The high school of commerce and management of Montreal account 10% of French among its students. For a year the admission has become more selective.

It’s been more than fifteen years, HEC Montréal has started to recruit students abroad, and especially in France, with the opening in 2002 of a european office in Paris. The success has exceeded expectations, to the point that graduates in French have been able to represent up to 30% of those enrolled in the bachelor’s degree (the curriculum in three years, equivalent license). Today, all sectors combined (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, MBA), they represent nearly 1550 students representing 10% of the workforce.

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If the knowledge of French is essential to follow the bachelor’s degree, HEC Montreal, is now offering some of its master’s degrees, or master’s degree (M. Sc) with a curriculum 100% in English : five masters are thus declined from a year in the language of Shakespeare, which allows to attract students from South Korea, India or even Iran.

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In total, 1 student out of 3 is a foreigner on the campus. “It is a fine balance, which offers variety and interest for the natives of Canada registered with us”, says Federico Pasin, the new director general of the school. “For several years, we welcome young people from a wider variety of countries, from north Africa or from Asia, China in particular”, welcomed there. The proportion of French remained stable, with slightly less students in the bachelor and a few more masters and MBA.

The reference to TB or B in the bac, a condition of admission

It is necessary to say that the school has now more selective for the admission to the bachelor : over the past year, it is necessary to get a mention Very well or well at the bachelor’s degree to be accepted. Nominations, which must be sent no later than February 15, 2020 for the new school year to August 2020, are thus treated (the school promises a response in April), subject to the results of the bac. “We have also increased the selection score for the students of quebec,” says Federico Pasin. Extremely popular, the school, the cost for a French student (9400 canadian dollars per year) is still competitive compared to the largest business schools in tri-colour, can afford to be more demanding in their recruitment.

The happy few who appreciate the modern buildings are installed on a campus with trees, the library is open 24 hours on 24, in exam period, the available spaces for group work. But succeed in their courses at HEC Montréal presupposes a certain disposition of the mind. The director-general summed up in two words : “battery life” and “pro-activity”. “It must be independent. This is not like in France where the schedule decided for the students who work with a vision of their short-term agenda. In Quebec, you have no maturity for several weeks and all of a sudden several files to make and several exams to pass. We must therefore learn to manage their time, it requires maturity, particularly for students from abroad who no longer have parents behind ! It happens that some young people lose their bearings” warns Federico Pasin.

Another condition for success : the ability to interact with the teachers. In Quebec, they are very accessible, it’s therefore important to ask them questions, ask them. “A student who is withdrawing, or downright liabilities will be at a disadvantage compared to another who goes ahead and asks for more teachers”, underlines Federico Pasin.

in Addition to the bachelor’s degree trilingual (French-English-Spanish-English), HEC Montréal has multiplied in recent years new programs, including a master’s degree in management and sustainable development, in management and in sports management or on the”user experience”. The school also has in its cartons to 2020 or 2021 a double degree in management and engineering with Polytechnique Montréal. What to attract even more foreign students.

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