Lucas Saban, 2nd year engineering student

Lucas is a student in the 2nd year of the engineering cycle and was recruited via the Concours Commun Mines-Ponts (CCMP). He comes from a PSI* prep school at the Montaigne high school in Bordeaux.

To help you see more clearly the training offer proposed by ENSAE Paris, students share their experience.

1. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO ENROLL AT ENSAE PARIS?

I chose ENSAE Paris because it offered a good compromise between being a generalist school and having applied courses relatively early on. In addition, the size of the classes and the fact that it is part of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, as well as the academic excellence of the school and the number of research professors.
I chose to follow the Data Science, Statistics and Learning track in parallel with a master's degree with the aim of doing research in the private sector. Whether in the public or private sector, the opportunities at ENSAE are infinite. ENSAEs have their place wherever there is data.

2. WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE ENSAE PARIS PROGRAM? IF SO, FOR WHAT REASONS?

I would recommend the ENSAE Paris program for the wealth of possible career opportunities, because no matter what the field, there is almost always a data aspect to it and therefore an entry point for an ENSAE student. I would also recommend it for its excellence and academic rigor. This rigor comes at the price of courses that are certainly demanding, but also and above all interesting and useful. The proximity of the school to the world of research, notably with CREST, is extremely welcome, and most of the teachers are experts in their field.

3. WHAT IS A TYPICAL WEEK LIKE FOR AN ENSAE STUDENT?

The day generally starts at 8:30 am and rarely ends after 4:45 pm. They are rarely broken down into one and a half hour blocks.
A typical week may consist of 3 hours of lectures on Monday morning followed by 2 hours of sports in the afternoon. Tuesdays and Fridays are standard days, with one and a half hours of tutorials and various lectures. Wednesday afternoon is reserved for LV2. Thursday is reserved for LV1 in the morning, and the afternoon is reserved for community service. In terms of community life, there may be a conference with one or more companies organized by the Forum association on Tuesdays, a sports afternoon organized by the Sports Office on Wednesdays, a laser game with the Students' Office on Thursday afternoons, or the traditional Thursday evening meeting at KF&T!

4. ARE YOU OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN PART OF A STUDENT ASSOCIATION AT THE SCHOOL? IF SO, WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE AND WHAT DID YOU GET OUT OF THE EXPERIENCE?

I am part of KF&T, which is the school bar. It's a different association from all the others because you don't leave it at the end of your term. So we are in contact with the students of all the promotions. The spirit of cohesion is very strong both during and after the schooling, which allows to create real links, to share good tips and to live fiery moments like during the Thursday night parties.
I also had the opportunity to be President of the BDE (Students Office), which was an intense and enriching experience for me.

5. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE THREE STRONG POINTS OF ENSAE PARIS?

In my opinion, the three strong points of ENSAE Paris are its academic excellence, the range of double degrees and opportunities to go abroad, and the presence of CREST and the teacher-researchers. Indeed, we are very good at what we do, theory is worked on and valued, and the students at the school are competent and understand what they are doing. The research center is located on one floor of the school, which is a real opportunity for those who want to go there.

6. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO ARE STILL WONDERING ABOUT THEIR ORIENTATION AND ARE NOW IN THE PSI/PSI* PREPARATORY PROGRAM?

The PSI program is more adapted to ENSAE than one might think in the sense that all the modeling work done in SI and physics is very similar to what we do in economics or statistics. With our background in mathematics, we have all the tools required for the ENSAE program. Moreover, fields such as aerospace or industry are still very accessible thanks to the omnipresence of data and the generality of the courses. So you don't have to change direction completely by coming to study at ENSAE Paris.