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FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: Student Voices: From NYU to HEC, the MBA Exchange Experience |
Ashok Chandra, HEC Paris MBA Exchange student from NYU Stern School of Business What is it like to be a student at HEC Paris MBA? Student Voices is a student contributed section where current and past students share their first-hand experiences of life on campus and beyond. ———- The opportunity to be a student in an M.B.A. program only happens once in your life. You suspend many of your day to day activities to take two years to learn as much as possible and enjoy some time away from work. In the Spring of 2014, I realized that I would be finishing my M.B.A. journey within a year and wanted to enhance the experience I already had at New York University’s Stern School of Business. New York City is one of the best cities in the world to live and work in, but having already had a prior career working as an attorney in a New York law firm and in a New York corporation, I wanted to see how it would be living and potentially working abroad. I researched schools that worked closely with NYU and determined that HEC’s School of Management would be the best fit. The specializations that I read about were a completely different structure than NYU’s semester long classes and there appeared to be incredible opportunities for hands on work. A morning in Paris I arrived in Paris about a week before classes began and began to become reacquainted with the city. I had studied for a semester at the American University of Paris as an undergraduate many years ago. I had found an apartment in the 3d Arrondisement on Rue Charlot and Rue Bretagne, a bustling street with fresh food markets opening early and the always lively Marche des Enfants Rouge. As an added bonus, I was mere footsteps away from Deux Fois plus de Piment, an incredibly Szechuan restaurant that I frequented about four times a week during my stay in Paris. The MaPo Tofu at Deux Fois Plus De Piment, epice cinq! One of the spiciest dishes in the world I found that the best way to relearn the streets of Paris was to run them. I used an app that mapped my runs so I could discover new neighbourhoods and sights each day. One of my longest runs was a half marathon when I lost track of time enjoying the Parisian streets. On the first day of school, I had mapped out my trip to Jouy-en-Josas, having never done a test run. I took the RER C from Paris to Versailles Chantiers and switched there the two short stops to Jouy-en-Josas. I found the commute to be a fantastic way to catch up with reading. During my semester I read about a dozen novels on the train including the one that had always eluded me, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. The train, clean and rather quiet, is the perfect chance to read or think to yourself. Enjoying a margarita at Candelaria while reading Infinite Jest When I arrived at Jouy-en-Josas for the first time, I had to admit that I was rather lost. I did not know how to use the bus system or which direction HEC was. I saw some other student-looking people board a bus and followed and within 10 minutes, I was on the HEC campus. I found my way to building S, the business school, and made my way to the eLab where I was greeted by Professors Safars and Astebro, who explained the semester structure of the Entrepreneurship track. I chose this specialization because of my interest in the tech startup world. It gives business students the opportunity to work with inventors who have ideas and want to take them to market. I had the privilege to work, along with two other diligent and fantastic HEC students, Xavier Burtschell and Keerthi Koneru, with a preeminent cancer hospital and two of their top researchers. Throughout the semester, parallel to taking classes, we would meet with venture capitalists, high level pharmaceutical industry professionals, attorneys and regulators to determine how to get an idea to the business stage and what the business could look like within five years. After months of hard work, we had the opportunity to present our findings to a room full of professionals interested in these new businesses. HEC’s gymnasium in the foggy dawn Apart from the academics, I found the HEC campus to be a beautiful and serene location. The sprawling greens with numerous athletic activities ensured that no one was bored. Living in Paris, and being unwilling to drive, I unfortunately never took part in any of the night time festivities that my fellow business students engaged in at the residence Expansiel, but walking through the path in the morning, I always saw signs of the fun my classmates had. One of the most interesting things about my HEC experience was the diversity of the classroom. I was surrounded by people from France, the UK, China, India, Mexico and many other countries all coming from a different background. Learning from each other in such a small setting is something that is impossible to replicate. Beyond my academic experience, the time spent in Paris is one I will always cherish and hope to repeat again some time soon in the future. Life