The schools are (in unbiased, alphabetical order): Audencia Nantes, EM LYON, ESCP Europe, HEC, and SKEMA. Most students familiar with the system would find the idea of ordering the above schools alphabetically to be laughable, and would be able to quickly rattle off to you the immutable position of each of these schools in the all-important hierarchy. This hierarchy is important enough to deserve its own post at a later time.
The application process is not much different from those you will have seen before in the United States. Let's do a run-through, pretending that I will be applying for admission in September 2014. First, I create a login and password. I then select which admissions session I would prefer among four options. Autumn has passed, and the deadline for Winter is quite soon at January 15, so I choose Spring, with a deadline of March 7. Summer remains, with a deadline of April 22.
One of the first questions we are asked is to choose our reference school. Unless you are only applying to one school, this choice does not matter at all, as you will select the other schools you would like to be considered at later on the same page. I can't see any benefit to choosing only one school, even if you are think you're uninterested in some of the schools; choosing only one school does not result in getting quicker results nor does it grant you any special consideration. Plus, if you're paying the application fee anyway, at least fool yourself into thinking it's "cheaper" by getting a 5-for-1 deal!
The SAI requires one standardized test, but it is up to you whether you'd like to take the general GRE ($185) or the business-oriented GMAT ($250: of course it costs more than the GRE). Because my undergraduate education was in economics, I chose the GMAT. Consider it carefully when selecting which test you'll take; I believe this decision on the application is binding. This standardized test is considered by some to be the most arduous portion of the application, but instead I found the teacher recommendations to be the most difficult part. NC State is a large school (>34,000 students), and I unfortunately did not make much effort to stand out and personally engage with my professors during my time there. My academic recommendation letters ended up being written by two teachers who had only ever heard me speak a couple sentences each.
There is some conflicting information about which oral interview centers are available in the United States. One list says that only New York and San Francisco (the French tend to love San Francisco) are possible testing locations, while the drop-down box on the application page says that Los Angeles and Miami are also viable choices. In any case, let's hope you don't happen to live in Kinsley or Lebanon, KS. If by some chance you do, this is a fantastic excuse to visit the big city. Being on the East Coast already, I chose New York. More on the interview in a later post.
I would estimate that the rest of the application can easily be done in a couple of hours and then submitted. The most time-consuming part will be amassing all of the required documents. The list is as follows:
In addition to these documents, I answered between 3 and 5 short questions about my motivation in applying to the SAI. They were a joke. I was expecting to have to take some time to compose thoughtful responses, but it turns out that each of the answers was limited to 500 characters. Not 500 words, but characters. If we consider a mark of good writing to be the ability to convey meaning in the most concise way possible, then perhaps this is a challenge of sorts. This paragraph is 500 characters.
The next step is to pay the application fee, which is, as of Jan. 2014, 175€. This can be done by credit card or direct bank transfer. As an American, I would assume that credit card will be preferable for most of us.
This guide was indispensable when going through the application. The FAQ is also helpful. Everything was clearly laid out for me and at no point was I confused about the steps I needed to take. If you are accepted at and attend a French school, you will forfeit any right to or expectation of a clear administrative process once you arrive in France. From that day forward, all information will be confusing and conflicting, the regulations and processes will be infuriating, and logic and reason will be absent. Please, savor this while you still can.
The next step is to pay the application fee, which is, as of Jan. 2014, 175€. This can be done by credit card or direct bank transfer. As an American, I would assume that credit card will be preferable for most of us.
This guide was indispensable when going through the application. The FAQ is also helpful. Everything was clearly laid out for me and at no point was I confused about the steps I needed to take. If you are accepted at and attend a French school, you will forfeit any right to or expectation of a clear administrative process once you arrive in France. From that day forward, all information will be confusing and conflicting, the regulations and processes will be infuriating, and logic and reason will be absent. Please, savor this while you still can.
