The ESSEC Master in Finance (often called the MiF) attracts candidates from across Europe and beyond, and its application does not look like a traditional French competitive exam. There is no pass mark based on grades alone: it asks for a management test, an English test, references, and a one-page CV and a one-page letter, all in English. Here is how to read what the school asks for, how to build a coherent application and what to do if the answer is not the one you hoped for.
⚠️ Warning: admission conditions, calendars and fees change from one year to the next. Everything below reflects the official programme page 🔗 at the time of writing. Check it before submitting anything: it is the reference.
What the programme offers and who it is for
The Master in Finance is a five-year-level (bac+5) programme that ESSEC presents as career-oriented and international, with a strong analytical focus. It covers corporate finance, financial markets, fintech, asset management and risk management. Teaching is in person, on the Cergy campus (France) or the Singapore campus.
Length depends on your current degree: two years (M1 then M2) or one year (M2 only). The M2 includes specialisation tracks: Corporate Finance, Financial Markets, and Fintech & Analytics, the latter offered in Singapore only. ESSEC also mentions study trips to London, Hong Kong or New York, and internships of four to six months each year, with an academic dissertation able to replace the M2 internship.
Who is it aimed at? The page describes a mixed intake: students from economics, business or finance, but also from scientific and engineering tracks. That is useful to know. If you come from a scientific preparatory class, an engineering school or an economics bachelor's degree, your profile is not off-topic. You simply need to explain why you are moving into finance.
Two reference points to place yourself:
- You are in a bachelor's degree or early in your studies and aim for the M1: you will need to show a solid academic record, quantitative foundations and a first exposure to finance (student society, internship, project).
- You already hold a four-year degree or equivalent and aim for the M2: attention shifts to the coherence of your plan and the professional or academic experience you have already gained.
If you are still comparing options, our article on finance certifications, CFA and FRM helps you see what a master's degree brings and what a certification adds afterwards.
Selection criteria and the profile of admitted students
ESSEC does not publish a detailed scoring grid. The official page states that the admissions board, made up of academic and professional members, reviews all elements of the application, including hard and soft skills. It stresses two elements in particular: the management test, described as a very important part of the application, and references, also described as very important.
The management test
It is mandatory. Accepted tests are the GMAT, the GRE, the Tage Mage and, for Indian applicants, the CAT. The page specifies that GMAT and GRE scores are valid for five years, the Tage Mage for two years and the CAT for one year, and that a score from the "GMAT Quiz" is not accepted. Pick the test you are most likely to do well in, then give yourself time: a score is prepared weeks in advance, and it must be valid on the application deadline.
English level
An English test is also required, with an exception. The minimum thresholds shown are 95 on the TOEFL iBT, 6.5 on the IELTS Academic, 175 on the Cambridge B2 First and 850 on the TOEIC Listening and Reading. A TOEFL score must be no more than two years old at the deadline. The test is waived if you have spent at least three years in higher education taught entirely in English, backed by an official certificate.
References
The page asks for two references and strongly recommends one academic and one professional. Think about this early: a teacher or an internship supervisor needs time to write something specific. Give them your CV, your plan and what you would like them to be able to illustrate, for instance your rigour on a quantitative project or your autonomy during an internship.
What can reasonably be inferred
Without claiming to know the internal weightings, you can hold on to this: the application is assessed as a whole. An excellent test score will not make up for a vague plan, and a good plan will not make up for a weak test. What matters is coherence between your background, your results, your references and what you write in your letter.
Building an academic CV that fits
The official page requires a CV of one page maximum, in English. This is not a standard recruitment CV: it is an academic application document, which must show within seconds that you have the level and the plan for a finance master's degree. Our guide to the academic CV for an admission file 🔗 explains the general logic; here is how it applies to the Master in Finance.
A structure that gets to the point
- Header: name, email, phone, city, possibly a LinkedIn profile. The page also asks for a recent ID photo for the application, but that does not mean you must put it on the CV: follow the platform's instructions.
- Education first: current and completed degrees, institution, years, honours or ranking if you can document them, relevant courses (corporate finance, econometrics, probability, accounting, programming).
- Professional experience: internships, work-study, assignments, with action verbs and concrete results.
- Projects and extracurricular: finance society, investment club, case competitions, modelling projects.
- Skills and languages: Excel, Python, R, SQL, financial databases, language levels backed by a test where you have one (TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC).
Showing quantitative skills without listing them
Rather than "Advanced Excel", write what you did: "Built a three-statement model for a listed retailer and tested three scenarios on margin and capex". Rather than "Python", cite the project: "Backtested a momentum strategy on a set of equity indices using Python". Only include real work, and be ready to explain it in detail if you are asked.
Formatting mistakes to avoid
- Going over one page: the instruction is strict, and two pages signal a lack of prioritisation.
- Writing in French when English is requested.
- Listing tasks without results: "Participated in financial analysis" tells the reader nothing.
