Hi everyone,
I am currently deciding whether I should attend HEC's Grande Ecole program in international management or ESADE's double degree in finance + CEMS MIM in fall 2020. Before getting into the details of the situation, I should note that my interests lie in IB (thinking of either ECM or M&A atm) and job market-wise I do not really have any preference atm (London would be great but I am open to/interested in basically any European market as long as I have real chances to get in any good bank, thinking tier 1, tier 2 or elite boutiques). Fyi, I do not know any french or spanish, but considering I am italian I am confident that I would be able to learn spanish pretty quickly if needed (in ESADE's case ofc).
So, I already know that HEC is generally more prestigious and is an overall better business school than ESADE (especially if I would like to work in LDN), however, my HEC interviewer told me that in order to proceed with the specialization in international finance I would need to get high grades in the quantitative courses during the first year of the program. I would therefore like to know how hard is it to get into the specialization in international finance from HEC's MIM, considering that my quantitative skills are probably average. The worst case scenario would be that I end up attending HEC and do not manage to take a finance specialization because my grades are too low.
Is it worth the risk with HEC's MIM, or should I take the safe route with ESADE where I surely can study what I am passionate about and what is most relevant for the job I want to have? Any opinion and follow-up question is very much appreciated, so please feel free to comment. Thank you to anyone who takes their time to help me out.
They look at your diploma and your job experience, not what you majored if you're already in a business school. So HEC Paris all the way if you can make it yourself to get an admission.
Thank you! So just to clarify, lets say I were to take a non-finance major, would I basically have the same chances to break into IB as one who did (assuming grades meet the criteria and experience is relevant)?
I mean there are some inside offers for some off-cycle internship positions but honestly it wouldn't make that much difference, honestly the school doesn't really do anything to help you get a job offer, it's solely gonna be your effort
I would argue that the quantitative courses at HEC are on par with what you would expect from a Master in Management, so not exceptionally challenging. Note that the MiF courses are significantly more theoretical and if your quantitative skills are "probably average", you may struggle.
Thanks for the insight, would you mind developing your point further? What do you mean by “more theoretical”, as in there are more theorems to learn and professors do not use a really practical teaching methodology?
HEC Grande Ecole Student here. Much like you, I was interested in the Finance track (Majeure Finance / MiF) for the second year.
The admission process to the MiF is done on a case-by-case basis, but usually you would need to be in the top 20% (on average) for Financial Economics, Financial Markets and Corporate Finance.
The Majeure Finance is a very interesting track with unique opportunities, but it is also incredibly rigorous, so quite a few willingly chose not to apply in favour of the slightly less rigorous Financial Economics track.
In a way this internal competition for the Majeure Finance also checks your competitiveness for future IB/PE recruitment.
I would also recommend the HEC Grande Ecole programme for the gap year feature, which would allow you to get IB experience through off-cycle internships (relevant gap-year internships may also support your MiF application).
Hope it helps (at least somewhat) & good luck!
Very very helpful, will keep it in mind if I end up attending. Thank you!
Also HEC student here - would mostly agree with the above.
with regards to getting into MiF in year 2 - from my experience most people who are serious about it from the start manage to get sufficient results to get in in year 2, especially if you already studied business in bachelors. I don't remember any Italian (mostly Bocconi bachelors anyways) who did not manage to get into MiF despite wanting to.
You should definitely also consider doing the gap year, has given some people the opportunity to create quite great CVs and to further decide on what they wanted to do later on more specifically. When I joined the MiM I also thought I would be doing MIF in the second year, but since I did not need it anymore after the gap year (FT offer and preferred path already fixed) I was able to choose a more chill program with an additional international perspective. That's also what many others did.
Hi, would you mind sharing your Gmat score? Did you receive any scholarship from Esade?
Yeah; great question! Would also be interested by any applicant profile stats that you may be willing to share. :)
DM me and I'll share whatever you are interested in! :)
Basically, to get to Majeure Finance at HEC you need GPA ~ 3.7 which is totally achievable with some effort OR lower GPA (3.4-3.6) with almost straight A's from finance courses and strong interest in this area (like internships, clubs). Haven't you considered applying straight to HEC International Finance? It's one year.
I have, I applied but unfortunately got rejected. Thanks for the GPA benchmark, will keep it in mind if I attend!
It’s definitely worth a risk! Without trying you can’t tell was it good or bad experience. It’s better to do and regent then regret because you didn’t do that. Do what you like, improve yourself, step out of your comfort zone. Never give up. And here’s your lucky key to a dream job.
I agree with your line of thinking, I always enjoy reading comments like these
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