What to expect from your first few months at ESSEC

Studying at ESSEC 

by Adil, 1st year MSc in Management student from the UK

If you are an international student I advise you to attend the French training session before the course starts, even if you already have a pretty good level. These are weeks of pure enjoyment. My month typically consisted of trips to surrounding regions, salsa lessons, dinner parties and late nights in Paris. It’s sort of the calm before the storm, because when the work starts things get a bit less relaxed.

The pre-MSc courses can be a shock to the system. Having given up maths for good at the age of 15, I found myself staring cluelessly at the blackboard in my first pre-MSc Mathematics class wondering whether the course was being taught in French or English. The content comes thick and fast, because the pre-MSc courses are designed to bring you up to the requisite level for you to complete the core courses, regardless of your pre-existing level. If you haven’t studied maths, accounting, finance, statistics, excel or micro-economics I would suggest brushing up a little before your arrival, otherwise you might find yourself playing catch up, like I did!

You have to validate 25 “UVs” to graduate from ESSEC. 1 UV is basically a class. 8 of these UVs have to consist of 8 out of the 9 available core modules. Courses are generally available in French and English but don’t worry if you’re not a fluent French speaker, it’s completely optional if you wish to classes in French.

Between January and July, I’m taking part in something called the International Sports Marketing Chair. A Chair is study track which allows students to complete research and delve deeper into their areas of interest. The International Sports Marketing Chair is completed in partnership with Adidas, Heineken and Havas and some of the field work in recent years has consisted of visiting UEFA headquarters in Switzerland, a trip to the Emirates stadium in London and attending a conference in Qatar. It’s ideal for someone who wants to work in sport, as I hope to. Some chairs are quite selective, in particular the LVMH luxury brand management chair - so it’s good to have some work experience on your CV to maximise your chances.

International Sports Marketing Chair trip to Clairefontaine, home of French football

This is just a small snapshot of some of the academic options available at the beginning of your ESSEC life. The programme is truly flexible, and after the first term you can basically study what you want, when you want, where you want!