International perspective: studying a double degree in France, Germany and Singapore

Once I had completed my bachelor’s degree, I had to decide where to continue my education. Since my undergraduate degree was taught in English, my cohort was quite international, and this made me want to go abroad.

I wanted to study in a German-speaking country and decided on the Mannheim Master’s in Management at the Business School of the University of Mannheim.

The international Mannheim Master’s in Management double-degree programme allows students to study at the University of Mannheim Business School and one of the school’s eight partner schools abroad. This leads to obtaining two degrees: the Master’s in Management from UMBS and another from a chosen partner school.

In Mannheim, I took courses in business economics, empirical methods (statistics), decision analysis and corporate social responsibility.

I also participated in the Global Innovation Challenge by attending a course in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology. 

I also really enjoyed living in Mannheim for a year. The city has a vibrant student life and there are plenty of activities to do. It is also well connected to cities such as Frankfurt, which is perfect for a day trip, and it is near many other small towns, such as Heidelberg.

After my year in Germany, I moved to France to continue pursuing my double degree at ESSEC Business School. ESSEC is just outside Paris and, during the first semester, I decided to stay on campus. I then moved into Paris for my internship.

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Living in Paris is truly exciting and has allowed me to visit nearby regions such as Bretagne, Normandy, Champagne and Loire.

I chose to apply for the Mannheim-ESSEC graduate double-degree programme because I knew it would be an enriching and challenging experience from both a personal and a professional point of view.

This programme has allowed me to embrace diverse cultural environments and live in different countries, and I have also met brilliant and motivated students from all over the world. 

It has boosted my profile on the job market and expanded my professional network internationally, which increases my employability significantly. Indeed, the University of Mannheim and ESSEC both have strong reputations among many employers.

I chose ESSEC for the second part of my double degree because it is a prestigious business school with high-quality teaching. In addition, as I speak French fluently, I also wanted to have the chance to live and study in France for some time.

ESSEC also has a campus in Singapore, which was another deciding factor for me. I have never been to Asia before, and to have the opportunity to study in Singapore seemed interesting. This experience will further broaden my horizons and allow me to see the world with a new perspective. I am also very much looking forward to exploring neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

Once I complete the two degrees, I will have a solid background for an international career. At the moment, I believe that consulting could be a good starting point for me. I discovered consulting thanks to Mannheim when I joined the 180 Degrees Consulting initiative, where a project I participated in was a competitor analysis for an emerging fashion brand focused on sustainable leather goods and premium accessories.

Consulting would allow me to learn about different industries and apply my knowledge to solve complex business problems. Moreover, it is a good path for further improving hard and soft skills. 

I highly recommend a double degree. Even though moving to Germany to study at Mannheim was already an international experience, I still wanted to challenge myself and explore even more. Living and studying in a country as a student will never be comparable to visiting it as a tourist or working in it as an ex-pat.

Many of these programmes also offer scholarships and grants, which makes them more accessible to many students. For instance, Erasmus supports the Mannheim-ESSEC double degree. In addition, a double degree improves a student’s profile and fosters their employability.