HEC Paris MBA News

Get the latest MBA news from HEC Paris.

Published: October 28, 2015

Understanding the MBA Admissions Interview, Part IV

We’ve tackled open versus invitation-only, blind versus non-blind and the newer team-based discussion interview. What’s left? In this, our final post in our MBA admissions interview series, we’re going to take a closer look at a few of the anomalies in the interview arena—special approaches thus far embraced by just one or two schools. Of course, the team-based discussion was itself an anomaly not so many years ago, so these could also be harbingers of the next big thing. Read more

Published: October 14, 2015

Chicago Booth Maintains No. 1 Spot in Economist’s Ranking of Full-Time MBA Programs

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business snagged the number one spot for the fourth year running in the Economist's ranking of full-time MBA programs, the Which MBA? 2015, released today. Using a methodology that gives great weight to student and alumni experiences, the Economist each year generates a list of the top 100 full-time international MBA programs. Booth’s strong performance in the overall rankings can be attributed chiefly to its ability to provide new career opportunities to its graduates. The school ranked tops out of all 100 schools both for the diversity of its recruiters and in terms of its students’ assessment of career services. Read more

Published: September 13, 2015

Business School Within Reach: Access MBA Tour In London, Moscow, Shanghai, Sao Paolo, Istanbul, And Dubai

The Access MBA Tour, the worldwide leader in One-to-One MBA events, invites you to join their one-of-a-kind international business education events. Taking place in 34 international destinations over the next four months, Access MBA brings some of the world’s best business schools within your reach. Meet and have your MBA questions answered by Admissions Directors of top international business schools, including London Business School, INSEAD, IESE Business School , University of Chicago-Booth, HEC Paris, IE Business School, Georgetown University, University of Hong Kong, Esade Business School, Kellogg – Read more

Published: September 4, 2015

HEC Paris Launches New “Leading with Sense” Online MOOC Specialization

Last year, HEC Paris became the first business school in France to launch a massive open online course (MOOC) on Coursera. This year, the school is taking things to a new level—offering its first online specialization, in inspirational leadership. The specialization features three MOOCs building up to a capstone project in which participants progressively improve their interpersonal skills by connecting more deeply with themselves and others, the basis of “le Savoir-Relier” or "Leading with Sense" methodology. Read more

Published: July 8, 2015

New HEC Paris Dean Appointed to Succeed Outgoing Bernard Ramanantsoa

Leading French business school HEC Paris yesterday announced a new dean to succeed Bernard Ramanantsoa, who steps down at the end of August after 20 years in the role. Respected researcher and professor Peter Todd will take Ramanantsoa’s place beginning September 1st, serving as the school’s first-ever non-French dean. The Canadian-born Todd, an expert in the fields of innovation management and information technologies, also brings significant experience managing MBA programs. Until 2014, he served as dean of the Desautels School at Canada’s McGill University, where he himself obtained his undergraduate degree. Read more

Published: June 18, 2015

A European MBA: Right for You?

IESE in Barcelona, Spain With the dollar reaching a 12-year high against the euro earlier this spring, much ink has been spilled about how the time is right to head to Europe for an MBA. Indeed, pursuing a graduate management education abroad can present a range of advantages for American students—with cost savings chief among them, especially given the recent relative strength of the dollar. That said, the decision of whether or not to head to one of Europe’s top business schools is a highly personal one best made after careful consideration of many factors that extend well beyond any savings tied to currency rates. “Oh yes, I definitely did benefit from the exchange rate,” says Alexander Eldred, a Washington, DC native currently completing his MBA at France’s HEC Paris. As luck would have it, Eldred paid the bulk of HEC’s 52,000 euro tuition in March, right as the euro dipped to 1.05 to the dollar. Had he paid the entire tuition then, it would have amounted to $54,600 for a degree that just a year earlier would have run him $72,280. Add to that living expenses, which are similarly lower than they have been historically thanks to the exchange rate, and the savings stack up. Read more

