Every year, students in French prépas, the two-year intensive programmes that lead to the top engineering schools, ask the same question, often in December of their first year: "What if I went to EPFL?" Some find the prépa does not suit them, others simply want a different setting. There is an answer, but it is not the one they imagine. EPFL has no route reserved for prépa students, and one of its best-known entry points is closed to them.
The closed door: the Cours de mathématiques spéciales
The Cours de mathématiques spéciales (CMS), EPFL's preparatory year, is often presented as the fallback for applicants without the required grades. EPFL states clearly, however, that anyone who has already started or completed higher education, or a preparatory course, cannot in principle be admitted to it. One year of prépa is enough to close that door.
EPFL's entrance exam is not a solution for most of these students either: those who cannot be admitted because of prior higher education are not allowed to register for it.
First door: admission to the second year of the bachelor's
EPFL offers second-year admission to applicants who have successfully completed at least one year in a university stream equivalent to those it teaches. Three conditions frame it:
- Also meeting first-year admission requirements. For a French baccalauréat holder, that means the overall average and the subjects required in the baccalauréat, detailed in EPFL with the French baccalauréat.
- Staying in a close field. Second-year admission is granted for a specific programme close to the one already started, and switching fields is in principle not possible afterwards.
- Going through file evaluation. After review, the applicant may be admitted to the first or second year, with or without restrictions.
A student in MPSI (the maths-physics prépa) who obtained the required average in the baccalauréat can therefore try for direct entry into the second year of mechanical engineering or physics. If they did not have that average in the baccalauréat, the prépa does not replace it. Teaching is in French, with B2 required and C1 recommended.
A note on timing. Since 2025, EPFL caps first-year bachelor enrolment at 3,000 students. Holders of a school-leaving certificate from an EU country are admitted in early August within available places, ranked by average. Application dates are checked every year on EPFL's website.
Second door: the grande école, then a master's at EPFL
For a student who succeeds in prépa, the strongest route often runs through a French grande école, then EPFL for a master's. Two double degrees organise it. At École polytechnique, a student who has completed the third year of the cycle polytechnicien can apply to almost all EPFL master's programmes, and obtains both the X engineering diploma and the EPFL master's. At CentraleSupélec, a student in the second year of the engineering cycle can do the same, with a few exceptions such as mathematics or architecture.
This route has a decisive advantage: it does not require giving up the prépa. It does require succeeding in it, then being selected by one's school.
Which door to choose
It all depends on how the student is doing in prépa. If they succeed and enjoy it, it is better to aim for the competitive exams and an EPFL master's: the safest and most valued route. If they are struggling and the prépa does not suit them, second-year bachelor admission is a real option, provided they had the required baccalauréat average and stay in a close field. Either way, the decision is made early in the year, not in June.
These are trade-offs we help families make at Carmine. For a student still weighing prépa against EPFL in the final year of lycée, admitted students' grades for prépas are detailed in What grades for an MPSI prépa. For prépa maths, I take students in private lessons.