Targets schools for Paris

Trying to get a better understanding of the IBD scene in Paris. So I'm trying to do something like all the Target schools for London posts but for Paris instead. Do not hesitate to give your opinion, I will edit them in for future reference if people agree. I'm only going to rank the MiM here since it's considered the "royal way" in France, but do not hesitate to let me know if any of the MSc programmes could be ranked too.

*Note that the MiM at French schools is also known as PGE ("Programme Grande École").

Tier 1 - Top target:

HEC MiM

École Polytechnique

Tier 2 - Mid target:

ESSEC MiM

CentraleSupélec

Tier 3 - Low target:

ESCP MiM

Sciences Po

INSEAD (?)

Tier 4 - Semi-target:

EDHEC MiM

EMLyon MiM

Dauphine 203

Any recommendations? Not sure how schools from other European countries rank compared to local schools.

22 Comments
 

Sciences Po is pretty well-respected - have seen several BB/EB banks in Paris specifically write "Applicants from Grande école / top-tier engineering school / Sciences Po" in their application forms for jobs / internships / dinner events

 

Thanks for the recommendations.

It seems that opinions on how Sciences Po ranks relative to other schools are a bit mixed. I've downgraded INSEAD, I thought that it would be a target school in France considering the school's international reputation. Concerning the ESSEC MiM, I don't think we can put it together with HEC MiM and Polytechnique.

I'm not sure that the difference between Tier 2 schools necessitates that we split it into 4 tiers, I might be wrong though.

 

Someone red pill me on Polytechnique/Sciences PO/Centrale?

I've been doing my research on MiMs and MiFs and I never heard of them tbh.

Are they only highly regarded in Paris, or in closer circle markets like MnAs or something?

 

CentraleSupelec and Polytechnique are engineering schools. Polytechnique is also a military institution and students are considered as officers and receive a salary. It is the most prestigious university in France with ENA which no longer exists.

 

I have always heard that prepa -> MiM guys way of living is more about their classe prepa experience than about their MiM itself.

A professor in particular used to told us about a guy (top 5) bragging that François Hollande (former France president) was not legit because he entered HEC not via prepa (which some would argue to be actually harder).

Anyway, I think these kind of discrimination tend to be less and less present overall but having the MiM experience offer internship (and parties) opportunities and is probably a better choice for someone who has the time (and cash). On another hand, MiF will get you with people knowing what they are aiming for and might be better for pure finance networking (depend on which school we are talking).

 

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