Typical dilemma: HEC ($) vs INSEAD

Question

I got admitted to both HEC Paris (with a small scholarship) and INSEAD (Fontainebleau campus in France). Classes will start on January 2021. I'm 31, based in Italy with a legal background in capital markets/M&A and want to transition to Private Equity in Europe (or consultancy/investment banking as an intermediate step towards private equity).

I'm trying to decide between the two. My analysis:

HEC Paris: 
Duration: 16 months, with a summer internship opportunity
Cost of Attendance: €72,000 total tuition for a 16-month program, minus a €10,000 scholarship. Have to pay living expenses for 16 months .
+ As a 16 months program, HEC could provide greater flexibilty for a horizontal career boost

INSEAD: 
Duration: 10 months (1 year), with a summer internship opportunity.
Cost of Attendance: €89,000 total tuition for a 10-month program, with no scholarship. Have to pay living expenses for 1 year.
+ INSEAD has excellent reputation for placing students in consultancy / good reputation for placing in private equity

Risk: obviously COVID-19 might make attending both HEC and INSEAD challenging during 2021. This risk is bigger for a 1 year program vs 2 year program.

I would appreciate to hear your point of view.

Leadership · Answer

glm89 .. Buonasera

I just added a poll in your post to let users to suggest you quickly. I am not an expert in the sector that you want to get into. Believing that you have done good research and contacted alumni from both schools, I think INSEAD will be a better fit for you. Obviously, INSEAD will be costly. I am sure that extra thousands of Euros will give you a better return post MBA. Chances to get the desired post-MBA role will be high if you pick INSEAD. Do you have an option or can you defer for the next intake? However, we cannot predict the future. Things can go either way. I would suggest you contact a few alumni, who are in PE roles and get some insights from them. All the best. Ciao.

Nikhil · Answer

Just posting links to some similar discussions

https://gmatclub.com/forum/admitted-yal ... 19440.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/hec-vs-insead-172239.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/hec-paris-vs ... 19586.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/hec-vs-insea ... 00299.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/imd-insead-o ... 50374.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/insead-hec-e ... 77670.html

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admits!!!

At your point in career I feel the value of an internship won’t be that big. Also, if COVID 19 is still there when you are looking for your internship, it won’t be helpful to find one. So I am thinking unless you need an internship, I would take the 1 year program...

Posted from my mobile device

rtbs15 · Answer

I think that INSEAD > HEC on most metrics you can assess, especially if you're interested in a career outside of France, so cost shouldn't be a key factor in your decision.

Having said this, as you point out, only topic that could make me doubt is the one year duration. Who knows when we'll be out of this mess. There will always be movement in consulting (there is some movement in PE/VC now), but I don't think anyone can give you the answer on when things will go back to normal.

Still, maybe due to bias, I'd go for INSEAD.

Good luck!

ag3012 · Answer

I think you should go for Insead. Its just that Insead trumps HEC in networking, reputation among recruiters, and overall perception of quality. And you will find candidates at Insead who will really challenge you to improve yourself during and after your MBA.

Typical dilemma: HEC ($) vs INSEAD

HEC ($) vs INSEAD

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards