A highly cosmopolitan start to the academic year

To welcome its students for the new academic year and mark the beginning of their challenging and exciting studies, l’X has been organizing, since late August, dedicated welcome and orientation events for each cohort of its various degree programs: the Ingénieur Polytechnicien Program, the Bachelor of Science program, the Master of Science & Technology programs, as well as the executive education degree program, the Executive Master. Four distinct academic programs with unique teaching curricula and objectives, yet all characterized by resolutely international cohorts.

Truly international programs

This year, 74 % of the students beginning their Bachelor of Science studies at l’X are international, hailing from 49 different countries. This remarkable diversity is matched by the high caliber of the students: 9 % of the new Bachelor program cohort are medallists from international Olympiads in mathematics and physics.

The new cohorts of the twelve Master of Science and Technology (MSc&T) programs are equally rich in international diversity, with students from 47 different nationalities. These students pursue their Master’s studies at l’X after earning their Bachelor’s degrees from prestigious institutions such as University College London, King’s College London, McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, KTH, IIT Madras, and the American University of Beirut. Furthermore, this year the first three students of École Polytechnique’s dual-degree program with Bocconi University arrive at l’X, marking a successful launch of this new collaboration.

Among the new MSc&T students, École Polytechnique also welcomes its first recipient of the prestigious 'Lafayette' scholarship, awarded by the French Embassy in the USA for the first time this year. Braeden Carroll enrols in the MSc&T in Energy Environment: Science Technology and Management (STEEM) after completing a Bachelor’s degree at Princeton University in the United States.

A recipient of a scholarship of excellence, awarded by the Indonesian government, will also pursue studies in this very program. Additionally, a recipient of a scholarship of excellence from the Japanese government, has been admitted to the Master in Data and Economics for Public Policy (DEPP), a joint program between X, ENSAE, and Telecom.

Designed for senior executives, the Executive Master's degree program also boasts a highly international cohort. The new class includes 32% international participants from 12 different nationalities. Moreover, the program offers participants the opportunity to gain international experience, with two modules taking place at partner institutions in the United States and Morocco.

A promise fulfilled with success

The strong internationalization of the Bachelor of Science and the twelve Master of Science & Technology cohorts illustrates École Polytechnique’s ambition to attract more young talent to France, and demonstrates its effective strategy for achieving this goal—without compromising on academic excellence. A commitment that has proven successful!

As for the institution’s historic program, the Ingénieur Polytechnicien program, 21% international students are from 20 countries. Having successfully passed the entry exam to l'X after completing either a preparatory class or a university bachelor’s degree abroad or in France, these students will begin their studies with a human and military training internship if they are French-speaking, or with intensive French-language training at CAVILAM, part of the Alliance Française in Vichy, if they are not yet fluent in French.

Students from leading international universities on exchange at l’X

The internationalization of the programs is also strengthened by the dynamism and quality of other forms of international mobility such as short-term study exchanges, which can last either one semester or one academic year, carried out as part of high-quality academic partnerships. Each year, École Polytechnique welcomes European and international students through its International Academic Exchange Program. 

This fall, nearly 60 students representing 23 nationalities, from leading institutions such as Caltech in the United States, TUM in Germany, Politecnico di Milano in Italy, ETH Zurich and EPFL in Switzerland, KTH in Sweden, IIT Bombay in India, Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, KAIST in South Korea, and the University of Tokyo, joined the École Polytechnique campus to spend a semester on exchange.

L’X is particularly pleased to welcome the first two students from the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, admitted as part of the recently signed partnership, which is supported by the Erasmus+ program.