The Ingénieur polytechnicien program
The Ingénieur polytechnicien ("Polytechnician Engineer") program awards the prestigious diplôme d'ingénieur degree, and is selective upon entry. The subjects covered often go beyond the student's specialty, and the course is focused on generalized education allowing cross-fertilization between different fields.
In addition to 2,000 Ingénieur polytechnicien students (500 students per year), the institution has approximately 439 master's students and 572 doctoral students, for a total of 2,900 enrolled.
There are two ways to enter the Ingénieur polytechnicien program. The first way is through a very selective competitive examination that requires at least two years of intensive preparation after high school in classes préparatoires. The second way is to do undergraduate studies at another university. There is a week of written exams in the spring, followed by oral exams in the summer.
About 400 French students are admitted to the school each year. Foreign students who have completed a classe préparatoire can also enter through the same competitive examination. In total, there are about 100 foreign students admitted to this cycle each year. Foreign students from European or American universities can also be admitted as part of an exchange program for a semester or a year.
Four years of study are required for the engineering degree: one year of military service (for French nationals only) and a scientific "common curriculum" (eight months and four months, respectively), one year of multidisciplinary studies, and one year of specialized studies ("majors"). Since the reform of the curriculum in 2000, students complete a fourth year of study in a partner institution.
First year
The curriculum begins with eight months of mandatory military service for students of French nationality. In the past, this service lasted 12 months and was compulsory for all French students; the abolition of draft in France made this requirement of Polytechnique somewhat anachronistic, and the service was reformulated as a period of "human and military training." All French students spend a month together at La Courtine in a military training center. By the end of this month, they are assigned either to a civilian service or to the Army, Navy, Air Force or Gendarmerie. Students who are assigned to military service undergo two months of military training at French officer schools such as Saint-Cyr or École Navale. Finally, they are assigned to a wide range of units for a five-month tour of duty in a French military unit (which may include, but is not limited to, infantry and artillery regiments, warships, and air bases).
While French students remain under military status during their studies at Polytechnique, and participate in various ceremonies and other military events, such as national ceremonies like Bastille Day or the anniversaries of the armistices of the World Wars, they do not undergo actual military training after completing their first-year service. They receive at the end of the first year the full dress uniform, which comprises black trousers with a red stripe ( formerly a skirt for females, it's use was ended in 2020), a coat with brass buttons and a belt, a small sword and a cocked hat (officially called a bicorne). French-speaking foreign students perform civil service. Civil service can, for example, consist of being an assistant in a high school in a disadvantaged French suburb.
Then begins a four-month period during which all students take the same five courses: Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science and Economics.
Second year
The second year is a year of multidisciplinary studies. The set of disciplines covers most of the scientific fields (mathematics, applied mathematics, mechanics, computer science, biology, physics, chemistry, economics) and some areas of the humanities (foreign languages, general humanities...). Students must choose twelve courses in at least five different disciplines.
Third year
In the third year, students must choose a specialization (programme d'approfondissement), which often focuses on a discipline or sometimes an interdisciplinary subject. This year ends with a research internship (four to six months). Students also earn a Master's degree in engineering, science and technology in their third year.
Fourth year
The fourth year is the beginning of more specialized studies: students who do not enter a State Corps must enter either a Master's degree or a doctorate, a partner college or institute such as the École des mines de Paris or ENSAE, or a specialization institute such as Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (SUPAERO) in Toulouse or ENSPM in Rueil-Malmaison. The reason for this is that the generic education provided at Polytechnique is more focused on developing thinking skills than on preparing students for the transition to a real engineering career, which requires more advanced technical training.
The grades of the second year of the curriculum are used to rank the students. Traditionally, this individual exit ranking was very important for the French students of the École polytechnique, and certain peculiarities in the organization of studies and ranking can be attributed to the need for equity among students.
For French nationals, this ranking is part of a government recruitment program: a certain number of places in civil or military corps, including elite civil servant such as the Corps des Mines or Corps of Bridges, Waters and Forests, are open to students each year. These specific corps of civil servants, which provide the senior executives of the public administration, are open only to students of the École polytechnique and to rare students of the Ecole Normale Supérieure. At some point in their studies, students make a list of the corps they wish to enter in order of preference, and they are enrolled in the highest corps according to their ranking. The next step for French Polytechnicians is to join one of the four technical schools of the civil service: École des mines, École des ponts et chaussées, Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (SUPAERO), Télécom Paris, ENSTA Paris or ENSAE, thus joining one of the civil service bodies known as grands corps techniques de l'État. Those who follow this path are called as X-Mines, X-Ponts, X-SUPAERO, X-Télécoms and X-INSEE respectively.
Since the X2000 reform, the importance of rank has diminished. With the exception of the corps curriculum, the universities and schools where Polytechnicians complete their training now base their acceptance decisions on the transcripts of all grades.
Of the 47% of graduates who decide to pursue a professional career in the private sector, the majority (58%) are based in the Greater Paris area, 8% in the rest of France, while 34% are based outside France. Only 12% of the cohort work under a non-French employment contract. École polytechnique students earn an average of €44,000 per year after graduation.
French students admitted to the École polytechnique do not pay tuition fees and receive a salary as officer cadets. Through the student board, they redistribute part of this sum to foreign students.
There is no particular financial obligation for students who complete the program and then enter an application school or graduate program accredited by the École polytechnique.
