Calling HEC Paris MSc Management-Grande Ecole 2012 INTAKE!

my profile right now is this: studying economics in italy, top5 university in my country, gpa: 27.6 / 3, i took part in the summer honour program at stanford this summer and this year i'm planning to take part at the summer school at london school of economics. no work experience. i'm a little disappointed by my gmat score, i just took it today and i got 640, (49 q , 28 verbal)..it is a very imbalance score, but english is not my native language and i have a lot of difficulties in the reading part. would you suggest to retake it or do they focus more on th quantitative score?

Hey Alexba91!! Why don't you try Bocconi University in Italy only???

just because living abroad would be a great experience for me, improving acadamic skills is not the only goal we should reach, they represent just one part of ourselves.

Hey guys!! As most of you know might be knowing SAI results are out. Congrats to all the applicants who got selected.

Hey Guys!!!
I have created this group https://www.facebook.com/groups/157527471015761/ for all the applicants who got selected in the first round i.e. the autumn session through the SAI application process.

Enjoy!! Hope to see you all on board.

Hey people!

This is my first post on this forum so forgive me if I'm asking a very obvious question.

I went through SAI's online application guide and no where has it been mentioned about a SOP. I was under the impression that all schools would need one. Do we need to draft one? Your response is appreciated.

Thanks,
Rahul

I am currently in the second year of the MSc Management at HEC (Grande École), got admitted this year.

In case you have any questions write in here or shoot me a message.

In terms of application: HEC is pretty competitive to get into, especially for Indians, since a large number applies (and since I see the majority writing here to be Indians). I don't know any Indian in the program with a GMAT below 700, most of them have a GMAT anywhere from 720 to 740. Most of the Indians here are engineers, we have one or two computer science majors, one physicist and one guy, who did Pharmacy. The schools are mostly Bits Pilani (I don't know my way around Indian schools, however, so this might be biased).

So if you have a GMAT below 690 I consider that your application might face very tough competition, as a lot of Indians with a better GMAT score will apply and to be honest (and I don't mean to be racist): I believe it is very difficult for a European person to distinguish between the different schools in India and to evaluate how good a top 1% at one school is compared to a top 5% at IIMA, simply because there is such a huge variety in India and also China. This is why the GMAT becomes much more important for you guys.

Most people in the program have done engineering before (especially the Spanish and Indian people), some did Economics and some (especially the Germans) did Business and Management beforehand. However, we also have people, who did International Relations, History, Pharmacy, Hotel Management, or Physics before.

Hi Gottesschaf,

Wanted your input on my query above. also, how crucial a role do your academics/grades play in the selection. I had a poor outing during my engineering however, I have good co-curriculars/extra-curriculars along with 16 months of experience.

Thanks for your reply!
Rahul

To your first question: I have no clue what a SOP is. If it is a statement of purpose (judging from Google), I don't think you need one. There are some open-essay questions in the application process at the SAI-site that you need to answer that would come close to a statement of purpose.

To your second question: I don't believe that strong extra-curriculars play a stronger role compared to grades unless you have outstanding extra-curriculars, such as publishing a bestseller-book, having played in the national cricket team, been national/state champion in basketball, being a huge young talent in piano playing performing in front of 2000 people per night, etc. Hope you get the idea. If you have one of these your application will surely get a huge boost. But to face it: All people that apply had pretty good extra-curriculars, such as (and I am now only referring to the Indians I know) supervising some bridge construction projects for 4mm USD, being state champion in Tennis at the age of 17, etc.

Work experience is always a big plus (even bigger if it is a known company). I assume that you can even out bad grades with a particularly strong GMAT (720+). GMAT should always be important, especially if you are coming from Asia. For us Europeans/Westerns it is a bit easier sometimes as our university name sometimes already sends a signal about ourselves to the admission board (e.g., people that apply from England and graduated from LSE or Oxford/Cambridge; people that apply from the US and graduated from NYU/Columbia/UPenn, etc.).

All my advices are, however, just assumptions about the application process since I am neither in the admission board nor do I know how they function. I just base this on the people I know in my program and what I see and hear around me.

Hi Gottesschaf,

Thank you very much for your response. To be very honest, this has brought in a lot of clarity and it helps that you are pursuing your studies there right now
Thank you very much for your time. Will let you know how things pan put. FYI, will be giving GMAT on the 29th of Dec...so wish me luck.

