Service des Admissions Internationales (SAI) is a consortium selection process of the 5 MiM European Schools. This consortium of schools comprises of ESCP Europe, HEC Paris, Emlyon, Skema, and Audencia Nantes.
This consortium interview gives an opportunity to the MBA aspirants to apply to all the five business schools. The interview for the SAI is conducted in more than sixty countries in the world. This extensive interview process will help the schools pick the best candidates in the world.
What is the difference between applying directly and through SAI?
SAI presents a platform for aspiring MBA students to apply to 5 best French B-schools at a time. Furthermore, it is less expensive to apply through SAI rather than separate direct applications to different b-schools.
Apart from being cost-effective, SAI also helps you save a lot of time. Through direct applications to the b-schools, you may have to submit up to 8 long essays on an average. However, with the SAI application, you would only need to submit four short articles.
However, it is to be noted that candidates need can apply through either direct application or SAI. They would not have the option of doing it both ways. Moreover, if you are only interested in admission to ESCP and HEC, a direct application would give you better chances of acceptance than an SAI application.
Eligibility Criteria
SAI accepts online applications. To apply for the given five b-schools through SAI, you would need the following documents.
- A Valid test score of any of the following exams
- GMAT/GRE
- CAT
- TAGE-MAGE
- A Valid test score of the any of the following exams, which proves your language efficiency
- TOEFL
- IELTS
- Cambridge
- Candidates, who are native English speakers or who have done at least two years of university education in English in an English-speaking country, are not required to take an English language test for the application.
- Two Letters of Recommendation
- Degree or Diploma certificates
- Grade transcripts of all your university study years
- Identity Proof such as:o Passport
- Government Issued ID proof
- Birth Certificate
- Passport size photo
Short Essay Questions in SAI Application:
As a part of the SAI application, you would need to fill out answers for five questions before you can submit your application. These questions would require descriptive answers, and they have a high weightage in the evaluation of your application. Hence, your answers need to reflect your potential and past achievements accurately. Here are the 5 SAI application questions:
- Describe your proudest accomplishments?
- Describe a situation where you faced failure, what lessons did you learn from it?
- How does your application benefit the 5 member schools?
- Did you take part in any extra-curricular activity these past years? ( hobby, non-profit, sport etc..)
- How will you finance your studies?
SAI Interview Process
After the online application evaluation, the shortlisted candidates would be invited for a personal interview in one of the selected cities. This interview is typically scheduled for 30 minutes, and a candidate’s performance in the interview will be the deciding factor for admission to the Master in Management program.
Generally, the interview would be conducted by a panel which would consist of up to 4 people. It would be done in either French or English. The focus would be to assess the aptitude and potential of a candidate.
A candidate would be evaluated on the three criteria on the scale of 1-4. These criteria are General Knowledge and Awareness, Communication Skills, and Personal Qualities.
Here are a few frequently asked questions in the SAI interview process:
- Why a MIM?
- Why study in France and what do you know about it?
- What are your future career plans?
- How is your French?
- How will a degree from our school, help you in your future?
- What do you think would be your key takeaway from this degree
- Do you have any questions for us?
If you get selected in the interview process, you will receive an offer letter through Email. To accept this offer, you will need to make a non-refundable payment initially.
SAI application is a fantastic opportunity if you are seriously considering a MIM in five of the top French B-schools. You would get a chance to apply to five business schools with less cost, time and effort.