HEC Paris and Bocconi

Go to Bocconi. You will have a different experience :)

X-HEC every day of the week for France

I'd take X-HEC, particularly because of the Double Degree exposure, better brand name and technical focus at X. 

Bocconi, unfortunately, is inferior in most regards except the lesser fees. 

Thank you so much for the replies! It is exactly what InterestedParty99 said - a heart/head problem. 

Maybe to add some info I should say that I would love to start in London (I might be able to get pre-settled status which greatly facilitates getting entry-level jobs there) but long-term I see myself in Paris. Do you guys maybe know the difference in placement in London between the two? I was told that both place really well in London just below LSE and Oxbridge.

If I had to choose between HEC and Bocconi, I would choose Bocconi without a flinch, but the Polytechnique aspect really makes it hard to decide.. (I still remember how when I was young I was reading a magazine and asked my mother what is Polytechnique and she said : its where la creme de la creme go to study.). 

Then again I know one year at Polytech is less valued than their bachelor program (the 4Y cycle ingenieur is the most prestigious program in france, but there is a big difference in perception between this and spending 1y for your master at polytech in France.. just like with the PGE programme grande école at HEC or other parisiennes when comparing with masters where you didnt go through prépa).

Thanks for everything guys :) I'll think about it and post my reflexion in the end, might help someone in a similar position in the future! 

Go with HEC. Considering you'll spend 2 years in a place, Paris has more opportunities in finance and that's a big advantage because you won't need to relocate around Europe for temporary internships and spend money on x2 rents (new rent in new city + maintaining your rent in Paris + administrative and time costs for relocations). Also, after graduation, there are more opportunities around Paris, and even down the road if you manage to learn French you'll have it easier to get opportunities in Quebec if you would want to try a new continent.

Also, French > Italian for traveling and politics.

My family is in Paris, and I am french, so language wise i’d learn a new language by staying in Milan and thus unlocking a new destination. I dont know how much Sciences Po will help in terms of finance jobs in France, but Ive heard their placements are good (not comparable to hec and essec ofc) in Paris for the master in finance and strategy. 

The network in Europe for X & HEC is incredible.

You can learn Italian any other day in your life and even in Paris considering the amount of Italian teachers there + you are like 1h away by plane.

Just go for the highest ROI for the remainder of your professional life.

Go to HEC-X and never look back 

1) Objectively much better than Bocconi

2) More quantitative 

3) Much better network (probably the best network in Europe besides Oxbridge)

4) You are French, this brand will stick with you for life. There is literally nothing better than HEC-X in France. On the other hand in France, nobody ever heard of Bocconi. 

Hey everyone! So I just picked X-HEC over Bocconi, and I will now give some information for anyone who may have similar doubts in the future (mainly what my pro's and con's were for both programs).

So let's start with the Bocconi. 

Pros:

- living in a big city is very dear to me, and Milan is truly phenomenal. Having spent 6 months in Milan (exchange with Bocconi) I fell in love with the city and Milan is now my favourite city (Parisian here). To be honest it's not as beautifull overall as Paris (it still has some parts which are truly astonishing) but the vibe is amazing. Going out in Milan is (in my opinion) better than in Paris (and the girls are incredibly beautifull and have good style), the food is great and you have solid connections for weekend trips to Venice, Rome, Florence, just to name a few. In this regard I believe that it is highly important to study in a place you find appealing, and Milan is a great option to have :)

- another thing I really liked about the program is that it offers great exchange and double degree opportunities (as I wanted to go to asia or oceania, but you can also go to the US, south america, etc.) Being french I could not enter the HEC - Bocconi double degree as you are automatically disqualified (also the case if you did prior studies in France). 

- I wanted to learn italian (already had a B2 - C1 level and knew I could reach fluency in 2 years. As such I would unlock another destination for job applications, and the Bocconi is the best school in Italy by far. 

- the program is very rigurous, academic and complete (you will learn a lot), and consequently you can enroll in a PhD program after your master's

- it is also quite quantitative/technical, and oriented towards/known for capital markets which is what I am interested in

- the program is relatively cheap, and the school often gives out scolarships

- out of the continental european schools it is among the best (alongside HEC) and has amazing placement in London. I was also told that you can go work in Switzerland as well, and also in France (however french business schools like HEC, ESSEC, ESCP will be prefered) if you speak french.