Cheers,
Rahul

Hello Guys ,

I have scored 640(49 q, 28 v) and 4 in AWA in Gmat . I have around 18 months of work experience in Tata Consultancy Services . In extracurricular part i formed a dance group in my college which is currently the best dance group in University and 2nd in state . I have also been the President of a cultural club in my college which organized 23 out of 48 events for 6000+ students .
I am applying for the Winter session.
Do i stand a chance in getting into HEC Paris ??

For grande école (MSc Management): No.
For MSc Finance: No.
For MIB and other specialized Masters: Yes.

Hi All,
Any other people out there who are waiting for the Winter deadline results from SAI?

I am an architect and will have a little over 2 years of work experience by september.

I have a 750 GMAT but average undergrad grades.

What are my odds at a school like HEC Paris?

It seems as if everyone finished applying in R1 and nobody has applied in R2. WHy are all the threads dead?
Is there nobody who got interview invites from the SAI schools today?

Hi neo...

I had applied to HEC, ESCP and EM-Lyon... got interview call from all 3....was surfing for interview questions and details....any idea about that? where all you got call from?

Also applied for the Winter Session for HEC,Lyon and ESCP and got the interview invite.
Don't feel too confident about my chances though, it's like everybody that applies is either Indian or Asian with 720+ GMAT's and they are ALL top 1% of their class

Anyways, would love to hear from anyone that had their R1 interview already.

Hi Sj,

I applied to HEC, ESCP, EM Lyon and Audencia Nantes.
Got interview invites from all four.
From surfing the net and various forums, I gather that apart from discussing your background and what you expect from your career post the program and SOP sort of stuff, they also stress on why you're interested in studying in France.

What cities are you guys in?
EmandEm, I don't think you should feel so underconfident. If you have the kind of profile you describe, you have great chances.
I have a friend at HEC at present with a 720 GMAT and she was not in the top 1% of her class. And she also got great scholarships.
Also from the ESCP eligibility list you can see that Indians make up for about 10% of eligible people. That doesnt seem so bad.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi neo...

More than anything, this forum seems to be demotivating! I had a very low GMAT , even though got interview call...and thats an achievment for me...so i blv nything is possible...its all upto oneself how interview is done! Game of 30 minutes!

Hi,

I got an invite for the SAI interview in Mumbai. I'd applied to HEC, ESCP and EMLYON. Any tips on the interview prep would be extremely helpful.

A little about me.
GMAT - 700
18 Months of WorkEx in technology consulting
CFA Level 1 cleared.
Decent Extra Currs

My problem is that my undergraduate grades are pretty screwed up. From what i've read, HEC really takes your UG performance into evaluation. Any views on that?
They seem to call a lot of people for the interviews i guess. Anyone who got dinged at this stage?

I had my interview last week. Drove 6 hours to the city in which it was hosted and two hours later drove back for another 6 hours, all in one day.
Maybe this will help someone else:

Questions I was asked:

-Why HEC/ESCP/Lyon and not the other 2
-Why France?
-How did you end up at your alma mater?
-I see you have so and so listed as your interests, these are quite unique, how did you become interested in these?
-You don't speak French, how will you handle this?
-What kind of a track are you planning on doing?
-Why not a different one (Sports Management) given you background (athlete)?
-What do you want to do with this degree?
-Next couple questions focused on the answer to the last question.

Finally,
-What do you know about French people and France?
-Can you talk about some current events
-In one sentence, tell us why we should put "Excellent" in every category in our evaluation of your candidacy

Overall, there were 3 people present and about 7-8 candidates. The email says it was supposed to be Business Casual, but everybody was Business Formal. My interview was more of an interrogation, but that's because when they asked me what I want to do I screwed up. I knew exactly what I want to do with the degree and what my career plans are but I started overthinking it and for some stupid reason deviated from that and didn't come across as somebody who knows what they are after. Can't do anything about it now and I tried controlling the damage as much as I could, which seemed to work to an extent, generated a few laughs and we moved on. It'll be a miracle if I get admitted to any of these, but overall it was a great learning experience.

Make sure you have your story in and out, know whats going on in the world and be able to express your motivation for attending these schools. Be also prepared to be put on a defending stance and come up with examples relevant to the problems the committee will be trying to throw you off with i.e. "You've never been to France, what can you possibly know about French schools?".

Just answer as diplomatically as possible, throw in some evidence of overcoming similar challenges and express your enthusiasm and you'll be fine.