Admission insights from Aure

If you wonder about the admission at Vatel Bordeaux, this article is right for YOU!

Here is her testimonial!

Hello to everyone!!!

I am a currently a student at the Vatel school in Bordeaux.

What can I say, other than that this is a great school?

As classes are rather small (20-25 students) and the school is not big (about 200 students altogether), the atmosphere is wonderful, and there is less competition than in other business schools… This is probably partly because we are all interested in what we do…

We have sandwich courses: two weeks of classes followed by two weeks of work experience in partner hotels or restaurants (because there is no Vatel hotel in Bordeaux…). The courses are a little challenging, but fascinating. They are usually taught by professionals in a given field, which provides a concrete link with the business world… For example, we study management, human resources, marketing, economics, communication, a foreign language (English, Spanish or German), corporate culture, and oenology in the first year. There are more courses and less work experience with each passing year.

During our internship, we begin with very basic duties. The idea is to see every aspect of the business to know how to manage a team later on. It’s a little difficult physically-speaking, but the work atmosphere is good, so we enjoy what we do and learn a great deal. At the end of the year, you need an average of at least 10 on your mid-term exams (there are two series of these a year). The 4 month internship – either  in France or abroad – is essential to obtain credit for a year of studies.

The entrance exam is not so difficult, but necessitates good general knowledge. The number of applications rises every year, but not the number of places. So it’s wise to apply early, because there are more openings then. Furthemore, candidates who take the entrance exam during the last admission session will most likely be on a waiting list. People with various baccalaureates apply, but most have an S (science) or ES (economic and social) diploma. Of course, a pre-selection is made when grades over the past three years of lycée are examined. Applicants can also have other sorts of backgrounds (university, preparatory courses, medical studies, etc.). The student body reflects many different walks of life and geographical origins (Thailand, Guadeloupe, Bali, Madagascar, etc.), which is very enriching.

As for me, I have an ES baccalaureate and I hesitated between Bocuse and Vatel before I was told by professionals that Vatel is much more in keeping with what I was looking for. The school is part of an international chain and is growing constantly. Furthermore, the Marco Polo programme (Erasmus) lets us spend a year abroad.

Last, but not least, a network of thousands of Vatel alumni is ready to help us and hire us when we start out. In any event, no one stays unemployed after they graduate.  We are very open to the rest of the world and Vatel diplomas (a bachelor’s degree recognised in France, a Eurodhip diploma recognized across Europe and an internationally recognized MBA degree) gives us a wide choice of career opportunities: director of human resources, communications manager, hotel/restaurant manager, yield manager, etc. The possibilities are enormous!

As for myself, I want to continue my studies at Vatel Los Angeles, which has an excellent master’s programme.
I hope this information has helped, and I wish you the best of luck.

Aure

The original version can be found at the following adress http://club.doctissimo.fr/aure_d/