HEC Paris - Sep 2010 intake

hey mp,

thanks for the info you've provided. I was thinking somewhere around 17000-19000 euros altogether. The reason for this is because I am a chinese national. My salary is about 14,000 euros per annum while the living cost in beijing is close to that of paris. I was pretty much in the red most of the time when i worked, so asking mum n pop for cash was quite my style >.<

my profile goes like this: 24/gmat740/gpa3.8/3yrwork-exp

in lieu of my profile, my background, I just thought it d be reasonable for me to receive a 25%-30% discount off the entire mba budget.

also chinese banks are not as nice as that of uk (or eu in general, maybe). they are asking about 4.6%-5% from the get go under the condition that my guarantor owns property(s) which values at least twice the amount of the loan. on the other hand, the other scholarships hec provides are in essence interest-free loans.

also my parents feel strongly that I pay my own way for advanced degrees.

anyways, thanks again for the info max, will you be attending hec in september? I’d be glad to meet you in person.

You should feel happy, many students do not get anything!
European scholls are more stingy than US ones with their scholarships (No full ride, lower number of awards).
On the other hand, the shorter length reduce greatly your opportunity cost (especially true for people working in Europe and the US where salaries are much higher).
You can always hunt for more scholarships, not necessarly HEC linked or get yourself sponsored! (with the added benefit of having a job waiting for you at the end)
I received 13,000 euros through the Excellence scholarship.

I think when discussing scholarship award amounts and what people think they should receive, we should be considerate and sensitive to those who did not receive anything.

If you have received a scholarship, you are lucky and should be grateful for the discounted tuition. It is a wonderful gift.

Also, let's just suffice it to say that living standards and bank interest rates are going to vary across the board. US interest rates are also quite high, in my opinion, at 6.8% for Stafford and going all the way up to 12.5% for private loans. Although US salaries may be high, there are always other costs each person bears. In my situation, I own property and will have to fork over property tax and HOA fees for the entire duration of the program. I live in a very expensive area (Silicon Valley) and although housing has not dipped quite as low here, it won't be practical for me to sell in the near future. So that, on top of no scholarship, makes my financial situation a little sticky as well.

It's all relative. But I have confidence I will recoup the costs later on.

Well said. Hope you can rent your house

having gone to school in socal, i thought there d be more than just stafford or private loans you can take out... (i m not saying the 24.99% credit card rate is an option). perhaps something on the subsidized side (or is that just for undergrad degrees).

also, what about HSBC loans. do you or anyone know if HEC students can take this loan like LBS? if not, are there similar schemes for BNP or other banks like SG (without a French guarantor that is)?

I, along with many of the admitted Americans, have discussed and looked into all possible options at great lengths. The Stafford is comprised of subsidized and unsubsidized, but this still only amounts to $20k at the previous rate I listed. Smart Option, the private Sallie Mae loan, is the only other federal loan that HEC qualifies for, but this is credit-based. To my knowledge, there is no other student loan scheme out there for HEC (meaning no HSBC loan).

BNP, SG, and the other big French banks have loans available at low interest rates but you must have a French guarantor or a home bank guarantee. And no US bank will provide you with that guarantee.

So your other options are to consider a home-equity line, if that's available to you (if you have both a home and equity in it), borrowing from family (if they have money and are willing to lend it to you), or borrowing from retirement. The last one is probably the most practical, but there are still some rules around it.

If anyone else has come up with other financial solutions, I would certainly love to hear them.

Hey,friends:

I've just got interview invitation. Just consult you a couple of doubts on how to prepare 10-min presentation and if it's blind interview.

tks for reply!

Trentohawk,

No, HEC interviews are not blind. The interviewer will have access to your complete application package including your recommendations. So take this into account while preparing for the interview. The 10 minute presentation can be on any topic. Professional, hobbies, travel etc. Take a prinout of the slides and 7-8 slides I think would be the max you can fit into the 10 minute time limit. Good luck!

tks a lot, wizard!

As wizard said, a print out of the presentation (I aslo had my resume and my application printed) is very important. I did both my presentations on paper although I had a laptop with me. Presentation subject is about anything, try to make it original and interesting.

Good luck!

Also pick a topic that you are passionate about, or at least very interested in, so you can show your energy. At this stage, you're more than just some faceless applicant. They want to see Trentohawk the student, Trentohawk the next leader in industry and representative of HEC - Trentohawk the person.

But, besides these broad strokes, don't forget about the little details, as these can make a difference too! For instance, instead of handing out some stapled pieces of paper for the interviewers to follow your Powerpoint presentation, use those nifty little mini-booklets Kinko's can make for you.

But you don't want to go overboard with the special effects, as this would look cheesy. This guy, for example, is not the impression you want to give:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBxeDN4tbk


And, most importantly, relax! I'm sure you'll do great, and I look forward to meeting you at HEC. Good luck!

I get most emotion now. thank all u 3 so much really!

Hey all, I'm a potential applicant with a few questions. I just read the post about the difficulty of finding funding for HEC Paris (for Americans). I'm just a little confused though, if you're willing to pay the high interest rates, is it possible to fund the whole thing with Stafford/Sallie Mae?

We have a long-time well to do family friend in Paris who might be able to be a guarantor, but I'd really rather not go down that route.

I haven't applied yet, but I'm still determining the feasibility of moving to France for an MBA, and whether it's worth applying or not.

My other "problem" is that I have a medium-sized dog that I'm very attached to, and would have to bring with me. I've lived in Los Angeles, NYC, and now at Cornell (grad degree) all with my dog...but moving to another country is a whole different ball game. I'm also concerned about how many students live in on-campus housing vs. off campus. I would have to live off campus, and that might pose a problem in terms of bonding with classmates etc.

Can anyone answer how did you answer Which other schools are you applying to and why?

HI there,
I'm applying for the January 2011 intake.

For the "which other schools" question, I answered that for the January 2011 intake, HEC is the only school I am applying, because this is indeed the case.

Having said that, I am fully prepared to a contingency plan, if HEC doesn't work out for me. So I have mentioned other target schools for September 2011 intake in my application.

I think the honesty and integrity are the key here. The schools will see which other schools you have sent your GMAT scores anyways, so if you've sent the score to 10 other schools and write "no other school applied", you may elicit a question mark. You should just show the school in a honest light your plan, I think.

Hope this helps.

I listed the 3 schools I was applying to. In my opinion, this question is to be treated as a routine admission question. As long as you can present coherent reasons in the essays as to why you want to attend HEC, this question should not matter.

Thanks. Although seriously, can the schools see which schools do we send our reports to? I don't think that can tell the school too much, because I applied last year and sent my reports to a bunch of schools.