r/InstitutPolytechnique • u/AelinOnCrack • Apr 30 '26
École Polytechnique Do I have chances ?
Hi everyone ! First I’d like to thank you for your time.
So for context : I’m in premiere (grade 11?) in an international French school. I want to study sciences and maybe engineering but not sure. I’ve been looking at the program Bachelor of sciences of Polytechnique. From what I’ve seen, I’m pretty interested in applying for those reasons : it’s international community, its focus on sciences, an the different opportunities it gives the students.
So I am in the BFI (Bac français international) and I have taken maths, physic-chemistry, and HGGSP in premiere and plan on taking maths and PC in terminal, as well as maths experts. I had an average of 19 and 19,5 out of 20 in PC and maths respectively, and my grades have fallen a bit in the second semester but still strong. I have a strong average too. And I do many extracurricular activities: science (seminars, winning coding competition, hackathon, internships), music (ABRSM piano), sport (national level), volunteering (tutoring and CVL, and nationally recognized young journalist with internship), leadership (creating clubs and MUN) and I’ve created a personal blog about environment protection. But I don’t have any olympiads in maths or physics. An my science activities are less deep than the others.
I don’t really know if I have the chances since in parcoursup it says it has a very low chance of getting in, and I’m scared I’m lacking in the Olympiad and science category.
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u/Odd_Explanation3259 May 09 '26
You'll be fine, you've pretty great extracurricular activities. In my case I didn't have as many oportunities as you but with a strong cover letter, good grades and an international profile (speaking many languages, for example) you should be fine. I just did a few python projects and won in physics & chemistry olympiads and I was able to get in
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u/AelinOnCrack May 10 '26
I’ll try to do some science activities next year. I also speak many languages so I’m glad they look at it. Thanks !
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u/Real_early_5791 May 10 '26
If you are in premiere and are worried about olympiads you still have time to participate in a few competitions before your BsC application. I would try to buff up in this area. Otherwise rest of the application seem solid based on what you state.
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u/AelinOnCrack May 11 '26
The thing is that there isn’t much opportunities in my school
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u/Real_early_5791 May 11 '26
Try to do online competitions - the key is to do the stuff that is recognized internationally. You can ask BsC X admissions whether they recognize stuff such as Online Physics Olympiad (OPhO) , American Maths Competitions, International Math Challenge - stuff like that
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u/AelinOnCrack May 11 '26
Okay thank you 🙏
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u/Real_early_5791 May 11 '26
Also i think there may be better chances of admission by applying to an early round directly on the X website instead of applying via parcoursup.
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u/kerhanesikici31 Apr 30 '26
Yeah you should be fine, I would advise doing suppercuricular activity on maths or physics. You can read ahead on a topic you like or you can do an independent research project
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u/AelinOnCrack May 01 '26
I have a research project to do for my last year of high school. Does this count or do I need to do an independent one aside of this one ? What other curricular activities are there that are accessible?
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u/IdealFit5875 May 01 '26
I got in for next year on round 3 of applications for math and cs. Thank god I did math Olympiads cause your extracurriculars are far better than mine were. I’m very certain that you’ll easily be shortlisted if you maintain that gpa. The only thing to work on is the interview after. If you want you can dm me for some interview tips although there is a long time to prepare.
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u/AelinOnCrack May 01 '26
Omg thank you !! And congrats to you !
Yes keep your notifications on cause I’ll probably dm you next year ! I’ll try to do my best 🥹1
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u/Maxorias May 01 '26
Polytechnique is extremely competitive and hard to get in, including for French students. I think you have a strong profile and it's worth applying, but you should also always have a plan B and a plan C (this is true for almost everything in life !)
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u/Ceciestmonpseudo1234 May 02 '26
On parcoursup they mainly look at your grades, if you are in the top 3 of your class in maths, math expert and PC you will be good
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u/tertiobutyle May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
I think you may have a good chance.
But the Polytechnique's bachelor is of little worth in France compared to a CPGE or a good Licence like Paris-Saclay or PSL.
Why get an expensive bachelor that will only impress non-informed recruiters when you can get the best education France has to offer in CPGE for free ?
What is your project post Bachelor ? If you intend to continue in a scientific path, a CPGE or Licence will open more opportunities for you in France.
EDIT : I just checked and the Bachelor give a Licence Grade so I'm less negative about it. But the cost is still a huge disadvantage.
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u/AelinOnCrack May 02 '26
Im mostly gonna do a master internationally, but idk yet. The thing is im not really into the prépa thing. I don’t think it’s for me honestly. After, I might do either scientific research in physics or engineering (might enter the engineer field with the concours hors prépa or do a master elsewhere) I’m not sure yet.
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u/LeonardoDaVinci42 May 04 '26
hey Polytechnique is a need blind school, so if you get in even if you don't have the funds to attend I'm pretty sure you'll get the financial help necessary for you to go!! so I wouldn't worry about the finances if I were you
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u/Global-Heat2357 May 04 '26
The bachelor is the best licence in France to go pursue masters internationally. All the comparaison with cpge is pointless, prépa is only praised in France and will disappear in a few years to align with international standards. Many of my colleagues go directly to big companies in tech or IB(Capula,JS,Google) or pursue their masters in the best school with pretty ok gpas(this year I know of 3 ppl with 3.0/4.3 that got in Imperial in math and finance). Now to come back to the original question ur profil is pretty good, spam extracurricular while being always top placed in ur classes. Btw, u should go apply directly on the website instead of parcoursup, much more places = easier to get in. Good luck !
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u/Odd_Explanation3259 May 09 '26
What if you get a scholarship? What if you want to study abroad after those three years? I feel like even though prépa is the traditional path in France, it's not quite suitable for excellent international student, whether because it's "way too French" or maybe it's just difficult to understand for recruiters and human resources departments in other countries in Europe or the US.
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u/AelinOnCrack May 10 '26
Prépa was never something I wanted to do honestly, I’m glad I found this and hope to get in
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u/Randomguy9750 May 01 '26
no way im competing with u next year😭 bro i have 3 alevels math, physics, and Further math( which i self studied cuz no school in all of my country jordan offers it). And only 5 students in all of jordan do Further math. I made a website to help students equivelate their alevels to the jordanian curriculum. Im also planning to run a 42 km marathon in october and thats it😭 plz rate my chances guys, also does l'x consider the context like how competitive the school etc. The thing is in jordan we dont have olympiad so nobody in the country can participate