Is France uniquely obsessed with university pedigrees, or is it the case worldwide ?
I feel that the whole “which uni are you from?” obsession in France is truly unbearable (from a student’s perspective).
I’ve been to plenty of events at elite boutiques and BBs, and I see MDs and very accomplished folks in their 50s and 60s still proudly opening with their university pedigree. Like, congrats on surviving prepa 40 years ago, but do we still need the badge?
Meanwhile, outside of France, it feels a bit different, am i wrong ?
For context, I’m from Dauphine, which I guess is somewhat of a target school in some circles. But when you actually speak to people, it doesn’t really feel that way. In France, for example, if you do go to a top school (HEC, ESSEC, ESCP), people will still drill down: “Oh, did you do the MiM or the MiF?” “Was it post-prepa or did you transfer from university?”
Is this just a national sport to make themselves feel important, or does the rest of the world secretly do the same thing and I’ve just missed it?
Yes, that is why... leave France and leave them with this f**** mentality :) I did that and I am French :)
So it’s not just me right ?
That’s very unfortunate because I really like living in Paris, and since I’m Moroccan I have to find a company that sponsors etc..
yes...
Same here, seems to be a common thread
In finance it's the case wherever you go, not unique to france. Living in the UK I came across a fair share of these people.
Even if you go to hec, escp.. People will always try to one up each other in grades, clubs, semester abroad, internships.. And then there's people who went to X poly then Ena who are a tier above apparently. It's never ending. Just shows they're shallow asf.
I am looking forward to filling my pension pot and become a farmer or some shit eventually.
So how prestigious is X Poly + HEC MiF
Knew a guy who did hec mim and quant specialisation at polytechnique. Went into sovereign advisory in the middle east right after.
A combination of these two opens you up to very elite roles in EMEA.
Countries with extremely clear cut rankings of students and hard entry requirements for univerisities that are relatively affordable for everyone are like this. It is the same in Asia and UK. North America is probably the least obsessed since the admission process is a bit murky and plenty sharp kids go to state schools for monetary reasons.
I’d also add in the US many state schools are considered targets and many are considered awful. Schools ranked around the 15-30 mark have targets/semi/regional target/nontargets. It gets very murky and is constantly changing. Of course we have the consensus targets, but the debate of is Emory/SMU/UF considered low targets/semi targets opens a can of worms in every thread i see. (Just using those schools as an example)
SMU and UF are (respectable) non targets and no where near Emory.
High IQ comment
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