<p>xiggi, when I was at the ENS there were students both from Lille and Marseilles – as well as quite a few students of color. Fact is, if you pass the exam, you’re in. One of the top students in math that year was the son of an African American from Los Angeles who emigrated to Europe, believing his dark skinned children would have a better shot at making it there rather than in Compton, where they lived. His children went to regular French public schools, the older boy chosing to do the prepas and getting into Ecole Normale. One can be very cynical about meritocracy, but there are instances when it exists, and works. This was case in point.</p>