ESSEC Business School

ESSEC Global BBA Fall 2015 Travel Report ESSEC Business School ESSEC Global BBA France Fall 2015 241542

Introduction I did an exchange semester in Paris (Cergy) during Fall 2015. My host university was ESSEC Business School, which in France is considered as one of the top schools for business. ESSEC has two campuses, one in France and one in Singapore. Their BBA program is very international, including two obligatory exchanges/international internships, one to their Singapore campus and one which is freely chosen. It is important to know, that the campus in France is not in the city of Paris, but in the suburb called Cergy. It takes about 40 minutes (from the station of Oprèra, RER A) to get to the campus from Paris. In ESSEC the bachelor level exchange students were offered courses in both English and French. There were some courses (like French Civilization or French language) that were offered only for exchange students. The variety of all courses was wide and it was easy to find courses that were interesting (a positive remark: most of the courses were offered in both English and French, so you could freely choose the courses you liked without compromising or thinking about the language as criteria). I took half my courses in English and half in French. Preparing for the Exchange ESSEC was really active through e-mail. I received first information and welcoming letters already months before my exchange semester started. They informed well and clearly about every step of the process and really took care, that I remembered to do everything. There were multiple info packages about the housing in ESSEC, the schedules of introduction week, planning and choosing the courses and about the studies in ESSEC in general. I needed to confirm the exchange place, (apply to housing, if you want to live in a dorm closer to the school in Cergy) and choose courses for the semester (there were some technical difficulties, but the communication between the international students office and the student was so good that it all sorted out easily). All this was done online, and I didn t need to send them anything by post. Scanned documents were enough for everything and questions were answered quickly, this made the process before exchange seem easy and unstressful. 3 weeks before the semester a Facebook-group was made for the exchange students. People introduced themselves and started making friend. This group was coordinated by ESSEC students and we could ask questions also in this medium (more unofficially). This was very relevant, because a lot of our questions were similar and we could also answer each other s questions. Some people found roommates through these conversations, some people arranged rides to the campus from the airport together etc. Also

about the same time this Facebook group was made, each exchange student was given a personal friend, a personal tutor, with whom he could meet up before the school semester started or just communicate and ask questions. There were also some meetup-parties before the semester started. I started looking for an apartment in Paris 2 months before arriving (TOO LATE!!!). I knew before going to ESSEC that I definitely want to live in Paris and not in the dorm. This was a good decision, since the dorm experience was not that important for me. Also many of my friend who lived in the dorm said they should have lived in Paris (but this depends on your preferences; the dorm is a lot closer to the school and you make more friends since you all live in the same place) There are a lot of flats available through agencies, but I found mine through a friend, you can also write to Facebook group Suomalaiset Pariisissa or if you know Swedish to the same but theirs. I lived in Paris and it was almost the same price as the residences in Cergy. I lived in 15th addroissement, south from Eiffel tower. As it is written in the previous travel reports ESSEC really takes care of you and it is simple to prepare for your exchange. For me the trickiest part was finding apartment, because there is a lot of bureaucracy involved. Exchange studies

