Should I apply to HEC Paris?

Question

I have a GMAT score of 680. Professional background: QA Test Engineer, 4+ years of experience, Under Grad: BTECH, 7.74 CGPA. Should I go ahead and apply to HEC Paris? Please advise.

Posted from my mobile device

ReadingRaccoon · Answer

Hello! I assume you plan to apply for the MBA program. The current average for the MBA program of HEC Paris is 690. So yours is slightly below average. If you are an Indian AND an engineer working in IT, you become part of an overrepresented pool of applicants. So I'd suggest you bump up your GMAT score by at least 30-40 points. You have not mentioned other details of your profile - it would make sense to get your profile evaluated in the HEC MBA page.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

Aratrika25 · Answer

Yeah I already did that. They said I can go ahead and apply. So what should I do, according to you?

Posted from my mobile device

ReadingRaccoon · Answer

Ah,ok! Well, I'd still suggest you get your score up to 710+ to maximize your chances of getting a call. But if you're short of time, give it a shot. Make sure you write fantastic essays and tell stand-out stories

All the best!

Posted from my mobile device

All the best! Posted from my mobile device

Aratrika25 · Answer

Thank you so much.

Posted from my mobile device

MiMEssay · Answer

Hi there,

Before I start with the question and therefore your profile evaluation, I’d like to clarify that there are a couple of factors, other than the ones you have provided, like your extracurriculars, your key highlights, and your internships that play an important role in your chance acceptance and thus in getting an admit from the top business schools.

That said, you have provided limited information for me to give you an accurate estimation of your chances of acceptance at a school like HEC. Having said that, let’s begin with your profile evaluation on the basis of the information provided above.

Academically, for an engineer, you have a pretty good GPA of 7.74, which showcases your academic prowess and should allow you to target HEC.

As far as your work experience goes, since an MBA is a manager's degree and requires significant work experience, your 4 years of work experience as a QA Test Engineer is slightly on the lower end.

Since you haven’t mentioned the company’s name/brand, I would like to tell you that a big brand name plays a crucial role in the selection process, and therefore will give an upper-hand to the candidates having more extensive work experience hailing from the big 4 brands. Also, MBA specializations require the students to showcase leadership skills and initiative-taking capabilities, hence you ought to explain and highlight the major projects of your work and how these experiences helped you develop and further groom your skills and knowledge. Also, ensure that you highlight why you chose your firms, how you have gone beyond the role, any initiatives you undertook, any kind of impact created to establish a connection with your goals, and portray the knowledge gained from these experiences. Properly highlighting this would allow you to stand at par with candidates with more extensive work experience from big brands.

As for your GMAT, your overall score is a bit on the lower end, and to target the MBA program at HEC, an average of 710+ is required. Therefore, I would highly recommend that you retake the GMAT to improve your score by 30-40 points and aim for the permissible score or above to increase your chances. To give your profiel a boost, you can also take up certain certifications in management like Sigma 6 or volunteering initiatives and CSR activities with NGOs to bolster your extracurriculars and thus build a holistic profile.

Speaking of your chances of getting accepted at HEC, since this prestigious school falls under the dream category, you roughly stand around 40-50% chance of getting accepted. In order to further improve your chances, you would need to ensure that you have a very strong application (consisting of - Essays, LORs, and Resume) to back your profile. You need to showcase your journey, what makes you different from your peers, and how you are a great value addition to the school. A strong application increases your chances of acceptance by up to 30%!

Moreover, when applying abroad, in order to hedge your bets wisely, it is always better to target a mix of dream, competitive, and safe schools. Having said that, if you want to know more about other top B-schools that you can be targeting, you can take up a FREE Profile Evaluation that will give you more accurate and personalized suggestions based on your inputs.

Click on the link below to avail your free evaluation:

https://www.mim-essay.com/profile-evaluation

Here, you can also Book a Free consulting session with one of our consultants who through their expertise can gauge the competitiveness of your profile and help you chalk a winning strategy to bag an admit from your target schools and programs.

Hope this helped!

MBAandBeyond · Answer

Hi Aratrika25 , Hope you're doing well! You have provided very few details to get a comprehensive evaluation. But based on the information, here are my two cents: The average gmat for HEC stands at 690. So, I believe yours is competitive. Though the notion that's prevalent is Indian applicants (assuming you're Indian) should be getting 20-30 points higher than the average, I believe your essays, work profile and how logically you weave your story play a much larger role than GMAT. Your 4+ years of experience needs to exemplify professional achievements and a fast career trajectory. HEC is very concerned over the quality of your work experience. Thus, try to highlight specifically how certain projects changed your perspective or made you a better leader. Based on my analysis over the years, here are some critical points that HEC looks for in a candidate: 1. Academic and Professional Excellence 2. Ambitious/Inspiring Leaders: You are not only a team player but a leader who inspires his colleagues and team to do their best work. 3. Collaborative Leadership: You should be a leader of passion, humility, individuality and respect for others. 4. Global Outlook: Being a school of the world (in its most true sense), it expects you to have international exposure and an informed global outlook with a global vision of future Try to introspect over these and highlight them in your apps. To better determine your fit to HEC, its vision and program, I need to know your post-MBA goals, details of your work-ex and your ECs, if any. To know more about HEC, its student clubs, scholarships, essays and LOR questions, feel free to visit our HEC page . Feel free to tap us if you have any query or if you need any help in understanding the school better. I will be very glad to assist you in your MBA journey. Book a free session with us as per your convenience. Cheers! Shantanu Sharma, Linkedin Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond Testimonials Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com What s app: +65-97158525

gmatk1lla · Answer

What have you got to lose?

bb · Answer

Should I apply to HEC Paris?

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