- Switching format from one block to another (dates, capitalisation, punctuation), which looks sloppy for a future finance professional.
To structure a readable finance document, our corporate finance CV example shows how to organise education, experience and skills on one page. The example is written in French and aimed at recruitment: adapt it into English and into an academic version rather than copying it.
💡 Learn more: if you are still looking for an internship to flesh out your experience section, read how to get a finance internship as a student.
Writing a strong motivation letter and handling the interview
The letter: one page, in English
The official page sets the same limit as for the CV: one page maximum, in English. That rules out the classic four-paragraph letter full of generalities. Every sentence has to carry information.
A simple outline that works well for this kind of application:
- The career plan (three to four sentences): the job you are aiming for, for example corporate finance, markets or investment analysis, and why.
- The link with your background: two or three precise elements, chosen among your courses, internships or projects, that make this plan credible.
- The choice of programme: what you understood about the course (tracks, campus, length, internships, study trips) and what you will get from it. Cite verifiable elements from the official page, not generalities about the school's reputation.
- Your contribution: what you bring to a cohort, for example a scientific profile moving into finance, international experience, a commitment to a student society.
Avoid interchangeable sentences ("passionate about finance since forever"). If a sentence could appear in another candidate's letter without changing a word, replace it with a fact.
And the interview?
The official programme page mentions no interview in the procedure. Do not build your preparation on that assumption, and do not rely on forum accounts describing a past or different process: only the school's information, in your application space, counts. If an exchange is offered to you, treat it as an extension of the letter: tell your story coherently, justify the choice of finance and of a campus, and be able to explain every line of your CV.
To practise for this kind of conversation, our guide to preparing for an investment banking interview gives technical and behavioural questions that are useful even though the context is different.
Calendar and application documents
The calendar
The official page says there are several admission rounds and refers to a table of deadlines. We deliberately do not reproduce any date here: they change every year, and an outdated date can cost you an application. Check the table on the programme page 🔗 and plan backwards from the deadline:
- the management test and the English test, taken early enough to be retaken if necessary;
- reference requests, several weeks before submission;
- certification of your degrees and transcripts, which may require steps with your institution;
- writing the CV and the letter, with at least one outside proofread.
A few procedural rules, also from the page: one application per programme per academic year, with a maximum of two applications to the same programme; the choice of campus and track is final once the file is submitted. Make your decision before you click "submit".
Documents to provide
According to the official page, the application includes:
- a CV and a motivation letter, one page each, in English;
- authenticated copies of your degrees and transcripts;
- two references;
- your test results (management and English);
- an identity document (passport or national ID card for European Union citizens);
- a recent ID photo;
- where applicable, a sports certificate.
Documents must be in English or French. A non-refundable application fee is payable online (exemptions exist); amounts are listed on the programme page. After admission, a deposit, deducted from tuition, is due within two weeks. The diploma (or a certificate of completion) must be provided by mid-December of the year you start.
📊 Worth noting: the page also presents funding and scholarships. Look at the financing tab before submitting your application, because some aid is decided as early as the first round.
Common mistakes and a plan B
The costliest mistakes
- Discovering the management test too late. It is the element the school highlights: an insufficient score is rarely made up for by the rest of the file.
- Last-minute references. A rushed referee writes a generic text. Yours must be specific.
- A letter that repeats the CV. The letter explains the "why", the CV proves the "what".
- An application that does not hold together. A "markets" plan with only audit internships and no explanation leaves an impression of scatter.
- Ignoring procedural rules. Page limit exceeded, campus chosen too quickly, documents not authenticated: these are avoidable errors.
- Relying on a single application. ESSEC limits the number of applications to the same programme; do not put all your hopes in one school.
A plan B built starting now
A negative answer does not close the door to finance careers. Prepare in parallel:
- Other finance master's degrees, in France or abroad, whose calendars overlap with ESSEC's;
- An internship or work-study placement that strengthens your profile for an application the following year, or that opens a job directly: see how to get a finance internship;
- A certification such as the CFA, which structures a profile and can be prepared alongside your studies (see our CFA and FRM comparison);
- The parallel admission route if you are rather aiming at a top business school after two or three years of higher education: see our guide to the CV for parallel admission to ESSEC 🔗, which covers a different programme with its own rules.
In every case, keep the same standard: a clear CV, a precise letter, evidence. A good application serves several candidacies.
Ready to create your finance CV? Our editor handles the layout for you and produces a PDF that applicant tracking systems (ATS) can read correctly, since they discard poorly structured documents before a human sees them: Create my CV for free.
Sources
- ESSEC Business School, official Master in Finance page 🔗: programme, admission conditions, application documents, fees and application rules, consulted in October 2026.
📚 Further reading to succeed in your application:
- 🎓 The academic CV for an admission file
- 📄 Corporate finance CV example
- 🏆 Finance certifications: CFA and FRM
- 💼 Getting a finance internship as a student
- 🎤 Preparing for an investment banking interview