Before and in the beginning of the semester We were supposed to arrive one week before the beginning of academic semester. From 26th August- 4th September we had a mandatory orientation week. During this week we got a lot of information about life in Paris, we got to know each other, there were French language tests for those who wanted to study French in other than beginning level. This year the orientation week was called i-xperience Week and it was more than just an ordinary orientation for exchange students. It was also mandatory for the French students. Each day there were interesting lecturers coming to talk about change in different fields, this wasn't necessarily anything to do with business. The idea was to broaden students thinking. As lecturers we had among others Prof. Yves Coppens talking about evolution, transformation and imagination, Nicolas Huchet talking about his project on biomechanic hand, Jean-Loup Chrétien a French astronaut and Henri Atlan a French biophysicist and philosopher. Also the students that had decided to live in the student dorm were supposed to arrive a few day earlier and take the keys in the beginning of the orientation week. Studying in ESSEC The school is totally divided to different masters and BBA schools that just works under the same name and in the same building. There were no similarity or any crossing activities course or school wise, but if you were active and outgoing you could make friends in the school cafeteria and student organized parties. The BBA courses were worth 2 or 4 ECTS each, so I had to take at least 8 courses. That was a lot, but as I lived in Paris and didn't want to travel to Cergy every day I had a schedule were all my courses were in three long days. I would recommend taking some of the intensive-format courses to have lighter graphic during the whole semester. Most of the exchange students took less than 30 credits worth of courses. In ESSEC, during the fall semester,they had all their courses in one period. Almost all of the courses took all the semester and had 10 sessions one per each week. Some of the courses were only half of that (2 ECTS courses) and had accordingly 5 sessions. I think the courses in average were not as academic as courses in Aalto, but if studying in French the work load was similar do to the difficulty of language. Most of the courses were more from the point of view of practice. The emphasis in teaching was on small project works and a lot on group work. There was definitely a lot to do to accomplish 30 ECTS in that short time, but it was not because you had to read enormous amount of literature. Most of the courses were based on ongoing assignments, often done in Power Point format, which in times was stressful because in Aalto the emphasis is on the final exam and we are maybe less used to on going stress. I had most of my exams in two parts, a mid-term exam and the final exam which in many cases was held during the last lesson of the course. The exam week was 1,5 weeks long and ended on 18th of December. Students are not recommended to book any home flights before that date, because even if they don't have exams during these dates something might change and the French are really strict on not making any exceptions on this week. Also it's good to know that there is no way a student can re-do an exam if it failed.

The course offering had courses in both English and French, and as exchange students we were allowed to take any courses that were offered to the 4th year BBA students. Most students tried to have a schedule that had free days, for.ex. from mon-wed. The intensive courses offered during the autumn break made this possible. The courses were selected already in advance through online-inscriptions. That happened about a month before the semester started, and ESSEC sent many emails about it to inform students how to use the system. The French system is not so organized as ours in Finland, but ESSEC is really helpful and if you needed to change or have some other course you could do it in September too with out problems. My courses I had to the following courses: 1. Religion and society 2. Décisions et enjeux géopo.

3. French Civilization 4. International Economics 5. European Economics 6. French language- upper intermediate 7. Management des forces de vente 8. Management des achats My courses were all together 30 ECTS. You could not do more, the limits for the exchange students were to take between 16 to 30 ECTS. As I mentioned earlier, many exchange students took less than 30 ECTS, but with our Aalto- program we were supposed to take the 30 ECTS 1.Religions & Society 2 ECTS Elijah ARY CRN 1445 This course lasted only a half of the semester (5 sessions). This was a very interesting course. Each session we had a different topic, for. ex. environment, terrorism or marketing etc. and from this aspect we discussed religions; how they interact, what are the similarities and differences between themselves and people. There were two written assignments and a group work. As a project we needed to create a new religion and film an advertising video about it. We had some really interesting discussions during the sessions and a lot of new information and new angels to think about. The course was not too hard. 2.Décisions et enjeux géopo. 4 ECTS Vincent BARRAILLER CRN 1448 Mr. Barrailler is one of the best professors in ESSEC, in students opinion, this is true with both French and internationals. He is extremely into his field of studies and knows everything and very widely of his subjects. Very interesting course. In this, course as in the previous, each lesson we had an new topic like immigration, terrorism, lobbing etc. and he had a profound lecture on the topic. Also students were supposed to have a wide group work writing a report on one topic and a film review on a film that was linked to the same topic. The course was challenging and the professor was demanding, but I definitely recommend this course. It was in french. 3.French Civilization 4 ECTS Pascale GUILLIER CRN 1581

