Active, dedicated alumni
It would have been easy for me to stay in the US, but I'm so glad I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to come to HEC Paris. It was an obvious choice for me to pursue an MBA in Chicago, where I was working, but then I went to an MBA fair with one of my friends, and I made contact with the HEC alumni community in Chicago, which is incredibly active. Everyone I met had such great things to say about the school and, even though I didn't know much about HEC, I couldn't think of a better testimonial for the school - that the people who went there loved it, and they're all doing really well. Now that I'm here, I feel very confident that I made the right decision. The students and faculty are absolutely wonderful. I love that it's easy to integrate and immerse yourself, because there is no language barrier on campus, and I also get to experience France. I would never be able to do an MBA in French, but I love doing an MBA in France!

 

Scholarships that offer real support
Another reason I wanted to come here was because of the scholarships available. HEC is very active in finding new scholarships, and the scholarships here are so much more than just the amount of money they represent. I've been so impressed by my scholarship because it comes with a built-in support system, which is especially useful when you arrive in a new country. For example, I recently went to lunch with my scholarship sponsors at Calyon, the investment bank for Credit Lyonnais and Credit Agricole, and Rainbowbridge, the foundation that gave me my scholarship. They were incredibly supportive and accessible. I also made contact with the advisor to the PDG, who manages sustainable development investments for Calyon. These meetings showed me the convergence between Private Equity and sustainable development, a side of finance that really interests me. This has been a wonderful opportunity for me, as I could never have made all of these connections without my scholarship. My sponsors have really gone out of their way to make time for me and introduce me to interesting people - I feel so integrated already!

 

Professional clubs that open doors
It's difficult to enter the Private Equity industry, which is why we're setting up a dedicated professional club. We have two main goals. First, we're going to try and get speakers to come in and educate the HEC community about Private Equity, so that we can position HEC as the leading institution in this field. Second, we want to organize a big conference to bring people from the industry to campus.

 

Exposure to business leaders
I'm part of the TEC Program, which is a career coaching program, but it's so much more than that: it's more accurate to call it a mentorship program. We have a one-on-one session with a CEO who flies in directly from California just to meet with us! One Friday a month we meet at in Paris for a full-day meeting with a business leader, who discusses his or her experience. Then, we go around the table describing ourselves, including our backgrounds and ambitions and what we want to do. That's why I say career coaching is the wrong term, because the purpose of the mentorship is to help you succeed as a person, not just as a professional. It's incredible to gain this perspective from high-level business leaders right from the very beginning of our MBA training. This is yet another opportunity to make incredible contacts – HEC is an amazing place for that.