I'm going to the London Information Session on October 31st. Are there any questions people would like me to ask?

If you're close to London, why not come along? http://events.em-lyon.com/cd/london/index.aspx

Hi Duncan,
I'd like to know
1) % of people who starts their own business
2) if EM Lyon has some facilities like incubators, venture capitalist networks, ecc
3) corporates recruiting there
4) placement stats.. I asked them several times but i never got

placement stats for non EU specifically :)

placement stats for non EU specifically :)

I'd be interested to hear about students who are native English speakers: do they offer French language classes? And especially, if those who don't command much French before enrolling can find work in France after the program.

I just wrote and lost a huge article about this. I'll try again tomorrow but, in a nutshell:
- I think their international programmes are having a hard time.
- Placement questions are really consciously deflected. They don't publish any salary data. I think that's so obviously a defensive move that it's a bad idea.
- yes, there are French classes on campus, and the EMLyon incubator is still running.
- The Geneva campus is gone. http://bit.ly/EMLGeneva

Thank you Duncan.. not a good picture for Lyon. I think I ll drop it from my list

What do you mean that their international programs have a hard time ?

I am very interested in their Master in Luxury Management & Marketing. Do you have any input in that ?

Thanks

P.S. Why does the Geneva campus not exist anymore ?

Well, their international programmes are recruiting very small numbers of students. Of course they will say that's because of selectivity. However having an MBA of just 32 people is very small, especially since they need to have 30 *graduates* to stay in the FT rankings: what happens if two or three do not complete? The advanced finance MSc has just 17 students. Considering the huge economies of scale involved, then I am sure they would prefer to be recruiting twice as many students.

However, there are limited professional openings around Lyon, especially for non-Europeans. They key obstacle, they say, is the right to work.

Their website tells you everything about the programme. I think they have 25 or so students on it. I would certainly want to see placement data. Educationally, I am sure it is fine but since luxury is a low-wage market that's overcrowded with the supply of applicants, I can't see how they would be getting great career results.

Thanks a lot for your answers.
Their website is informative ... but not very much. They don't give any employment statistics, or list their complete curriculum (which most unis do). Upon a request I was told that I would receive the complete curriculum only enrolling which is sad because I want to know what I would be paying for before actually paying not the other way round. Did they give any info on their other campuses ?

No, they don't release placement figures. There's only one other 'campus', part of an international centre at ECNU in China. The Luxury programme is taught with a hotel school in Lausanne.

My name is Tess Lau and I am head of student recruitment at EMLYON Business School. As such my team and I are the first point of contact regarding any questions prospective students want to ask. I am always happy to receive feedback on the level of service we provide, as well as on any difficulties you may have had in finding specific information that interests you. This discussion is very helpful for us to better respond to our future students? needs for information, so thank you.

I?d also like to take this opportunity to address some of the questions that were raised regarding our programmes; information from someone with actual knowledge of the institution may complement the outside view you have been provided with so far.

Regarding the Msc in Luxury Management & Marketing

- You can find an objective account of one of our students in the article written by an independent Financial Times reporter: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/87d8e3da-e393-11e0-8f47-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1YZvdmeqo

- Last year, instead of in Geneva, the Swiss part of the programme has indeed taken place in Lausanne, at the world-renowned ?Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne?, a school that is recognised industry-wide as the best hospitality management school in the world. The luxury industry encompasses many sectors beyond fashion (sector that comes to mind easily), and many of our students want to enter management positions in hospitality management. Their time at EHL is of great added value to all our students, as it adds a worldwide quality label to their resumé that is very hard to equal elsewhere.

Regarding the International MBA

- This programme is consistently rated very highly by very reputable rankings around the world, in terms of placement figures as much as diversity and faculty quality. The Economist currently places it 43rd the world ? I am not sure you all realise how many MBA programmes are provided worldwide, but there are a few thousand of them I can assure you ? and the programme has consistently been part of the FT?s Top 100 MBA programmes. Forbes ranks it as the 11th non-US programme worldwide? If there were any issues regarding placement of our MBA students, wouldn?t you think serious publications such as the ones cited above would point this out when they audit placement results for their ranking questionnaires?

- As for the open publication of placement results, it is not in our institution?s custom to do so, as our approach to learning and career development is an individual one. This does not mean we cannot provide statistics to you when we are in contact, and meet the requirements of your particular situation. However, rather than focusing on generic statistics, ask yourself what you want to achieve in your career, what you need to change and learn to do so, and if the programme you are interested in provides you with the tools to make your plans reality. It is not because 24% of graduates over the last 3 years have gone into consulting positions that this programme is the best choice for you ? or because 16% of graduates have created their business after the MBA that this is the best option for you? Generic statistics are just that. Generic. You are not.

Hi Tess,

The FT article is very useful but, rather obviously, the answers given by a student in the programme are a *subjective* account rather than an *objective* one.

I'm not really sure why you think that Forbes or The Economist would point it out if a programme in France obtained worse placement results for Anglophone programmes than Francophone programmes. That would not be news, nor do they conduct the sort of granular analysis that would show that. You yourself told me that, for example, even EM Lyon does not conduct statistical analysis to compare the placement results of those students who are, and are not, from the EU, or are Francophone. If EM Lyon does not do that analysis, then why should Forbes?

Some other nuggets I picked up from EM Lyon about their international programmes:

- There are around 69 students in their Global Entreprenesurship MSc, with an average age of 24.

- 47 are in the European MSc; 85% are not French, with an average age of 23.

- 26 are taking the Luxury MSc. 77% are women, and 81% are international. Average age is 23.

- The flagship grande ecole MSc programme remains strong can take be taken in English. There are 10,000 applicants, but then my notes go a bit crazy; there are either 375 or 3,000 students. Perhaps there are 375 international students, or 375 on the English track?

-The MSc in finance is very small: just 17 students.

- The MBA is also small. Just 31 students and 80 are international. Average age is 30%.

I heard that in France you gotta go to one of the Grande Ecoles to have a shot at the top jobs. People who go to Universities are doomed to failure regardless of talents.

Then that would make going to EM Lyon a no-brainer decision.
However, apparently you gotta do the flagship Master in Management also known as Grande Ecole Master. Other Master degrees are more like "executive degrees" as cash cows for extra flow of incomes.

To what extend are those true? I hope to hear back from people familiar with the obsecure system in France

I think that's not true. You can see that the MBA graduates get higher salaries than the francophone master of science graduates. The real issue is the knowledge of French. If graduates of the anglophone masters cannot speak French then they will tend to get less demand from employers And thus a lower salary.