PrepHEC: 85% of assisted preparatory students enter a top business school
The PrepHEC 2023 pre-start seminar welcomed 64 preparatory students from 32 preparatory classes in the Paris region and elsewhere in France, for an intensive online summer training course for the competitive entrance exam to business schools. The program helps improve chances of success, promotes social diversity and presents the realities of preparatory classes.
Des préparationnaires heureux d’être accompagnés par le programme PrepHEC
Auteur/Authour of this article: Frédéric Voirin
"The goal of this seminar is to give these young preparatory students the right methods, the right reflexes and the right confidence just before the start of the new school year, so that they can be on the road to success from September onwards". With these words, Delphine Cutrim, in charge of student support in preparatory classes, sums up the purpose of this unique program at HEC Paris.
The PREP'HEC online summer seminar, set up every year by HEC Paris' Mission Egalité des Chances, this year helped 33 male and 31 female students. With the help of HEC Paris teachers and student tutors, these CROUS scholarship holders and/or holders of a mention bien or très bien at the baccalauréat were able to get a head start on their September entry into the CPGE business school preparatory program.
85% chance to enter a top school
New this year, the move to online training has enabled us to achieve better geographical coverage, particularly as far as the French West Indies, as well as greater social diversity among our tutors. For 2023, 16 preparatory classes in Ile-de-France and 16 in the provinces are now partners in the program.
Thanks to this broadening of the field of possibilities, a maximized class of 64 young preparatory students was able to take part in 5 days of private lessons in small groups, as well as additional lectures. This intensive teaching of the fundamentals taught in preparatory classes is designed to prepare these young students as effectively as possible for their two years of preparatory classes and their future business school entrance exams.
The program includes lectures and tutoring in mathematics, general culture classes, debates in English, LV2 language workshops in German or Spanish, a speed reading workshop, a "Self-knowledge" workshop, and lectures by option: Law or Economics, Sociology and History of the Contemporary World or History, Geography and Geopolitics.
Afterwards, accompanied students will receive support throughout their 2 years of preparatory school, with student tutoring, language courses, coaching, preparation for personality and language interviews, and professional mentoring in partnership with Article 1 and the Foundation Groupe RATP. All this will serve to boost their learning.
Afterwards, the students will receive support throughout their 2 years of preparatory classes, with student tutoring, language courses, coaching, preparation for personality and language interviews, and professional mentoring in partnership with Article 1 and the RATP Group Foundation. All this will serve to boost their learning in the preparatory class and guarantee them optimum conditions for success in the competitive entrance exam. And it's paying off: according to Delphine Cutrim, "85% of PrepHEC students go on to enter a Grande Ecole".
"85% of PrepHEC students enter a top business school"
A support system that promotes social diversity
To facilitate the learning of these 43 ECG (general economics and business) and 21 ECT (economics and business technology) preparatory students, and to familiarize them with the pace of preparatory classes, more than 40 contributors were mobilized.
The program combines 20 preparatory class teachers and 25 HEC students who act as tutors for the students. The Fleur de Bitume student association, founded in the 1990s, once again made a major contribution this year to supporting these socially diverse young students, whose families were not necessarily fortunate enough to follow this path of excellence.
Olivier Thöni, professor of mathematics and computer science at Le Mans, reminds us that "going to a preparatory school and then to a grande école is not reserved for a social elite". He points out that, with talent, merit and hard work, anyone can succeed and rise to positions of responsibility.
The 64 young participants in the PrepHEC 2023 class join the 2,000 students helped by PrepHEC since 2007, and the more than 11,000 students supported by HEC Paris since the creation of its Equal Opportunity programs.
"PrepHEC is not just for the social elite".
Awareness of the reality of the prep school
Like one of her predecessors, Capucine was able to open up to others thanks to this express training course, and engage in active dialogue not only with her fellow students, but also with HEC students who shared their feedback from the preparatory course.
"It was a great experience," says Capucine, "it really helped me acquire knowledge and improve my methodology for the competitive exams".
Capucine was able to develop a special bond with her tutor, Justin Martin, a M1 student on the Grande Ecole Master in Management program and active member of several HEC student associations (student office, Uni-Run), who, in her words, was always able to motivate her by making her dream with images of the HEC Campus!
The final word goes to Véronique Guérin-Marquez, an English teacher at the Lycée Henri IV who has been involved with PrepHEC for several years, who sums up this human and academic adventure perfectly: "these courses enable students to debate and corroborate their points of view, but also to reassure them about what awaits them in the preparatory classes". The Anglicist goes on to dismantle a number of preconceived ideas, explaining that "with talent, tenacity and perseverance, you can succeed in the preparatory classes!"
"It was a great experience, it really helped me acquire knowledge and improve my methodology for the competitive exams".
A big thank you to all our speakers, to the students of HEC Paris and, of course, we wish these young preparatory students every success! (and hope to see them in our future classes).