France is famous for a handful of elite schools. Of all the CEO’s of large French companies, 75% went to one of two most famous schools. These so called ‘Grand Écoles’ or Grand Schools exist outside of the normal French University system, but many are connected to normal universities I the same region. The Grand Ecoles are fairly small sized, with the largest one numbering 3,000 students, and most much smaller than that. They can stay this small because of their restrictive admission policies. Where normal French universities are legally obliged to admit all students with the right previous education, the Grand Ecoles have extensive oral and written tests to filtet out the best students.
Because most politicians, CEO’s and high ranking public servants went to a French Grand Ecole, it is highly prestigious to do university in one of them. Thus, knowing which one to choose is also important, and the following ranking can help in choosing the best Grand École in France.
What did they look at
Tuition Costs Appreciation by students after first year CTI accreditation Research level Number of Doctorates / Doctor titles Research Budget per annum
What they came up with
1. Ecole polytechnique - Palaiseau
2. Ecole centrale - Paris
3. Ecole des mines ParisTech
4. Supélec - Gif-sur-Yvette
5. Ecole des ponts ParisTech
6. Ecole centrale - Lyon
7. Télécom ParisTech
8. ISAE - Toulouse
9. AgroParisTech
10.Arts et Métiers ParisTech (ex ENSAM)
The complete ranking from Letudiant.fr can be found here. Please note that some of the places in the complete ranking are shared places. The website also offers the possibility to see university rankings (Grand Écoles) based on specializations such as Agriculture, Energy and Automotive Industry.