- 2 years long program => means you have 2 chances for internships

Cons:

- I was told some students are rather competitive 

- the program is hard => you need to study a lot and consequently have less time for socializing/networking and internship applications 

- for me the major problem was that it is less known in Paris than HEC (and I want to live and work in France for most of my life)

- quite a lot of students (2x80 finance and 80 in the italian program) 

This now brings me to the HEC-Polytechnique program (but I will mainly compare with the Master in Finane from HEC (info reffering to Polytechnique will be in italic text)

PROS:

- HEC Paris and Polytechnique are amazing brand names in France (two of the best schools, one for sciences the other for business)

- Great placements in London (similar to Bocconi I was told)

- doing this program I will get to learn programming and get notions in data science  (this applies to the double degree only, not to HEC)

- the (HEC part) is pretty laid back, and focused on applications and networking. You thus have more time to get to know people etc. (certainly easier than the Bocconi program, but it might not be that easy after all) 

- according to the FT rankings salary is substantially higher after HEC compared to Bocconi (170k vs 110k - note that I do not know how reliable this data is)

- this program gives me broader options afterwards (can go into data science - obv not pure quant but still pretty good option) 

- there is a compulsory 4-6 month internship (and you can do your internship wherever you want - I will try going to Milano during this time :P) 

- rent is cheaper than in Milano (plus you get CAF from the 2nd or 3rd month onwards which reduces your rent by about 25%)

- you wont struggle when looking for an appartment as you will probably have a slot on campus dorms

- the ambiance at HEC is pretty good (allegedly - I will update this thread after my master's to confirm some of the points) with weekly parties (POWS) 

CONS:

- if you didn't go through the prépa your diploma is less valuable (note that the importance of prépa is shrinking with time). In France I believe the MiM has more value than the MIF but abroad this will not be a problem at all. 

- the location is a big minus for me, as it is not in Paris, but in Jouy-en-Josas (a small town south from Paris). You can get to HEC with the RER C (regional train network) but it takes about an hour or maybe a bit more to get to Paris form J-e-J.

- it is very expensive (at least my program costs 61k€)

- I was told that going for a PhD after this program is very difficulut as it is more applied than academic

I hope you may find this usefull, and I would be glad for any 'peer review' :)) As stated above, I will update the thread in 2 years to give some more details. 

(I did 2 posts since it was not clearly visible where the divide between HEC and Bocconi is. 

This now brings me to the HEC-Polytechnique program (but I will mainly compare with the Master in Finane from HEC (info reffering to Polytechnique will be in italic text)

PROS:

- HEC Paris and Polytechnique are amazing brand names in France (two of the best schools, one for sciences the other for business)

- Great placements in London (similar to Bocconi I was told)

- doing this program I will get to learn programming and get notions in data science  (this applies to the double degree only, not to HEC)

- the (HEC part) is pretty laid back, and focused on applications and networking. You thus have more time to get to know people etc. (certainly easier than the Bocconi program, but it might not be that easy after all) 

- according to the FT rankings salary is substantially higher after HEC compared to Bocconi (170k vs 110k - note that I do not know how reliable this data is)

- this program gives me broader options afterwards (can go into data science - obv not pure quant but still pretty good option) 

- there is a compulsory 4-6 month internship (and you can do your internship wherever you want - I will try going to Milano during this time :P) 

- rent is cheaper than in Milano (plus you get CAF from the 2nd or 3rd month onwards which reduces your rent by about 25%)

- you wont struggle when looking for an appartment as you will probably have a slot on campus dorms

- the ambiance at HEC is pretty good (allegedly - I will update this thread after my master's to confirm some of the points) with weekly parties (POWS) 

CONS:

- if you didn't go through the prépa your diploma is less valuable (note that the importance of prépa is shrinking with time). In France I believe the MiM has more value than the MIF but abroad this will not be a problem at all. 

- the location is a big minus for me, as it is not in Paris, but in Jouy-en-Josas (a small town south from Paris). You can get to HEC with the RER C (regional train network) but it takes about an hour or maybe a bit more to get to Paris form J-e-J.

- it is very expensive (at least my program costs 61k€)

- I was told that going for a PhD after this program is very difficulut as it is more applied than academic

I hope you may find this usefull, and I would be glad for any 'peer review' :)) As stated above, I will update the thread in 2 years to give some more details.