Saturday, August 18, 2007

HEC Paris- Positives and Negatives

Off late I have received many queries from people interested in HEC Paris. It seems that when people search for blogs on HEC Paris, they come across my blog and then they shoot off their queries. It is interesting (and awkward) to answer those queries because I haven't even started my MBA. Well, I have decided to write my views on the generally asked questions about HEC.

Disclaimer: All the views expressed below are personal. Information provided about HEC is the outcome of the interactions I have had with current students, alumni and other sources. I would suggest readers to cross check the veracity of information provided below from other sources before arriving at any conclusion.

For me, the first question to be answered before selecting a b-school is Why MBA. If you do not know what you want from an MBA program, then how do you expect to choose one considering that there are hundreds of programs on offer around the world. I am not writing my reasons for going for an MBA but would suggest that you find your answers to "Why MBA" before reading further

Positives of HEC
Almost everyone asks me why I chose HEC when I could have got into better programs with 740 in GMAT. Well, score does not have much to do with selection of school as long as you have a decent score (around 700). I would have applied to HEC even if I had a 680 or a 770. My reasons for applying to HEC were:

  • Economical - HEC is probably the most economical school among world top-25. If one puts in a strong application, he should get a scholarship of anywhere between 10K - 15K euros. Apart from this, there are various other scholarship options available for Indian students.
  • Diversity - A batch of 120 usually comprises of people from over 30 countries (many Indians though). This makes for a good learning experience as you interact with people from diverse backgrounds.
  • Flexibility of curriculam - Spread over 16 months, MBA program is divided into two parts of 8 months each - Core and Personalized. The personalized phase here offers many options - 4-6 months of internship, exchange program, individual project etc.
  • Strong faculty in Finance and Strategy
  • Location - Its location in Europe is ideal for people who want to spend some time in Europe

Some drawbacks of HEC

  • No assured loans: HEC does not act as a guarantor for student loans. Thus, you have to find your own means to fund your studies.
  • It is not a part of the 50 colleges listed for HSMP for UK
  • Placements & Language - Although HEC is among the best European schools, it does not have a stellar placement record. Please go through my previous post on this

More on this later

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