HEC Paris MBA - Who knows/is interested about it? - FAQs

Count me in for foosball, especially if it's an MBAT event...

Foosball is at the MBAT ...

So prashok, u could compete against catgmat... What do u think catgmat?

Note that the last year final was LBS vs HEC

Is there team fooz in MBAT? We got a fooz table at work here. I'm beginning my training from today lunch time haha ...

I usually only play foosball when I'm drunk, so we will have to train and practice at the local pub first!

Here are the official stats from HEC and the new MBA building project...

https://architecturalscholar.blogspot.co ... paris.html

HEC MBA 2010 Student Profile

Participants 202
Nationalities 50
Non-French 83%
Women 24%
Average age 29 yrs
Av. prof. Experience 6 years
Average GMAT 675

Let me know, if any questions... Cheers Catgmat

Here are the employment reports for last two years. Looks like the number of people seeking job in Finance has reduced. Not unexpected....

Any HEC Paris admits here..

I don't have much experience with this school, the little I had wasn't too positive...

In September 2008 I submitted my Candidate Profile for their preliminary feedback. That is the service I've found on their website and I liked it first. Soon after submitting my profile I received mail where HEC adcom said:

Thank you very much for your interest in the HEC MBA Program.

This email is to confirm that we have received your Candidate Profile and we will be in touch with you soon to provide preliminary feedback. We appreciate your taking the time to complete your Profile, and we encourage you to consult the HEC MBA Website or contact us directly if you have any further questions. We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Best regards
The HEC MBA Admissions Team

However, this was the last I've heard from them. The whole application season passed and nobody ever gave me any feedback. Not very professional...

On the other hand, I beleive HEC is a great school. I know they have very good programme and excellent professors. Procedures and processes of admission are not in the line with their reputation and that is something that is, to be honest, characteristic of many European schools.

As someone who applied to both Euro and US schools, I have to say that admissions process as a whole is much more "serious" in United States when compared to Europe. By this, I don't have any intention to say anything bad of othervise excellent Euro schools. MBA programes in US are much older and, therefore, admission services have much more experience. But... Is this kind of "weaker" professionalism of admission commities representative of every office and service in that school? Would career service be the same tomorrow when it comes to recruiting and placement issues?

My experience is slightly different. (Guess they've already made improvements in their process?) I submitted my candidate profile earlier this year and got this response roughly three weeks after:

Thank you for the interest you have expressed in the HEC MBA Program and for having taken the time to submit your Candidate Profile. We have carefully examined the form you provided and would like to provide you a preliminary evaluation of your profile.

Like all leading MBA programs, HEC requires candidates to submit official GMAT scores. Our participants currently have an average score of around 670. Based on the information you have provided, your GMAT results are well within our standard range, so we encourage you to have your official score sent to us using school code 0TL-6C-28.

The HEC MBA Program is taught in English, with the option to do coursework in French. In order to succeed in this environment, candidates whose mother tongue is not English or those who do not hold a university degree from an English-speaking institution must show a minimum TOEFL score of 100 (ibt), a minimum IELTS score of 7.5 or a minimum TOIEC score of 800. In your case, it seems that the English language proficiency requirement may be waived; however, we cannot grant final confirmation of a waiver until we have received your completed application.

HEC MBA participants learn as much from each other as from our excellent faculty and high-profile guest speakers. Our class size of just 200 and our ideal program length allow our participants to benefit from the experience of their classmates, who represent over 50 different nationalities and have on average 6 years of professional experience. We believe that the professional experience outlined in your Candidate Profile would equip you to make a positive contribution to the HEC MBA learning experience.

Overall, we feel that you are an excellent candidate for the HEC MBA Program. Hence, we encourage you to proceed to the next step of the admissions process by filling out our online application form https://www.etheryl.net/HEC/application/.

Once again, please understand that this evaluation is a recommendation and in no way represents a final decision concerning your application. Our selection process is a rigorous one, with the final decision taking all elements into consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or concerns.

(honestly looks like a generic response to me...but at least I got something)

I submitted my application last week and someone from the Adcom contacted me the day after, confirming that my application was complete and telling me they'll be in touch in a few days.

I had somewhat of a mixed experience with HEC; i too submitted my candidate profile, and they got back to me a few weeks later with the same email as above.

However, I also emailed them to find out whether there were any local Toronto alumni I could speak to about the school, and they replied back wanting to know a little about my background, etc. Once I replied to that note, I never heard back from them. Very strange

hi, i got an interview invite a few days ago. it says i need to prepare a 10 min. presentation...can this be on any topic?

any tips for the presentation and the interview? what kind of questions are asked?

thanks in advance!

kf13,

Yes, the presentation is on any topic you want. I recommend that you choose something that you are really interested in and not about WE or career. I guess the aim of this presentation is to see how convincing you can present a topic and how engaging you are for the listener. Show passion which always works! I heard of someone talking about colour theory in modern art during his interview.

For Q&A, I recommend that you know the MBA programme structure by heart, your career vision as well as SWOT analysis about yourself. Also value proposition, i.e. the how-I-will-contribute-to-the -programme and I-am-used-to-work-with-difficult-people, is very helpful. Cannot remember questions in detail, but one interviewer actually enjoyed to grill me, the other was super easy going.

Where is your interview?

Good luck!

Catgmat

Hi Catgmat,

Having my interviews in my home city. One is scheduled next week. The other interviewer hasn't gotten back to me yet, though.

Thank you for the advice!

kf13

Can anyone give some details for the bilingual stream?

1) If course material is taught in French, does this mean that there is less interaction between students in the two streams?
2) Can work assignments be submitted in English, or French only?
3) I imagine that not all courses are available in French, so would it be accurate to say that its a "subdivision" of the normal program, where students can choose to take some common courses in French as opposed to English?
4) Is there any indication of having completed the "bilingual stream" on the conferred degree?

Any other comments or experiences that you wish to share are welcomed.

It's just that some brillant teachers don't teach in English...
For instance, HEC has a very good reputation for Marketing and one of its teacher, the well known JN Kapferer teaches in French within the bilingual stream !!! $-)

For those interested in following HEC MBA academic and leisure activities on Twitter...

https://twitter.com/hecmbaparis

Cheers

Interesting..; Thks !

I found the application process for the master's program very positive. Three minor grievances, though:

1. For the MSc admissions, HEC is slower than its Anglo-Saxon counterparts.

2. There was no online option to pay for the application fee. This, by itself, is a rather trivial inconvenience. However, it leads to the third issue.

3. The French bank charges a €5 fee that I don't recall mentioned anywhere on the HEC website. I found out later from the admissions office that my transfer was not paid in full.

The first two problems aren't bad. The school tells you upfront when you can expect an official response. It is just personally stressful to wait - something experienced by any applicant for any school. Additionally, this is somewhat counterbalanced by the generous deadline for the first installment: one month. That gives you plenty of time to weigh your options.