Wednesday, March 07, 2007
MBA World Tour in Moscow and Info About HEC
I have attended to the QS MBA World Tour in Moscow this Monday, March 5th. This time, business schools represented in the tour were mostly from Europe. A few were from Australia and Asia-Pacific; it was interesting to learn more about programs in the region that presents strong interest for me in terms of future career progress. Unfortunately, the main issue with applying for MBA in Australia and Pacific region - absence of loan programs for foreign students - remains unsolved.
I decided to use an opportunity suggested by HEC Adcom and met with the Admissions and Development Director for a face-to-face discussion after the Tour. As I do not apply for this autumn, the discussion mostly went around the school, though the Director asked me a few questions about my CV, academics and goals. She provided me with a resume book of Class 2006, which I studied after the meeting, and I must say that I was really impressed with the content. It showed sound evidence that the diversity is not a mere marketing slogan in HEC. Pre-MBA experience varies a lot in terms of both length and specialization. Financial professionals make a big percent of the class, though the most students come from industry. I knew that the average age of students in the school is a bit higher than in American business schools (traditionally, European schools set tighter requirements towards length of professional experience of MBA applicants), but the age dispersion in HEC still was a surprise: it is from 21 to 40 or so, and when you see short biographies of students behind their names, you really feel what these figures mean.
Along with French students, the majority is Asian (mostly Taiwanese). It reflects the situation with post-MBA recruitment: the percent of job offers coming from Asia is not much below those of Europe and the US.
The former Soviet Union is represented in HEC by at least 5 students, which makes 2,5% of the class. According to the Director, there are about 15 Russian students in the school in 4 current intakes.
My main questions to the Director were about difficulties Russian alumni face worldwide due to visa restrictions, as well as about current options of financing MBA for foreign students. You may probably know about the issue that led to decline of Insead's popularity some time ago: the fact that European banks mostly do not provide loans to non-EU citizens without a European co-signer. With regard to this matter, the Director informed me that HEC is in the stage of finalizing agreement with BNP Paribas for provision of no co-signer loans to students. There is a hope that the agreement will be concluded this year. Good news for applicants :)
I decided to use an opportunity suggested by HEC Adcom and met with the Admissions and Development Director for a face-to-face discussion after the Tour. As I do not apply for this autumn, the discussion mostly went around the school, though the Director asked me a few questions about my CV, academics and goals. She provided me with a resume book of Class 2006, which I studied after the meeting, and I must say that I was really impressed with the content. It showed sound evidence that the diversity is not a mere marketing slogan in HEC. Pre-MBA experience varies a lot in terms of both length and specialization. Financial professionals make a big percent of the class, though the most students come from industry. I knew that the average age of students in the school is a bit higher than in American business schools (traditionally, European schools set tighter requirements towards length of professional experience of MBA applicants), but the age dispersion in HEC still was a surprise: it is from 21 to 40 or so, and when you see short biographies of students behind their names, you really feel what these figures mean.
Along with French students, the majority is Asian (mostly Taiwanese). It reflects the situation with post-MBA recruitment: the percent of job offers coming from Asia is not much below those of Europe and the US.
The former Soviet Union is represented in HEC by at least 5 students, which makes 2,5% of the class. According to the Director, there are about 15 Russian students in the school in 4 current intakes.
My main questions to the Director were about difficulties Russian alumni face worldwide due to visa restrictions, as well as about current options of financing MBA for foreign students. You may probably know about the issue that led to decline of Insead's popularity some time ago: the fact that European banks mostly do not provide loans to non-EU citizens without a European co-signer. With regard to this matter, the Director informed me that HEC is in the stage of finalizing agreement with BNP Paribas for provision of no co-signer loans to students. There is a hope that the agreement will be concluded this year. Good news for applicants :)
# posted by Nat4mba : 12:13 PM
Comments:
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Thanks for your report. Did they mention if BNP Paribas loan would be available for 2007 entering class?
In my research on B-schools, all MBA programs outside of US have better international diversity. One of my many reasons, I'm focused on B-schools in Europe.
Man - you are dedicated. Any news from Darden?
Do you know what is the deal with INSEAD giving out loans? If they require a co-signer or not?
Do you know what is the deal with INSEAD giving out loans? If they require a co-signer or not?
2justinas saltys: Indeed, the Director said that they do hope that BNP Paribas loan program will be available for the upcoming class.
2the one: As far as I know, for people coming from outside EU, obtaining a loan for INSEAD in Europe became nearly impossible. The school encourages applicants to research for loan opportunities in their resident countries, that is what INSEAD states on its web site. When I researched the school in 2006, I found no option of obtaining a loan without a co-signer or without pawning real estate as a guarantee.
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2the one: As far as I know, for people coming from outside EU, obtaining a loan for INSEAD in Europe became nearly impossible. The school encourages applicants to research for loan opportunities in their resident countries, that is what INSEAD states on its web site. When I researched the school in 2006, I found no option of obtaining a loan without a co-signer or without pawning real estate as a guarantee.
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