Has anyone had luck with CMA transcript evaluation appeal?

[Peckman]

Hey Everyone,

Basically I'm a new grad relocating from Quebec to Ontario. I did all of the pre-requisites for the CMA program and as far as CMA Quebec goes I would be admitted directly without needing to write the Entrance Exam.

However, due to personal and family circumstances, I am looking to relocate to Ontario ASAP and hence would like to do my CMA designation through CMA Ontario. I know two people (not friends but former classmates) who relocated from Montreal to Toronto after university and started CMA with no problems. Unfortunately it appears I'm not as lucky.

I received my transcript evaluation today and CMA Ontario states that I need to take Advanced Management Accounting, Internal Control, and Information Technology in order to be eligible for the entrance exam... (and no mention of any sort of entrance exam exemption...which is weird since I meet the GPA criteria and my uni's b.comm is accredited by CMA Canada).

I took those classes during my Accounting degree in Montreal and received grades of B, B+, and A respectively. All were done in either Fall 2011 or Winter 2012.
I called to inquire about it and the guy on the other end basically told me to file an appeal and there was nobody else I could speak with about it. I even took an additional accounting info systems/internal control class as an elective and received a good grade, as well as taking a case-based managerial accounting class only available to those who did well in advanced management accounting (well defined as B- or higher in this case), so I'm a little perplexed as to why they're telling me I need to do these classes I've already done.

I was just wondering if anyone here has run into an issue before with their initial transcript evaluation, and if they've had any luck with the appeal?

It's stressful enough as it is trying to find a job that will help fulfill the work requirements, but if the order is going to push my entrance back even further then I might need to reevaluate my job hunt and current career path

Sorry for the long-ish post

[rapashoo]

Nope. You can't really expect any "luck" with CMA Ontario. It's just how they process. You submit your free transcript evaluation form, they review it and then get back to you with whatever they need you to fulfill. If you believe that they are wrong, you have to fill out the appeal form with credits that you think you are entitled to plus the OFFICIAL transcript from your post-secondary institution. I am not sure about other provinces, but for CMA Ontario, there is no short cut or work around, this is THE process. (Please PM me if you want a contact at CMA. Person was really helpful and actaully got me through this stressful process but mind you, it took me 4-5 transcript submissions back and forth)

Once they verify all your pre-requisite credits, they will let you know whether you are eligible for the exemption. It's really time-war with CMA. They tend to take a lot longer than other educational institutions (this is also true for other evaluation processes such as Practical Experience report for year 1 and year 2). You must take your time to go over your application and make sure it is error-free so you don't have to resubmit and wait for another 6 weeks to get reviewed.

Good luck.

[Peckman]

It sucks that it takes so long to hear back from them, kind of makes you anxious in the meantime. I already have the pre-reqs so I guess I'll just keep dealing with them and hope for the best. Maybe I made a mistake filling out my cover sheet, or something...course names in Quebec/Ontario could be different from one another (well, even different from university to university) so I guess that's possible.

PM sent.

[lil_azn]

Why didn't you "endure" doing you SLP in Quebec? I personally would have done that and save me the trouble of having to take courses and push back my certification...

[Peckman]

Why didn't you "endure" doing you SLP in Quebec? I personally would have done that and save me the trouble of having to take courses and push back my certification...

I've been wanting to leave Qc for a few years. I would have moved and done my degree in Ontario but it wasn't financially possible, unfortunately. Staying here for another few years to do the SLP while working a CMA-suitable job (which'll be harder to obtain here without fluent French) is not something I'm willing to consider now that I have the savings to relocate. My dislike for the language politics/social politics and the feeling of being "an outsider" whenever I'm in a francophone work environment or professional function (i.e. jobs, CPA-CMA cocktail/networking events, etc) trumps any extra bit of difficulty I'll have with relocation. I know some others would read this and feel different, but it's my personal view and I need to do what's best for me.

That's a bit off-topic though.

On topic...

CMA Ontario granted me credit for 2 of the 3 courses they said I'm missing. I had to re-contact them and now they're looking into the 3rd because it seems there was an issue with course code changes (as in my school changed many course codes and cma ontario went with the old ones when evaluating me cause they didn't have the new ones), so hopefully everything will be settled soon

I'm also looking into CGA as well (I'm not particularly set on any one time of accounting/finance path), but haven't sent them my transcripts yet cause they charge $412 for an evaluation..bah, I made a thread on it hoping a CGA member or candidate would read it over and give me an idea of where I'd stand but I think it was a "tl:dr" thread cause I was very detailed.