as a pedestrian is often fraught with inconveniences. This never seemed to be the case in Paris. I never had to wait more than five minutes for a metro and everything in the city is walkable. My neighbourhood in Paris Additionally, the people of Paris are incredibly nice and go out of their way to help you with the language if you try. I had many lessons at bars and during haircuts on new words and pronunciations. As a fan of the NFL, particularly fantasy football, I found a home at Rush Bar on Rue Saint Sebastien, one of the finest bars in the world, with Kevin, a great bartender and Peyton Manning fan. Kevin from Rush Bar. Stop by and say hi for me. Even though I was not in New York, I did not necessarily miss out any American events or activities. I was able to go and see World Wrestling Entertainment tour at Bercy with John Cena and Seth Rollins wrestling in the main event. I went see Julian Casablancas, the singer to The Strokes play a concert at Casino Paris as well as other concerts. When I wanted to join a gym, I found the CrossFit Louvre community to be very accepting and made several friends there that I hope to keep. Christmas time in Paris was a unique and unforgettable experience. I would often walk along the open air markets sipping a hot wine or admire the decorations that are unique to each neighbourhood. Seeing the Grand Palais opened as an ice skating rink was truly a marvel. Ice skating rink at the Grand Palais The experience I had in Paris and HEC was unforgettable and I thank everyone at HEC for being so friendly and making my stay fantastic. The post Student Voices: From NYU to HEC, the MBA Exchange Experience appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: Student Voices: Day in the Life with Meaghan |
Wonder what it’s like in the shoes of an HEC Paris MBA student? In the newest Student Voices blog, we have MBA student Meaghan Kappel take us through a typical day of life on campus. ———- Cafet I love this sunny café on campus. I often grab a coffee here in the morning or eat lunch here, and spend time between classes and meetings catching up on emails, readings, and homework. Group Work This was part of a class exercise for our Organizational Behavior class. We worked in groups of 5 on a simulation business game. The challenge was change management. Here our team celebrates an increase in employee buy-in (it’s the small things that matter!). This type of group work and interactive learning is such an integral part of the academic environment. Study Room I spent my lunch hour working with classmates on a career exercise called “Match Yourself to the Market”. Here we were helping a Venezuelan student plan a checklist for how to assess company culture in his job search. MBA Council Meeting Here, we are meeting to discuss our communication newsletter and upcoming culture weeks. As President of the MBA Student Council, I lead a team of 16 fellow students. Despite our busy schedules, we try to meet about once a month to share updates on everything from events to finances and professional club competitions. It’s been one of my most rewarding MBA experiences to date, a real opportunity to test my own leadership skills. It’s also been very humbling to see what I can do to improve before re-launching my professional career. Evening A Mexican friend was celebrating his birthday and a group of us decided to grab pizza at our favorite Italian restaurant just off-campus. Great way to unwind over a glass of wine and laughter! ———- Meaghan Kappel, HEC Paris MBA, Class of 2016 What is it like to be a student at HEC Paris MBA? Student Voices is a student contributed section where current and past students share their first-hand experiences of life on campus and beyond. The post Student Voices: Day in the Life with Meaghan appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: From the boardroom to the battlefield: Saint-Cyr Leadership Seminar |
The annual off campus leadership seminar at Saint-Cyr Military Academy is often a highlight for MBA participants. This year, the Class of 2016 (both Full-time and Part-time participants) headed to Brittany to participate in and lead a series of field exercises under the supervision of French army officers. Day 1 On the first day, the MBA participants travelled by bus from HEC Paris to Saint-Cyr and upon arrival were greeted by the various French officers in charge of the seminar. The military officers gave an overview of the program and explained the rules and regulations. The students were then divided into teams of 12 and assigned an army officer. Army uniforms were distributed along with the rations that they would need for the following day. Day 2 Rise and shine; early morning wakeup call at 6 am. Following a quick breakfast, the teams split up and started a series of warm-up exercises. Whether manoeuvring a series of boards to get a team across an imaginary mine field or using ropes to walk across a v-shaped metal beam, the participants took turns leading their group through the exercises. The afternoon activities continued with an even more daunting list of challenges. Bridge: Build a bridge made of wood logs and rope to lead a