This course is good, if you are interested in French culture and history. We went through a large amount of history from each dynasty to today, French literature and art, culture and fashion, regions of France and specialties of them, monuments in Paris and the meaning of them etc. The amount of information was huge and sometimes hard to digest, but the course was not difficult. Sometimes I was annoyed with the lack of structure, the teacher is adorable but sometimes it was hard to follow her thought. There was 3 quizzes held during the semester and a written final exam. 4.International Economics 4 ECTS Cristina TERRA CRN 1451 This course was very math based. Generally it was not very hard, but the professor explained simple things so complicated that it was hard to follow at times. Best and the most interesting part of this course were the specific examples in international markets (a lot examples from Latin American countries, that which in Aalto I hadn't heard so much) This course was challenging. We had a mid-term and a final exam. 5.European Economics 4 ECTS Oana T. PEIA CRN 1582 Very good professor, enthusiastic, interesting and clear. She liked to have dialogue with students and really knew well her field. This course was also very nice because the students participated and told things about their own countries (this course was offered only for exchange students). We had one group presentation, a mid-term and a final exam. 6.French language- upper intermediate 4 ECTS Michel VERNEUIL CRN 1705 I did not like the language teaching in ESSEC! And what a heard from other students who were studying in beginner or advanced levels, their comments were the same. Very nice professor, but nobody learned a thing. The course was not structured and the things that were in the final exam were not taught in the class. A lot of empty talking that didn't help in learning anything about the language. We had a few quizzes that were a joke, because we got them in advance for homework, and a few presentations. If you want to learn french I recommend to take some language class outside the university.

7.Management des forces de vente 4 ECTS - Jean-Jacques ANDRE CRN 1523 This course was very badly structured, even the French students didn't understand what to do or what was the point of the exercises. The professor is challenging and he tries to act like in real world consulting firms, that is a big plus. We had three case works on three different firms and the tempo was really intense, for. ex. We could come to class and he would give us 2h to start and finish a marketing plan for a big company and present for him like in life. The atmosphere was extremely competitive. 8.Management des achats 4 ECTS Jean-Robert FAURE CRN 1558 This course was not very useful. Again a nice professor, but I had the feeling of being in a class of 8th grade. The things we went through were mostly unrelevant and evident. There was a group work presented to the class, which (for me) took a lot of time to prepare, because it was in French. I do not recommend this course. Living in Paris Free time and other information The fees for housing in the ESSEC dorm is almost as expensive as living in Paris. The difference is that it is a lot easier to have the dorm room, which you get almost automatically by applying, than a room or a flat in Paris. There is a lot of bureaucracy involved in getting a flat in the city, do to the French laws that protect the rent taker so well that the people renting the apartments are suspicious and careful who to take in. Also it is good to know when signing a rental contract what is included, sometimes it can be written that the rent is for. ex. 700, but then you will have to pay for electricity, heating, water etc. in addition. Some professors wanted us to buy books, but it was not obligatory. I did all my courses without books and I felt like the information given in slides and on lessons was enough for me.

The food at school was more expensive that in Aalto and the quality was bad. They had also some machines were students could buy ready made food and microwaves to heat it up. Some student driven startup - pasta restaurants were also opened inside the uni. and during the lunch breaks. In these the food was cheaper and better. The school cafeteria was very nice, coffee was cheap (about 0,90 EUR) and good quality and in the morning the breakfast patisseries were good. Student life The exchange students in the BBA program mostly hanged around Cergy together and had parties there. The French students were well organized and active in preparing different events in school and parties outside the school. There was even a bar Foy's inside the school! This place is famous, because ESSEC is the only university in Paris that has a bar inside it. There was also an international student club called Melt in ESSEC that also organized a lot of events. If you wish to discover France outside Paris, I would recommend to use the Blabla car it is cheap, easy to book even in a short notice and you can almost go anywhere by it. Final Comments During this exchange I learned a lot about myself and about Finland (even though it sounds weird). Living in another culture forces you to see better the things that you normally take as evident. This came up in everything; eating culture (not talking about food specifically here), education, the way people interact with each other both on free time and in school work, what kind of relationship different cultures have with time, responsibility, politics or personal space. I learned to appreciate Finland more. I also learned more what it means to be European, which was a surprise for me and a thing I hadn't thought about before. I recommend ESSEC as a school, but you have to be aware that it is not in Paris, and moving around in Paris is sometimes hard with the public transport. The RER A line is the most used line in whole of Europe and it is often broken, so if you will live in Paris you should take this into consideration every day (especially if you have an exam!) If I would go back to the same university for another exchange, I would take an extra language course outside the university and change the one I took from ESSEC to some other. Also I would take as many intensive courses during the automn break as possible.

The greatest experience of my exchange was to live in Paris. I loved it before I arrived but this exchange made these feeling even beeper. I absolutely love the city. The Parisian way of living, enjoying life every day. The aesthetics and ambiance of the city are just perfect. I would definitely recommend everyone to live there for some time and have an exchange in ESSEC!