Published: May 10, 2015

HEC Paris Hosts 25th Annual MBA Tournament

Teams from 16 of the leading business schools in Europe convened last week to compete in 25 different sports as part of the 25th annual MBA Tournament (MBAT), hosted by HEC Paris. More than 1,500 MBA student athletes battled each other in everything from badminton and basketball to petanque and salsa dancing while also creating valuable new friendships and networking opportunities. “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, HEC Paris MBA associate dean, said in a statement. “The MBAT provides the chance for students to put what they have learned in the classroom to the test on the field, creating and leading strong teams.” Read more

Published: April 7, 2015

Choosing an MBA Program Based on Where You Want to Work

With some lucky applicants now having been accepted to multiple top-tier business schools, a new challenge faces them: choosing where to go. A New York Times article decided to look at that question in an interesting way, offering suggestions for what school to attend based on the specific company you hope to work for upon graduation. According to the Times analysis, the best school to choose if you want to land at Amazon is the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Amazon last year hired 27 Ross MBAs, displacing the school’s historical No. 1 recruiter, Deloitte, according to the Times. Another 37 Ross grads headed to the e-commerce giant in the two years before that. Read more

Published: March 30, 2015

One in Four HEC Paris Graduates Sets Out to Launch a Startup

Entrepreneurship is big and growing at HEC Paris, according to a recent survey of more than 8,500 graduates. The inaugural HEC Entrepreneurship Barometer, published last week, reveals that almost 25 percent of HEC graduates today are entrepreneurs, up from just 10 percent a decade ago. HEC Paris has been increasingly promoting entrepreneurship over the past 30 years, through teaching, research, mentoring and resources like the HEC Incubator. To measure the impact of these initiatives, HEC Paris devised its new Entrepreneurship Barometer, which surveyed a representative panel of 8,500 alumni from the past decade from across HEC’s various programs. Read more

Published: March 26, 2015

Leading Admissions Consultants Converge in France, England for AIGAC Annual Conference

Leading graduate management admissions consultants are gathering this week in Europe for the eighth annual Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) members’ conference, where they will share best practices and speak directly with admissions officers from many of the world’s top business school. Almost 30 attendees representing admissions consultancies from 12 different countries are scheduled to attend the seven-day conference, which takes places at London Business School (LBS) and includes visits to INSEAD, HEC Paris and Cambridge Judge Business School. Read more

Published: March 25, 2015

Economist, GMAT Tutor Launch $25,000 Scholarship Competition for MBA, EMBA Applicants

The Economist and test prep firm GMAT Tutor have once again partnered to offer a $25,000 scholarship to the prospective MBA or EMBA student who scores highest on a simulated GMAT exam. Called the Brightest Minds MBA Scholarship Contest, the competition is open to prospective MBA or EMBA students anywhere in the world. The first competition ran in 2014, drawing more than 4,500 entrants, The Economist reported. To take part in the contest, applicants simply complete The Economist GMAT Tutor simulation test, which uses adaptive technology similar to the real GMAT so that the difficulty level adjusts according to the test-taker’s ability. The simulation test requires the completion of a 75-minute Verbal section and a 75-minute Quant section. Participants should have the available time to complete the test in a single sitting and will not be able to pause once they begin. Read more

Published: January 11, 2015

HEC Paris MBA Admissions Interview Questions: November Round / Alumnus / Off-campus / Admit

The following HEC Paris MBA admissions interview report was provided to us by an applicant who was recently admitted to HEC Paris! Just got accepted to HEC Paris Sep15 intake and couldn't be happier. I would like to share my experience in a way to thank those who have previously writed for this blog and helped me. Read more

Published: December 16, 2014

HEC Paris to Launch Second MOOC Series in 2015

Pleased with the success of its first Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which debuted on Coursera in January 2014, HEC Paris plans to release a second series of online courses in 2015, the school announced yesterday. These new MOOCs will address topics related to organizations, social entrepreneurship an technology-based startups. HEC Paris Dean Bernard Ramanantsoa views the school’s partnership with Coursera as an opportunity to open its courses to students who might not otherwise have access to higher education due to practical or economic constraints. “Sharing our faculty’s expertise with the general public at no cost is a truly exciting and meaningful challenge," he said in a statement. Read more

