolas Muniz-Saavedra
Ryerson / TRSM
Nicolas is a 3rd year Business-Management student studying Business-Law at TRSM. He is the founder of TROP: Ted-Rogers-Outreach-Program, which organizes undergraduate business students to go back to their own high-schools and share their TRSM experiences and why they chose Ryerson. He is a member of the Law and Business Student Association, as well as the TOP 200 program.
Nicolas plans on pursuing a career in corporate law. He’s an avid reader in self-development as well as an outdoorsman.
“I went to most of the Open Days of the universities I was interested in, but the Atlas Symposium was really unique, [...] which gave me a whole new enlightened perspective.”
~ Kulani Zwane, delegate at Atlas 2011
Sponsors
Title Sponsor
Participating Sponsor
Participating Sponsor
Supporting Sponsor
Schedule
Schedule to be announced. Here is last year's schedule:
| Time | Event |
| 9:00 AM | Registration OISE Main Entrance |
| 9:30 AM | Keynote Presentation Room OI G162 |
| 10:00 AM | |
| 10:30 AM | Debate Room OI G162 |
| 11:00 AM | |
| 11:30 AM | |
| 12:00 PM | |
| 12:30 PM | Lunch Rooms OI 2214 - OI 8280 |
| 1:00 PM | Breakout Session 1 See Workshop Schedule Below Rooms OI 2214 - OI 8280 |
| 1:20 PM | |
| 1:40 PM | Breakout Session 2 See Workshop Schedule Below Rooms OI 2214 - OI 8280 |
| 2:10 PM | |
| 2:30 PM | Breakout Session 3 See Workshop Schedule Below Rooms OI 2214 - OI 8280 |
| 2:50 PM | |
| 3:00 PM | Closing Comments Room OI G162 |
Workshops
| Room | Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 |
| OI 2‑214 | Waterloo, Rotman, Ivey | Ryerson, Schulich, Queen's | CPA |
| OI 2‑279 | Ryerson, Schulich, Queen's | Waterloo, Rotman, Ivey | |
| OI 3‑311 | Entrepreneurship | Waterloo, Rotman, Ivey | Ryerson, Schulich, Queen's |
| OI 8‑180 | Waterloo, Rotman, Ivey | Ryerson, Schulich, Queen's | Entrepreneurship |
| OI 8‑200 | CPA | Ryerson, Schulich, Queen's | |
| OI 8‑220 | CPA | Entrepreneurship | Waterloo, Rotman, Ivey |
| OI 8‑280 | Ryerson, Schulich, Queen's | Waterloo, Rotman, Ivey |
F.A.Q.
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Q: Why should I attend Atlas Symposium?
A: You're spending the next four years of your life in university, you want to be informed about where you will be going. Students, especially those representing their school just because they want to, will answer your questions honestly and tell the hard truths. This is the purest example of students helping other students.
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Q: What schools are represented?
A: Atlas Symposium will be hosting student panellists from: the Schulich School of Business (York University), Queen’s Commerce (Queen’s University), the Waterloo School of Accounting & Finance (University of Waterloo), Rotman Commerce (University of Toronto), the Ted Rogers School of Management (Ryerson University), and the Richard Ivey School of Business (Western University).
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Q: Why did you choose November 21th as opposed to any other date?
A: This date was not chosen arbitrarily. With certain competitions, sporting events, and open houses being held in the later part of the month, we wanted to make sure students would not have to make the tough decision of missing something. As former secondary students ourselves, we understand the difficulty of this choice and sought to eliminate it altogether.
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Q: How are panellists selected?
A: Panellists are selected based on strong and consistent academic achievement, as well as their ability to find meaningful summer employment. These criteria are to ensure that every school is represented by the best it has to offer, ensuring a standard of excellence across the panellists.
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Q: What do I get for $15?
A: Most of this goes toward lunch! In addition, the information your learn at Atlas Symposium will save you money later on. This is because the insights gained from the panellists will almost certainly lead you to apply to only one or two schools rather than the full five you were inclined to apply to initially. This will allow you to save money on your OUAC university selection application, as well as saving time and money from not having travel to every school's campus.
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Q: Does your conference just cater to students interested in business?
A: Primarily, yes. However, the overall insights on each school are valuable to students interested in post-secondary education in general.