Grande école
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For the film released in 2004, see Grande École (film).
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The Grandes écoles (French: literally "Grand Schools" or "Elite Schools") of France are higher education establishments outside the mainstream framework of the public universities system. Unlike French public universities which have an obligation to accept all candidates of the same region who hold a Baccalauréat in the same academic field, the selection criteria of Grandes écoles rests mainly on competitive written and oral exams, undertaken by students of dedicated preparatory classes. They do not have a large student body (3,000 at the largest establishment; most have a few hundred students each year) and are generally focused on a single subject area, mainly engineering, business or humanities.

Among Grandes écoles, École Polytechnique is considered most prestigious among Engineering Schools, whereas Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris) is considered most prestigious among Business schools.

They have traditionally produced most of France's high ranking civil servants, politicians and executives as well as many scientists and philosophers, and play at the same level as the greatest American universities.citation needed

Contents

Classification as Grandes Écoles

Origins

After the French Revolution

The expression "Grandes écoles" came after the French revolution, in 1794 with the creation of the École Polytechnique by the mathematician Gaspard Monge and Lazare Carnot. In fact, the model was probably Mézières' military academy of which Gaspard Monge was an alumnus. It should be noted that some schools included in the category are older than the expression. For example the École des Ponts et Chaussées and the École d'Arts et Métiers were founded during the 18th century. Other prestigious schools such as the Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Paris), the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures (Centrale Paris), the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP-EAP) and the École supérieure d'électricité (Supélec) were established during the 19th century[1].

Since then France has had a unique higher education system, where small and middle size specialized schools are totally cut off the university system yet fully integrated within the national education system. Some fields of study are nearly exclusive to one system, like engineering in the Grandes écoles, or medicine in universités.

Today

There is no standard definition nor official list of Grandes écoles. Legislation involving Grandes écoles generally uses the term "Classe Préparatoire aux Grandes Écoles". The term "Grandes écoles" is not employed in the Code of Education, with the exception of a quotation in the social statistics. It generally employs the expression of "Écoles supérieures" to indicate higher educational establishments which are not universities.

The Conférence des Grandes Écoles (Grandes Écoles Confederation) is a commercial association (under the French law 1901). It uses a rather broad definition of the concept of "Grandes écoles", not restricted to the school's selectivity or the prestige of the diploma. The list of the members of CGE does not draw up an official or even an "accepted" list of "Grandes écoles". For example some engineering school members of the CGE cannot deliver state recognized engineering degrees.

Methods of recruitment for the Grandes écoles

The methods of recruitment are the main difference between Grandes écoles and French universités. Public universities are forced by law to admit any student with the Baccalauréat and living within the university's area.

The methods of recruitment may be very different from one school to another. Certain schools are reserved for French citizens, while others have been so until recently. Here are the main three scenarios:

Preparatory classes to the Grandes écoles (CPGE)

The Lycée Louis-le-Grand, in Paris, is one of the most famous lycées providing classes for preparing for Grandes écoles. (Here, on the right side of the rue St Jacques; on the left, the Sorbonne.)
The Lycée Louis-le-Grand, in Paris, is one of the most famous lycées providing classes for preparing for Grandes écoles. (Here, on the right side of the rue St Jacques; on the left, the Sorbonne.)

Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles (CPGE) or Prépas literally Preparatory classes for the Grandes Écoles, sometimes nicknamed the "royal way," because it's the only way to get into the most prestigious schools.

The preparatory classes, either in literature, sciences or management (generally two or three years) is the traditional way to enter the most prestigious Grandes écoles. Most of them are in state high schools; there are a few private preparatory classes but they are expensive. Admission in preparatory classes are based on an academic report. Many students register in more than one class to maximize their chance of admission. Some of these classes are very selective and successful at placing students into the top schools.

The workload is generally very high and in-class competition between students is encouraged. The classes are psychologically stressful, and some students give up before the completion of their studies. The goal of preparatory classes is to prepare the student to match the academic level expected to pass the competitive recruitment examination of the main Grandes écoles. If the student is not admitted to a Grande École, they are given the option of repeating the last year of preparatory classes and attempting the exam the following year.

Preparatory classes do not give any degrees, nor do universities officially credit preparatory subjects.

There are five main categories of Prépas:

  • Mathématiques Supérieures, Mathematic and Scientific themed preparatory class.These prepare for the engineering schools and teach mathematics, physics, chemistry, and technology. They are broken down in sub-categories according to the emphasis of their dominants teaching.
    • 1st year Mathématiques Supérieures; familiarly called Math Sup or Hypotaupe ; students are known as 1/2 ("un demi")
    • 2nd year Mathématiques Spéciales ; familiarly called Math Spé or Taupe ; students are known as "3/2", or "5/2" if they are repeating second year.

There's a story behind those names: the most prestigious of the schools is nicknamed "X", entering a school is known as "integrating" it, thus if you integrate x between 0 and 1, it yields 1/2, between 1 & 2, 3/2 and between 2 & 3, it yields 5/2....

  • Prépa Economique et Commerciale mathematics and economics, . They prepare for the competitive entrance exams to the French business schools), and are broken down between Science (mathematics) and Economics tracks.
    • 1st year Première Année; students familiarly known as bizuths
    • 2nd year Deuxième Année; students familiarly known as carrés (literally: squared) (2nd year students who failed the exam and repeat for another year are known as cubes)

While most students in Taupes and Prépa HEC manage to get admission to a Grande École, there are fewer seats offered to khâgneux and chartistes and most of them will continue their studies within universities.

