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Stenus
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Admitted to HEC Grande Ecole and ESADE MSc 19 Feb 2015, 12:00
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Hi, I have been admitted to both the MSc in International Management/CEMS at ESADE and to the MiM Grande Ecole at HEC Paris. I am from Europe and I hold a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. I am interested in the consulting industry or in a general management position. I am not really interested in the Finance/IB sector. I have basic skills in both French and Spanish and I think that I could gain fluency while studying in the respective country. However, I know that I probably won't be able to work in Spain or France right after graduation, so I would prefer a job in an English- or German-speaking country.

I know that both schools are excellent choices. Right now, I am leaning towards ESADE, since the school seems to fit a little bit better to me personally. I am more comfortable with going to Barcelona. However, HEC's reputation seems to be slightly better than ESADE's and I am not sure if it would be the right decision to walk away from a prestigious school like HEC.

I'd be interested in your opinion. Thank you for your help!
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mooncakes
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Admitted to HEC Grande Ecole and ESADE MSc 19 Feb 2015, 17:44
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I would advise looking at the median salary from each school, ideally for living costs. Poke around their career services as well and see if you can find anything about consulting. I know that a previous HEC student who went into consulting mentioned that if you can't speak perfect French, you're out of luck breaking into strategy consulting in France. Try contacting the career services and/or alumni and ask them how well they place into German and English speaking countries post-graduation. I know HEC's Grand Ecole has a gap year that might give you more time to look for German/English consulting jobs. I also think HEC's name might carry you a bit more than ESADE's, but that's mainly speculation.
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Stenus
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Admitted to HEC Grande Ecole and ESADE MSc 19 Feb 2015, 23:37
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mooncakes
I would advise looking at the median salary from each school, ideally for living costs. Poke around their career services as well and see if you can find anything about consulting. I know that a previous HEC student who went into consulting mentioned that if you can't speak perfect French, you're out of luck breaking into strategy consulting in France. Try contacting the career services and/or alumni and ask them how well they place into German and English speaking countries post-graduation. I know HEC's Grand Ecole has a gap year that might give you more time to look for German/English consulting jobs. I also think HEC's name might carry you a bit more than ESADE's, but that's mainly speculation.
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Thank you for your help! While the median starting salary at HEC is higher, ESADE ranks higher at international mobility (90% work outside of Spain). However, ESADE's average salary gets pushed down by the 10% who remain in Spain, where the salary is very low at the moment.

How important is the CEMS degree for General Managenet positions? At ESADE I got a guaranteed spot. Thats not the case at HEC, where I can apply during the second year...

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mooncakes
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Admitted to HEC Grande Ecole and ESADE MSc 21 Feb 2015, 00:31
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Stenus
mooncakes
I would advise looking at the median salary from each school, ideally for living costs. Poke around their career services as well and see if you can find anything about consulting. I know that a previous HEC student who went into consulting mentioned that if you can't speak perfect French, you're out of luck breaking into strategy consulting in France. Try contacting the career services and/or alumni and ask them how well they place into German and English speaking countries post-graduation. I know HEC's Grand Ecole has a gap year that might give you more time to look for German/English consulting jobs. I also think HEC's name might carry you a bit more than ESADE's, but that's mainly speculation.

Thank you for your help! While the median starting salary at HEC is higher, ESADE ranks higher at international mobility (90% work outside of Spain). However, ESADE's average salary gets pushed down by the 10% who remain in Spain, where the salary is very low at the moment.

How important is the CEMS degree for General Managenet positions? At ESADE I got a guaranteed spot. Thats not the case at HEC, where I can apply during the second year...

Posted from my mobile device
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I'm not sure what you mean by general management positions, but I don't think it's a huge deal. CEMS is pretty cool, but I've never been too impressed by it. The issue is that some of the schools are not as prestigious as others, which kinda brings down the weight of the entire thing. If you've got HEC Paris and CEMS on your resume, it's the first that's going to impress people, at least in France and the UK. That's not to say CEMS is useless, but there's decreasing marginal returns to academic laurels. Same deal with ESADE, I'd imagine.

That being said, you seem keen on ESADE, so I'd go with that, honestly. It would be a shame to go somewhere solely because it might be slightly more recognized. You mentioned Barcelona seems like a better fit for you, and that's probably more important than a marginal difference on "prestige" or starting salary. ESADE's clearly doing well in placing internationally, so finding a job in a German/English country shouldn't be too much of a problem, though I would inquire as to the specific breakdowns so you have a clearer picture. Both of these schools accepted you, which means they want you, so don't be afraid to poke around for otherwise hidden info. They can probably offer much more detailed information than I can :p
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Admitted to HEC Grande Ecole and ESADE MSc 22 Feb 2015, 00:16
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Stenus
mooncakes
I would advise looking at the median salary from each school, ideally for living costs. Poke around their career services as well and see if you can find anything about consulting. I know that a previous HEC student who went into consulting mentioned that if you can't speak perfect French, you're out of luck breaking into strategy consulting in France. Try contacting the career services and/or alumni and ask them how well they place into German and English speaking countries post-graduation. I know HEC's Grand Ecole has a gap year that might give you more time to look for German/English consulting jobs. I also think HEC's name might carry you a bit more than ESADE's, but that's mainly speculation.

Thank you for your help! While the median starting salary at HEC is higher, ESADE ranks higher at international mobility (90% work outside of Spain). However, ESADE's average salary gets pushed down by the 10% who remain in Spain, where the salary is very low at the moment.

How important is the CEMS degree for General Managenet positions? At ESADE I got a guaranteed spot. Thats not the case at HEC, where I can apply during the second year...

Posted from my mobile device

I'm not sure what you mean by general management positions, but I don't think it's a huge deal. CEMS is pretty cool, but I've never been too impressed by it. The issue is that some of the schools are not as prestigious as others, which kinda brings down the weight of the entire thing. If you've got HEC Paris and CEMS on your resume, it's the first that's going to impress people, at least in France and the UK. That's not to say CEMS is useless, but there's decreasing marginal returns to academic laurels. Same deal with ESADE, I'd imagine.

That being said, you seem keen on ESADE, so I'd go with that, honestly. It would be a shame to go somewhere solely because it might be slightly more recognized. You mentioned Barcelona seems like a better fit for you, and that's probably more important than a marginal difference on "prestige" or starting salary. ESADE's clearly doing well in placing internationally, so finding a job in a German/English country shouldn't be too much of a problem, though I would inquire as to the specific breakdowns so you have a clearer picture. Both of these schools accepted you, which means they want you, so don't be afraid to poke around for otherwise hidden info. They can probably offer much more detailed information than I can :p
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I think you are right. In addition, with my business background, I am not sure if the HEC Grande Ecole program is the ideal fit academically. Less than half of the students hold a bachelor's degree in either Management, Finance or Economics. So I won't learn many new things during the first year.