HEC Montreal MBA



Round 1

lumone-submitted

Thanks!

HEC is a general acronym in French speaking countries.
Hautes Etudes Commerciales: High Commercial Studies. You could translate it to business school or management school.

HEC Lausanne, Montreal and Paris are not related.
By the way, HEC Montreal recruits students in France (and more generally in Europe). I have read somewhere that 300 French students go to HEC Montreal every year to their different programmes, and this competition is worrying HEC Paris.

Some info about HEC Montreal MBA:
Average age 31 - average gmat 625 - Size of class: about 150 (this included MBA in French, English and part-time)
Bilingual programme: you can do it in French, English or a mix of both. I believe some courses are offered in Spanish.

They have an office in Paris for admissions and recruitment. Good for me if I want to go back to my home country of France.

edit...

Recruitment
Do companies come especially for MBAs or the HEC Montreal as a whole? Do recruiters make a difference between MBA recruitment and other programs' recruitment?

Organisation
Is the school well organised? The administration where I went to undergrad SUCKED. Blaming students for its mistakes, that sort of crap. I do not want to get through something like this again.

Cost of living
What's the cost of living in Montreal? How much do you think is necessary per month? This depends on the life style, but I'm not a big spender.

Lumone (Bonjour!)

1. Recruitment at HEC is (in my opinion) evenly divided among graduate and undergraduates. Caution: Many "prestigious" employers in Canada, that operate in the US, such as Mck, Bain, BCG, JPM, GS, etc. prefer to recruit at McGill (or universities in Ontario such as Ivey, Queen's or Rotman) rather than HEC. Instead, you will find more opportunities in "French speaking companies" such as La Caisse de Depot du Quebec, La Banque Nationale (brief, local banks and institutions). HEC has a reputable program in accounting and many firms (Deloite, PWC, KPMG, etc.) recruit heavily at HEC.

2. In all honesty, I can't say that I was dissatisfied with the organization of the school (nor was it phenomenal). Class selection is very simple. I apologize if I can't give any more info regarding this question.

3. Montreal must be the most affordable metropolitan city in Canada (vs. Toronto, Vancouver and now Calgary). The city is very much like those you may find in Europe. Many French students (from France) prefer to come here because 1) they can continue to study in their native tongue, 2) Montreal is a beautiful and vibrant city, 3) HEC has a great program (equivalently, it is much more difficult to be admitted to HEC Paris, so many French students enjoy the brand from the Quebec counterpart 4) tuition is very reasonable.

I haven't rented in a while but a one-bedroom (600-700 sq. ft.) can run you $500-600$ a month.

Feel free to contact me by PM.

555

Interviewed last week, and more importantly: admitted to HEC Montreal.