Excellent Exchange Schools?

[ASG111]

Anybody been on an exchange and care to share their experience?
I'm considering doing an exchange in a top business school somewhere, but honestly, i haven't done my research yet.
Here's the list of the schools and i've been hearing great things about ESCP Europe. too bad the spots are 0 and can no longer be filled for Spring 2011 and i'm considering other options

I'm looking into building connections in finance and I heard ESCP is where the big firms recruit at, including Mckinsey, MS, GS etc.... so i'm wondering whether any of you had experience in such or know of any schools on the list that have such opportunities. No.. unfortunately, the exchange list does not carry LSE, Standford, Harvard and stuff like that... so yeah... any help is appreciated.

Serious replies only. thanks guys

http://students.sfu.ca/international...20deadline.pdf

[djm]

I'm going to ESCP Spring 2011 with a friend of mine. We'll both be looking at opportunities in Consulting/Banking/Brand Management. Career opportunities are tremendous and there is a large career fair in the beginning of January when we arrive. Feel free to PM me.

I looked into CBS/NUS/Bocconi as other schools and here are my thoughts:

CBS - Big incoming exchange group from all over. Don't know how strong/serious the recruiting is over there.
NUS - Students over there work like crazy/are super competitive with bell curved grades. Unsure about career ops.
Bocconi - In Milan, not much happens there when Fashion Week isn't going on. Top school but not sure how strong the recruiting is for non Italian speakers. Lots of accountants go here for some reason.

For these 3 schools, most people that go are not as focused on OCR/Academics/Networking.. but are there more for partying/social scene/cultural aspect/traveling.

On exchange, you simply receive pass/fail grades when the courses transfer back. On an undergraduate level, these do not count. If you apply for an MBA, these grades do count. At ESCP/other french schools/grand ecoles.. it is rare to get above 16/20.

If you're serious.. I would wait for Fall 2011/Spring 2012 at ESCP. All the BB's are there for FT and SA recruiting in the fall.

I just looked at what's available and these are the schools that pop out:
Grenoble - Definately not as hooked up at ESCP. Could go if you really want to go to Paris. 1.5/2H outside of the city centre
HKUST - Asia MBA is top.. don't know about undergrad... also the faculty won't recognize you as a business exchange student and won't let you get preferred enrollment or something like that.
U. Navarra - IESE is a top B-School... don't know about the undergrad program
Sciences Po - Not a B-School.. but is a Grandes Ecoles

[djm]

To go to ESCP you need to be entering your 4th year (90 credits or more) by the time you go on exchange. This is because ESCP is actually a Masters level business school (no undergraduate). In Europe.. its a 3+2 system, as opposed to the NA 4+1 system.

ESCP is a Masters in Management program, and you can specialize in finance/marketing etc.

[ASG111]

Ty for another response. if you don't mind me asking, what would be your plan? I guess you would be done your undergrad before you head into ESCP to do the masters for 2 years? All the while, you would be trying to secure an internship... is this correct?

If this is it, what would be the difference between applying thru SFU or soley thru the ESCP website? cheaper costs?

I'm really curious because i can be done my undergrad at Spring 2011... depending on your response, i'll probably ask my next question of considering my choices if i want to go.... though i wasn't prepared to do another 2 years or schooling right after my undergrad. i thought i could do a semester there after I grad but turns out i was wrong... i also heard doing high level division courses at schools such as ESCP are not that great (ie 300 and 400 since they tend to be vague in marking)...

[djm]

I am only going to ESCP for 1 academic semester/4 months.. which is a typical exchange semester. If you're truly balling.. you could do a 2 semester exchange at ESCP (September - April).. which is equivalent to 1 academic year there. I will not have graduated/completed my undergrad by then.. I will be a "visiting student/erasmus student" at ESCP.

You would not be doing the full 2 year program through exchange.. you would just be doing a semester there. You're doing an exchange to a masters level program while still being an undergraduate at SFU. I don't think you can do an exchange semester at ESCP after you graduate.. as you still need to be an SFU student to go on exchange.

Higher division courses at places like ESCP vary. At Grandes Ecoles in France.. it is very hard to get above 16/20 as it is a part of their culture (no one is a genius etc). As well, because of French academic system.. its very hard to get into the Grandes Ecoles but hard to fail and "easy" once you're in. While marking may be vague.. you shouldn't focus your time on this during an exchange semester. Just do good enough (electives are a breeze) so you have enough time to job hunt/travel etc.

If you're doing ESCP electives.. they have less work involved and allow you more time to network/explore
If you're doing ESCP core courses/specializations.. they are a lot of work.. and won't time to do much else. I do not recommend doing this

ESCP has 30hour and 15hour electives. Each class has one 3H lecture once a week. 30H = 10 weeks x 3H and 15H = 5 weeks x 3H. So halfway through the semester you could be done half your courses.

I recommend chatting with these individuals about ESCP and exchange to learn more as well. Kris Torno has actually gone to ESCP on exchange.

Rebecca Cowan - SFU Business International Exchange Coordinator - bus_international@sfu.ca
Kris Torno - Study Abroad Advisor Exchanges & Field Schools - studyabroad@sfu.ca

[K-bad]

Sorry, just out of curiosity how much are exchanges? I'm thinking of doing one after i graduate.

[jeanne_17]

Djm, if you were doing a exchange to a masters level program at ESCP, are the credits transferable to SFU? Also, if they are, what would be the use? Since you don't need the ESCP Masters level credits to graduate from SFU Undergrad...

Technically if it doesn't do anything, the only benefit of it is studying abroad at ESCP and internship opportunities?

[djm]

K-Bad: I don't think you can do an exchange after you graduate.. unless its in a masters/MBA program. It really depends on how much you travel/eat out/shop.. but I'd roughly say: $8-10K for Asia and $10K+ for Europe.

jeanne_17:Some courses are transferable back to SFU.. others will come back as 3XX or 4XX courses for "empty credits".. check the exchange transfer credit database. A thing with ESCP though, is since there are 15H courses..might only be worth 1-2 credits when they transfer back.

I would say ESCP is the total package. You can get some sick courses like "Investment Banking and Financial Engineering" not offered at home, you're in the heart of the city (11 Arrondissement) HEC Paris/ESSEC/Grenoble is farmer status, since you're so close the OCR is ridiculous, you've got access to postings from 5 different campus' in Europe, not to mention Paris city life

[ASG111]

^ Sounds like you're going to have an awesome experience man.
What courses you gonna be taking?