BX2022 First Job Survey: The Impact of Selectivity and Internationalization

École Polytechnique’s Bachelor of Science program is characterized by highly selective admissions and a high degree of internationalization.

These two strengths continue to be evident in the subsequent careers of students in the program, as shown by the 2022 graduate survey.

The survey conducted between February and May 2025 among 79 students who graduated in 2022 (50 international and 29 French) with a 63% response rate shows that nearly 90% of them are continuing their studies in a master's or doctoral program at prestigious French or foreign universities immediately after graduating with a bachelor's degree. Eight percent choose to start their careers in the public or private sector, and 2% pursue personal projects.

Thirty months after graduation, just over half are still pursuing academic studies—40% in a Master's or doctoral program and 14% in other fields of study. Just over a third (36%) have joined the corporate world or the public sector, 2% are looking for work, 4% have opted for entrepreneurship, and 4% are in other situations. 

The 40% of graduates who are pursuing a doctorate three years after graduation are spread across France (40%), the rest of Europe (25%), and the United States (35%), at prestigious institutions (MIT, King's College London, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, ETH Zurich, TU Delft, Université Paris Dauphine PSL, Université Paris Saclay, Institut Curie, etc., as well as the Ecole Polytechnique).

 Their average gross annual salary is €37,000 excluding additional assignments and €43,000 including additional assignments (teaching, etc.). Half of them conduct research in physics, 30% in computer science, 5% in mathematics, and the remaining 15% in other disciplines.

The 36% of graduates who are employed three years after graduation work mainly in industry, finance, energy, and the service sector. Just over half of them (56%) are employed in France and 44% internationally (17% in North America, 12% in other European countries, 10% in Asia, and 5% in Africa). Their average gross annual salary is €57,000 excluding bonuses, and €74,000 including bonuses across all countries. 

Two of the fifty respondents to the survey opted for entrepreneurship. Ambroise Müller and Eliott Sarrey, who graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), co-founded Arago, a start-up that develops light-powered artificial intelligence (AI) chips to reduce energy consumption, which completed a $26 million funding round this summer.

Launched in 2017, the École Polytechnique Bachelor of Science program continues to be successful year after year, attracting nearly 1,500 applications for the 2025/2026 academic year, with 203 students enrolled at the start of the academic year.