Georgia Tech had a lot to do with Thomas Sfeir's decision to study business at ICN Graduate School in Nancy, France.

He'd learned that ICN has an arrangement enabling one student annually to complete his or her final year of studies at Georgia Tech College of Management, earning master's degrees from both institutions.

Sfeir was determined to be that student, beating out a lot of competition for the position, which includes a graduate research assistantship with Georgia Tech's Center for International Business Education and Research.

"ICN has lots of partnerships with schools in America, Europe, and Asia, but I think the Georgia Tech partnership is the best one we have because it's such a reputable school," says Sfeir, a Paris native who will earn both his degrees in spring 2007. "Being here has been a great experience."

He believes that having a Georgia Tech MBA will do much to heighten his marketability as an investment banker, especially given the school's strengths in the finance specialty. "I'm looking for a position in Europe where having a U.S. degree is very well received," says Sfeir, who worked for a French investment banking firm for a year during a year gap in his studies. "The degree shows that I'm adaptive to other environments."

In addition to ICN, Georgia Tech College of Management also accepts French graduate students from Grenoble Graduate School of Management and ESC Claremont-Ferrand through similar arrangements. Georgia Tech has a total of six students from these schools enrolled this year, enhancing the diversity of an already highly international group of MBA students.

Sfeir says his living situation shows just how diverse the Georgia Tech campus truly is. He rents a room in a boarding house in the nearby Home Park neighborhood, living with other Tech students from Bangladesh, France, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States.

Sfeir, who'd never visited America prior to starting at Tech, plans to visit Miami over winter break and New York during spring break. He'd also like to take several weeks to travel around the country after graduation. "I really like it here," he says of Atlanta. "I haven't missed home that much."

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