team across a lake Fort: Use a set of materials to traverse a fort and rescue an injured colleague Raft: Construct a raft out of floats and rope and figure out how to get a team across a lake in the most efficient manner Tunnel: Lead a team through a dark underground passage while remaining calm and collective At the end of each exercise, the group shared their thoughts on how the activity went, if the goal was accomplished and how the group leader performed. These periods of reflection allowed the students to properly see not only how they lead a team but also how they work with others in high pressure situations and under tight deadlines. Day 3 Another early wake up call. The bus left the Saint-Cyr Quotquidan campus and headed towards the Brittany coast. Destination: Fort de Penthievre on the Quiberon peninsula. While the 2nd day concentrated solely on group activities, this 3rd day combined both group activities and individual exercises. Walking across a tightrope above a rocky cliff? Zip-lining with a view of the Atlantic Ocean? Working as a team to climb up an inverted wall? Check, check and check! The business and military spheres require many similar qualities: leadership, decisiveness, commitment, and self-knowledge, to name but a few. These activities challenged the student’s physical and mental toughness and prepared them to tackle obstacles they previously would never have imagined. Starting a new project or learning a new skill requires the same sort of mind-set. Motivating someone to cross a high beam is not so different from encouraging a team to complete a project that has been confronted with various hurdles. Participants in previous years have described the experience as unforgettable, as marking a real change in their educational and professional development, a sentiment echoed by Xavier Boute, who is both an officer in the French army and an affiliate professor in Economics at HEC Paris. – “When students say what they remember from their MBA, they remember two things: one of them is always this seminar […] Because there is a clear before and after.” Listen to what some MBA students have to say about their experience on SoundCloud: Additional reading: The L Word by Timo Marquez (MBA.16) The post From the boardroom to the battlefield: Saint-Cyr Leadership Seminar appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: Celebrating 25 years of the MBA Tournament |
“MBAT is the meeting ground for MBA students across Europe, and new friendships and networking opportunities are at the heart of the tournament,” - Bernard Garrette, Associate Dean, HEC Paris MBA Basketball, HEC Paris MBAT 2015 Billiards- HEC Paris MBAT 2015 This year’s MBA Tournament (MBAT) celebrated its 25th anniversary. With 16 participating schools from across Europe the three-day event, which took place May 7-9, was an opportunity for our MBA students to not only show their athletic prowess but also work together on a large-scale (and very real) project. HEC Paris Soccer Team, MBAT 2015 Salsa performance, HEC Paris MBAT 2015 Starting in November, a managing team consisting of 25+ students have been working hard organizing the entire 3-day event. From partnerships and university relationships to marketing and logistics, the tournament is a hands-on lesson on leadership, teamwork and project management. Volleyball, HEC Paris MBAT 2015 In honor of the 25th MBAT, this year there were 25 sporting events such as badminton, cricket, football, rowing, golf and tennis and 3 major soirées – Casino Royale, 90s Retro Party (Battle of the Bands) and Tex-Mex Fiesta (featuring the Salsa Competition). Participating schools included: Final results for this year’s tournament: 1st LBS, 2nd HEC Paris, 3rd IE Interview with some of this year’s participants: https://soundcloud.com/hec-paris/mbat-2 ... erspective St Gallen MBA produced video: https://cameo.tv/c/ETxQTBzv IESE blog post: The MBA Tournament- An Absolute Blast https://blog.iese.edu/mba/mba-tournament/ To view all the action from this year’s tournament, check out the hashtag #MBAT2015 The post Celebrating 25 years of the MBA Tournament appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: Ctrl+P – A Printing Revolution |
Printing is the bane of most students’ lives, an unavoidable expense, especially for those living on a campus environment. So what would you do if given the opportunity to print all your notes, assignments, and even personal documents, completely free of charge? Well, that is exactly what Justin Ahn and Mark Thomas, HEC Paris MBA alumni (Class of 2014) and co-founders of Ctrl+P, are proposing. Ctrl+P is a service that allows students to print at no cost, by forgoing an inch or so of paper-space on their document to banner advertising: a simple idea, with a wealth of potential. Not only does it offer a convenient solution for the students, it provides companies with the opportunity to maximize their exposure to a target demographic. The platform can even be used to target specific student profiles, so that companies can really tailor their content and make the most of their advertising space, be it to drive their sales or to even recruit. An example of