Published: November 19, 2014

HEC Paris Offers Global Open Enrollment Accelerator for Senior Business Execs

HEC Paris now offers a special global enrollment program designed to serve as an accelerator for business executives looking to spearhead socially responsible or sustainably focused projects or new business lines, the school announced earlier this month. Called ‘Inclusive Business and Value Creation,’ the program is taught by faculty of the HEC Paris Social Business Chair together with representatives from Ashoka, a global network of leading social entrepreneurs, and Hystra, a consultancy specialized in inclusive businesses. It is intended for senior management with at least 10 years’ experience who play a role in determining the strategic direction of their companies. Read more

Published: November 5, 2014

Increased Demand for Internal Consultants Drives Growth in Largest MBA Career Function

More MBAs than ever are heading into consulting roles upon graduation, thanks in part to increasing demand for internal strategy consultants among corporations, Business Because reports. Management consulting firms have long drawn large percentages of MBA grads, and now, as banks, healthcare companies, retailers and others shift toward hiring internal consultants, consulting as a function is more popular than ever, according to an article this week in Business Because. Citing employment statistics from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Spain’s ESADE Business School and France’s HEC Paris, among others, the recent article suggested that the trend is a global one. At Tuck, 40 percent of the MBA Class of 2014 went into consulting and strategy functions, higher than any other. At ESADE, consulting drew 26 percent of the class, the highest, and at HEC Paris, consulting and finance functions tied for first, each drawing 21 percent. Read more

Published: October 5, 2014

New Loan Program Launches for International MBA Students at U.S. Schools

A new pilot loan program will provide expanded options for international MBA students at a number of top programs in the United States, according to a recent report in Poestandquants. The program, offered by Prodigy Finance, will extend to international students and U.S. residents with non-permanent status who are studying at 16 top schools, including Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and MIT Sloan School of Management. Especially in recent years, banks have been reluctant to lend to students who are studying internationally. Prodigy Finance seeks to fill this need using a “community finance” model. Basically, alumni from participating schools fund loans for current students, banking on the value of a degree from their alma mater and the likelihood that future alums will repay. Interest rates on the loans vary between 6 and 12 percent, depending on the school, the individual borrower’s profile and current rates. Read more

Published: August 4, 2014

The Economist Group Launches $25,000 MBA Scholarship Contest

The Economist Group’s business education division, Which MBA?, yesterday launched its second Brightest Minds MBA Scholarship Contest, which will award a $25,000 scholarship to the prospective MBA or EMBA student who scores highest on a simulated GMAT exam. The first Brightest Minds MBA scholarship ran earlier this year, drawing more than 4,500 entrants, The Economist Group reports. The winner, Rishabh P. from India, is currently applying to several business schools, with plans to begin an MBA program in fall 2015. Read more

Published: June 17, 2014

HEC Paris Launches New Leadership Certificate with Pernod Ricard

HEC Paris earlier this month launched a new “Leadership” Certificate as part of its partnership with wine and spirits producer Pernod Ricard. The certificate program, offered to all HEC Paris students, will include approximately 100 hours of lessons and conferences between April and June. The content of the new certificate program is designed to help students examine the relationship between human capital and business performance and to support a vision of leadership that dovetails with Pernod Ricard’s culture and values. Read more

Published: May 27, 2014

HEC Paris Inaugurates New e-Lab

Earlier this month, leading European business school HEC Paris launched its new e-Lab, a unique space designed to support entrepreneurship, creativity, teamwork and communication through by making high-tech technology available to its students. “The ‘e’ in e-Lab signifies both ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘electronic,’ emphasizing the close link between the two,” read a release on the HEC Paris website announcing the May 20th inauguration of the new space. Designed for use by HEC Paris students interested in entrepreneurship, the e-Lab features video-conferencing capabilities, walls completely covered in "white board" paint, and portable equipment that can be moved easily to facilitate collaboration. Read more

HEC Paris

CLASS SIZE: 243

FEMALE: 38%

MEAN GMAT: 690

INTERNATIONAL: 95%

Livewire Decisionwire Interview Reports Essay Topic Analysis MBA Admissions Deadlines View Full Profile

MBA Applywire

November 20, 2024 9:42pm ET

Applying: Babson / Olin, , Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Emory / Goizueta, Rice / Jones, Rochester / Simon, SMU Cox, UCI Merage, Washington U. / Olin

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Technology - Entrepreneurship

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Entrepreneurship

GRE: 333

GPA: 2.56

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: Lagos

Notes:

I just got rejected for WashU Olin and I have an interview invitation with Questrom. GPA continues to bother me but I addressed it in my supporting essays.

