HEC Grand Ecole 2011 intake

yeah....am heading to em lyon... hope to see u thr soon... good luck with the preparation



also, do join the fb group i hav mentioned in the previous page...

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=187624267921792

Dear all,

thank you for the interesting topic!

I have a little concern and I hope that one of you can help me ) I am planning to apply to HEC for the winter intake. However, my GMAT is pretty low... wanted to retake it, but given that I tool it on the 20th of Dec, I am not able to register for a date that is earlier that 31 days from the last exam taken .This means that I will have to make the following decision: to apply in January with my low GMAT or to retake it (and hopefully get a higher score) and apply in March in the spring application session.
My question is the following: is it true that one has less chances to be admitted if they apply in the last application session? Do i have higher chances if I apply now rather than in March?
Please heeeellppp ))

The problem with the Msc in Management courses is that applicants have very little if not any work experience...Hence the adcoms will have to give a little more importance to academic performance and GMAT scores than for MBA admissions... Subsequently, the average GMAT score for HEC is 720.

That is not to say that it is hard to get in without 700+ scores... maybe a lot of internships, extra curriculars and great GPAs will help... but the favour naturally tilts in favour of those having all 4... ( my 2 cents )

But it boils down to ur choices.... Are u okay with gaining admission thru the same admission process to other equally good schools ( ESCP, EMLYON)? If so, then u could go ahead and apply in this round... If HEC is your sole target, then u probably should retake the GMAT....but that is ultimately ur decision, as only u can judge your overall profile ( extracurriculars et al) and know if u stand a good chance for admission with ur current score

Good luck

Dear Hichlypups,

thank you very much for the prompt reply!! Thank you for the detailed answer as well! This has been very helpful!
Let me tell you a bit about my background:
I am a graduate from Bocconi university in Milan and i think that my final GPA is pretty good. (102/110)
Currenly, I have been doing a 10 months internship in France in English (i am studying french meanwile hehe). I did an exchange during my undergrad and I have a pretty international background. Unfortunately, my gmat is 640... i am convinced I can do better as I think one of the reasons to score so low was the fact that I paniced during the exam (blush). I do not know if I should risk and apply now with this low grade...or wait a bit,retake the GMAT(hopefully get a higher score) and apply in Feb ... I am just afraid that in Feb there are less places and less chanced for admission...ofc this is entirely my theory and I do hope that you can provide me with some insight regarding this concern. I completely agree with you that the GMAT is part of the application and not the sole criteria...nevertheless, I do need some help to make a decision...
I want to go to HEC only (although I will choose some of the other schools as a backup plan)..but HEC is what I am interested in.
Having said all this, I would be really grateful if you can give me your opinion again!

And thank you again for your help...exactly what I have been looking for !!

Regards

hey

if i were u, i certainly would retake the GMAT and apply if i thought i could do better...

U hav a good gpa, internships ( the fact that it is in france will work to your advantage), a degree from the reputed bocconi.... coupled with a good gmat score, i would certainly say u hav a good chance for HEC...

will ur chances for admission in the last round be diminished is anybody's guess in this case.... The SAI doesn't release applicant data so we have no way of knowing, but i can take a guess....

The following is my theory and feel free to contradict it....

The SAI admission process has 3 rounds... 1st round for gmat scores above 700 and the remaining rounds for any gmat score

I assume that most of those who are interested in applying will have written the GMAt before R1.... Now since all of the applicants who have 700+ scores will apply in R1, the rest of the rounds will have scores below it for the most part. Indeed a large number of places will have been filled in R1 itself given the importance attached to the GMAt score, but there still will be several vacant spots.

Assuming that a majority of applicants in R2 and R3 have below 700 in gmat, if u were to walk in with a 700+ score along with that good profile of urs, i am sure u have a good chance....

But it depends on whether u are very confident of scoring far higher than 640... if not, waiting for the next round is futile

Thank you so much for sharing your opinion!!

I wrote SAI and the answer I got was the following: "All 5 schools study all individual applications for all sessions. So there is no actual difference between the three sessions. " and " You cannot apply to two consecutive rounds and there is no less places at the Spring session."
Well, lets hope we can trust the word of the Sai admission officer.... I have also written to HEC's admission office so I will update you as soon as I have some answer )

Many thanks once again!

ah... well, good luck then... let me know how it turns out

Dear hycklypups,

this is the answer from HEC admission office:
"Well, in general we always keep seats for the spring session of course but maybe less than for the winter session. It depends a little on the quality of the candidates from the winter session.
Don't forget to change your session on the application system if you have already created your account

best regards
britta
"

Any thoughts haha?

lol....at least they were honest... ...

If i were in your position, i seriously wud hav no idea what to do....

looks like u ll be taking a gamble either way.... but still, even if the no. of admitted students are less in the last round, i dont think its going to be too less... people with good profiles will stand a chance... else why have a final round at all?

I think i should stop confusing you..

THis is a tough decision! As hicklypups said it is a bit of a gamble to retake the GMAT now. You could do better or worst. Only you know if you feel confident enough to do better.
In case you get a lower GMAT score that in your first attempt then I would say that your chances will be less because of that.

BUT we are not the adcoms so it is hard to judge

Good luck with your app anyway

P.

I am going to apply for the last session to HEC (first choice) and ESCP (second choice).

I got a 750 GMAT and did four internships (each one 8 to 12 weeks), one in cosmetics, one for a large German chemical company in Tokyo, one in business strategy at Vodafone and one as a visiting associate at the Boston Consulting Group. My GPA should be among the top 25% at WHU in Germany. I already did an exchange semester last spring at ESSEC and I liked the concept of Grande école.

I am hoping to get into HEC and wish you all the best of luck.

hEY )

May I ask why you are not applying to ESSEC too? You have already done an exchange there, were you disappointed from the school or there are other reasons?

)

I just want to experience something new and HEC has also a better program than ESSEC. Also, I do not like Cergy so much. I know that Jouy will probably not be so much of a better experience, but I can live with that

Hi 0987654312

I'm at Bocconi too, in 3rd year of BIEM. I did the SAI (only HEC and ESCP) and ESSEC winter session. What session did you choose in the end?? DId you take the GMAT again?

hmm all I'm seeing in here are ppl expecting not to get into Grandes Ecoles with GMAT scores of less than 700-720 ... well to all the ppl out there that don't have such high scores, don't worry... ur not dead ;p

Although i have exellent extra curicular acitivites and was consistently ranked in the top 3 during my BA in economics ... well, i messed up my GMAT for a reason and just got a 650. With no time to retake it (31 days later) i had to apply with that GMAT score...

Guess what, got admitted to HEC, ESCP 2011 intake and am currently on EMlyon's waiting list.

Conclusion: GMAT is just a S M A L L part of ur application eventhough many ppl tend to convince u otherwise ... i got accepted to the top 2 master's programs in europe even with an average gmat score.

So yea, just do you're best and dont be influenced by others.

Good luck to all of you

Admissibility results for the SAI summer session are out tomorrow at 9! Anybody else applying/get the email?

Dear all,

i just saw the SAI results of the Spring session and i have been invited for an interview in all the schools. However, I am concerned that they invite a lot of people to those interviews and that you really have to make a difference at the interview itself in order to increase ur chances.
Has anyone (apart from hicklypups--thank youuuu) gone through the interview? Could you share with us your experience? Any recommendations? Do you remember any of the questions?

Thank you so much in advance for your help! Very appreciated )