how the advertisement will appear on the page. As former students, Justin and Mark came up with the idea after having experienced the considerable expense of printing first-hand. Living in a campus environment was another catalyst, as students usually do not have access to their own personal facilities, especially if they have had to move in from abroad. We sat down with them to find out more about their fledgling business: What are your immediate plans for Ctrl+P? Our immediate plans for expansion at the moment are centered around universities in the Paris region. We currently want to focus on schools because we see the segment pain as a low-hanging fruit. More long-term, we feel if we can win France as a country, the possibility is open to try other venues that are more public, or other countries in Europe. How did studying at HEC Paris help you in this process? Pursuing our MBAs at HEC Paris has been quite integral to our startup plans – firstly, having a capable co-founder is significant to any venture, and so we were able to meet each other here; secondly, given our plans to launch in France, having access to a network as wide and deep as HEC Paris’ has been valuable in opening a lot of doors for us in terms of finding potential clients as well as soliciting advice. Start-ups have been prolific recently for their potential for success, but also because of the risks associated with them. What have been some of your main challenges in setting up your business? Regarding difficulties, our most significant challenge has been the technical product management. As neither of us come from a product background, the learning curve has been steep in terms of keeping development within our intended timeline. However, with the inevitable delays has come a lot of knowledge accumulation that will serve us to move faster going forward. What motivated you to go into the start-up scene? We’re both quite keen on business development, especially since we come from financial services-oriented backgrounds – it’s a different experience to go from analysis and advisory to actual execution. Our product, Ctrl+P really excites us as, as we feel we’ve identified a real need that both customers and clients are constantly struggling with. Having said that, we feel the French start-up scene is burgeoning at the moment with activity and the potential to be part of a larger movement is really exciting for us as well. What is your ultimate goal for the business? Our goal is to build a start-up that can be expanded across Europe. We see Paris as a great benchmark – if we can successfully scale enough in this city, then we see no reason why our model shouldn’t be applicable anywhere else. To find out more about Ctrl+ P, visit their website and their Facebook page. The post Ctrl+P – A Printing Revolution appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: Celebrating 16 months of hard work: the 2015 graduation ceremony |
The 2015 HEC Paris Commencement ceremony was held on June 12th and marked the final milestone of the MBA program. The MBA participants along with their family and friends were welcomed on campus for a full day of celebration, speeches and ceremonies. The day started off with a lunch cocktail where participants updated each other on post-graduation plans and introduced their loved ones to their fellow classmates. Official photos were taken, caps and gowns were distributed and live jazz music all set the scene for a festive start of the day. Following lunch, the participants and their families were led to the MBA Graduation Ceremony. The Associate dean of the MBA Program, Bernard Garrette started the ceremony off by welcoming everyone to HEC and congratulating the participants on their MBA accomplishments. This speech was accompanied by several videos that highlighted the best moments from the year. Following this welcome, a select number of students were called on stage to receive an Academic Award for having the highest GPAs of the class. Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for: the degree granting ceremony. Students were called on stage one by one to receive their degree. Academic Award recipients The MBA participants then made their way outside for a group photo before walking into the big tent for the main ceremony. Ten MBA students were recognized for their leadership and academic achievement with a “Dean’s List” award and were invited on stage and congratulated in front of the whole school. This year’s guest speaker was Denis Kessler (H.73), CEO of Scor, a financial services company. Other ceremony highlights included the Class gift from the graduating class who presented a donation for future students and a short video produced by students parodying French TV. Dean’s List recipients After the ceremony, newly graduated students, family, friends, staff and faculty proceeded outside for a reception to top off the celebratory event. HEC Paris MBA, Class of 2015 https://www.facebook.com/HECParisMBA/po ... 8306399361 https://cameo.tv/c/LXdQJshv https://cameo.tv/c/2RSk4dNn View the highlights of the HEC Paris commencement ceremony on Storify The post Celebrating 16 months of hard work: the 2015 graduation ceremony appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: Summer time is no time to relax |