November 19, 2024 12:51pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, INSEAD, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Tech in government

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Entrepreneurship Companies: Bain , McKinsey

GRE: 319

GPA: 2.9

Years of Work Experience: 7

Notes:

I got cancer when I was undergrad that's why my undergrad GPA is low. After MBA I want to work in consulting then make a social impact in Africa through entrepreneurship

November 19, 2024 12:06pm ET

Applying: Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, U. Washington / Foster, UNC Kenan-Flagler, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden

Pre-MBA Career: Wealth Management and Military

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Asset Management, inc. HF, Other Companies: Bain , BCG , Deloitte , McKinsey , Goldman Sachs , JP Morgan Asset Management , State Street , Vanguard

GPA: 3.80

Years of Work Experience: 7

Location: San Diego

Post MBA Location: Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, Charlotte

Notes:

UG Degree: BBA Financial Markets at an Accredited Institution.

Civilian Work History: 3 years as Wealth Advisor under an RIA in Minneapolis and Denver. Total AUM of ~$350-400M, served as a salaried advisor in a primary and secondary capacity. Holistic services to include investment management, estate planning, retirement planning, insurance planning, tax planning, etc.

Military History: 4 years as a supply/logistics officer heading efforts for air/ground mobility, defense contracting, supply and procurement, and fiscal budget management while located at various bases within CONUS and multiple forward deployed locations.

Professional Certifications: Obtained Certified Financial Planner designation (2022) and Series 65 (2019).

November 18, 2024 12:50am ET

Applying: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Emory / Goizueta, NYU Stern, UNC Kenan-Flagler, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Consulting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Investment Banking Companies: Bank of America , Barclays , Citibank , Credit Suisse , Goldman Sachs , JP Morgan Chase

GRE: 323

GPA: 3.32

Years of Work Experience: 7

Notes:

Education:
- Combined Major in Economics and Statistics
- CFA Charterholder (passed all three levels on the first attempt)

Professional Experience:
- Manager at a Big 4 firm Specializing in capital projects and infrastructure, with a role similar to investment banking
- Seven years of experience, mainly in financial services in Ghana

Extracurricular Activities:
- Pro bono capital-raising services for SMEs
- Aspiring to run a full advisory firm for SMEs in the future
- CFA exam coaching and tutorial classes for candidates
- Founder of a travel and tour club offering affordable trips to explore beautiful and historic scenes in Ghana

Will being 32 years old affect the attractiveness of my candidacy?

November 17, 2024 9:24am ET

Applying: Columbia, , Georgetown / McDonough, Harvard Business School, INSEAD, NYU Stern, Oxford / Saïd, Stanford GSB, UCLA Anderson, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Higher Education

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Media, Undecided Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , JP Morgan , Morgan Stanley , JP Morgan Chase , Apple , Google , Microsoft , Andressen Horowitz , Charles River , Sequoia Capital , Blackstone , KKR , 21st Century Fox , Comcast , Walt Disney

GPA: 3.97

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: Denver, Colorado

Post MBA Location: New York City

View or Submit Entries

MBA LiveWire

November 21, 2024 1:35pm ET

Rejected at NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.2

GMAT: 645

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Marketing

Application Location: India

November 21, 2024 1:26pm ET

Accepted to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via phone November 21, 2024

GMAT: 750

Program Type: One Year Program

Target Career: Technology

Application Location: India

Note:

Just got a call an hour back. Final letter of admission will be uploaded on the portal tomm. I have my interview on 31st Oct.

November 21, 2024 12:58pm ET

Accepted to Cornell / Johnson

Round: Round 1

Received via phone November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.92

GRE: 327

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: Austin

November 21, 2024 12:41pm ET

Interview Invite to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.46

GRE: 328

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

Application Location: Washington D.C.

Note:

Round 1 Consortium Applicant

November 21, 2024 10:36am ET

Accepted to Cornell / Johnson

Round: Round 1

Received via phone November 21, 2024

GPA: 3.5

GMAT: 760

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: United States

View or Submit Entries

Live
Wire