I spent the entire fourth year in search of a suitable business school, preparing for exams, collecting documents. Everything in order.

My name is Pavel, I am a graduate of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of investment management. After the third year, I realized that I don’t want to invest all my life, build financial models and count NPV with IRR. I am drawn to something more creative, which is why I began to look towards the master's programs in marketing and strategy.
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Choice of country, university and program

Problems when choosing a country of study was not. First, France is relatively close to Russia, so you can periodically fly home for 13,000 rubles round-trip.

Secondly, I speak French, therefore no language barrier will arise.

Among the numerous French business schools, four were selected: ESSEC, HEC, EMLYON and EDHEC (precisely in this priority). I selected universities based on ratings.

The advantage of ESSEC was that they had a program entirely in English. In addition, you can study half a year in France, half a year in Singapore.


ESSEC building in Singapore, opened in May 2015

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TOEFL / GMAT preparation and exams

Universities have been selected, questionnaires have been created on sites, now we need to prepare for exams.


Source: nos.twnsnd.com

I began to prepare for the TOEFL back in May, but I realized that it was impossible to combine the preparation for the session. Therefore, I resumed work in September. Prepared for a month exclusively on the book Sracking the TOEFL. As a result, I passed to 101 out of 120. The passing score in ESSEC is 100.

As for the GMAT, I was preparing for it at the MBA Strategy courses. Very satisfied. Engaged four times a week from 19:00 to 22:00. The courses lasted 5 weeks, and then the same amount needed to be done independently.

The result is a GMAT of 650 points. Honestly, I hoped for at least 700. But the courses told me not to get upset. Upon admission to the magistracy, the commission looks at the profile of the person as a whole, at his merits.

I advise you to pass all exams in advance and in turn. Sign up for exams in two weeks. It is also necessary to take into account that the results and the certificate with the points come in the mail two weeks after passing the exam.

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Writing motivational essays and letters of recommendation

There was no problem with this item at all. He wrote about what he really thought, what prompted me to go to study in France. An example of my essay is here .

The main points of a typical motivational essay are:

1. Why I want to study abroad.
2. Why a particular university.
3. Why on the selected program?
4. What I plan to do after graduating from the magistracy.

At ESSEC, I was also asked to write about the contribution I would make to the program on which I would study.

Letters of recommendation must be made no later than six weeks before the deadline. My letters with recommendations were written by two teachers, one - my supervisor of final qualifying work, the second - a teacher of strategic management.

The content of the letters is traditional. What a good and diligent student I am. Description of my strengths and weaknesses. And so on.

Most schools require you to send all the necessary documents by mail. The envelope with my documents went about 3 weeks to Paris. Keep this in mind.

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Passing the interview

November 18, a letter came from HEC, they write that I am not allowed to be interviewed. But already on November 20, they write from ESSEC and congratulate me on the fact that I am recognized as fit for study, and are invited to an interview. By phone.

Half an hour before the interview began, an article was sent to me in the mail for review . Then questions were asked about it, such as “what the article is about,” “your opinion regarding the affected problem”.


A letter from the dean half an hour before the interview

If you have written in the questionnaire that you are playing tennis, then be ready to be asked about the last Davis Cup. The Commission wants to know how much you are involved in your interests.

They asked absolutely everything. Starting from the question of why I chose this particular program, ending with which football team I support.

For all the questions I was ready. A couple of weeks before the interview, I found a couple of Russian guys on VKontakte who are studying at ESSEC on my program. They told me about all the nuances of entering a business school.

On December 2, I go to an online application form and see the cherished word “Admitted”.


I was accepted!

The job is done, there are trifles. Or not at all.

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Choice of housing

There are two options: an apartment or a hostel. In the case of the first, you can either look for an apartment yourself, or share with students.

With a dorm easier. I sent a letter, sent a confirmation of the availability of rooms. He paid various fees, sent a confirmation of booking a room.

A single room costs € 600 per month. This includes wi-fi, water, electricity and even its own kitchen with bathroom and toilet in the room.

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Getting a visa

This process is very time consuming. To get a long-term student visa, you need to register with the agency Campus France. In general, Campus France was designed so that people could find a university through this agency.

However, even if you have already arrived somewhere, you still need to register through them, pay a 5,000 rubles fee and pass the interview.

At the interview you need to provide notarized copies of all documents in Russian. Including a bachelor's degree.

Then the guys from the notary let me down.

They translated “bachelor” as a bachelier, which in France means a high school diploma. And it was necessary bachelor. Due to an incorrect translation, the document was not accepted during the interview.

Questions were asked the same as in the motivational letter. Why I want to study in France, why it is this specialty and who I want to work after studying.

Getting a long-term student visa takes about 12 working days.

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How much money is needed for admission

(not including accommodation and tuition fees)

That's so much

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Conclusion

You probably noticed that I did not mention the scholarship anywhere. I was told that you need to deal with this on arrival.

Anyone can give one global advice.

Do everything in advance!

Everything. In the process of receipt, I barely had time to deadline. I did not realize that the letters of recommendation would take two weeks and that the letter would go to France 3 weeks.

Preparation for exams, sending documents by mail, letters with recommendations, translation of documents, obtaining a visa.

If you have questions, feel free to email me: pavel@shimansky.ru

Successes!

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By the way, in France and Singapore, I plan to shoot a video every week. I am sure it will be interesting! Subscribe!