Summer is officially here. For some, that conjures images of a relaxing beachside resort. However, for many of our students, it will mean reconnecting with the professional world. From fieldwork projects and internships to business case analyses, our students are taking a break from the classroom to put their business knowledge into practice. One of these summer activities is a Fieldwork Project. This year, students have chosen a variety of projects ranging from product development and strategy to operations and finance. They allow the student to take a strategic look at an issue within a company. Some students have chosen to work individually while others have opted to work within teams of three or four fellow students. Listen here to hear about the Fieldwork experience from some of this year’s graduates. Another option this summer is the newly designed Summer Business Challenge. Students had the opportunity to choose from a variety of cases proposed by various companies. They will have the entire summer to work on their strategic case analysis and will present their findings in front of company representatives in September. With classes over until the fall, this allows students to dedicate their full undivided attention to this one project and gain deeper insight into the strategic decisions of a company. This fall, we will see students starting to customize their MBA experience. Some will go off on a semester exchange at one of our partner business schools while others will concentrate their studies on one of five Specializations. It will also be a very important time for the MBA Council which will be in charge of welcoming a whole new set of students. With a little more than a month to go before the new school year, this quick jump back into “the corporate world” is quickly ticking away. Class of 2016 enjoying a drink along the Seine before summer break. The post Summer time is no time to relax appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: The Start of Something New: Welcoming Our September ’15 Intake |
Plato said that ”the beginning is the most important part of the work”, and Monday 7th of September was definitely the start of something new and the first day of orientation for our S15 MBA intake. The day began with a welcome breakfast, where they met their classmates and were introduced to the MBA team and staff. The diverse and international nature of HEC Paris MBA was displayed in Professor Schulte’s ice-breaking session, where it was discovered that there were many students in the room who looked like ‘the next James Bond’, could speak more than four languages, as well as sing passionate love songs in French and Hindi. It was also a new beginning for Peter Todd, the new dean of HEC Paris and his welcome address was well received by the students. Although a fresh start in a new place often means a lot of information to take in, the students took it all in their stride and it was evident from the number of questions that they asked that they were very excited in particular about all that the MBA Council and Student Reps have to offer. The first week was dominated mostly by ‘Act Your Success’, a series of fun and wacky presenting, writing and improvisation workshops that provide MBA students with the necessary communication skills that they need to succeed in the program and in the professional world. The students got to work in groups and showcase their creativity as they competed against each other and the scenario was to design and pitch an idea for a new rollercoaster that would situated in the centre of Paris. With ideas ranging from roller-coasters for pets, to ‘love tunnels’ for couples, the presentations were highly amusing and original and it was truly evident how hard students had worked. The Negosim seminars were the main parts of week two. With these seminars, students had to work in teams and this time, the task was to virtually build an international company and try to finish with the highest stock price. Just like with ‘Act Your Success’, students really gave it their all and for three days, the classrooms in the S building buzzed with bustle, adrenaline, team spirit and playful team rivalry. At the end of the two welcome weeks, the MBA Council organized an integration weekend in Bordeaux for the new intake, where they had the chance to bond and get to know each other even more as they played sports like paint balling and indulged in some wine tasting. The two welcome weeks were definitely crammed with activities but every activity offered a learning opportunity for the new MBA intake and it’s been great to see them getting to know each other better as they acclimatize to the HEC Paris environment. The post The Start of Something New: Welcoming Our September ’15 Intake appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
FROM HEC Paris Admissions Blog1: [Video] MBA Welcome Week |
Relive the MBA Welcome Week experience. The post [Video] MBA Welcome Week appeared first on HEC MBA Blog. |
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