Marion had to pay for math support lessons for her son to enable him to pass his competitive exams. He did not have time to cover everything in class, but hopes to be admitted and obtain his baccalaureate.
It’s a paradox that punctuates the spring of Terminale students every year and puts parents’ nerves to the test. While the final baccalaureate exams begin in June, thousands of high school students are already plunged into the deep end of the entrance exams for higher education.
Indeed, according to the official calendar dictated by the Parcoursup platform, post-baccalaureate schools (engineering schools, business schools or specialized institutes) organize their written tests and their oral interviews between mid-April and the beginning of May, in order to be able to publish their results at the beginning of June. “But everything is upside down“, tells us Marion, mother of Théo, aged 18. “He has not yet passed the baccalaureate and is already taking competitive exams for engineering schools, even though the mathematics program is not even finished“, deplores this mother.
Indeed, the subjects of these competitions (which evaluate dense subjects such as mathematics, physics or English) cover the entire Terminale program. However, at this time of year, the teachers have not yet had time to complete all the chapters. “We had to pay for support lessons to give him every chance of passing his exams, at 30 euros an hour.” Not to mention the fact that he misses days of classes to get to the exam centers.
Also, depending on the student’s profile and file, he or she is invited to an oral interview or placed on a waiting list. For his part, Théo does not seem anxious about the idea of taking his competitive examinations for INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences), EPITA, the École Polytechnique, or even ESILV (École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs Léonard de Vinci). “It’s okay, I don’t feel too stressed“, he tells us. If these competitions require a lot of logistical organization and seriousness so as not to lose track in class, “the advantage is that they allow you to revise the baccalaureate in advance, since it is the Terminale program. Ultimately, it forces him to revise and even if he misses days of classes, he remains confident for his baccalaureate exams coming in June” adds Marion.
A blessing in disguise, therefore, for this future student. Théo’s journey perfectly illustrates the spring marathon that many families experience, a race against time which also concerns business school candidates just as much. All that remains is to cross the finish line: discover the famous admission answers on the Parcoursup platform at the beginning of June, before focusing on the final stage of this decidedly busy year: winning the precious baccalaureate ticket!
