mbaan
I would love to understand why so many people are applying to HEC Paris MBA? According to Businessweek, HEC Paris MBA has the lowest acceptance rate (17%) and one of the highest average GMAT (690) of all MBA programmes in Europe. Why are non-French speaking candidates so interested about France instead of the UK, US, Australia or Asia? The French economy is one of the weakest in Europe and a degree from a French school is not recognized in most regions of the world. The average salaries of MBA graduates in France are lower than in most countries. French is a MUST to find a suitable job in France and French is one of the most difficult languages to learn. Even native French speakers with a regional accent (instead of the Paris one) are having trouble getting any respect. Just imagine someone trying to learn French during the MBA...
I'm very curious to hear about your motivations. I have to admit that I was very puzzled when I saw the admission stats from the HEC Paris MBA compared to INSEAD, IMD or LBS.
Let me try, I don't know about the others but let me give my reasoning:
When I started looking for a school to do an MBA I had three things in my mind:
Non-english experience
Good opportunities in industry
World class Branding of a business school
I am from India and English is the acceptable professional and academic language here. Personally I always wanted to spend a couple of years or more in a non-english speaking country. It is purely a different cultural experience I am looking out for. An experience where I can have a complete cultural shock and make myself as uncomfortable as possible.
France has some of the world leading companies in various industries- Schneider, Alstom, Areva, Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Safran, Thales, Cassidian, etc. These are some very big names in their respective fields. Most of them are international and are known for recruiting international candidates. I know it because I have spoken to Alumni. Also, HEC Paris is closely associated with these industries. Insead and LBS on the other hand are focused more on consultancy/banking. These companies also have major operations in India. I would like to come back home after few years, so I become a perfect candidate for them too.
HEC Paris is consistently ranked as #1 business school in the world. MBA program is not as highly ranked because of several reasons, but it carries a strong brand whatsoever. Yes, if you ask a layman if he knows about HEC, he would say no. He would have just heard about Harvard or Wharton or LBS. All that's marketing. Anyone who has done research on business school would know HEC. I have spoken to a lot of people who did international MBA from Singapore, US, UK and all of them acknowledge the strong brand of HEC.
French economy is not the weakest, infact historically it has been second strongest in Europe (Germany being the first). It did go into recession but apparently came out of it in no time. I have been closely following them.
The average salaries of MBA graduates in France are lower than in most countries? I don't know how you got this data. If you got it through websites such as FT or even respective B school brochures, don't buy it. There is a huge catch - most of the salaries are reported 3 years after graduation and not the signing salary. Also, salary depends on region you live in. For example, within US itself people in California have much higher salary than their peers in Texas. But it doesn't matter cause they pay higher taxes and cost of living is also high. Salaries also depend on industries. Technology industries will not pay as high as consultancy. Consultancy will not pay as high as Financial or Sales. It is obvious HEC's average salary will be less than Insead or LBS. But if you compare it with candidates getting into similar industry, the salaries are pretty consistent worldwide. I know for my industry a fresh MBA graduate can get anywhere around 60,000 to 80,000 euros which is close to 100k USD.
French language is highly recommended, but it is not hard to learn. You need to give it some time. I have been learning it since last 2-3 months and I have learnt enough to survive the local life or do basic networking. But if you want a job in consultancy, sales, etc which requires customer interaction- you need to master French language. For jobs like strategy, project management, etc. intermediate level is good enough as most of the technology companies are international and they do business in English. Again, I know several alumni who have got a job in these companies and didn't know French.
Hope it helps!