HEC Paris Sept 2011 - Intake

As a current HEC Paris MBA student, I feel like I should respond. :D

First, HEC is not just for french speakers wanting to work in France. True, the HEC name, especially for the grande ecole does carry a lot of weight here. When I told my neighbors that I go to HEC, they were all like, wow! O_O But most of the graduates do not end up working in France. Many of my fellow classmates, who are interviewing for internships now (at Booz, Goldman Sachs, etc), are interviewing for spots in Singapore or UK. Many are also looking towards Hong Kong for future opportunities. In my opinion, HEC is good choice if you want to work in Asia, and especially if you want to work in Europe (just about any part).

Second, I did business for undergrad as well, in a fairly well known American school, and I have to say there is a marked difference in the quality of teaching. I have been so impressed with the professors here at HEC, and there are many concepts that I had learned before that I feel that I finally fully understand (arbitrage and futures options). True, once in a while, you will get a professor that you feel is completely inadequate, but doesn't that happen at every school? I know my friends in American schools complain about this too. And this is outweighed by the "star professors" that we have here. One is Kapferer, who is very well known in the Marketing field. I'm pursuing Marketing, but I've heard there are many very top quality professors in Finance and Strategy as well. Also, for our intake, some students had complaints about 2 professors in particular, and not even halfway through the term, the professors had taken the comments to heart and improved their teaching style. So, as far as the teaching goes, the professors are usually very responsive.

Third, many of my fellow classmates and I feel that we are having the time of our lives. I know that many other schools emphasize a collaborative environment, but I feel that this is really true at HEC. Yes, of course there is competition, but in general, most of us are helping and learning from our new friends. I have received many many insights into the job market in China, as well as in different industries. In return, I'm using my previous work experiences and skills to help my classmates with grasping realistic expectations of the Marketing field, and helping non-native English speakers with their CVs. We've also conducted informal tutoring sessions for each other in different classes. I feel that here, we want everybody to succeed because we know that in the long run, this will benefit our school and all of us.

So, enough gushing about my school. Yes, we have problems. Many of us Americans in particular are having a hard time coming to terms with this slow, relaxed French way of doing things, and there are many administrative problems, but in general, I can really see why HEC is ranked as a top school.