I had decided to follow what most engineers do — work for a couple of years, gain experience, pursue MBA from a renowned business school and then settle for a fat salary job. However, my score for Common Admission Test 2019 was not enough to get me a call from the IIMs. I was disheartened, however, least did I know that I will study management in one of the oldest B school in the world. I am Anchit Kumar Barnwal and this is my story.
I received a call from MDI Gurgaon for their PGDM in International Business. I had never planned to study abroad, however, as a part of the programme, there was one year of international immersion with ESCP Business School. I was in the Paris campus of ESCP. ESCP has six campuses across Europe— Paris, Berlin, Turin, Madrid, London and Warsaw.
Criteria to get into PGDM IB for ESCP Business School
The criteria for PGDM IB was four-year bachelor’s degree and work experience of at least one year. In the batch, we were nearly 100-110 engineers except one girl, who was an architect. There were candidates from various backgrounds like IT, consulting etc. Some were investment bankers and hedge fund managers.
To go to ESCP, we had to complete credits and for that we had to complete a two years MBA course in one year and, around 21 odd courses in six months. All six ESCP campuses are known for their specialisation — Paris is known for its marketing, London is known for investment banking, Madrid is known for its entrepreneurship-related courses, Berlin there were tech-related courses. I did both my specialisations from Paris— first in digital transformation and second in international business development.
There were around 40-50 people in Paris (nearly 50 per cent of the batch), Madrid had around 14-15 people, 10-12 in London. Turin was cancelled at the last minute and there was some issue with the Warsaw campus as well that year.
The batch was demographically diverse. Apart from Indians, there were an equal number of Chinese students. A few from the central Europe— Slovenia, Hungary, Budapest, also from eastern Europe Germany and Italy.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, classes were held online in the initial two terms at MDI Gurgaon, but thankfully it wasn’t the case for us when we had to study abroad. We went to Paris for the fall term, which was to begin in January 2021 and landed there on December 26, 2020. But during that time, there was great uncertainty due to the pandemic and the guidelines kept changing.
The troubles did not end there. As I landed in Paris, I had to rent an apartment almost outside the city due to the budget constraints. We took help from our seniors in order to find a place. Six of us used to live in a three room apartment that had all the basic amenities— oven, refrigerator, washing machine and even a grill, which was a pleasant surprise. Even though we were technically staying at the outskirts of the city, we had to pay somewhere around Rs 35,000 to 40,000 per person for the flat.
How did I apply for loan
For my MBA course, I took a loan from the Central Bank of India. All the banks have special schemes for B-schools where they are ready to give us collateral free loans up to Rs 30 lakh. I also took a loan for Rs 30 lakh. My course didn’t have a scholarship.
After going to Paris we realised that for the first term the course was online. The situation normalised during our second term.
ESCP and our course
he unique feature about this course was that we had to find our own internships, unlike India where recruiters visit the campus and you get summer internships. Here we had to find our own internships but they were also dominated by various factors — Covid-19 pandemic, knowledge of French language (at least for workable purposes). There was also a hiring freeze, I got shortlisted for two internships but that didn’t work out.
he unique feature about this course was that we had to find our own internships, unlike India where recruiters visit the campus and you get summer internships. Here we had to find our own internships but they were also dominated by various factors — Covid-19 pandemic, knowledge of French language (at least for workable purposes). There was also a hiring freeze, I got shortlisted for two internships but that didn’t work out.
Difference between France and India
Professors are friendly and you can call them by their names. The culture was open; we used to have activities that we would generally not imagine to do in India. For example, our Paris campus had Friday beers nights where we would party once classes are over. There were designated smoking areas where you would find teachers and students smoking together.
Academically speaking, the course was ‘used-cases bases’. In India, our case studies are limited to Amazon, Google, etc… or local companies like Anand. However, here there are many more international examples. The kind of education in Paris is much more advanced, more practical. Here what we study may not be relevant with what we are doing in our jobs but there it is industry specific. For example, we actually read about key account managers and so much more and the best part is that they are in line with all the big companies and there are more opportunities to learn.
Academically speaking, the course was ‘used-cases bases’. In India, our case studies are limited to Amazon, Google, etc… or local companies like Anand. However, here there are many more international examples. The kind of education in Paris is much more advanced, more practical. Here what we study may not be relevant with what we are doing in our jobs but there it is industry specific. For example, we actually read about key account managers and so much more and the best part is that they are in line with all the big companies and there are more opportunities to learn.
je ne parle pas français
The medium of communication was English, as we were a diverse batch and it was grilling course we didn’t have enough time to learn French, our go to motto was — je ne parle pas français, parlez vous anglais — I can’t speak french, do you speak English. We made sure that we interacted with everyone and not just limit ourselves to Indians. Initially it was difficult to understand Italian English.
The medium of communication was English, as we were a diverse batch and it was grilling course we didn’t have enough time to learn French, our go to motto was — je ne parle pas français, parlez vous anglais — I can’t speak french, do you speak English. We made sure that we interacted with everyone and not just limit ourselves to Indians. Initially it was difficult to understand Italian English.
Professors are friendly and you can call them by their names. The culture was open; we used to have activities that we would generally not imagine to do in India. For example, our Paris campus had Friday beers nights where we would party once classes are over. There were designated smoking areas where you would find teachers and students smoking together.
Food and fashion lessons
Being in the fashion capital, I learned one important lesson that you have to dress well. Once we went out in our chappals and people looked down upon us. We realised how much fashion conscious are they. The next day, we bought trench coats and other fashionable clothes.
French cuisine is bland, but what they can’t make up in savoury, they compensate for in desserts. Also, in France, all bakeries or as they say it boulangeries bake their own bread. Every morning, there is a sweet aroma around the bakeries. Be it the world-renowned croissants or pain au chocolat, there are so many different types of bread. The French pizzerias are a treat. As there is a lack of sunlight, they love sitting outside while eating, soaking in the sun. The saving grace was there was a lot of Lebanese food— doner was our go to food option.
We used to cook everyday and being a non-vegetarian, I didn’t face any problem. Plus, out of six of us, some were good cooks. I would be the tea specialist. Since meat was cheaper than vegetables, we used to try experimenting with non vegetarian dishes.
How we lived there
Earlier, we used to convert everything into Rupees but that became difficult for us as everything seemed expensive. So later, we resorted to budgeting, where we would set aside 1000 to 1200 euros for household expenses. There was an Indian market which even had a Mithai store and a golgappa store.
For transportation, we had a pass for 50-60 euros. The best part about it was the public transportation system which was very convenient and budget-friendly. Cabs were expensive.
Advice for students
My advice to students who want to study abroad is to research well— know where you are going, try to learn about their culture, their language, adapt to their culture and during an exchange of cultures give them a glimpse of your cultures and what good things you can learn from each other.
Courtesy : The Indian Express