Forum: School selection (9 Comments)

Are Top French business schools biased against BCOM candidates?

  • Posted by - prernagulati - on 29 December 2014 - 3:12pm

    Hi, I am currently applying to schools such as Emlyon, Essec and some other top French Schools for an mim. I have done a BCOM (honours) from St. Xavier's Kolkata (gpa 3.62), I have one year work ex at an import export firm, I have given the GMAT and scored a 650 . I was currently browsing the Pagalguy website and I came across a comment that was posted as a reply to a profile evaluation request of a person who has also done a BCOM. The reply was this 'You are not eligible for these schools. The MiM programs at french business schools are for non-business (mainly engineering) students looking to shift to business early in their careers. I have conducted SAI interviews never seen a BCom student shortlisted. They are open to Eco but not BCom. I am strictly talking about the top ranked institutes. As you go lower the eligibility criteria is flexible."
    This shook my confidence . Are French Schools really biased towards students with engineering background? Also can anyone who has been admitted to these schools with a BCOM background please reply ?

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    • Posted by - at - on 14 January 2015 - 4:06pm

      Thanks Thomas. The last line about specialised Msc programs is very interesting, and the choice would depend upon student goals, i am guessing. It is relieving to hear about BBA background - and although BCom is a little different from BBA, i think the answer would still stand.

      Regards,
      A

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    • Posted by - at - on 31 December 2014 - 4:04am

      I too have a 3-year Bachelor of Commerce degree- (Financial accounting and auditing.)

      I'd really like to know too if there's a bias against these at HEC, ESCP, Essec, or LSE?

      Following this conversation! Thank you, Thomas.

      Reply

      • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 1 January 2015 - 1:31pm

        Hi everybody,

        I don't know when I receive an answer. But for the moment, I recommend all of you to FORGET about that bias story. In my opinion, this is totally irrelevant for you. The only question is: Does your target school accept people from your nationality and with a business degree. This, you can find easily via the homepages of the schools (or if necessary by sending them an email or calling them). Whether there is a bias or not and if yes to what degree... honestly, I wouldn't care much about it. Even if you find it out - who cares? You can't change it anyway and as long as your school accepts people with your background in general you will apply anyway.

        Best wishes
        Thomas

        By Thomas Graf
        Owner MIM Compass
        Author of the MIM eBook

        Reply

        • Posted by - at - on 1 January 2015 - 4:24pm

          Thank you for the note. Have a happy new year 2015.

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          • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 2 January 2015 - 11:49am

            Ok, guys - here is the answer from my person of contact at ESCP Europe. As expected, there is no such bias.

            "This is not the case at all at ESCP Europe. We invite applications from all disciplines – management and business administration obviously included. We have many students holding a Bachelor in Management when entering ESCP Europe."

            Best wishes
            Thomas

            By Thomas Graf
            Owner MIM Compass
            Author of the MIM eBook

            Reply

            • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 14 January 2015 - 3:57pm

              Hi there,

              I also received feedback from HEC Paris. Again, there is no bias:

              "This is not true at least for HEC MIM. In general we have around 20% of Business background students in our MIM. In general the first year of MIM is dedicated to general management courses and some BBA students don't wish to take those course again. Many BBA are now applying for our specialised one year MSc Programs and not to MIM."

              Best wishes
              Thomas

              By Thomas Graf
              Owner MIM Compass
              Author of the MIM eBook

              Reply

    • Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 30 December 2014 - 9:03pm

      Hi there,

      I would be very surprised to be honest. But I will send an email to my contact people at some top French schools and post the answers here once I receive them. May take some days or even weeks due to the holidays.

      Best wishes
      Thomas

      By Thomas Graf
      Owner MIM Compass
      Author of the MIM eBook

      Reply

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