Recruitment at Baccalauréat level

Some schools are accessible after a competitive entrance exam directly after the Baccalauréat.

Many of these schools remain highly selective and prestigious, with most former students holding high-ranking positions in the public and private sectors. Often, students of these schools will go on and enter an administrative school, for which they are better prepared than the former university students.

Others include a two-year preparatory class directly in their program. These years of preparation are highly focused on the school program so students have higher chance to succeed in the admission exam or contest in their school, but really lower their chances to succeed in the contest for other schools.

Parallel admission

In many schools, there is also the possibility of “parallel admission” to Grandes écoles. Parallel admissions are open to university students or students from other schools. The Prépas years are not required to sit the entrance exams, provided that the candidates performed well in their previous studies. This method of recruitment is proving increasingly popular, with many students choosing to go first to university and then enroll in a Grande école. Some Grandes écoles have dual diploma arrangement in which a student can switch establishments in the last year to receive diplomas from both establishments.

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The Grandes écoles can be classified into several broad categories:

Écoles Normales Supérieures

These schools train researchers, professors and may also be a starting point for executive careers in the public administration or business. Many french Nobel Prize or Fields Medal laureates come from the École normale supérieure in Paris (Rue d'Ulm). There are four ENS in total:

Their competitive entrance exams are considered to be extremely selective. They recruit mainly from Taupes, biology Prépas and Khâgnes, even though a small number of their students (less than 10 each year) are recruited separately on the basis of highly selective exams.

Until recently and unlike most of the other Grandes écoles, the Écoles normales supérieures (ENS) did not award any specific diplomas (students who had completed the curriculum they had agreed to with the office of the Dean upon arrival were simply entitled to be known as "ENS Alumni" or "Normaliens"), but they keep encouraging their students to obtain university diplomas in partner institutions whilst providing extra classes and support. Many ENS students obtain more than one university diploma.

The Normaliens, as the students of the several ENS are known, attain a high level of excellence in the various disciplines in which they are trained. Normaliens from France and other European Union countries are considered civil servants in training, and as such paid a monthly salary, in exchange for an agreement to serve France for 10 years, including those of their studies.

Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs (Engineering Schools)

Most famous Engineering Schools

There is a broad spectrum of engineering schools, many recruiting after scientific preparatory class. Things may be a bit confusing since many schools have a lengthy official name (often beginning with École nationale supérieure or École supérieure), a shortened name, an acronym and, for the most famous, a nickname (and often a nickname for their students). Some of them are grouped in league, like Centrale and Supélec, ParisTech, Mines, UT, etc. In no particular order:

Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieur located in France (non-exhaustive list)

Grandes Écoles de Commerce (Management Schools )

Most French business schools are semi-privately run, often by the regional chambers of commerce.

The most prestigious and selective Management schools are the three "Parisiennes"[2][3][4], located in the Paris Metropolitan area. There has been talk of merging the three schools in order to give them a higher international visibility.[5] Other schools are found outside Paris, some highly selective, and sometimes compared to the three Parisians (such as EM-Lyon):

"Les Trois Parisiennes"

Located in/near Paris, these Écoles compete to admit the best candidates. The order below reflects the number of admissions from most competitive to slightly less competitive:

The best other schools (according to rankings)

Grandes Écoles without Preparatory Classes

Some schools are accessible after a competitive entrance exam directly after the Baccalauréat. They remain highly selective and extremely prestigious in French society, with most former students holding high-ranking positions in the public and private sectors. Often, students of these schools will go on and enter an administrative school, for which they are better prepared than the former university students. These schools include (non-exhaustive list):

Administrative Schools

These schools train students for certain civil service and other public-sector positions. However, some students who undertake studies in these schools do end up working in the private sector. All these schools are very selective. As an example, the most selective one is the École nationale du patrimoine, which enrolls about 1.5% of its candidates (who already hold a minimum of a master's degree). The ENA is certainly the most famous one, with a large cohort of its alumni joining the government and many having entered the cabinet. To join ENA or ENM, on top of their initial studies, most students follow a one year dedicated training course to succeed (IEJs - Instituts d'études judiciaires, see French law schools -, IEPs - Instituts d'Études Politiques see Sciences Po - or dedicated programs). Most of these schools are reserved for French citizens.

Military Officer Academies

While École Polytechnique, also known as X is run by the Ministry of Defence and its French students are reserve officers in training, it is no longer formally denominated as a military academy. A small number of its students do however embrace a military career afterwards. A large proportion of its students end up working for the State's technical administrations.

Influence in French culture

Some Grandes écoles are very prestigious, providing similar status to their graduates in France as Oxbridge in the UK or the Ivy League schools in the U.S, although of course their admission policies have differed. The top rated schools are truly elitist: the students of the top Grandes écoles equal to around 1% of French higher education nationwide are accepted and fewer than 5,000 students graduate from them every year. -This dozen of schools, which the French praise for being "généralistes", i.e., interdisciplinary, have traditionally produced most of France's high ranking civil servants, politicians and executives and many scientists and philosophers.

See also

References

  1. ^ HEC - History
  2. ^ Etudier-en-france.com, le guide des étudiants étrangers
  3. ^ Le système scolaire français
  4. ^ Actualité, enseignement
  5. ^ Financial Times

External links
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